Chief Marketer Staff

• HSBC Consolidates $600MM Account with WPP

  British banking giant HSBC Holdings consolidated its reported $600 million marketing account with WPP Group, London, from about 200 agencies worldwide.

• Boston Proper Puts Brakes on Retail Plan

  (Catalog Age) Blaming the rough retail economy, women

• Agencies

  House Postal Reform Bill Voted Out of Committee

  While it is still too early to pop the champagne corks, direct mailers can at least bring the bottles up from the cellar. Postal reform may finally be

• Girls Lead Online Activity: Survey

  (Promo) There will be 22 million teens online by 2008, up from 18 million in 2003. Among these, a select group of “teen influencers” will have increasingly

• McDonald’s CEO Undergoes Successful Surgery

  Charlie Bell, who was appointed McDonald’s President-CEO last month after the sudden death of CEO James Cantalupo, was diagnosed with colorectal cancer

• Tiffany Posts a 15% Revenue Increase

  Buoyed by a 23% hike in U.S. retail sales, Tiffany & Co. has realized a 15% increase in first-quarter revenue to $456.9 million. Net earnings rose by

• Briefs

  EURO RSCG WORLDWIDE: New York City, tapped ad agency veteran Ron Bess as regional director-North America, a new post. Bess will be based in Chicago and

• Cingular Text Message Voting on CBS’ Survivor

  Not only can Americans vote for their favorite American Idol with AT&T Wireless text messaging, they can now choose their favorite Survivor with Cingular

• Lipton Tea Hikes for Health

  Lipton Tea will strike a healthful positioning with a summer tour and sweepstakes. The Simple Steps campaign centers on hiking, with a mobile “virtual

• The N Holds VIP Screenings of Hit Show Degrassi

  Nighttime cable network The N will promote its teen series Degrassi: The Next Generation with VIP screenings of two new episodes in eight markets across