Industry News - July, 2007

Direct mail marketing spending rose by ten per cent in the last year, with financial service providers accounting for the biggest spenders, new figures have shown.

According to Marketing Direct's Top 100 Mailers report, the top 100 biggest spenders on marketing material shelled out £718.4 million on direct mail in 2006.

Financial services providers remain the biggest spenders, occupying seven out of the top ten positions in the league table of top marketers and 14 of the t... more...

National Savings and Investments NS&I has launched an advertising campaign to help consumers track down money lost in dormant accounts.

For the first time it has chosen to promote its free Tracing Service to help people find the £435 million of savings that lies in lost and forgotten accounts with the company.

NS&I is advertising this service nationwide with posters, press and online adverts featuring lightbulbs and torches as well as radio adverts to be aired on C... more...

After Moneysupermarket.com faced a disappointing start to its floatation on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), the company has suffered some embarrassment, as internal squabbling was blamed for poor results.

The company will have to work hard to improve its profile after it ended the first day on the LSE valued at £783 million after high hopes of a £1 billion valuation.

Moneysupermarket website, which offers customers advice on financial products and price comparisons, ... more...

Zurich financial services is beginning to advertise its new capital account product, which provides investors with 135 per cent of growth of the FTSE 100 index.

The Zurich Guaranteed Capital Account 15 will be open until September 11th 2007 for investors with a minimum of £2,500. A commission of 3.25 per cent is offered initially as well as a bonus of 0.33 per cent for applications received before August 20th.

This is the most recent in a series of offers guaranteeing a m... more...

The profile of individual accounting firms could be made or broken as the Treasury publishes new money laundering legislation.

From December 15th companies that offer accountancy, tax, audit and insolvency services must have their compliance monitored by HM Revenue & Customs if they do not have this carried out by an independent body.

Accountants will have to request proof of identity for existing clients as well as higher risk clients, such as officials residing outside th... more...

RAC is promoting its direct insurance product with new advertising featuring footballer, actor and perceived hardman Vinnie Jones.

The advert, which depicts Vinnie Jones towering over Sarah, a five foot member of RAC's call centre staff, features the slogan "Meet Vinnie's minder" and claims that Vinnie Jones would not feel safe with any other insurance company.

RAC's brand hardly features on the advertising with its orange logo only appearing in a small corner of the ... more...

Lloyds TSB has received praise and a positive PR boost as it launched a website to help people who have been affected by the recent flooding across the UK.

Search conversion agency Tamar helped the bank set up the site to offer support and information to flood victims or those that could be at risk of flooding in future.

Across 17 pages, the site offers current personal and corporate clients as well as non-Lloyds TSB customers flood prevention tips and contact numbers for thos... more...

Brit Insurance's (BI) Insurer Financial Strength has received an overall 'A+' rating from Fitch with Brit Insurance Holdings (BIH) also enjoying a 'BBB' for subordinated notes and the Issuer Default Rating of 'A-'.

Fitch said such high ratings were in order due to: "Brit's consistently good operating performance in line with Fitch's expectations, strong capital base including access to group resources, prudent reserving strategy and good market position.

"Partially of... more...