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

Purplebricks has launched its first campaign since rehiring former CMO Ed Hughes to renew the brand’s focus on price.

Hughes was rehired by the business to refocus the brand on “its key differentiator” of a lower fixed fee. The new campaign brings back former campaign platform, ‘Save yourself from commisery’.

The new campaign, created by SNAP LDN, urges people selling houses that won’t be on the market for long to be more confident when choosing their estate agent, avoiding the costs associated with “no sale, no fee” models. Purplebricks says it is “the leading full-service agent for sellers who’ve woken up to the benefit of a fixed-fee over a commission”.

The ad parodies the traditional estate agent pitch, and reflects on the moment of realisation after completion when a seller realises they didn’t need to spend money on commission, because their property was always going to be in demand.

“This new campaign is aimed specifically at these types of owners, because choosing a traditional agent when you’ve got a sought-after property in a great area might be more accurately described as ‘will sell, big fee’,” says CMO Ed Hughes.

“The Purplebricks model is designed to provide an alternative for those that know they have a great seller and refuse to accept the myth that a big percentage paid at the end offers them any more certainty.”

Hughes replaced former CMO Ian Cafferky in July this year. Cafferky had been in position since February 2022. CEO Helena Marston had blamed the business’s marketing for its poor financial results, criticising the brand’s national advertising campaign ‘Let’s get you sold’, which saw Purplebricks move away from its low fixed fee focus.

Asos has revamped the Topshop and Topman brands with a new visual identity, in what the company describes as the “first step of the journey” for the British brands now they are part of the Asos stable.

The new look, which mimics signage from old Topshop and Topman stores, will feature on standalone digital shop fronts on the Asos website. The company says it has been designed with Topshop and Topman’s “confident and unapologetic attitude” in mind, adding it lays the foundation for the brands to grow.

Asos says Topshop and Topman will play a “key role” in its international growth strategy, with its Nordstrom partnership in North America designed to fuel expansion overseas. The brands are available in 106 Nordstrom stores, forming “a central part” of Asos’s international growth plan.

To broaden the appeal of the brands, Asos also plans to introduce more inclusive sizing for Topshop as part of the Curve range, as well as investing further in maternity, petite and tall collections.

Asos acquired Topshop and Topman from Philip Green’s Arcadia Group in February 2021, alongside Miss Selfridge.

Nikki Tattersall, director of Topshop and Topman, says: “Over the last 18 months, we have done some incredible work, learning from the past and from each other to create something exciting and relevant for the future. We’re so proud to share our new vision with the world, but this is only the first step of the journey. There’s a lot more work to do and so many exciting ideas we want to explore.”

Nike saw its shares fall 10% in extended trading, after it warned of potential headwinds from the strong dollar and the impact of discounting during its Q1 2023 results.

The US business makes over half of its revenue overseas, meaning it is particularly affected by the strong dollar. It has also turned to discounting, after its inventories have grown rapidly over the last year.

Despite warning of the potential negative impact a strong dollar and discounting might have on the business, CEO and president John Donahoe said the results represented “a strong start” to Nike’s 2023 financial year.

Its revenues were $12.7bn (£11.42bn), up 4% compared to the prior year and up 10% on a currency-neutral basis. Nike direct and brand digital sales were up 8% and 16% respectively on a reported basis.

In a call to investors, Donahoe said the business’s “brand strength continues to give us confidence in sustaining our top line momentum”.

Other brands like Under Armour and Target have, like Nike, turned to discounting in recent months as they’ve seen their inventories grow.

“In a promotional environment, brand strength matters,” Donahoe told investors, stating that the business would prioritise the promotion of its key, popular ranges as well as liquidating excess stock going forward.

Porsche had a strong first day of trading on the Frankfurt stock exchange, defying the gloomy global economy, with shares rising from €82.50 to €86.30 by late morning – a nearly 5% increase.

At €75bn (£67bn), Porsche’s IPO is the largest European listing in more than a decade. Owner Volkswagen (VW) is listing 12.5% of Porsche’s shares to raise the cash it needs to invest in the electrification of its vehicles.

VW’s chief financial officer Arno Antlitz says: “The high level of demand demonstrates investors’ confidence in Porsche’s future.”

He adds the funds raised from the IPO will give the car marque “significantly more financial flexibility as part of its transformation toward electromobility and digitisation”.

READ MORE: Porsche shares rise on first trading day in €75bn stock market float

Rapid delivery brand GoPuff has predicted that the “majority, if not all” of its rivals will go out of business in the next 12 months, reports City A.M.

The business’s senior vice president, Dan Folkman says that over the next six to 12 months GoPuff expects most of its rivals to become extinct. The US-based brand entered the UK market in 2021 through its acquisition of rivals Fancy and Dija, something which Folkman said offered the business “an overnight solution” on how to make the transition to the European market.

However, the delivery service does not intend to acquire any more of its direct competitors, with Folkman claiming they’re “not worth the price being asked” due to a changing competitive landscape. He did suggest that the brand might look to merge with or acquire other “market adjacent” businesses.

He added that he had already seen the number of rapid ecommerce players in the US and Europe dwindle, suggesting the number would fall even lower going forward.  GoPuff expects to see a growth in its market share as a result, he suggested.

Last month, GoPuff announced it was pulling out of the Spanish market, with the intention of focusing on profitability elsewhere, and in particular focus on the UK.

In July the brand cut its staff headcount by 10% and closed dozens of warehouses. Rivals Getir and Zapp made similar moves, also reducing staff by 14% and 10% respectively.

READ MORE: GoPuff forecasts mass extinction for ‘majority, if not all’ rivals this year

Next’s profit before tax has risen by 16% to £401m in the six months to July 2022, compared against 2021. The figure is 22% up against 2019 levels, as full price sales are up 12.4%, a 22.3% increase on 2019.

The retailer says it had a “good” first half, with sales ahead of expectations, driven by an “over-performance” of its retailer stores and strong performance from the formal parts of its clothing range.

The company says that a “less benign environment will not deflect” it from “endeavours to improve and extend” its product offering, as it seeks to increase profitability across its fastest growing areas, such as its label range and overseas sales.

“We may have been too pessimistic; we may have not been pessimistic enough. Either way, success through adversity will not depend on our ability to foresee the future,” the company said in its results statement.

As the company forecasted in earlier this year, its prices for autumn and winter 2022 are up 8% on last year – 6.5% for fashion and 13% for home. While the retailer says it’s seeing some “encouraging signs at the factory fate” when it comes to its production, it notes the majority of factories price their goods in the dollar. “So inflation in our cost prices looks set to continue through next year, indeed it may get worse in the second half of 2023” the company says.

In terms of innovation, Next says it is a business “centred on the core skills of design, buying, sourcing, quality assurance, garment and fabric technology, merchandising and brand marketing”.

Looking ahead to the full year to January 2023, the company says August trade fell below expectations, and that “cost of living pressures are set to rise in the coming months”, adding that it’s a “difficult call” but the retailer will be reducing its forecast for full price sales in the second half from 1% to -1.5%.

Betfred has been fined £2.87m after failing in its social responsibility and money-laundering controls, as the bookmaker accepted tens of thousands of pounds from users without carrying out adequate safety checks.

The bookmaker reportedly had “no controls in place” to prevent large levels of customer spend, with one user able to lose £70,000 across a 10-hour period, just a day after opening their accounts.

The Gambling Commission’s director of enforcement and intelligence Leanne Oxley says: “This is a further example of us taking action to investigate and sanction alarming failures.”

The ruling states that Betfred had set its safer gambling interventions too high, with one customer first interacted with when they’d deposited £20,700 and lost £10,200, but they were not contacted again until four months later, when they’d deposited £323,715 and lost £69,371.

Anti-money laundering failures included not taking into account the risks connected to the business from a laundering and terrorist financing perspective, and failing to have the appropriate policies, procedures and controls in place to manage and mitigate these risks.

Oxley adds: “We expect this gambling business and all other licensees to review this case and look closely to see if they need to make further improvements to demonstrate active compliance.”

Dunelm has launched an autumn campaign to highlight how the homeware retailer is “aiming to help British consumers during these challenging times”.

The multichannel campaign, created with agency Creature London, follows the brand’s 2021 brand platform ‘Dun Your Way’. This new addition builds on last year’s activity with a campaign focused on ‘Wits’ End’, a fictional British cul-de-sac, where things are going wrong.

The campaign will run on Channel 4 and ITV as well as social, and Dunelm is also partnering with Capital FM as the exclusive sponsor of Capital Weekends, as well as across the broadcaster’s website and TikTok channel.

“Helping our customers put their own affordable and stylish stamp on their home is at the heart of Dun Your Way,” says Dunelm’s head of creative content, Chris Roughton.

He adds: “Through this campaign we want to help customers feel that regardless of what challenges life may throw, we believe there’s still many little ways to really make your home a haven.”

Aldi has launched its new eco concept store in Royal Leamington Spa, designed to reduce carbon consumption with sustainable building materials and design changes. The supermarket chain hopes this will reduce lifecycle carbon emissions by up to two-thirds.

The branch is also trialling a range of plastic-reduction initiatives, using the store as a base to test what elements might work best and to learn from these findings.

The retailer says that if the store is successful, these carbon cutting elements may be rolled out across other stores.

Features of the eco concept store include a ‘hard to recycle’ unit which allows customers to recycle items that local authorities don’t accept, with Aldi also trialling a recycling point for coffee pods and medicine packets.

The store also features refill stations for nuts and coffee, and is built with energy saving initiatives in mind, such as solar panels and ‘chiller’ doors to reduce energy consumption.

“Now more than ever, we must do our bit for the environment and this store offers us the ability to easily explore new in-store initiatives and low carbon store designs,” says Aldi UK and Ireland CEO Giles Hurley. “We are committed to reducing our environmental impact in any way we can and are continuing to explore new initiatives all the time.”

British consumers are leaning on third-party deliveries, rather than picking up their takeaways, in a continuation of their Covid-19 lockdown habits, suggests research from NielsenIQ.

Compared with August 2019, delivery sales for restaurant, pub and bar groups in August 2022 were 263% higher, and more than five times the growth of takeaways, which have grown 49%.

Delivery fees also made up almost 15p for each £1 spent with “managed groups offering delivery” in August this year.

The research firm’s hospitality tracker finds the monthly sales at restaurant, pub and bar groups in August 2022 were 13% higher than in August last year, while takeaway and click-and-collect sales were 25% down from a year ago.

The tracker highlights that while total at-home sales have fallen since the end of Covid-19 restrictions, they’re still much higher than pre-pandemic levels, signifying a shift in consumer habits.

“This data suggests pubs, bars, restaurants, and takeaway outlets that don’t yet offer a delivery service are missing out on significant sales,” says CGA by NielsenIQ’s business unit director for hospitality and good EMEA Karl Chessell.

He says for those that do, there are three big challenges at play now: “growing delivery sales without compromising in-venue trading, meeting consumers’ high expectations about food quality, and managing relationships with delivery platforms to protect profit margins and maintain customer loyalty.”

Boohoo’s revenues have taken a hit over the first half of its 2022 financial year, as the “challenging economic backdrop” and spiralling cost of living has taken its toll on consumer demand.

UK revenues declined 4%, the online fashion giant reports, softening over the second quarter as inflation and cost of living pressures worsened. International revenues declined 17%, impacted by extended delivery times, while return rates are up “significantly” year-on-year, ahead of pre-pandemic levels.

These factors have contributed towards a 10% decline in net revenue over the first half. Gross revenue before returns was up just 4%, with weaker demand offsetting improvements in average order frequency and spend per customer.

Boohoo reports adjusted EBITDA of £35.5m for the period, with margin at 4%. On top of weaker demand and the macro-economic environment, the business has felt the impact of freight and logistics inflation, as well as strategic investments across its brand portfolio.

The company expects a similar rate of revenue declines to continue through the remainder of the financial year if the macro-economic and consumer backdrop does not improve. However, by focusing on optimising its operations in the near term, the group believes it can be “well positioned” to improve future profitability and financial performance.

“Performance in the first half was impacted by a more challenging economic backdrop weighing on consumer demand,” says group CEO John Lyttle.

“Over the last three years the group has seen significant gains in market share achieved across our brand portfolio, particularly in the UK where our price, product and proposition resonate strongly with customers. We have a clear plan in place to improve future profitability and financial performance through self-help via the delivery of key projects, which will stand us in good stead as macro-economic headwinds ease.”

Commenting on the trading update, Retail Economics’ senior consultant Josh Holmes notes that many shopper habits have “snapped back into place more forcefully than expected” following the removal of pandemic restrictions, including some spend shifting away from online shopping.

The cost of living crisis is also hitting Gen Z consumers “disproportionately” given their lower wages and “squeezed” disposable incomes, he adds, which has encouraged people back into stores to avoid costly delivery and returns.

The UK government’s plan to make the biggest tax cuts in 50 years is likely to push up the rate of price inflation and increase inequality, the International Monetary Fund has warned.

The IMF, which works to stabilise the global economy and rarely issues public criticism of developed economies, said the mini-budget laid out by Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng last week risked undermining the Bank of England’s work to bring down inflation as living costs continue to spiral.

While Kwarteng believes the government’s new policy of tax cuts and reforms will remove “barriers” for enterprise and help the UK reach a growth rate of 2.5%, his statement raised alarm among markets and sent the value of the pound into freefall.

At one point on Monday the pound dropped to its lowest ever level against the US dollar, and as of this morning (28 September) stands at $1.06.

In light of this, Kwarteng has promised to publish a medium-term plan for the economy on 23 November. The IMF has suggested the UK government use this as an opportunity to “reevaluate” its tax measures, “especially those that benefit high income earners”, and provide support that is “more targeted”.

Addressing Parliament with his mini-budget last week, Kwarteng announced measures including cancelling next year’s planned rise in corporation tax, reversing the 1.25 percentage point rise in National Insurance contributions, cutting the top rate of tax from 45p to 40p, investing £60bn in energy bill relief for businesses and households, and removing the cap on bankers’ bonuses.

“Our plan is to expand the supply side of the economy through tax incentives and reform,” he said.

“That is how we will deliver higher wages, greater opportunities and crucially fund public services, now and into the future. That is how we will compete successfully with dynamic economies around the world.”

READ MORE: IMF openly criticises UK government plans

Nestlé UK and Ireland has promoted Alex Gonnella to group marketing director, after five years as marketing director for Nestlé Confectionary.

A veteran of the company, Gonnella has been with Nestlé for a total 17 years, having joined the firm’s pet care business Nestlé Purina in 2005. During that period he has held various senior marketing roles, including European grocery marketing director for Purina in Switzerland and vice president of generating demand in Asia, Oceania and Africa.

He returned to the UK as head of marketing for Northern Region Purina in 2014, where he helped Purina UK achieve grocery market share leadership for the first time.

While leading marketing for the UK and Ireland confectionary division, Gonnella played a “pivotal role” in expanding its brand portfolio, Nestlé says. He also supported its sustainability commitments, including the move to make all Smarties packaging paper based.

The promotion sees Gonnella join the company’s leadership team, as he takes on responsibility for leading a “high-performing and inclusive” marketing team servicing all Nestlé categories.

“It is tremendously exciting to work in a business that has the breadth and scope of Nestlé, with such great opportunity to make a positive difference to the lives of consumers, shoppers, customers and environment at scale,” Gonnella says.

“We have amazing people in our business and a clear focus of mine is to create an environment which supports them to thrive and achieve their full potential, whilst focusing relentlessly on the real, external world.”

Annual shop price inflation jumped to a new high of 5.7% in September, a 0.6 percentage point rise since August, according to the latest BRC-NielsenIQ Shop Price Index. This marks the highest rate since the index began in 2005.

Food inflation rose dramatically from 9.3% in August to 10.6%, well above the three month average rate of 9.1% and again marking the highest rate of inflation in food on record. Fresh food inflation accelerated from 10.5% to 12.1%, as the war in Ukraine continues to drive up the price of animal feed, fertiliser and vegetable oil and the summer drought affected some harvests.

Meanwhile, non-food inflation jumped from 2.9% to 3.3%, another new high. According to the British Retail Consortium’s CEO Helen Dickinson, this has been “largely” driven by DIY, gardening and hardware products, which have been harder hit by rising transport costs due to their weight.

“Retailers are battling huge cost pressures from the weak pound, rising energy bills and global commodity prices, high transport costs, a tight labour market and the cumulative burden of government-imposed costs,” Dickinson says.

“And, with business rates set to jump by 10% next April, squeezed retailers face an additional £800m in unaffordable tax rises. Government must urgently freeze the business rates multiplier to give retailers more scope to do more to help households.”

With food and household energy prices still on the rise, NielsenIQ’s head of retailer and business insight, Mike Watkins, says it’s “no surprise” that Nielsen’s data shows 76% of consumers expect to be moderately or severely affected by the cost of living crisis over the next three months, up from 57% in the summer.

“Households will be looking for savings to help manage their personal finances this autumn and we expect shoppers to become more cautious about discretionary spend, adding to pressure in the retail sector,” he adds.

John Lewis has made early changes to its minimum spend and returns policies ahead of the festive season, claiming customers want to spread the cost of Christmas over more months amid the rising cost of living.

Yesterday the retailer kicked off its Christmas returns policy in September for the first time, enabling customers to exchange or return unwanted gifts purchased now up until 28 January 2023. John Lewis has also removed its minimum spend threshold for its Click and Collect orders until the 19th of October.

Already, ten times as many boxed baubles have been sold this year than in the same period last year, while sales of Christmas trees are up 37%. Sales of crackers are up 54% since last week.

“We want to be here for all life’s moments and, despite all the cost of living pressures, we’ve seen that our customers are still determined to celebrate Christmas and are buying earlier to help spread out the cost,” says customer director Claire Pointon.

“We want to give our customers the piece of mind that items purchased in the run up to Christmas can still be exchanged or returned after the big day.”

John Lewis will also be running a series of Christmas promotions across home, fashion and tech from October.

Asda chairman Stuart Rose claims the government is “gambling” with the UK economy, following Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget on Friday.

Speaking to the BBC, Rose likened the chancellor’s fiscal approach to betting on a horse race: “They have put the entire UK economy on the 3:30 at Epsom. If it comes in people will cheer, but if it doesn’t people will be in a very difficult position indeed.”

Citing Asda’s income tracker, he pointed out that the poorest 20% of households are currently spending £60 more than they are earning each month. Rose believes this budget deficit will cause consumers to rein in spending and switch away from premium brands.

Elsewhere, reacting to news the pound had slumped to a record low against the dollar in the wake of the mini-budget, Virgin Money and Skipton Building Society have temporarily withdrawn mortgage deals for new customers.

According to the Guardian, Virgin Money temporarily withdrew its mortgage products for new customers from 8pm on Monday, while Skipton confirmed its intention to pull its new business product range “immediately.”

A spokesperson for Skipton Building Society told the Guardian it is hoping to reprice its mortgages, explaining “a new range will shortly be on sale”. Virgin Money says it also expects to launch a new product range “later this week.”

Earlier yesterday, Halifax confirmed it had withdrawn mortgage products offering arrangement fees in return for lower interest rates.

The news of mortgage deals being pulled comes as the Bank of England reiterated on Monday it “would not hesitate” to increase interest rates in a bid to counter inflation and is “monitoring developments closely”, with a decision set to be made in November.

READ MORE: Government gambling with the UK economy, says Asda chairman

TikTok could face a £27m fine following an investigation revealing the app may have breached UK data protection law by failing to protect children’s privacy on the platform.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) claims that between May 2018 and July 2020 the social media giant may have processed the data of children under the age of 13 without appropriate parental consent and failed to provide proper information to its users in a concise, transparent and easily understood way.

The ICO also alleges TikTok may have processed ‘special category data’ without legal grounds, which can include ethnic and racial origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, or health data.

According to Ofcom’s 2022 media use and attitudes report, half of children aged three to 17 used TikTok in 2021. Use among eight- to 11-year-olds was 51%, while 74% of 16- to 17-year-olds had used the platform.

Companies found in breach of UK data laws are either fined £17.5m or, as in TikTok’s case, 4% of annual global turnover – whichever is higher.

According to Information Commissioner John Edwards, the ICO has taken the provisional view that TikTok “fell short” of meeting the requirement to help children experience the digital world with “proper data privacy protections.”

“I’ve been clear that our work to better protect children online involves working with organisations, but will also involve enforcement action where necessary,” Edwards adds.

He confirmed the ICO is currently analysing whether more than 50 online services are conforming with the Children’s Code and has six ongoing investigations looking into companies providing digital services which haven’t “taken their responsibilities around child safety seriously enough.”

As the legal notice served to TikTok is only provisional, the ICO says it will carefully consider any representations from the brand before making a final decision. In response, a spokesperson for the app told the BBC it “disagrees” with the preliminary views expressed by the ICO and intends to formally respond in due course.

In 2019, TikTok was given a record $5.7m ($5.3m) fine by the US Federal Trade Commission for knowingly hosting content published by underage users. The social platform was ordered to delete the data and ask users to verify their age when they open the app.

READ MORE: TikTok may be fined £27m for failing to protect children

EasyJet plans to “transition away” from offsetting carbon emissions by the end of the year, as the airline pivots to a new ‘roadmap to net zero’ strategy.

The travel company originally signed a three-year contract to offset all its carbon emissions in 2019, thought to be costing EasyJet £25m a year. However, the brand will no longer pay for offsets for bookings made after December, the Guardian reports, with EasyJet CEO Johan Lundgren claiming carbon offsetting was “the right thing to do”, despite only ever being an “interim measure”.

An EasyJet spokesperson told the Guardian the move away from offsetting was not related to the “performance” of its partners. The comments come despite concerns raised by the newspaper and Greenpeace that carbon credits are often based on “complicated and unreliable” hypothetical calculations, rather than real emissions.

The airline hopes its net zero roadmap will lead to a 35% reduction in carbon emission intensity by 2035 and a 78% reduction by 2050. The business says the focus will be on new technology, the ambition being to achieve “zero carbon emission flying across the entire fleet” in the long term.

The strategy will include renewing the fleet with aircraft designed to minimise fuel burn and emissions, with 168 planes on order for delivery by 2029. The airline will also look for fuel savings via numerous initiatives, including single engine taxiing and engine washing. EasyJet will partner with Rolls Royce on the rollout of hydrogen engines, which are currently in the testing phase.

Lundgren claims his company is leading the sector on decarbonisation, with the airline having reduced its carbon emissions per passenger, per kilometre by a third since 2000.

“We’re the first airline to outline an ambitious roadmap in which zero carbon emission technology plays a key role to take us to net zero emissions by 2050 and ultimately to zero carbon emission flying across our entire fleet,” says Lundgren.

“We will be implementing our roadmap step by step in the years to come, helping to ensure more sustainable travel is accessible to all for the benefit of the next generation and our planet.”

READ MORE: Easyjet to stop offsetting CO2 emissions from December

Mars Wrigley has appointed Alejandro Pinillos as vice-president of marketing for Europe, CIS and Turkey, as the FMCG giant hopes to tap into his experience of working across international markets.

Pinillos joins from PepsiCo, where he served as senior vice-president for the snacks category across Europe since July 2011, leading a team of 50 people and working on portfolio strategy and innovation for brands such as Doritos, Cheetos and Walkers.

Prior to PepsiCo, he spent more than 19 years at Danone, including as chief growth officer of the dairy division. Pinillos kicked off his marketing career at Procter & Gamble in 1996, holding several brand management roles over a three-year period at the FMCG giant.

Pinillos, who has relocated from Switzerland to London for the new role, takes over from Matt Graham, who is now serving as global vice-president of marketing for food and nutrition.

Mars Wrigley regional president Marc Carena credits Pinillos with bringing “extensive marketing and industry experience, insights from across international markets”, as well as a “proven record of delivering commercial excellence.”

Elsewhere, Nespresso has promoted chief brand officer Anna Lundstrom to UK and Republic of Ireland CEO, succeeding Guillaume Chesneau who has been named business executive officer of Nespresso France.

Lundstrom joined Nespresso in 2010 as a brand PR manager, with roles following as brand communications manager and head of brand identity. In 2020, she joined the leadership team as chief brand officer, tasked with strengthening the Nespresso brand.

In this role, she developed several communications platforms, including the ‘Made with Care’ campaign, and established brand partnerships which the business credits with driving “unprecedented levels of engagement” among Nespresso fans.

Prior to joining the coffee company, Lundstrom served as CRM manager at Louis Vuitton, marketing and client communications manager at Chanel, and market intelligence manager at the Gucci Group.

Domino’s has joined forces with Lioness legend – and former employee – Lucy Bronze to front the pizza chain’s push to recruit more than 10,000 employees across the UK and Ireland this month.

Running on digital and social platforms the ‘Pitch Perfect’ campaign, developed by agency One Green Bean, celebrates pizza-related twists on classic football chants. The creative features Euros winner Lucy Bronze, who worked at Domino’s in Headingley, Leeds while studying at university and training for her football career.

The recruitment campaign includes a hero 60-second film, which will run across digital and Domino’s social channels, with 15- and 10-second cut downs created for paid social. Digital banner ad placements promoting chants from the hero ad will feature animated typography, mirrored on social with synced voiceovers.

Domino’s estimates the campaign will generate 75 million impressions from September to December. The creative is intended to appeal to potential employees, whom the pizza chain hopes to attract to help it make and deliver 10 million pizzas during a peak period combining Christmas and the winter World Cup.

The recruitment drive follows a recent poll carried out by Domino’s, which found more than a quarter (28%) of adults are considering taking on a second job amid the cost of living crisis. Some 44% of respondents say they are looking for flexible hours that fit around their existing job and private/family life (35%), while more than a quarter (26%) are in search of a reliable income.

While she recognises recruitment is a challenge for many businesses, especially in the hospitality industry, UK CMO Sarah Barron believes Domino’s can win over potential recruits through the strength of its brand.

“We’re lucky enough to have a consumer brand that people already know and love, and we wanted to use the power of our brand to appeal to people who may also consider a job with Domino’s – announcing that we’re hiring for new roles in a fresh, creative way,” she explains.

River Island is preparing to open its first US stores, after it has seen online sales in the market surge.

The retailer’s chief executive Will Kernan told The Mail on Sunday the brand is now seeing several times the amount of sales in the US post pandemic compared to pre-pandemic. He added that River Island has seen surging sales in locations like California, New York, Texas and Florida, and now sees the US as “a major growth opportunity”.

“Even though the brand is not well known in certain parts of the US, what’s interesting is that the product is resonating strongly,” Kernan told the paper.

The brand says it has a “long-term” plan to invest in the US and is looking to better understand the market before deciding how to invest in it.

River Island had seen sales decline during the pandemic, posting a loss of £36.2m in 2020, but managed to recoup this last year, posting an operating profit of £73.5m in 2021.

READ MORE: River Island looks to break America with ‘long term’ expansion plan

One in three UK consumers are already buying more own brand or value products during the cost of living crisis, finds research from KPMG.

The survey of 3,000 UK consumers  carried out in early September finds essential household costs, such as food, energy, mortgage or rent, have risen by an average of £145.50 per month compared to when 2022 began. In reaction to these increased essential costs, just over a quarter (26%) say they are buying fewer non-essential items than in 2021.

As well as swapping to own brands, one in four say they are switching brands, with a similar proportion reporting they are now shopping at cheaper retailers. Eating out is the area where most consumers (59%) say they are cutting down. One in five of those surveyed also report swapping eating out for premium home cooked meals.

Clothing (54%) and takeaways (51%) are the next most common areas of spending reduction. Eating out, clothing and takeaways have consistently been the areas where most consumers report cutting down on, with polling in April and December 2021 bringing back similar results.

Perhaps surprisingly, a greater amount of the 3000 consumers say that they are feeling more secure (37%) than less secure (22%) in their financial circumstances than they were at the beginning of the year. This represented a reversal from a survey carried out by KPMG in April, when 34% feeling less secure versus 26% feeling more secure.

KPMG’s UK head of consumer markets, retail and leisure Linda Ellett says this increased security may be down to the actions consumers are taking on their own spending.

“It’s clear that consumers are responding where they can – altering how much they buy, what they buy and where they buy it.  Retailers are also responding and will need to continue to be data driven to anticipate and adapt to changes in demand,” she says.

Shelter has launched a campaign offering an alternative to purported “hacks” for the cost of living crisis, calling on the government to take action to make housing more affordable.

The housing and homelessness charity features tongue-in-cheek money-saving hacks in its new campaign, such as reusing old teabags or cancelling a Netflix account. It contrasts these small-scale ideas that put the onus on the individual, with what the charity believes is the real solution – the government taking action on housing.

The campaign was devised internally after research from Shelter found almost 1.1 million private renters in England – one in seven – have had their rent increased in the last month. The charity has also experienced an influx of calls to its emergency helpline from people concerned about keeping a roof over their head due to surging rent and other bills.

“Every day we’re being bombarded in the news by cost of living hacks. But whatever the latest hack is, it’s just a sticking plaster that can’t possibly cure runaway rents that are pushing people into homelessness,” says Shelter’s director of communications, policy and campaigns Osama Bhutta.

“Our campaign shows how these cost of living hacks are negligible in the face of the scale of the housing emergency. By making our audience look twice, we hope to raise awareness of the reality for struggling renters and show that it’s time the government takes action to make housing genuinely affordable.”

The campaign launches today across social media, outdoor, contextual posts on sites like Reddit, and an editorial partnership with Vice. It will also see beer mats, designed to prompt conversation, being launched in pubs, as well as tailored creative outside the Conservative Party conference next month.

The campaign is supported by media planning from Yonder Media.

Morrisons has reportedly asked its own staff, from supermarket managers upwards, to invest their own money in the business.

The Guardian reports that the supermarket’s private equity owners have asked its own staff to invest thousands of pounds in the business, with the newspaper’s source saying that while the contribution would be voluntary, some staff have reported feeling under pressure to invest.

The source says that middle management level departmental heads have been asked for £10,000 while the department directors had been asked for £25,000 each. The minimum money to invest is £2,000. It is understood that those who do invest will be eligible for a special bonus, equivalent to 60% of the amount they were asked to invest before tax.

“The opportunity to invest in the future of Morrisons was incredibly popular throughout the business with over 800 colleagues, or more than 90% of those eligible, choosing to invest,” says a spokesperson for the supermarket.

Morrisons was recently replaced as the fourth biggest UK supermarket by discounter Aldi, which overtook it in terms of market share. Sales for the supermarket in the three months to 4 September fell by 4.1%.

READ MORE: Morrisons staff asked to invest thousands in their own company

Luxury department store Harrods has launched MyBeauty, a rewards scheme focused on beauty.

The initiative, which is an extension of the existing Harrods Rewards programme, will give members the ability to earn points on beauty purchases, early access to launches and invitations to events. Members must join Harrods Rewards, before they can get access to MyBeauty, but membership of both programmes is free.

To celebrate the launch of MyBeauty, members will receive £20 in Rewards points with their first £25 spend, plus double Rewards points on all beauty purchases up until the 6th November 2022.

The retailer is also laying on ‘The H beauty Carnival’ which will offer festivities including masterclasses, live DJs, a carnival-themed champagne bar takeover and beauty vending machines. The tickets are free for MyBeauty members but must be booked in advance.

“With the launch of MyBeauty, we aim to connect with our extensive beauty community and offer a shopping experience and benefits uniquely tailored to them,” says Harrods director of beauty, Annalise Fard.

“We have worked extensively to create a beauty loyalty proposition that will support the long-term engagement of our customers across all Harrods beauty channels, while complementing our existing Harrods Rewards programme.”

The programme will be accessible for beauty purchases instore and online.

Having boosted awareness, education is the necessary next step towards moving consumers down the funnel towards purchase intent, says marketing director Alex Pickering.

With so few people aged over 50 working in marketing, is it any wonder those in their later years – and particularly women – feel underrepresented in advertising? Marketers need to double down on audience research to truly understand this vast demographic.

With more than half of marketers admitting effectiveness is not a defined role and rarely a priority in their business, are brands thinking clearly about how to properly resource their teams?

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The ad-supported plan will cost subscribers £4.99 per month when it launches in the UK on 3 November

WFA global diversity ambassador and Beam Suntory head of media, Jerry Daykin, wants brands to treat their DE&I work with the same seriousness they would a company-wide digital transformation.

Freed from the shackles of its former parent company, Haleon is turning around its approach towards efficiency and effectiveness in marketing.

Only a “tiny” proportion of promotional sales are shown to be incremental, which means most price promotions actually reduce profits, Binet explained.

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