New Media Age articles from December 2004

New Media Age archives from December 2004

ISPs gear up for slice of #300m public service publishing fund.(Internet Service Providers)
December 2, 2004... ISPs could soon become public service broadcasters alongside the BBC, with Tiscali the first to break cover and reveal ambitions to grab a slice of the proposed #300m fund for digital public service programming. The news comes in the...

Wanadoo and AOL revise ad strategy.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Wanadoo and AOL UK are taking big steps to make their portals more attractive to major advertisers, to catch up with market leaders MSN and Yahoo!. While the two ISPs have focused heavily on broadband strategies in recent years, Yahoo! and...

Ad effectiveness hinges on user mindset.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Online consumers are more receptive to different Internet ad formats depending on their frame of mind, according to new research conducted by Wanadoo and agency OMD Digital. The authors say the research will enable planner/buyers to...

AGENCIES MUST EDUCATE ON INTRUSIVE AD FORMATS.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... It's well known that the most intrusive online ad formats generate the best response rates, although some in the industry would argue that this is because many users end up clicking through by accident when they are in fact trying to close...

Sony Ericsson to roll out global push for z500 phone.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Sony Ericsson is planning to roll out a global online advertising push for its z500 phone, currently available in the US and scheduled for EMEA launch next year. The mobile handset maker will kick off a major campaign in the US this...

Vodafone Live! uses interactive TV ads to promote 3G service.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Vodafone has launched its first concerted iTV ad campaign, to promote the launch of Vodafone Live! 3G. The operator chose to use the iTV medium for the depth of information it provides to help explain the more extensive services offered...

O2 pushes Pay Monthly Online via iTV.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... O2 is pushing its Pay Monthly Online mobile subscription packs this month with two interactive ads, designed to highlight handset features including bluetooth, video functions and games. The first execution is a 'pairs' style game, where...

McDonald's launches biggest mobile campaign with Disney.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... McDonald's tomorrow (Friday) launches its biggest mobile marketing campaign to date in the UK. The campaign, run in association with Disney, is the first major mobile marketing campaign in the UK since the company's text and win push to...

Digital agencies suffer from poor client relations.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Digital agencies don't enjoy as strong relationships with clients as their above-the-line counterparts, according to Agency Assessments International's inaugural annual advertisers and agencies survey. The survey revealed that just 24%...

O2 announces agreement with DoCoMo for I-mode service.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Mobile content providers could be in line for a revenue boost after this week's announcement by O2 of an agreement with NTT DoCoMo to roll out the I-mode mobile Internet service. The DoCoMo I-mode business model gives content providers 91%...

Honda makes long-term pledge to iTV ads.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Honda has become the first major advertiser to make a long-term commitment to interactive TV with the announcement that from next year all its ads will have an interactive element. The Japanese car manufacturer is planning a shift in its...

Zed offers seasonal mobile advent calender.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Mobile content provider Zed has launched a mobile advent calendar, featuring bundled content, as a seasonal subscription service. The service lets users sign up for a Christmas-themed piece of mobile content each day up until 25 December. Each...

Associated New Media relaunches This is Money.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Associated New Media, the digital arm of Associated Newspapers, is hoping to drive advertising and commercial opportunities with the relaunch of its personal finance Web site, This is Money. The new-look site, which goes live at the end of this...

Land Rover promotes using DVD and CD-ROMs.(Digital Versatile Disks)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Car maker Land Rover is using a combination of DVD and CD-ROM technologies to promote its new Discovery 3. It's using DVD-EXTRA, software that provides a richer experience on a standard set-top DVD player and also DVD [plus], which allows the...

Mindmatics expands by opening office in US.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Mobile marketing agency Mindmatics is planning to expand its international operations by opening a US office in January next year. The US arm of the company, called Mindmatics LLC, will be based in New York. Mindmatics has had offices in both...

M-Corp to take on seven new staff next year.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Steady success and increasing spend from clients will see Dorset digital agency M-Corp hiring across the board next year. The agency is looking to take on seven new staff to handle increased demand from clients, following a successful year...

I-mate plans move into video mobile dramas.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Wireless design and development firm i-mate is planning to launch a standalone production company dedicated to generating content for Windows-enabled video mobiles. The company has today launched its first video drama in the form of Cjaq, a...

PlayStation unveils Web-only video commercial.(greenroom-digital.com)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... PlayStation has unveiled a new Web site that broadcasts video commercials and programming produced exclusively for the Web, but only for 10 minutes each day, as part of a pre-Christmas online branding push. The idea behind fourtwentyfive.tv is...

Sainsbury's rolls out mobile couponing with TV campaign.
December 2, 2004... Mobile couponing is finally heading towards the mainstream with a full roll-out launching throughout the Sainsbury's-owned convenience store chain Jacksons. Mobile couponing firm Light has announced the second phase of its rollout...

Pitcher & Piano to use SMS as part of loyalty drive.(Short Messaging Service)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... The Pitcher & Piano bar group is using SMS for the first time to increase customer loyalty over Christmas. The nationwide chain is using mobile marketing to entice customers to return regularly, with a 12-week three-phase festive push...

Jaildog creates interactive ad for Jupiter.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Jupiter Asset Management is using specialist digital agency Jaildog's video game skills to create an interactive online ad campaign. The ads show a motorbike courier weaving through traffic led by the user's mouse, and feature the...

TravelSupermarket signs up Tiscali as online partner.(TravelSupermarket.com)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... TravelSupermarket.com has signed up the first online partner to take all its search and comparison tools, and announced a #4m investment drive next year to back its expansion. The company has signed up Tiscali for its flights and car hire...

ISP groups disagree on forcing broadband change at Ofcom.(Internet Service Providers)(Office of Communications)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... A dispute has broken out among rival groups representing the country's ISPs over how to force change at Ofcom around the pricing of wholesale broadband. The recently-formed UK Internet Federation (UKIF) has cast doubt on the strategy of...

Pot Noodle to expand mobile marketing activity.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Unilever brand Pot Noodle is next year planning to expand its mobile marketing activity, following its debut mobile couponing promotion at the Max Power show. Visitors to last weekend's event run by the car magazine were encouraged to...

YooMedia to build on mobile after reverse takeover of DITG.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Mobile applications for TV will be one of the key focuses of the group formed by YooMedia's reverse takeover of Digital Interactive Television Group. The enlarged group, created at the end of last week, will focus on the development of...

Got-it-licked in #250,000 Web sales drive.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Personalised greeting card company Got-it-licked is launching a #250,000 online campaign to drive sales and discover marketing opportunities. The company is using keyword search engine activity, viral marketing and banner campaigns as...

Over 50% of UK online surfers use broadband.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Over 50% of the UK's 22.8m UK surfers are now accessing the Web via broadband connections. The 11.5m people represent a rise of 117% in the take up of broadband connections in the 12 months to October 2004, with the greatest concentration in...

Princess Royal Trust for Carers seeks volunteers.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... The Princess Royal Trust for Carers is looking for technical, creative and marketing professionals working in the new media and IT fields to help it reach more carers through its Web site. Volunteers would be required to attend a forum twice...

Footymad and 4thegame to promote each other.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Footymad.net and 4thegame.com are to promote each other across their network of sites, following a six-figure co-marketing deal. The agreement was signed between their parent companies Fast Web Media, which owns 4thegame, and Entertainment and...

Screen Pages adds three new clients to portfolio.(Healthy Direct, Bradshaw's Direct and QC Supplies)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Specialist e-commerce Web design agency Screen Pages has added three new client wins to its portfolio as it reports a year-on-year revenue increase of 50%. Screen Pages will work on e-tail solutions and Web projects for vitamin company...

Guava wins six new clients in six weeks.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Berkshire-based interactive agency Guava has won six new clients over the past six weeks. Call centre operator First Call, Web hosting company UKhost4u.co.uk and Handheld PCs, the mobile computing solutions provider, are among the brands that...

Great Hill Partners funds buyout of QXL.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... QXL is set to be taken private, after six years as a public company. The auction site, which has suffered from strong competition from eBay, is the subject of a takeover offer from a $1bn US private equity fund, Great Hill Partners. The...

The Royal Mint adds activedition to Web sites.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... The Royal Mint has added activedition, a content management solution developed by Dundee-based C(2) Software, to its corporate and public- facing Web sites. The Mint will use the system to create, manage and deliver content for the...

L'Oreal launches integrated digital Colour Pulse campaign.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... L'Oreal has launched one of its most innovative online campaigns, featuring e-vouchers, SMS entry and a reverse auction. The campaign utilises multiple mechanics, with a combination of revenue generation and data collection. The...

Hustler Hollywood signs Tamar to develop first UK Web site.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Hustler Hollywood, the new chain of sex toy shops, has signed up digital agency Tamar to develop its UK site and its first online marketing efforts. The chain is launching into a very competitive market; and one with an increasingly...

3M kicks off first branding drive for Scotch tape.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... 3M has kicked off the first online branding push for its Scotch tape brand in a bid to raise awareness in the run up to Christmas. The campaign, which runs until mid-December, aims to target women shoppers during the key period they are...

Domino's returns to Sky Active platform.(British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC. Sky Active, Domino's Pizza Group Ltd., contract)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Pizza delivery company Domino's is heading back onto the Sky Active platform after a six-month absence, as part of a multi-channel push of its delivery services. Domino's came off the platform in July after its contract ended with Sky...

Digital music sales could reach #1.64bn worldwide by 2010.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Global digital music sales will hit $3.1bn (#1.64bn) by 2010, but this won't have a devastating effect on the traditional CD market, as originally predicted. Informa Media Group's latest study, 'Music on the Internet', predicts that...

Over 65s are becoming an attractive Web target.
December 2, 2004... ANALYST SPEAK: Paul Milsom BMRB There are almost 2m Internet users aged 65 or above in Britain. The majority connect from home (95%), have been using the Web for over two years (82%) and go online at least once a week (91%). Around 8...

Beatnik releases mobile audio creation tool.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Music lovers are being offered a new development tool for creating and developing mobile audio content from audio software developer Beatnik. The company has released the latest version of its Mobile Sound Blaster, a PC-based audio content...

ICQ upgrades free and premium email services.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Instant messaging and communications company ICQ has launched an upgraded version of its free and premium email service. The free version of ICQmail offers virus scanning, spam filtering and instant email translation, as well as 6Mb of storage....

Blackberry subscribers double over 10 months.(wireless service user statistics)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... The number of people subscribing to the Blackberry wireless service has doubled in the space of ten months. 2m people are now using the wireless handsets, according to wireless solutions technology company Research In Motion. 1m people...

UK shoppers make up a quarter of Europe's Christmas spend.
December 2, 2004... UK shoppers will account for more than a quarter of the total spent online in Europe this Christmas. New research from Jupitermedia predicts that consumers will spend E2.2bn (#1.54bn) on Web transactions in November and December this year....

Smart Global focuses on SME sector with mobile offering.(small and medium size business)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Mobile services firm Smart Global is launching a service targeting the SME market through a tie up with one of the main UK mobile operators. The firm, which won't officially launch until next week, is in talks with the operator to take...

Logitech to launch IP video calling tool.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Logitech plans to capitalise on growth in Webcam use, with a new service that lets users make IP-based video calls. Logitech VideoCall for Broadband offers a simple software interface. Its back-end technology synchronises audio and video,...

Echovox launches European cross-network MMS chat tool.
December 2, 2004... Mobile applications and services provider Echovox has launched a new pan-European cross-network MMS Group Chat service which will enable mobile users to exchange pictures, sound files and video clips with multiple parties. The service,...

Ask adds site preview to search.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Ask Jeeves UK has launched a new 'binoculars' site preview tool, enabling users to view Web pages without having to leave the search results page. A binoculars icon will sit above every Web link on the search results page. When a user...

October an all-time UK high for P2P text.(Peer to peer computing)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... October saw the highest amount of P2P texts ever sent in the UK, according to the Mobile Data Association (MDA). It recorded 2.3bn SMS sent that month; up 27% on the total for October 2003. 74m messages were sent daily, said the MDA;...

Broadband prices falling across Europe.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... European broadband prices have fallen by almost a quarter since January, according to consultancy BroadGroup. Although the average monthly price for the three main speeds - 512Kbps, 1Mbps and 2Mbps - fell by 23%, the number of packages...

Transport for London to run Hypertag campaign.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Transport for London is putting mobile technology at the heart of a major cross-media push to promote safer travel at night in the Capital. The initiative will see posters at 25 London Tube stations fitted with interactive Hypertags that let...

European firms back Open Source Consortium.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... A coalition of over 60 European Open Source providers are uniting to form the Open Source Consortium, an independent reference point that aims to give an unbiased voice for all organisations deploying or contemplating Open Source. ...

Is independents' day over for agencies?(British Telecommunications PLC management )
December 2, 2004... With rumours of BT's move to a big agency group alarming the sector, the debate on the ongoing role of independents has been re-awakened. The story breaking this week that BT, easily one of the biggest advertisers in the land, plans to...

BT'S AGENCY DILEMMA.(British Telecommunications PLC)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... BT has denied it has any intention to buy its services through one of the big agency groups, (WPP, Omnicom, Interpublic, Havas, Aegis, and Publicis). A spokesman said, "There isn't any truth in this." But BT, whose wide-reaching range of...

COMMENT: Online advertisers must get into the customer mindset.(report)
December 2, 2004... How do you consume online advertising? What frame of mind are you in when you look at the ads on screen? This isn't as simple a question as it might at first appear. The earliest assumptions were that people would respond to online ads...

There are hard lessons in store for Internet publishers.(a case between Dow Jones and Company Inc., Joseph Gutnick)
December 2, 2004... DE FREITAS ON THE LAW The grave risks and potential financial consequences of publishing material on the Web have recently been brought home by the settlement of the Gutnick litigation in Australia. Joseph Gutnick sued Dow Jones in the...

Letter: An industry trade body won't be easy to create.(Letter to the Editor)
December 2, 2004... Regarding Margaret Manning's article "Will An Internet Trade Body Give The Industry Better Recognition?" (NMA 18.11.04), I'd support her call for professional accreditation for Internet practitioners. There's a question, though, of who's...

Letter: Make every sale count - but only once.(Letter to the Editor)
December 2, 2004... Alas! With performance-based marketing, where you only pay a commission on actual sales, it seemed we'd finally found the ideal ROI-focused means of customer acquisition. Things were going fine until it began to dawn us that we were paying...

OPINION: Congratulate mobile operator innovation, don't criticise it.(Vodafone Group PLC promote the mobile data services)
December 2, 2004... In September, Vodafone Target, the operator's programme to promote the adoption of mobile data services, announced its plan to embrace traditional ad agencies (NMA 09.09.04). This move should be welcomed, as the operator will lend resources,...

PROFILE - JEREMY NEWTON: Supporting role.(Biography)
December 2, 2004... Jeremy Newton has ambitions to change the world by investing lottery money in some of the most innovative and creative people in the UK. Nic Howell finds out why Does Jeremy Newton have one of the best jobs in the country? As chief...

STRATEGIC PLAY - POT NOODLE: New media goes to pot.
December 2, 2004... Targeting its audience with an irreverent approach to promotion, snack brand Pot Noodle is focusing its efforts on online marketing, reports Sean Hargrave You can't help but notice Pot Noodle's cheeky, irreverent stance as it heads a...

BBC brings interactive into the heart of news reporting.(British Broadcasting Corp.)
December 2, 2004... Steve Scott is MD of iTV agency Mindhouse In today's `attention economy', time is money and viewers seem to have less and less of it. Of all current linear broadcast genres, news has embraced this fact most visibly, providing...

Ads aren't providing enough incentive to actually interact.
December 2, 2004... Jon Dobinson is executive creative director of TMP Worldwide and director of Phosphorus, specialist in creative iTV for advertising If you work as a creative in any field of advertising, there's really only one test of other people's work...

INTERACTIVE TV: Dead set.(forecast)
December 2, 2004... Transmitting TV over the Internet offers both opportunities and risks for broadcasters and advertisers, says Dominic Dudley, not least unregulated programming TV companies might never again have to warn viewers about levels of nudity or...

Moves: Profero.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Digital marketing agency Profero has appointed Patrick Collister to its board of directors. He was previously executive creative director at EHSBrann, and prior to that executive creative director and vice chairman of Ogilvy & Mather....

Moves: Yahoo! UK & Ireland.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Yahoo! UK & Ireland has recruited Salim S Mitha as director of search, while Karl Gregory becomes head of marketing for search. Mitha was previously an investment banker at Merrill Lynch in the Telecoms, Media & Technology division. Gregory...

Moves: 24/7 Real Media.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... 24/7 Real Media, the interactive marketing and technology company, has taken on David Ratcliffe as sales development director of its newly formed digital TV division. He will focus on driving ad sales and business development on the NTL and...

Moves: AdLink.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... David Bostock has been appointed group sales director at AdLink, the European digital media company. He will be responsible for sales within AdLink, Response Republic, the direct marketing arm of the business, and Composite, an email...

Moves: Realise.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Ebusiness solutions company Realise has appointed Tony Murphy as sales director. He has more than 20 years' experience in technology sales, having been a director of specialist consultancy Oracle. He will lead a sales team of five and be...

Moves: Soflow.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Online business network Soflow has appointed uDate.com's former COO Martin Clifford as chief executive. UDate founder Mel Morris has taken the post of non-executive chairman. UDate.com was sold to IAC Corp last year for $150m (#79m). ...

Moves: E3 Media.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Bristol-based independent digital agency E3 Media has hired Zoe Bartels, former head of new media and digital development at Virgin Megastores, as head of retail accounts. At E3 she will be responsible for developing online strategies for new...

Moves: Randommedia.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Randommedia, the digital marketing agency, has appointed three new staff. Cassandra Murray joins as account executive, Tom Brady joins as account manager, while Darren Simpson becomes senior designer. All three will work on the agency's BBC and...

SITE INSPECTION: Wallis Fashion.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Wallis Fashion wallis-fashion.com Owner: Arcadia Group Agency: Zoom Content 20/25 Usability 15/25 Branding 17/25 Monetisation 23/25 Total 75/100 High street clothing chain Wallis's first...

SITE INSPECTION: Great Rail Journeys.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Great Rail Journeys greatrail.com Owner: Great Rail Journeys Agency: Nucleus Content 19/25 Usability 20/25 Branding 19/25 Monetisation 15/25 Total 73/100 The great age of steam is over and...

SITE INSPECTION: Shoewawa.(shoewawa.com)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Shoewawa shoewawa.com Owner: Shiny Media Agency: In-house Content 15/25 Usability 17/25 Branding 15/25 Monetisation 21/25 Total 68/100 If you're a shoe freak you'll love this site. Edited by...

FULFILMENT: lipinternational.com.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... lipinternational.com Site Founded Company founded in 1984; Web site launched in 1999 Selection A range of greetings cards and gifts, including stationary and bags from ranges such as Bikini and Porcelina. Technical...

BBC proposals for digital future give major role to New Media.(British Broadcasting Corp.)
December 9, 2004... BBC director general Mark Thompson has put new media at the heart of his wide-ranging vision to transform the Corporation into the digital broadcaster of tomorrow. Thompson's ambitious plans will see BBC New Media moved to Manchester in...

Sun cuts site content to rescue paper.(Brief Article)
December 9, 2004... The Sun is slashing its online content just months after reports claimed the success of its Web site was contributing to falling print circulation. As NMA went to press it emerged that a range of content is being removed from Sun Online...

ITV and Channel 4 oppose Ofcom PSP plan.(public service publisher)(Brief Article)
December 9, 2004... ITV and Channel 4 have both come out against Ofcom's proposals for a public service publisher. They claim that any proposed funds should be used to strengthen them before any new body is set up. The uphill task facing Ofcom with its PSP...

CHANNEL 4'S PLANS FOR 2005.(Channel 4 Television Co.)(Brief Article)
December 9, 2004... * Budget for interactive projects will be doubled. * Multi-platform push to support voting in the General Election, expected in May. * Broadband documentary channel to launch in the spring, with archive and new programming. *...

Lastminute targets panic shoppers with ad campaign.(Brief Article)
December 9, 2004... Lastminute.com is aiming to catch panic shoppers in the final two weeks before Christmas with a time-specific online marketing push. The online retailer will run a bespoke takeover of the home page of Capital FM.com as well as Tangozebra...

O2 figures indicate a success for mobile video over GPRS.(General Packet Radio Service)(Brief Article)
December 9, 2004... Operators and content providers are continuing to focus on video over GPRS networks, despite the current flurry of announced 3G launches. O2 has revealed customer figures from the launch of its GPRS mobile video service, showing that...

Warner uses expanding video for DVD ad.(digital video recorders advertising, Warner Bros Home Entertainment)(Brief Article)
December 9, 2004... Warner Bros Home Entertainment is pushing its Matrix Ultimate Collection DVD boxset via groundbreaking 'expanding video screen' ad technology. The online ad features a video trailer which expands to double size as users roll over it with...

TV advertisers failing to exploit benefits of interaction via SMS.(Short Messaging Service)(Brief Article)
December 9, 2004... The ad industry continues to spurn mobile interactivity in TV spots, despite its proven success as a response mechanic on other media. Although SMS interactivity has seen huge take-up with media such as print, radio and even outdoor,...

GMTV to make a regular feature of MMS interactivity.(Brief Article)
December 9, 2004... Breakfast broadcaster GMTV has revealed plans to integrate in-bound MMS interactivity as a regular feature of its shows following successful trials. Last week the broadcaster saw good take-up of a promotion tying in with its 'Wonderwear...