OFT raids retailers over alleged food price fixing

The Office of Fair Trading has swooped on the UK’s four largest supermarket chains, as well as major suppliers Procter & Gamble and Unilever, in an investigation into alleged price fixing of food and toiletries.

The OFT is understood to have taken as evidence hundreds of emails between retailers and suppliers after its teams of investigators and lawyers made unannounced visits to the headquarters of Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Wm Morrison last Thursday.

The investigation is believed to be focused on a list of more than 20 grocery and toiletry products.

The OFT also visited the offices of Procter & Gamble on Thursday and requested information from Unilever on Friday.

A spokesman for P&G, which owns brands such as Pringles and Gillette, told the Daily Telegraph: "Consistent with our principles, we are fully cooperating with [the OFT’s] inquiries. We don’t have any additional information to offer at this stage but can say that it is P&G’s policy to fully abide by the spirit and letter of the law."

A spokesman for Unilever, the company behind Flora and Dove, also confirmed to the newspaper that the OFT had requested information about price changes.

The supermarkets, which are awaiting the final report from the Competition Commission into Britain’s grocery sector, have shown signs of impatience with the OFT’s latest action. One anonymous executive said they felt the situation was getting "silly" and the raids by the OFT were like a "fishing trip".

Last week, the OFT was embarrassed by having to pay damages of £100,000 to Morrisons after it wrongly claimed the chain had been involved in fixing the price of butter and cheese.

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McDonald’s aims for premium image with designer uniforms

McDonald’s is providing its staff with a new range of uniforms designed by Bruce Oldfield, famous for dressing Princess Diana, Jemima Khan and Sienna Miller, in an attempt to appear more upmarket.

The old outfit’s bright colours have been replaced with more subtle shades of black, beige and brown for the air-hostess style uniforms.

Female management and front of house staff will wear high heels, pencil skirts and scarves, male counterparts will have suits, and the staff who serve the food will wear polo shirts, all in similar colours.

The new uniform will appear in the UK next month for all 67,000 workers to complement the company’s restyled restaurants, at a cost of £2m.

McDonald’s said that the clothes made staff feel more confident and customers respect them more.

David Fairhurst, chief people officer at McDonald’s, was reported in The Guardian to have said: "We’ve been on the journey of confidence. And part of that confidence will come from having the staff feel good in their uniforms.

"The new uniform reflects how there is now a more upmarket feel to the business. You still have the value meals but there are also the premium ones, and these uniforms give a more premium feel."

Oldfield said that it had been fun to design the "contemporary look" for employees at McDonald’s and that he had come up with a design that is practical and stylish.

In a previous attempt to change people’s perceptions McDonald’s last year started a campaign to get the Oxford English Dictionary to change its definition of a ’McJob’.

The McDonald’s Corporation posted a 24% gain in first-quarter profit yesterday, thanks to strong international sales, but investors were nervous about the company’s first monthly decline of US same-store sales in five years.

McDonald’s is not the first fast food chain to go for the premium market. Yesterday, its rival Burger King announced plans to roll out an £85 burger as part of a wider strategy to boost its premium credentials.

The UK’s most expensive burger is set to launch next month in a limited number of outlets in upmarket central London locations.

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Asda drops Coleen in upmarket drive

Asda has axed Coleen McLoughlin, girlfriend of Manchester United and England football star Wayne Rooney, as the face of its advertising, to concentrate on appealing to a more upmarket shopper.

The supermarket chain’s £3m two-year contract with Rooney’s fiancee came to an end last month and the company has decided not to renew it.

Asda executives think that the 22-year-old WAG McLoughlin is too young to represent the brand’s George clothing range, which it wants to target at the over-25s.

According to a report in The Daily Mail, Asda is aiming its sights at more "upmarket" celebrities to appear in its advertising, such as Joanna Lumley, Helen Mirren, Sienna Miller and, according to a source of the paper, the French President’s wife Carla Bruni.

There is no confirmation if, former model and now singer, Bruni, who is Italian, has ever been in to an Asda.

Asda is the latest supermarket linked to dumping an arguably downmarket celebrity from its advertising. In January, Iceland denied speculation that fomer Atomic Kitten Kerry Katona had been dropped from its advertising, arguing that she was still under contract.

Asda’s advertising is created by Fallon and recent campaigns have starred celebrities including football pundit Ian Wright, Ozzy Osbourne’s wife Sharon and comedians Paul Whitehouse and Victoria Wood.

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Vodafone named most powerful British brand

Vodafone has been named the most powerful British brand for the third year in a row, having increased its brand value by 75% in the last 12 months, according to Millward Brown’s annual global brand ranking.

The survey, now in its third year, gave the telecommunications company a value of $37bn, a 75% increase in brand value compared with last year.

Vodafone launched a slew of heavyweight ad campaigns last year created by Bartle Bogle Hegarty under the strapline "Make the most of now", with some featuring British Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton.

Tesco was the next most valuable British brand in the survey, followed by HSBC, Marks & Spencer, Barclays, Standard Chartered Bank, BP, Royal Bank of Scotland, Asda and NatWest.

Although only six British brands meet the criteria of being a Top 100 global power brand, their combined value rose 33% to $127,220bn in 2007, compared with a rise of 21% for the Top 100 as a whole.

Warwick Nash, chief executive of Millward Brown for the UK and Ireland, said: "The results this year highlight the strength of those British brands that have global clout and are leveraging their brands to help aid their growth.

"But this ranking is a wake-up call for companies to invest in the power of their brands if they want to grow their business or sustain it in tougher times."

The global list of top brands was once again led by internet giant Google, with a brand value of $86.1bn, followed by US technology and services conglomerate GE with $71.4bn, and software firm Microsoft in third place with $70.8bn.

The survey, which covers January to December 2007, ranks the most powerful brands by their dollar value. It is based on an analysis of consumer opinion and publicly available financial data.

Top 10 British brands
Brand/Value in $m/Global Rank

1.Vodafone 36,962 11th

2.Tesco 23,208 25th

3.HSBC 18,479 35th

4.Marks & Spencer 11,600 60th

5.Barclays 7,382 93rd

6.Standard Chartered Bank 6,855 100th

7.BP 6,346 n/a

8.Royal Bank of Scotland 5,782 n/a

9.Asda 5,628 n/a

10. NatWest 4,978 n/a

Top 10 global brands
Brand/Value in $m

1. Google 86,057

2.GE 71,379

3.Microsoft 70,887

4.Coca-Cola 58,208

5.China Mobile 57,225

6.IBM 55,335

7.Apple 55,206

8.McDonald’s 49,499

9.Nokia 43,975

10.Marlboro 37,324

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Schweppes snaps drunken exploits to push soft drinks

Schweppes highlights the embarrassing effects of excessive drinking with a series of quirky images, shot by British documentary photographer Martin Parr, for an ad campaign launching its new range of adult soft drinks.

The humorous images include two men lying on the ground having fallen off a toy truck, a girl trying to pole dance around a lamppost in front of her friends, and a man asleep in a shopping trolley.

The campaign, created by Mother, is designed to promote Schweppes Lightly Sparkling and Classics range of adult soft drinks. The ad carries the tagline "Sch…you know who should stick to you know what".

The poster ad campaign will run on 96 sheets, 48 sheets and 6 sheets from May 5.

The Magnum photographer Parr is famous for his photographic projects taking a critical look at modern society, specifically consumerism, tourism, motoring, family and relationships, and food.

Schweppes last ad campaign launched in December and featured celebrity look-alikes shot by photographer Alison Jackson, to promote its range of mixers.

The celebrity look-alikes were of unlikely couples, including Kate Moss and Pete Doherty, entering into the seasonal spirit of goodwill and putting aside their differences in order to share a festive drink. Another one featured Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

It carried the strapline: "Sch…you know who should mix this Christmas."

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UKTV signs Richard and Judy for new-look channel

UKTV has signed a multimillion-pound deal with TV duo Richard and Judy to front a new primetime talk show on one of its pay-TV channels.

The husband and wife double act, who are leaving Channel 4 this summer, are to make the switch to the digital broadcaster on a "new-look channel", the details of which have yet to be unveiled.

The new 60-minute talk show, which launches this autumn, has been described by UKTV as "high octane" and "celebrity filled". It will continue to promote the Richard and Judy book and wine clubs.

Although the exact details of what channel it will appear on have not been confirmed, UKTV said the show would be "at the heart of UKTV’s pay-TV entertainment portfolio", suggesting it will not be available on Freeview.

Matthew Littleford, the UKTV controller, said: "To have brought the king and queen of British telly to UKTV, and to be working closely with them to develop a show that will be the most talked about in TV, clearly demonstrates the magnitude of our ambition to drive differentiation for our pay-TV partners in 2008 and beyond."

The show will be produced by current Richard and Judy Show producer, Cactus TV, the independent company owned by Amanda and Simon Ross, brother of BBC star Jonathan.

UKTV has not disclosed how much Richard and Judy will earn from their new show. According to The Times, the deal with Cactus TV is worth £3m, while the Daily Record has claimed the pair will pocket £1m each.

Richard and Judy announced last November that they were part company with Channel 4, when their contract expires this summer.

Their show, which averages 2.9m viewers, has been a regular fixture of the Channel 4 teatime slot since 2001, after the pair called time on their long-running ITV1 show, ’This Morning’, which they had presented for 13 years.

The 5pm slot on Channel 4 is shared between Richard and Judy, who are on air for 20 weeks a year, and ’The Paul O’Grady Show’.

Last February, the show became embroiled in the premium-rate phone-in controversy, after it emerged that winners from the "you say we pay" competition had been selected before the phone lines closed.

Premium-rate phone regulator Icstis, now named PhonePayPlus, fined Eckoh, the company that operated the phone lines for the show, £150,000 — the highest fine it had ever imposed.

UKTV, a joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Virgin Media, operates eight channels under the UKTV brand: Gold, Drama, History, People, Documentary, Style, Gardens and Food, all of which broadcast on Sky and Virgin Media. UKTV History and new launch Dave are also available on Freeview.

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BBC iPlayer proves a success with more than 42m programmes accessed

The BBC has reported significant growth for its iPlayer service in the first three months since its launch, with more than 42m programmes accessed.

The total number of requests for downloads and streams of BBC programmes in March was 17.2m, rising from 14m in February and 11.2m in January.

This represents a growth of 25% month on month and contributes to the total of over 42m programmes accessed on demand since the Christmas marketing launch.

Among the most successful programmes on the iPlayer were ’The Apprentice’, ’Gavin and Stacey’, time-travel drama ’Ashes to Ashes’, ’EastEnders’ and ’Torchwood’.

The figures are not such good news for internet service providers who claim that the BBC is putting unfair pressure on their systems.

They want the corporation to share the cost of upgrading the network, which is estimated at £831m, to cope with the increased workload, but the BBC claims that it is being unfairly singled out.

Ashley Highfield, BBC director of Future Media and Technology, said: "Its initial performance proves the case not only for the BBC iPlayer, but for all video-on-demand services over the internet, and benefits both our audiences and the industry as a whole.

"We continue to work closely with the internet service providers with a view to driving the next generation of broadband internet access."

The iPlayer is also being tested for launch on the Nintendo Wii games console and the BBC expects to release more test versions later in the year.

The iPlayer will be accessible via the internet channel on the Wii console and a message will be sent to Wii owners to alert them to the service.

Erik Huggers, BBC’s group controller, said: "The BBC’s catch-up TV service can now be accessed on an increasing number of different platforms -from the web and portable devices to gaming consoles."

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Definitely the best lager in Britain as Carlsberg overtakes Stella

Carlsberg has overtaken Stella as Britain’s best-selling lager for the first time in nearly two decades as the credit crunch appears to be driving drinkers to turn to cheaper and lower alcohol brands.

Belgian lager Stella Artois, owned by Interbrew and famous for its old "reassuringly expensive" slogan, has been Britain’s best-selling drink since 1990, but according to figures by Nielsen, Carlsberg has now overtaken it to become the nation’s favourite.

Like Stella, Carlsberg has a rich advertising heritage. Saatchi & Saatchi created Carlsberg’s famous "Probably the best lager in the world" slogan for ads first appearing in 1973. The agency still holds the account.

Sales of all Stella brands in off licenses and supermarkets have fallen by almost 1% to 491m pints, while sales of Carlsberg have risen by nearly 18% to 495m pints over the year to end of March 2008.

A pint of Stella in pubs costs up to £3.50 compared with £2.75 for a standard lager and in off licenses Stella costs £1.06 a pint on average while Carlsberg is just 85p a pint.

Stella remains on top for sales by value, netting £524m from off trade sales, compared with Carlsberg’s £422m.

The issue of changing tastes appears to be reflected in the rise of Carlsberg. Stella at 5.2% proof is a famously strong lager and has acquired the nickname "wife beater" for the trouble people can get themselves in if drinking too much. Carlsberg on the other hand is a much weaker 3.8%.

A spokesperson for Stella said: "We feel value is a better indication of a brand’s performance. In value terms we are actually 23% bigger than the Carlsberg family."

Stella dropped its "reassuringly expensive" tagline at the end of last year to focus on its heritage, with ads created by Lowe highlighting "generations of care handed down in every glass" and encouraging consumers to "pass on something good".

Carlsberg attributes part of its success to targeting women drinkers. Ged Lowry, Carlsberg’s head of take-home marketing, said that the brand was concentrating on variety, including trying to win over women drinkers with its Edge variety.

He said: "The Carlsberg portfolio has a wide range offering quality and choice to our drinkers. And, in 2007, we spent slightly less on advertising than the Artois family."

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Doctor Who helps BBC thrash ITV in ratings

Doctor Who returned to BBC One on Saturday night and helped the corporation thrash ITV in the ratings, as the beginning of the fourth season pulled in 8.4m viewers.

The opening episode attracted an audience share of 39.4%, however the move to an earlier more child-friendly timeslot of 6.15pm did appear to hit ratings.

Viewing figures were down on the series three opener, which pulled in 8.71m. However, that figure included people who had recorded the programme, which was not included in Saturday’s figure.

The decision to move the show from 7pm to an earlier timeslot had been criticised by writer Russell T Davies, who has overseen the revamping of ’Doctor Who’.

He said: "It’s not a timeslot I agree with. I’d rather it went out later. But we’ve been told that it’s a gateway to the whole Saturday night. We’ll see on Monday morning what it’s like."

The fourth series of ’Doctor Who’ saw comedienne Catherine Tate rejoin the Doctor, and despite criticism of her casting critics generally gave her the thumbs up.

Tate had first appeared in the 2006 Christmas special ’Doctor Who – The Runaway Bride’. Former companion Billie Piper also made a surprise appearance as Rose, setting up a return later in the series.

A BBC spokesperson said: "This is a great start for the new series of Doctor Who. The show kicked off a fantastic night of family entertainment on BBC One which pulled in big audiences across the evening."

The return of David Tennant as the Doctor capped a strong Saturday for the BBC. Its coverage of the Grand National peaked at 10.1m as joint favourite Comply or Die won at Aintree.

ITV1’s long running clip show ’You’ve Been Framed’ recorded 4.7m while ’Harry Hill’s TV Burp’ was moved to a later slot to avoid clashing with ’Doctor Who’, proving to be the channel’s highlight with 5.5m viewer.

BBC One Talent contest ’I’d Do Anything’ did well, pulling in 6.8m and medical soap ’Casualty’ attracted 7.1m

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Doctor Who helps BBC thrash ITV in ratings

Doctor Who returned to BBC One on Saturday night and helped the corporation thrash ITV in the ratings, as the beginning of the fourth season pulled in 8.4m viewers.

The opening episode attracted an audience share of 39.4%, however the move to an earlier more child-friendly timeslot of 6.15pm did appear to hit ratings.

Viewing figures were down on the series three opener, which pulled in 8.71m. However, that figure included people who had recorded the programme, which was not included in Saturday’s figure.

The decision to move the show from 7pm to an earlier timeslot had been criticised by writer Russell T Davies, who has overseen the revamping of ’Doctor Who’.

He said: “It’s not a timeslot I agree with. I’d rather it went out later. But we’ve been told that it’s a gateway to the whole Saturday night. We’ll see on Monday morning what it’s like.”

The fourth series of ’Doctor Who’ saw comedienne Catherine Tate rejoin the Doctor, and despite criticism of her casting critics generally gave her the thumbs up.

Tate had first appeared in the 2006 Christmas special ’Doctor Who – The Runaway Bride’. Former companion Billie Piper also made a surprise appearance as Rose, setting up a return later in the series.

A BBC spokesperson said: “This is a great start for the new series of Doctor Who. The show kicked off a fantastic night of family entertainment on BBC One which pulled in big audiences across the evening.”

The return of David Tennant as the Doctor capped a strong Saturday for the BBC. Its coverage of the Grand National peaked at 10.1m as joint favourite Comply or Die won at Aintree.

ITV1’s long running clip show ’You’ve Been Framed’ recorded 4.7m while ’Harry Hill’s TV Burp’ was moved to a later slot to avoid clashing with ’Doctor Who’, proving to be the channel’s highlight with 5.5m viewer.

BBC One Talent contest ’I’d Do Anything’ did well, pulling in 6.8m and medical soap ’Casualty’ attracted 7.1m

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