It is understood to have bought four of the 69 slots available during the game on 28 January. The overall Accenture campaign will involve more than 6,000 television commercial slots in eight different countries.”It’s a big buy, but we have a big challenge. We’re a $10bn company trying to reposition itself with a new name,” says James Murphy, global director of marketing.There remains the question, however, of whether adverts for a consultancy will sit well with a sports audience more used to being sold beer, Pepsi and Frito-Lay crisps.Mr Murphy admits the blood and sweat of the Super Bowl might not be ideal for a business-to-business company, but he remains optimistic: “We’re repositioning ourselves as the bridge from the old to the new economy.”Even that may be a little misjudged. Advertising during the Super Bowl has a creditable tradition of introducing new companies to the world.

Apple launched its Macintosh computer here in 1984, using only one advertising slot, and it was an immediate hit But last year, that tradition was brought to a sudden halt. Flushed with venture capital, 18 dot-com companies purchased the ultra-expensive airtime, but most have very little to show for it a year later.None of the listed internet companies that advertised in January 2000 has seen its share price rise since the game. Many, such as Kforce , Pets and Lifeminders , have suffered 70 per cent drops in their share price. Epidemic has since gone out of business.Apart from Accenture, the list of advertisers this year has a much more old-economy feel. Budweiser, Levi Strauss and General Motors are all signed up for at least one slot. But the price tag has grown too high for some of the Super Bowl’s usual sponsors Nike, Coca-Cola and McDonald’s have all dropped out.. Irvine Sellar, the larger-than-life property tycoon, is to lodge a planning application within two weeks to develop Europe’s tallest building in London.

Irvine Sellar, the larger-than-life property tycoon, is to lodge a planning application within two weeks to develop Europe’s tallest building in London.
Mr Sellar and Italian architect Renzo Piano are putting the finishing touches to the plans and are expected to present them to Southwark council before 15 January. The team is confident, given the council’s proactive approach to urban regeneration. If permission is granted, it will represent the last hurdle before the 1,280ft building known as London Bridge Tower can be developed.London’s Mayor, Ken Livingstone, has already welcomed the project because the 80-storey skyscraper will be located near public transport at London Bridge and will not produce extra traffic.The tower will include one million sq ft of office, residential, hotel, retail, restaurant and exhibition space. If all goes to plan, construction is due to start in spring 2002; it will first involve demolishing an office block currently occupied by PriceWaterhouseCoopers. The professional services company has been tipped as a future tenant in the tower. Mr Sellar hopes to complete the project by 2005 and estimates that it could be worth £750m.The move will seal Mr Sellar’s return to the big property development league. He has teamed up with two financial partners to build the tower, each taking a one-third stake in the project.