Morrisons, Aldi, Daily Mail: Everything that matters this morning

Good morning and welcome to Marketing Week’s round-up of the news that matters in the marketing world today.

Morrisons

Morrisons to relaunch Savers range to improve value credentials

Morrisons is relaunching its Savers range with bolder and more distinctive packaging to ensure it stands out on shelves, the Grocer reports.

The supermarket will replace the budget range’s neutral packaging with white and blue colouring, as it hopes to limit the loss of customers to discounters Aldi and Lidl amid the cost of living crisis by improving its price competitiveness.

In January, Morrisons invested £16m in price cuts across almost half of the 263 products in the Savers range. It was one of five major price investments made by the grocer this year alone.

Grocery price inflation reached its highest level since 2008 in the four weeks to 19 February, Kantar revealed earlier this week, hitting the 17.1% mark for the first time.

Consumers are increasingly shifting spend to the discounters too, with Aldi’s market share rising to 9.4%, up from 8% a year ago. It remains the fastest growing supermarket, with sales up 26.7%. Lidl, meanwhile, has grown its market share from 6.1% to 7.1%.

Over the same period Morrisons saw its sales slip by 0.9%, taking its market share down to 9%.

READ MORE: Morrisons to relaunch Savers range as inflation hits record high

Daily Mail to cut staff and bring news brands ‘much closer together’

The Daily Mail is planning a round of redundancies among its journalists, which will see the print Daily Mail newspaper and its sister titles the Mail on Sunday and MailOnline come “much closer together”, the Guardian reports.

Until now, the three news brands have had distinct identities with separate teams and limited resource sharing. However, the Daily Mail – still the biggest selling print newspaper in the UK – is under pressure from falling print readership and the rising cost of paper.

The majority of job losses are set to take place at the Mail on Sunday, though Daily Mail editor Ted Verity has promised the weekend newspaper will retain its “distinct characters, columnists and senior staff”.

“We need to be nimble, open to new ideas and we need to make sure our newsroom is structured in a way that allows us the greatest possible collaboration across titles and platforms,” he told staff.

“So the next phase of this process will involve bringing the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday much closer together.”

Verity added that collaboration will be “key to the future”, as the opportunities for growth are now in digital rather than print.

According to the latest figures from ABC, the Daily Mail still sells 797,704 print newspapers a day, but this represents a 12% decline on the same period last year.

READ MORE: Daily Mail announces redundancy plans as print readership declines

Aldi steps up search for new store sites

Source: Shutterstock

Aldi has unveiled 30 “priority” locations where it hopes to open new stores over the next year, as it continues its rapid expansion across the UK.

The discounter plans to invest over £400m in store development this year, including both new and refurbished stores in the Midlands, North West, North East, Yorkshire and coastal towns. Locations pegged for a store opening include Birmingham, Oxford, York, Bath and Liverpool.

Aldi currently has over 990 stores, but plans to reach 1,200 across the UK within the next few years. The supermarket is calling for agents to recommend freehold town-centre or edge-of-town sites which can accommodate a 20,000sq foot store with around 100 parking spaces. Each location would ideally be near a main road with good visibility, the business says.

“Demand for Aldi has never been higher here are still some towns and areas that either don’t have access to an Aldi or have capacity for additional stores, says Aldi UK CEO Giles Hurley.

“To meet that demand, we need to open more stores and it’s our mission to keep driving our ambitious expansion plan to achieve that.”

Lloyds Bank unveils B2B mental health campaign

Lloyds Bank has launched a campaign challenging the narrative that entrepreneurs must sacrifice their mental health to achieve success, after finding that 80% of small business owners have experienced poor mental health.

Created by adam&eveDDB, Zenith and The Ninety-Niners, the ‘Stronger Mind, Stronger Business’ campaign promotes Lloyds Bank’s new service offering over 1,000 UK small business owners a series of free therapeutic coaching sessions, in partnership with Mental Health UK.

A partnership with radio giant Global will see well-known radio hosts, including Anna Whitehouse on Heart and Natasha Devon on LBC, speak to real small business owners who have benefited from the coaching sessions. Podcast sponsorship will also run across popular shows including The News Agents, Full Disclosure with James O’Brien, and The Week Unwrapped.

Lloyds Bank’s head of B2B marketing, Dan Stewart, says: “Mental resilience has never been more important for small business owners against today’s challenging economic backdrop. Stronger Minds, Stronger Business aims to champion the benefits of good mental health whilst widening access to support for customers.”

Pret A Manger raises staff pay for third time

Pret A Manger is boosting its staff’s wages for the third time in 12 months, following in suit of rivals as the labour shortage persists.

From April, shop staff will receive a 19% bump in year-on-year pay, the BBC reports. This will raise base pay to above the rate of inflation, making the chain’s baristas among “the highest paid in the industry”, the business claims. Staff can earn up to £11.80-£14.10 an hour based on location and experience.

For entry level staff, the pay rise amounts to 15% year-on-year. The boost comes after almost 8,000 staff members were awarded pay increases in April and December last year.

Interim managing director Guy Meakin said: “As the cost of living continues to rise, we hope this latest increase in pay, and our expanded benefits package, goes some way in providing further support for our hardworking teams.”

READ MORE: Pret A Manger gives staff third pay rise in a year

Thursday, 2 March

AB InBev reports ‘all-time high’ volumes driven by marketing effort

AB InBev, which owns brands such as Corona, Budweiser and Stella Artois has hailed record full-year volumes “driven by the investment in [its] marketing capabilities”.

Despite the headline full-year volume growth of 2.3% in 2022, the business did see a volume decline of 0.6% in its fourth quarter. This is the first time the beverage company has reported a quarterly volume decline since the early days of the pandemic.

Price increases more than offset volume declines in the fourth quarter, with revenues rising 10.2% year-on-year to $14.47bn (£12.09bn) in the period. For the full year revenues rose by 11.2% to $57.79bn (£48.28bn).

“Consistent investment in our brands and disciplined innovation are key enablers of our strategy and momentum,” AB InBev said. It hailed the impact of its marketing team in driving its full-year results.

The business noted its marketers were recognised for their creativity in 2022, winning 50 Cannes Lions, and for their effectiveness, as AB InBev was named the world’s most effective marketer in the Global Effie Effectiveness Index.

Marketing investments were increased organically in the year. The company also reported it has stepped up effectiveness through its in-house creative agency DraftLine and through its digital transformation.

Premiumisation has been a consistent focus for AB InBev. Corona and Stella Artois led the segment, growing their revenues at 18.6% and 11.7% respectively.

Haleon sees ‘strong’ results in first year as demerged company

Haleon has reported “strong” financial results for 2022, the year when the consumer health company demerged from former parent company GSK.

The company saw revenues increase 13.8% year-on-year to £10.86m in 2022. It saw organic growth of 9%, with a 4.3% price impact and 4.7% volume/mix.

The company, which completed its demerger in July 2022, reported it increased consumer-facing advertising and promotion investments by 6% in the year (excluding Russia). Total advertising and promotional spending was up 4% at actual exchange rates.

Haleon says it drove marketing efficiency in the year through in-housing and has been focusing its media spend increasingly on streaming channels, retail media and search directed towards e-commerce. The business has also hailed its “successful” campaigns which “supported performance” in the year.

The business intends to increase advertising and promotional spend ahead of sales in 2023. It expects to see revenue growth of 4% to 6% in 2023.

Haleon’s “power brands”, which include Sensodyne, Panadol and Voltaren, grew ahead of the portfolio in 2022, generating 10.1% organic growth.

“Our organic revenue growth of 9.0% was well balanced between volume and price, with two thirds of the business gaining or holding share,” CEO Brian McNamara said. “This performance reflected the quality of our portfolio of category leading brands, successful innovation, and excellent execution in market.”

TikTok sets 60-minute daily default watching limit for under-18s

TikTokTikTok has set a one-hour screen time limit for its users between the ages of 13 to 19. However, young people will be able to opt out of the measure.

Once the 60-minute limit is reached, users will be prompted to enter a passcode to regain access to the app. The feature, which TikTok says will be rolled out in the coming weeks, is aimed at helping young people “stay in control” of their use.

As part of the new feature, users under 18 will be given a weekly notification with a recap of their TikTok screen time. Those who disable the one-hour lock but then use the app for more than 100 minutes a day will receive a notification prompting them to enable the time control features.

The new 60-minute feature will be automatically enabled for anyone under 18 on the app, wrote TikTok head of safety and trust Cormac Keenan in a blog post yesterday (1 March).

“While there’s no collectively-endorsed position on the ‘right’ amount of screen time or even the impact of screen time more broadly, we consulted the current academic research and experts from the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital in choosing this limit,” he wrote.

The post goes on to say a prompt to encourage the use of screen time management tools introduced last year resulted in 234% more use of the tools.

READ MORE: Under-18 TikTok users to be limited to one hour – until they change settings

Airlines hold millions of unclaimed travel vouchers

Airlines such as British Airways and EasyJet hold millions of pounds worth of unclaimed travel vouchers between them.

BA parent company IAG, which also owns airlines such as Iberia and Aer Lingus reported it has around €600m (£533m) in vouchers.

These vouchers were issued to customers when flights were cancelled. In EasyJet’s most recent results, it reported it had around £110m in vouchers still to be distributed.

Aviation consultant and former IAG employee Robert Boyle flagged the number of vouchers the company still holds. He claims airlines encouraged passengers to accept flight vouchers for future travel when there were large numbers of cancellations during the pandemic, rather than issuing cash refunds.

However, a large number of these vouchers are likely to go unclaimed, he says. While the rate of use might increase as the expiry dates on vouchers approaches, many could still go unclaimed.

“But if even 20% of the original €1.4bn [£1.24bn] of vouchers expire unused, that would be a €280m [£248m] release to profit,” he told the BBC.

“However, if the vouchers are never used, IAG will have extra seats available to sell. Given what has happened to ticket prices since the pandemic, the cash value of those seats will be even bigger than the reported voucher values,” added Boyle.

Airlines such as BA and EasyJet have both extended the expiration date on these vouchers several times.

READ MORE: BA-owner and EasyJet hold millions of unclaimed travel vouchers

Nando’s launches brand platform and sonic branding

Nando’s has launched a new brand platform alongside its first-ever sonic logo.

“This Must Be The Place” is a new brand platform from the restaurant chain designed to showcase how the brand brings people together. It is led by a film depicting a memorable night out at a Nando’s restaurant. It features cameos from famous Nando’s fans including England footballer Bukayo Saka, Instagram icon Grime Gran, TikTok chef LetsMunch and music artist Niko B.

The upbeat film is directed by the creator and director of the Netflix series ‘The End Of The F***ing World’ Jonathan Entwistle.

Alongside this, the brand has launched its first sonic logo, inspired by its southern African heritage and its well-known ‘Afro-Luso’ music playlists which diners can hear in Nando’s restaurants. The brand says the sonic logo marks an evolution of how it communicates its brand heritage. The sound will inform all brand touch points, including in-restaurant experience, advertising, and internal communications.

This Must Be The Place is Nando’s first campaign since it launched delivery in 2020 and is the first with its media agency Zenith, and creative agency New Commercial Arts. It is being rolled out across TV, social, broadcast video-on-demand, cinema, OOH and radio.

“We’re excited to launch This Must Be The Place – our new creative platform that will inform all brand activity moving forwards,” says Nando’s head of brand Hannah Smith.

“We’re so proud to be able to offer such a unique experience as a restaurant – whether it’s trying a new spice on the peri-ometer or telling your mates about a first date you had – everyone has a Nando’s story, and that’s what This Must Be The Place represents.”

Wednesday, 1 March

Reckitt RebrandReckitt sees revenues grow

Reckitt saw its like-for-like revenues grow 7.6% in 2022 to $14.45bn (£12bn), with “broad-based” growth throughout the year for its brands.

The company’s hygiene division, which includes brands such as Vanish, Harpic and Air Wick, saw its revenues decline by 3.1%. Meanwhile, its health division grew 14.7%, and nutrition grew 22.9%.

For 2022’s fourth quarter, the company had net revenue growth of 6.2%, with hygiene growing in the quarter by 1.3%.

“Reckitt delivered a year of strong growth in net revenue, earnings, and free cash flow conversion amidst a continued challenging environment,” said CEO Nicandro Durante, who added that the company is 28% larger now than it was in 2019.

“We enter 2023 as a strengthened business with enhanced financial, operational and brand resilience, and continued growth momentum,” he said.

Durante said the benefits of the company’s “reinvigorated innovation pipeline and operational improvements” are now showing, but notes the “macroeconomic and consumer pressures” 2023 poses.

“We remain fully focused on the delivery of our strategy, to protect, heal and nurture in the relentless pursuit of a cleaner, healthier world.”

Former Gousto CMO joins Compare the Market as first chief revenue officer

Tom Wallis, who departed from his role as Gousto’s chief marketing officer in December 2022, is joining Compare the Market as its first chief revenue officer.

In his new role, Wallis will work alongside Compare the Market’s longstanding CMO, Mark Vile.

“I can’t wait to join the team responsible for such an iconic brand,” says Wallis. “I’m excited to see how we can develop the same level of expertise and fame in customer marketing as the team has done with the brand over the years.”

Wallis was named one of Marketing Week’s Top 100 Most Effective Marketers in 2022, and during his time at Gousto he doubled the marketing team and saw the brand through its growth journey.

Compare the Market’s CEO Mark Bailie says: “This is an incredible business with an amazing brand, and we wanted to add further strength to our senior team to ensure we reach as many people as possible to help them to make great financial decisions.

“Tom’s significant experience in customer marketing will add expertise to our already brilliant team.”

Ocado to price match Tesco

OcadoOcado is price-matching 10,000 Tesco products from today (1 March). It’s a large extension of its previous matching scheme, which saw the retailer provide discount vouchers to its customers if products bought were cheaper at Tesco.

Now the retailer will match products like-for-like, while also continuing to offer the money-off vouchers.

Currently, Tesco, along with Sainsbury’s, price-matches products against discounter Aldi.

Earlier this year, Ocado’s 2022 fourth quarter results showed the company had increased its customer base after refocusing its marketing strategy. At the end of the fourth quarter, Ocado had around 940,000 active customers, a 12.9% increase compared to the same period in 2021.

At the time, CEO Hannah Gibson said winning over higher value customers would continue to be the business’s focus in 2023. “We’re driving marketing efficiencies to improve targeting and retention of customers,” she said.

Responding to the new price match, Natalie Berg, retail analyst, told the BBC: “The last thing a retailer haemorrhaging money like Ocado wants to do is initiate a price war, but they’ll need to strengthen their value proposition given that food price inflation shows no signs of abating.”

READ MORE: Ocado to price-match Tesco as supermarket battle steps up

Guinness releases ‘biggest innovation in 30 years’

Guinness is launching ‘Nitrosurge’, a device which allows consumers to experience the “true magic of Guinness” at home.

The device uses ultrasonic technology to mimic the Guinness surge drinkers get when buying the product on-tap. The new product is being exclusively sold in Tesco stores across the UK for a RRP of £25.

Consumers will be able to clip the device onto the top of a Guinness Nitrosurge can to activate the pour, which is “unmistakably Guinness”.

“We know people want the option of enjoying the iconic two-part pour and the cold, smooth taste of Guinness wherever they are, which is why we are excited to launch Nitrosurge in the UK,” says Neil Shah, head of Guinness GB, who says the brand has “pushed the boundaries of technology” to create the experience.

Earlier this year, Guinness was heralded as the most popular pint in the UK, with a 19% boost in sales for 2022.

Maersk launches B2B campaign ‘to supercharge ongoing transformation’

The logistics company Maersk is launching a new B2B campaign ‘Discover New Paths’, extending the 2022 campaign which won Cannes Lions’ and Warc’s B2B effectiveness award last year.

The new campaign aims to “supercharge” Maersk’s transformation from shipping company to integrated logistics firm. Created with Havas and agency &Co., the campaign will feature OOH activity across airports, as well as TV.

“To Maersk, using creative brand building as a way of reaching our strategic vision has been transformative,” says Anne With Damgaard, global head of marketing.

“The film symbolises where that business transformation has brought Maersk today as our customers’ trusted, quick-thinking, and solution-orientated logistics partner creating new ways of doing business – no matter the challenge.”

Tuesday, 28 February

John Lewis’s new brand promise is ‘For all life’s moments. Source: John Lewis

John Lewis boss Pippa Wicks departs

John Lewis Partnership has confirmed turnaround specialist Pippa Wicks is stepping down as head of the John Lewis brand, less than three years in the role.

In her time at the department store, Wicks has overseen a number of major changes, including an overhaul of its price promise, which saw the department store drop its famous ‘Never knowingly undersold’ tag line.

Under her watch, John Lewis then repositioned with a new brand promise, ‘For all life’s moments’, part of its five-year turnaround plan. Wicks also oversaw the launch of John Lewis’s value range Anyday, part of its mission to drive relevance and frequency of visits.

The retailer is currently looking to shake things up further after parting ways with its long-term agency Adam&eveDDB.

Wicks was brought on board by chair Dame Sharon White in August 2020 as part of a management restructure that created separate bosses for John Lewis and Waitrose. She joined from Co-op.

White says Wicks has been “instrumental in reinvigorating the brand, launching our successful Anyday entry range, refreshing the John Lewis own brand range and repositioning John Lewis ‘for all life’s moments’”, adding that she is “very grateful” for her “contribution”.

“I am proud of the considerable transformational progress the highly talented John Lewis team has made over the past few years, especially given the difficulties caused by the pandemic,” Wicks adds.

John Lewis retail director Naomi Simcock will take over immediately on an interim basis.

John Lewis’s customer director Claire Pointon stepped down from her position at the beginning of February, with pan-partnership customer director Charlotte Lock taking over responsibility for John Lewis’s marketing.

READ MORE: John Lewis boss Pippa Wicks leaves after less than three years in job

Elon Musk fires 200 more Twitter staff

Elon Musk has fired an additional 200 staff at Twitter, including the woman responsible for the introduction of its paid-for premium offer.

The latest cuts, which were first reported by the New York Times, equate to around 10% of its already severely reduced workforce.

Since taking over Musk has culled nearly 6,000 jobs, taking its workforce from 7,500 to 1,800 following the latest round of cuts, which includes product managers, data scientists and engineers.

Among them is reportedly director of product management, Esther Crawford, who was responsible for developing Twitter Blue, the social platform’s paid-for subscription service.

READ MORE: Elon Musk fires additional 200 people at Twitter, report says

‘This Girl Can’ returns to tackle the ‘enjoyment gap’

Sport England is launching the next phase of its ‘This Girl Can’ campaign, which this time focuses on the fact 2.4 million fewer women than men enjoy sport and physical activity.

‘This Girl Can With You’ looks to tackle this ‘enjoyment gap’ by addressing some of the key barriers that women feel towards taking up sport, including fear of judgement, safety concerns and the rising cost of living.

To get more women to take up sport, it believes activities must be social, suitable for women’s needs, self-affirming to encourage women to feel confident while taking part and safe.

The Girl Can With You will be supporting organisations to ensure they offer activities that cover these four points.

Working with long-term agency FCB Inferno, Sport England has created a number of films that show real women and groups participating in sport and breaking down barriers. It has worked with Black Girls Do Run, Goal Diggers FC, Muslim Girls Fence and Welcome Gym on the campaign, which is being fronted by Olympic gold medallist boxer Nicola Adams.

It comes as Sport England’s research shows one in three (33%) of women say they feel too tired or don’t have enough energy to be physically active, while 29% don’t have the motivation and 31% say they don’t have enough time.

Meanwhile, fear of judgement is still putting women off, with 41% concerned they’re not fit enough, 32% worrying about what others will think of them, 31% not wanting to show their body, 24% not wanting to exercise while on their period and 20% not wanting to wear tight clothing. Overall, 38% of women say they have felt judged while exercising.

Safety is also a factor, with 22% worried about sexual harassment while exercising, which doubles to 44% when the activity takes place outdoors in the dark. Indeed, three in 10 have experienced harassment first-hand while exercising, which happens most often in streets and parks. Some 66% also worry about being mugged.

The pandemic has exacerbated the issue, with Sport England’s research finding women have been far slower to return to exercise than men. While the rising cost of living has added an additional barrier.

Kate Dale, director of marketing at Sport England, says: “From safety issues to heightened anxiety fuelled by the cost of living crisis, the barriers faced by women and girls in 2023 loom large and are deeply embedded in our society. So this is a call to arms; we are rallying the sport and activity industry to join us to close the enjoyment gap by making sure activities for women are social, suitable, self-affirming and safe.

“There are already organisations out there doing brilliant things, and we want to spread the word and have more people join us. With you, This Girl Can close the enjoyment gap.”

Grocery price inflation passes 17% as Aldi steals more market share

Grocery price inflation has reached the highest level since Kantar began recording it, hitting the 17.1% mark for the first time ever in the four weeks to 19 February.

This month marks a full year since monthly grocery inflation jumped from about 4%. It means if households continue to buy the same groceries and products they will be spending an additional £811 on their average annual bill.

Supermarket own labels continue to do well as a result, with sales up 13.2% this month, well ahead of branded products which increased by a more modest 4.6%.

Consumers are increasingly shifting spend to the discounters too, with Aldi pushing its market share up to 9.4%. It remains the fastest growing supermarket, with sales up 26.7%. Lidl has also seen a big boost to sales, up 25.4% over the period to give it a market share of 7.1%.

The UK’s biggest three supermarkets increased sales by a more modest amount, with Tesco (up 6.6%), Sainsbury’s (6.2%) and Asda (5.9%) all dropping market share marginally compared to last year. Tesco’s market share now stands at 27.3% (down from 27.7% in February 2022), Sainsbury’s is 15.2% (down from 15.5%) and Asda’s is 14.3% (down from 14.6%).

Morrisons saw its sales slip by 0.9% taking its market share down to 9%.

Percentage of women in C-suite roles at agencies up 12%

The share of women in C-suite roles within agencies is up 12% year on year, with females now accounting for 37.5% of these senior positions, according to the 2022 IPA Agency Census.

Meanwhile, the share of people from non-white backgrounds in C-suite positions has increased by 58% since 2021, with these individuals now making up 11.2% of C-suite roles.

Overall, the percentage of employees from non-white backgrounds is up by 29% compared to last year, now standing at 23.6% across all roles.

However, there are still considerable gender and ethnicity pay gaps in play, according to the latest data.

Men earn 17.4% more than women on average among the IPA member agencies that provided salary breakdowns by gender and seniority. This is an improvement on the 23.3% recorded in 2021, however.

The ethnicity pay gap, meanwhile, remains largely the same at 21.1% in favour of white employees, which compares to the 21.2% ethnicity pay gap recorded in 2021.

Monday, 27 February

Lidl store

Former Lidl boss says it is losing the battle to be the dominant UK discounter

Lidl’s former managing director in the UK says the supermarket chain is effectively conceding the battle to be the UK’s largest discounter by slowing store openings this year.

Ronny Gottschlich, who was Lidl UK’s managing director from 2010 to 2016, told The Grocer the supermarket chain would need to make 50 more store openings than Aldi per year for the next five to seven years to stand a chance with catching up with its rival.

“They should be opening 40 to 50 stores more a year, to catch Aldi, to change the perception that Aldi is the biggest discounter in the country,” he said.

Aldi and Lidl have both been making significant gains in terms of market share in recent times, as consumers look to discounters during the cost of living crisis. In the 12 weeks to 23 January 2023 Aldi grew its share of consumer spend by 26.9% compared to the same period the year previous, while Lidl grew its share by 24.1%.

However, the gap between Aldi and Lidl’s total market shares has widened. Aldi had a 9.2% share of spend in the 12 weeks ending January 2023 (compared to 7.8% the year prior), while Lidl had 7.1% (compared to 6.2%).

Store expansion has been a key part of Aldi’s growth strategy, last week it announced intentions to double its footprint in London, following an earlier announcement it will recruit 6,000 more staff in the UK this year.

Meanwhile, The Grocer has reported Lidl is targeting just 25 store openings in 2023.

READ MORE: Lidl ‘conceded battle to be UK’s dominant discounter’

Nokia to change logo for first time in almost 60 years

Nokia is changing its brand identity, including its logo, for the first time in almost 60 years, signalling a change in direction for the telecoms business.

The new logo sees the company drop the iconic blue which had been associated with the brand, and instead adopt a look it says is more modern and digital. The colour of the logo will change depending on the use case.

“In most people’s minds, we are still a successful mobile phone brand, but this is not what Nokia is about,” Nokia CEO Pekka Lundmark told Bloomberg.

“We want to launch a new brand that is focusing very much on the networks and industrial digitalisation, which is a completely different thing from the legacy mobile phones.”

Nokia has not made mobile phones for almost a decade. In 2014, Microsoft acquired the company’s devices division for $7bn; however, this deal was ill-fated and the company later sold the rights to use the Nokia brand on smartphones to HMD Global.

HMD Global is a company made up largely of former Nokia executives. It has continued to produce smartphones and announced its latest device (featuring the old Nokia logo) over the weekend. It is unclear whether Nokia-branded phones produced by HMD will continue to use the logo.

Since getting out of the mobile phone market, Nokia itself has been focused on providing telecoms equipment to other businesses.

READ MORE: Nokia Redesigns Logo Because People Think it Still Makes Mobile Phones

Klarna to introduce late fees in the UK

Buy now pay later (BNPL) provider Klarna is introducing penalties for late payments, in what it claims is a move to encourage responsible spending.

From 16 March, Klarna will be charging its users a £5 fee on missed payments. Late fees will be capped at 25% of the order value, and no more than two fees per order, the BNPL brand says. Consumers will also be given a grace period of a week and prodded with reminders before they are charged the late fee.

Klarna, which has been pursuing profitability over the last year, claims the change is aimed at helping customers avoid irresponsible spending habits.

“Not charging fees feels consumer-friendly, but we’re worried it drives the wrong behaviour,”  head of Klarna UK Alex Marsh wrote in City AM. “Our data now shows that a total absence of late fees actually leads to less favourable outcomes for customers: with less reason to pay on time, customers are more likely to miss a payment.”

The company already charges late fees in a number of its markets, including the Netherlands and Belgium where it says the introduction of these fees have improved on-time payments by 20%.

Many consumers may be turning to BNPL providers such as Klarna, Clearpay and Laybuy during the cost of living crisis. Research from Adobe Analytics, found the use of such services has been on the rise, with £1 in every eight spent online last month being made through a BNPL provider.

READ MORE: Exclusive: Klarna rolls out UK late fees and ‘customer recovery programme’ in bid to curb defaults

Moonpig pulls cards featuring pugs and French bulldogs

Moonpig is the process of removing all its cards featuring pictures of pugs and French bulldogs, after animal welfare campaigners argued it promoted “breathing-impaired” breeds.

Last year, the British Veterinary Association (BVA) wrote to the Greeting Card Association and card retailers, including Moonpig, Paperchase, and WH Smith, asking them to stop selling cards featuring flat-faced dogs.

“These animals add a ‘cute’ appeal to merchandise but their looks mask a host of potential health and welfare problems,” BVA president Justine Shotton said.

Animal rights group Peta had also called for card retailers including Moonpig to stop selling these cards. It had argued featuring these breeds on cards promotes them and helps to create demand for these dogs to be bred.

It has welcomed the decision by Moonpig and says it will work with the retailer to try to extend its new policy to all breathing-impaired breeds, including Boston terriers, boxers, and shih tzus.

A search on Moonpig’s website yields no results for pugs, but English bulldogs do still appear on cards available to buy on the site, as well as boxers, Boston terriers and shih tzus.

READ MORE: Moonpig to pull cards featuring pugs and French bulldogs because they promote ‘breathing-impaired’ breeds

EE launches billboards designed to get night travellers home

EE has launched its ‘Stay Connected at Night’ campaign, which is led by Manchester-based out-of-home billboards designed to help travellers get home even when they’ve reached their mobile data limit.

The campaign by Saatchi & Saatchi London, is led by billboards which will display live, geo-located travel information between 8pm and 3am to help travellers get home even if they have run out of data. This information will include taxi waiting times, train and bus running times.

The locations of the OOH displays are in popular nightlife spots and areas densely populated with students. The information on each digital screen will be tailored to its specific location and will also brighten, in order to make the space feel safer.

The campaign will run until 13 March, which is close to when British Summertime begins and lighter evenings start to set in. During the daytime these screens will display EE’s Stay Connected Data creative. Stayed Connected Data allows EE customers to continue using essential apps such as WhatsApp, Google Maps and City Mapper even once they have run out of data.

“This campaign is a brilliant example of how our Stay Connected Data can play an important role in our customer’s lives,” says EE marketing communications director Pete Jeavons.

“We’re excited to be using cutting edge advertising technology in a new and creative way to make the streets safer.”

Recommended

Comments

    Leave a comment