News International is preparing a major trade advertising onslaught in a
bid to keep Today’s advertisers within its own stable.
Maher Bird Associates, which held the pounds 1 million Today account
until the newspaper’s demise last week, has been awarded a weighty new
project involving the Sun and News of the World.
Clive Milner, the director of advertising on News Group Newspapers,
refused to give details of the project, but confirmed that Maher Bird
would be working on new developments within the group.
In a separate development, Maher Bird’s ‘total domination’ campaign for
the News of the World and the Sun continues next week with new
executions in the series. Stephen Maher, the agency’s managing director,
confirmed that the market is ‘hotting up’, and both the marketing effort
and budgets are likely to be increased.
Maher Bird won Today’s trade advertising account in July this year
(Campaign, 7 July). It had already prepared a major new campaign, to run
in early 1996, when news broke last week that the tabloid paper was
being axed by Rupert Murdoch.
Maher Bird recently hired five extra staff to deal with the new business
the agency has taken on this year, including Today. However, Maher
denied the paper’s closure would affect the agency’s staffing levels.
