Transport for London (TfL) is working on a new design strategy that will see it emulate the environment at street level inside its underground stations to create a better passenger experience, the company's head of retail Stuart Anderson has revealed. Anderson said that one of the first stations to receive the treatment will be Piccadilly Circus, with updates to the station to appear within the next "three to four months". He said the new strategy was partly inspired by the Metro station at the Louvre in Paris.

A report published yesterday by The Boston Consulting Group says brands that have invested in paid search often fail to retarget consumers who have clicked on their digital ads, which results in missing data that shows a consumers' intent to purchase. Retargeting display ads from paid-search results can deliver a 40% reduction in cost per action (CPA) for marketers, and this data can be derived from existing campaigns that have already been paid for.

An auction to find a GBP4 million-a-year advertiser that wants to put its name in lights at Piccadilly Circus is in its final stage as the incumbent TDK prepares to switch off after 25 years. Land Securities, which owns the lights, is within a week of confirming the new brand, which will win a space on London's most coveted advertising landmark. There are five slots for advertisers and they rarely change hands.

Apple has stepped up marketing activity to push the new Apple Watch, but the strategy could backfire as rivals offering cheaper devices cash in on greater consumer awareness. According to Dean Johnson, senior vice president of creative innovation at Brandwidth. "Apple in the past always had a relatively small marketing budget compared to Samsung. With Apple Watch, there are real, solid advertising dollars behind this." That could mean Apple consumers become switched on to the idea of smartwatches, but decide to look for cheaper alternatives.

Johnnie Walker has maintained its position as the world's most valuable alcoholic drinks brand, while Glenfiddich is the fastest growing, according to Brand Finance's annual review of the world's 50 most valuable drinks brands. The dominance of whisky brands wasn't shared by white spirits, however, with Smirnoff and Bacardi both losing rank to their brown counterparts. The review shows that as of 1 January 2015, Johnnie Walker was valued at $5.6bn USD, up 13% from last year.

Crispin Porter+Bogusky has picked Lori Senecal, the president and chief executive of its owner, the MDC Partners Network, as its first global chief executive. Senecal will carry on as president and chief executive of MDC even after taking on the new global chief executive role at Crispin Porter+Bogusky. She will not continue as global executive chairman of KBS, another MDC agency, however. As chief executive of Crispin Porter+Bogusky, Senecal will oversee the agency's global growth and manage the coordination between its eight international offices.

Google's chief financial officer, Patrick Pichette, has announced his intention to retire, marking the latest change to the internet company's upper ranks. Google expects to find a replacement for Pichette within six months, the company said in a regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The effective date of Pichette's retirement has not been determined, but Google said he intends to assist in the search for a new CFO. In a Google+ post, Pichette said he plans to travel the world with his wife.

Technology giant Google is taking on gadget king Apple in store wars with the launch of its first ever high street shop. The internet company came off line to open the doors of the world's first Google Shop in the heart of central London -- just a few roads away from Apple's flagship store in Regent Street. Next week it plans to open stores in Fulham, West London and Thurrock, Essex in a bid to stop Apple's march on the tech world with more than 700 million iPhones sold since their launch in 2007.

Professional networking site LinkedIn has introduced its revamped Sponsored InMail tool, with more than 45 pilot brands testing the tool including Microsoft, Replicon, and the University of Southern California. The key change to the product is that now mail will only be sent to members when they are actively using LinkedIn. Sponsored InMail is a direct and personalized way for marketers to reach their audience in their LinkedIn inbox across desktop and mobile, the company said on a blog post announcing the re-launch.

"The Economist" released its Consolidated Media Report (CMR) today, which confirmed people are switching to digital. According to the report, there are now 111,250 paid digital editions of the "Economist" in North America. Worldwide, digital sales are up 77% with all regions seeing growth in at least double digits. The UK has seen the greatest growth, with digital edition sales soaring by 295.3 %. Asia followed behind, with 109.8%. The Middle East and Africa saw an 18% increase.