Marks & Spencer is attributing an 8.1 percent drop in sales on M&S.com and a 1.5 percent fall in like-for-like sales as the new .com "settling in" and a lack of promotional activity. The new Web site replaced a site that had been powered by Amazon. M&S Chief Executive Marc Bolland reported the new site was showing signs of improvement as it was commercially optimised. Retail analysts warned that this is the last quarter M&S can blame its website for poor performance.

Reuters is reporting that Nike will not renew its kit supply deal with Manchester United when it runs out in a year. Nike has been supplying the well-known English football club with kit since 2002 in a deal that was believed to have netted United around GBP38m in the 2012-13 season. Reuters cites reports within the sponsorship industry and the media that Manchester United is looking for GBP60m per year in a new deal. The development is likely to encourage Adidas to table a bid.

Television and radio advertising spend grew by 5 percent in the first quarter of the year to GBP4.4bn -- higher than expected -- according to new figures from the Advertising Association and online advertising consultancy, Warc. The figures suggest the rise in Q2 could hit 10.5 percent growth year-on-year as television enjoys a World Cup "windfall." "This latest ad spend data are another nudge up for the economy," Tim Lefroy, chief executive of the Advertising Association, said.

Rolls Royce is looking for a new social media agency. The process is only just beginning and is being handled by AAR. Hearst-owned iCrossing is the incumbent. Engine currently handles all other marketing work for the BMW-owned manufacturer, including digital, CRM, advertising, content and DM. It has overcome two repitches for the account -- last year against Atelier and in 2011 against Publicis Chemistry.

WPP's Sir Martin Sorrell is predicting that creative talent will dwindle in the West compared to growing markets in the East and South. Sorrell still believes the "centre of the world" is New York, but predicts that political and social power is spreading to Latin America, India, China, Russia, Africa, and the Middle East as well as Central and Eastern Europe. Not only will there be less new blood in the creative industries in the West due to falling birth rates, but graduates will increasingly expect to work for tech companies.

More than half of media buyers (56%) expect to increase video-on-demand spend by more than a quarter, according to Collective's 2014 Online Video Advertising Report. Currently, average campaigns have GBP56,000 budgets, but the majority of respondents predict this will increase. A majority (55%) also claim that the most important factor for growth is linking television and VOD more intelligently so television spend can be better choreographed with VOD campaigns.

The "Guardian" and "Observer" have narrowed annual losses to just over GBP30m -- to the end of March -- thanks to digital revenues growing by a quarter. Guardian News and Media (GNM) reported a 6.8 percent rise in revenue to GBP210.2m. Print revenues remained flat at GBP140m, while digital shot up by 24 percent to GBP69.5m. Digital revenues were aided by the papers' relaunched mobile apps receiving 840,000 users and exceeding paid-for premium version expectations.

Tablets will outsell PCs next year, according to Gartner. In 2015, the analysts predict, more than 320m tablets will be sold, compared to 316m PCs. This year, tablet sales will increase nearly 24 percent over 2013 -- which, Gartner points out, is a 'relative slowdown' compared to previous years' growth rates. This is due to mature markets turning away from small screen tablets and South-East Asia shifting toward "phablets" -- smartphones with large screens.

Land Rover has awarded The Brooklyn Brothers its global content marketing and social media brief. The global role also includes Range Rover. The agency won in a four-way pitch against Lida, We Are Social and Ogilvy PR. The process was handled by Oystercatchers. The Brooklyn Brothers already works with Range Rover in global PR and experiential and recently handled the launch of the Range Rover Evouqe.

British businesses estimate that negative online reviews, malicious comments and misjudged social media posts are costing, on average, GBP46,000 in lost sales. According to the Reputation Report, three in four of the five hundred businesses they surveyed cite receiving negative online reviews as their top business worry. One in three are now focused on tackling negativity as a higher priority than winning new followers online.