New Media Age articles from February 2008

New Media Age archives from February 2008

MySpace plans for half of traffic from mobile users.(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... MySpace MD Travis Katz has predicted that over half of the site's traffic will be from mobile within five years, as rival Facebook reports a boom year on the medium. The two social networks rolled out mobile sites for the first time last...

CNet joins booming green market.(smartplanet.com)(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... CNet, Britain's biggest pure-play digital publisher, is to diversify from its technology roots to cash in on the green market. The US-owned company is on the verge of launching its latest British website, smartplanet.com, which will...

SEMs raise fears for future of Panama.
February 7, 2008... UK search agencies have warned that a decision to kill off search ad platform Panama in the wake of Microsoft's proposed takeover of Yahoo! would be a mistake. SEMs and media specialists have expressed concern that, if the $44.6bn...

Bauer in major mobile push after Heat's tie-up with Living TV show.(Emap Advertising)(Bauer Advertising)(Heat World)(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Emap Advertising - renamed Bauer Advertising this week - has revealed what it claims is its most innovative mobile ad campaign. The work surrounds a tie-up between Heat World's mobile portal and the new series of America's Next Top Model,...

MTV overhauls mobile site to capitalise on live music events.(MTV Networks Europe)(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... MTV is preparing for a mobile push through an overhaul of its site combined with a focus on the platform's opportunities at live events. A new mobile site, developed by Momac, is to be made available on the O2 Active portal initially...

Buy.at insists jobs are safe after AOL deal.(America Online Inc.)(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Buy.at has insisted that it's "business as usual" following the affiliate network's acquisition by AOL earlier this week. Buy.at's CEO Kevin Cornils said that the deal - which makes the company a subsidiary of AOL-owned online ad network...

NME.com launches online shop to become major retail destination.(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... NME.com is launching a major online shop and download store. The IPC music magazine brand launched the first retail section of the site this week, with other digital content in the pipeline. IPC is keen to make the site stand on its...

Nick Jr creates online games to push pre-school programme.(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Nick Jr, the pre-school TV channel owned by Nickelodeon UK, has launched a series of online games to promote its new children's programme Yo Gabba Gabba!. The online games will be hosted on a campaign site that also includes character...

LearnDirect uses viral in Scottish push.(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... LearnDirect Scotland has launched an online campaign to raise awareness of the learning and funding options available to young Scots. The campaign is the first viral marketing campaign run by LearnDirect Scotland and is targeting Scots...

Autotrader revamps mobile site after increase in users.(Auto Trader Systems Ltd.)(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Autotrader is to overhaul its mobile site after seeing renewed interest from consumers. The car buyer's guide had stopped promoting its mobile site but still saw traffic grow by around 15% last year. It now returns around 50,000...

Gorilla Nation to storm UK online ad sales market with US site offer.(advertising)(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... One of north America's largest online sales houses, Gorilla Nation, is to launch in the UK. The company, which represents the likes of Playboy.com and Marvel .com, has laid out an aggressive growth strategy following an injection of VC...

Tiscali dismisses call for action over illegal content as impractical.(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Major ISP Tiscali has reacted angrily to the possibility that broadband providers could be forced by the Government to take greater responsibility for the distribution across their networks of copyright- infringing materials. Last...

Asda appoints Greenlight to lead focus on search for 2008.(ASDA Group Ltd.)(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Asda has appointed Greenlight to manage SEO for seven of its key verticals as the supermarket places renewed emphasis on search in 2008. Greenlight will manage natural search for Asda Travel, Asda Entertainment and Asda Electricals, as well...

Hello! prepares for mobile launch as it expands its digital presence.(newwoman.co.uk)(heatworld.co.uk)(hellomagazine.com)(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Hello! magazine is preparing to launch on mobile. The move comes as its Spanish publisher completes the revamp of the magazine's website and readies itself to push further into digital. Hello! bosses claim the site has 1m unique users a...

Lamba plans major increase in its digital marketing spend.(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Lamba, the manufacturer of Kam DJ equipment, is preparing for an overhaul of its website next month and a major increase of its digital marketing spend. The new Kam DJ site, developed with agency Net Direct, is to be promoted via a series...

Gaydar launches international push from Australia.(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Gaydar is to roll out an international online campaign. The spring push will seek to reinforce the Gaydar website as well as other Gaydar properties including its social network GaydarNation. The campaign broke in Australia to coincide...

Land Rover reveals social network plan as part of 2008 digital strategy.(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Land Rover has revealed digital plans for the Freelander 2 and Range Rover in 2008, including concepts for a Range Rover social network. The Ford-owned company is in discussions with its agencies Mindshare and Wunderman as to how it can...

Dogs Trust tasks Reading Room to overhaul website.(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... The Dogs Trust has appointed Reading Room to overhaul its website as the charity looks to create an online resource for dog owners. Reading Room will create a knowledge centre for dog owners, with extensive material related to its ongoing...

FutureBrand appoints head of digital for agency-wide role.(Steve Plimsoll)(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... FutureBrand, the Interpublic-owned brand strategy company, has appointed a head of digital as it looks to extend its strategic offering. The company, which specialises in brand consultancy, has hired Steve Plimsoll, formerly Digitas's VP...

VSO to unite volunteers through social network.(Voluntary Service Overseas)(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Global development organisation Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) is to launch a social network. The charity hopes to build stronger relationships with supporters and encourage the public to get involved. Some 33,000 people have...

Curzon Cinemas revamps site to add content and ticket sales.(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Curzon Cinemas has overhauled its web presence as the independent London cinema chain aims to use web as a key booking tool. The site includes exclusive content, such as director and actor interviews and videos, plus membership information...

Get set to watch online video take off in 2008.
February 7, 2008... YouTube has become so popular that sometimes it's easy to forget it's still a young and fast growing site. It quadruped its share of internet visits in 2007 and is now the eighth most visited site in the UK. Hitwise's entertainment category,...

Consumers make greater effort to be secure when shopping online.(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... The majority of consumers exercise caution when shopping online, reports payment firm CyberSource. More than eight out of ten (84%) online shoppers check to see if the site they're using is secure, while 82% only buy from reputable...

ANALYSIS: ISPs must regulate content or face legislation.(Internet service providers)
February 7, 2008... With content owners frustrated by the lack of co-operation from ISPs over the illegal sharing of content, the Government has finally stepped in to ensure a fair solution The Government finally snapped last week over the failure of ISPs...

COMMENT: Mobile is a natural fit for social networking.(Column)
February 7, 2008... The definition of addiction is being enslaved to a habit or practice, with those addicted needing regular fixes of their preferred habit. As the social networking addiction enslaves the world, it's unsurprising mobile is quickly becoming its...

Broadband reliability may not be ISPs' fault but they can help.(Internet service providers)(Survey)
February 7, 2008... Last June, Moneysupermarket.com undertook a survey of 43,000 users' broadband speeds with startling results. Only around 21% received the speeds they signed up for and 44% half the speed they expected. The survey has made waves in...

LETTER: Using technology to make search scalable.(Letter to the editor)
February 7, 2008... From Jonathan Beeston, client services director, Efficient Frontier Reading NMA articles on search over the past two weeks demonstrates what confusion there is in the market, leaving advertisers unsure how best to manage paid search...

LETTER: For true comparison look across media.(Letter to the editor)
February 7, 2008... From Sally Dickerson, global director, BrandScience I sympathise with Procter & Gamble's Emma Jenkins (NMA 17.01.08). You can tease people into buying BMW or Nike, but not soap powder or dog food. You also find prospective BMW customers...

LETTER: Operators need to shout about flat-rate.(Letter to the editor)
February 7, 2008... From Hugh Burrows, director of marketing and business development, Que Pasa Alex Farber's online column (nma.co.uk 31.01.08) was a good point well made about operators actually needing to market their flat-rate data tariffs. I've...

OINION: All consumers want is ease of shopping, so give it to them.
February 7, 2008... Nothing is more troubling in online sales than high rates of shopping cart abandonment. Studies have estimated that improving the user experience increases the number of buyers by 40% and order sizes by 10%. Yet many marketers struggle to...

AD WATCH: Lynx makes a successful pass at digital with Get In There.(Column)
February 7, 2008... It seems appropriate that there's a love theme to February's selection of ads and there are four suitors all eager to seduce me into naming them Campaign of the Month. I love food and I love men who cook, so the Gordon Ramsay Cookalong...

PROFILE - STEVE BOWLER: Careful driver.(Occupation overview)
February 7, 2008... Land Rover's marketing manager Steve Bowler is pleased with the moves into digital marketing he's instigated, but tells Will Cooper why it's wise not to drive it too fast In four years Land Rover has gone from basic online display ads to...

CREDIT CRUNCH: Revolving fortunes.
February 7, 2008... Online advertisers remain upbeat despite talk of an economic downturn, believing that the market should spend its way out of a recession. Matthew Wall reports The credit crunch is sending shockwaves through the UK economy. When even...

CREDIT CRUNCH: Online ads still key to BSkyB.(advertisements)(British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC)(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Satellite TV broadcaster BSkyB is the biggest online ad spender in the UK, committing #20m-#30m a year on search, display and affiliate marketing. Last month it appointed Aegis-owned Diffiniti to handle its online media, an account reportedly...

NMA MOBILE: Exciting times ahead.
February 7, 2008... Ahead of Mobile World Congress, Tim Hussain, head of mobile at AOL UK, looks at the trends that could make this the year the mobile internet delivers on its promise Executives from around the world will this week descend on Barcelona...

NMA MOBILE: Phone a friend.
February 7, 2008... Mobile social networking has been hyped for a year yet the big web players haven't made a concerted push. That might not be the case for long, finds Stuart Dredge You couldn't swing a cat in the Mobile Content Hall at 3GSM last year...

NMA MOBILE: Finding a place for location services.
February 7, 2008... One of the unique aspects of mobile social networking could be location, particularly with more handsets coming out with built-in global positioning. One mobile social network has already launched to take advantage of this. GyPSii has been in...

NMA MOBILE: Ten mobile social networks to watch.(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... 1 Itsmy itsmy.com Owned by German firm GoFresh, Itsmy has signed up more than 300,000 users in the UK since its launch in 2006. 2 MyGamma mygamma.com Owned by Singapore-based BuzzCity, which says MyGamma has delivered more than 5m...

NMA MOBILE: Easy money.
February 7, 2008... Mobile payments system Payforit is endorsed by UK operators and content owners like it, yet consumers seem to know nothing about it. Alex Farber discovers why The job of cleaning up the mobile payments industry has fallen squarely at...

NMA MOBILE: Implementing Payforit.(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Payforit was first announced in March 2006 to bring a trusted method of purchasing low-cost services via mobile, supported by all major UK operators. It became mandatory for content providers on the O2 network from 1 January 2008. In...

NMA MOBILE: No more meters.
February 7, 2008... Westminster Council's introduction of a pay-by-mobile scheme for parking has been a success and is opening up new revenue options, reports Pieter Preston Paying to park your car, particularly in major cities, is one area of everyday life...

NMA MOBILE: Look ahead to future while recognising what's here today.
February 7, 2008... It's time again for the Mobile World Congress. Operator club the GSM Association, which runs the event, has wisely done away with its futile attempt to rewrite the 3G acronym as 3GSM in order to fit into its GSM- centric worldview. ...

NMA MOBILE: Operators and agencies key to realising mobile advertising.
February 7, 2008... Mobile is the next big ad medium and has been for the past few years. This is the cynical reaction when mobile comes up in conversation with ad agency executives. There are many who maintain that the recent hype and activity in this sector...

MOVES: System Minds.(appointment of John White)(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Digital agency System Minds has taken on John White as business development manager. Prior to joining he was account manager at Upfront Business Development. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

MOVES: Fuse Digital.(appointments)(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Digital marketing agency Fuse Digital has expanded with four appointments. Account manager Tracy Robinson joins from Rocket Creative while project managers Rebecca Smith and Kelly McDonnell were previously at Macildowie Associates and Fish in a...

MOVES: JumpTap.(appointment of Paran Johar and Evan Krauss )(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Mobile search provider JumpTap has recruited Paran Johar from MRM Worldwide as chief marketing officer. Evan Krauss starts as global senior VP of ad sales and business development, moving from Cuts. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd....

MOVES: Blyk.(appointment of Dean Merrion )(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Free mobile operator Blyk has hired Dean Merrion as director of member sales and marketing. He was formerly head of direct sales, online and marketing at Virgin Mobile. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

MOVES: OMD.(appointment of Peter Magnani)(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Agency OMD has promoted Peter Magnani to the newly created role of director of international clients across EMEA. He was previously MD of the company. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

MOVES: CMW Interactive.(appointments)(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Agency CMW Interactive has expanded with the appointment of four members of staff. Clark McKay & Walpole's digital division has hired account director Matt Smith who joins from Next Digital, Liam Jeffries and Marnie Jervis have both joined as...

SITE INSPECTION: MTV UK.(Website overview)(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Mtv.co.uk Owner: MTV Networks Agency: in-house Content 22/25 Usability 18/25 Branding 22/25 Monetisation 22/25 Total 84/100 MTV has relaunched its UK website as a music and...

SITE INSPECTION: Enjoy England Culture 08.(Website overview)(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Culture-england.com Owner: VisitBritain Agency: Milton Bayer Content 20/25 Usability 20/25 Branding 23/25 Monetisation 19/25 Total 82/100 This year isn't just about...

SITE INSPECTION: Broadband Genie.(Website overview)(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Broadbandgenie.co.uk Owner: Genie Group Agency: in-house Content 15/25 Usability 15/25 Branding 15/25 Monetisation 20/25 Total 65/100 If you're trying to set...

FULFILMENT: mojolondon.co.uk.(Website overview)(Brief article)
February 7, 2008... Founded Site launched 1999 Selection Lifestyle products for home and office, such as Moleskine notebooks, V&A garden tools and Tom & Rosie jewellery. Navigation This site is fairly easy to get around and I found the...

O2 removes last barrier to unified marketing channel.(Brief article)
February 14, 2008... UK companies, including FMCGs and media giants, should soon be able to let consumers contact them via voice, SMS, MMS, IVR or video using just one five-digit number. In April O2 will launch voice-enabled shortcodes, adding voice...

AOL pushes Time Warner content.(Brief article)
February 14, 2008... AOL has formed a partnership with IPC for content from InStyle magazine to appear on the web portal. The deal is the first major use AOL has made of assets from other Time Warner-owned companies in the UK, and is part of MD Michael...

Universal takes Joost show onto TV and mobile.(Universal Music)(Brief article)
February 14, 2008... Universal Music is to extend its Joost IPTV channel Bugeye onto mobile and digital TV. It has applied for channel space on BSkyB and Virgin Media and is awaiting the broadcasters' response. Harriet Brand, senior VP of business...

Virgin Media personalises portal with local content.(Brief article)
February 14, 2008... Virgin Media has launched a local news, events and community channel, Your Local, on its web portal in a bid to provide users with relevant and personalised content. The channel features local news, weather and sports news, along with...

Starcom CEO calls on operator bosses to support mobile ads.(Iain Jacobs)(Brief article)
February 14, 2008... Iain Jacobs, EMEA CEO of Starcom, has called on mobile industry chiefs to make "radical changes" if they're to position mobile as a successful advertising platform. Speaking at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Jacobs said top-...

Arena BLM appoints its first head of SEO.(Paul Bennett)(Brief article)
February 14, 2008... Arena BLM, the newly created Havas agency, is ramping up its search capability throughout its five divisions with the appointment of Paul Bennett as its first head of SEO. Bennett, who previously founded digital marketing consultancy Net...

Adidas promotes brand heritage via international digital campaign.(Brief article)
February 14, 2008... Adidas has launched a major online international campaign to promote the heritage of the brand and its founder Adi Dassler. The 'Originals' campaign, by creative agency 180 Amsterdam, aims to take the brand back to its roots. It includes...

Skins maker opens online community.(Company Pictures)(Brief article)
February 14, 2008... The production company behind teenage drama Skins has spun the brand out into an online magazine and community. Skins Life will act as a portal for young people to connect to and get involved with a tour of Skins-style parties. The site,...

KFC uses digital to reposition brand around nutritional data.(Brief article)
February 14, 2008... Fast-food brand KFC has kicked off a six-month campaign that will use digital to reposition its brand. It has begun online, with a campaign site on iVillage. The women's site is running display ads that link to a site containing...

Nickelodeon launches Big Green Thing.(Brief article)
February 14, 2008... Nickelodeon UK is to launch a digital initiative to get children thinking about the environment. Nick's Big Green Thing will launch in two weeks with a campaign site within Nick.co.uk. The site will feature video-on-demand, games and...

Orange Ad Network regroups after majority of publisher sites pull out.(Brief article)
February 14, 2008... The Orange Ad Network is working on a new strategy following the loss of the majority of its third-party publisher sites. Allapprovedcars, Sidestep and TV Guide were signed up following the launch of Orange's ad network last February (NMA...

GCap trials ad packages on iPods to boost radio revenues.(GCap Media )(Brief article)
February 14, 2008... GCap Media is planning to launch personalised ads in a bid to boost revenues for its streamed radio stations on iPods and iPhones. The service will enable audiences to use the Apple devices to tune into GCap stations via musicradio.com,...

One in four find success on dating sites.(Brief article)
February 14, 2008... One in four dating site users has developed a long-term relationship with someone they met online, according to Which.co.uk. Match was the biggest brand in online dating, with 38% of online daters saying they had used the site in the past...

User Vision tool gauges emotional reaction to media.(Emotion Tool)(Brief article)
February 14, 2008... User experience consultancy User Vision is hoping to shake-up eye- tracking in the UK by launching a tool that claims to be able to measure emotional reactions to digital media. The Emotion Tool, created by Danish developer iMotions, works...

Time Out plans major digital push to become leading London portal.(Brief article)
February 14, 2008... Time Out London is to make a significant digital push as it plans to become the capital's number-one entertainment and leisure portal. The publisher has fully integrated its online and offline editorial teams as it attempts to change the...

ESPN brings UK site ad sales in-house.(Brief article)
February 14, 2008... Disney-owned ESPN has capped a period of aggressive digital growth by bringing its UK ad sales in-house. The broadcasting giant is building an internal digital sales team having stopped working with Sky, which previously sold its online...

Philalithes quits Miva to help Steak launch New York office.(Chrysi Philalithes joins Steak Media )(Brief article)
February 14, 2008... Chrysi Philalithes, VP of global marketing and communications at performance network Miva, is joining Steak Media to help launch its New York office. Philalithes joins as MD and will be responsible for driving the launch phase of the...

Revenue Science signs Scottish Widows.(Scottish Widows Investment Partnership)(Brief article)
February 14, 2008... Behavioural targeting specialist Revenue Science has signed up Scottish Widows Investment Partners (SWIP) as its first financial services sector client. According to Financial Services Authority (FSA) regulations, financial services...

Penguin uses webisodes on teen social network to push new novel.(Brief article)
February 14, 2008... Penguin is attempting to emulate the success of online dramas like Bebo's KateModern to promote the new novel by Melvin Burgess. Sara's Face will be pushed via the publishers' teenage social network Spinebreakers through a series of...

Netlog appoints Unanimis to build up European audience.(Brief article)
February 14, 2008... European social network Netlog has appointed sales house Unanimis to handle its UK and pan-European online ad sales. The Belgian-based network, which redesigned two weeks ago, is available in 13 languages and claims to have more than 32m...

Agency.com's Ed Hornby takes new role at OgilvyOne.(Brief article)
February 14, 2008... OgilvyOne London has appointed Ed Hornby as director of digital operations to coordinate its technology and digital productions. Hornby, who joins from Agency .com, takes on the new role within OgilvyOne and will report directly to MD...

WHSmith appoints OMG as it looks to grow web presence.(Brief article)
February 14, 2008... WHSmith has appointed OMG as its exclusive affiliate network following the relaunch of its website. The high street newsagent and stationery giant is looking to use the affiliate channel to drive visitors to its site as it looks to...

Bmycharity ties up with Runner's World.(Brief article)
February 14, 2008... Runner's World and Bmycharity have struck a deal that will see the online fundraising website promoted across the running magazine's online portal. Runners registering for the 600-plus running events promoted on runnersworld.co.uk will...

Further consumer loyalty sites in offline deals with Reward.(Brief article)
February 14, 2008... MutualPoints and Pigsback.com have become the latest loyalty sites to take their offerings offline. Both companies are working with cardless loyalty platform provider Reward to allow their members to earn cashback when buying at high...

Don't ignore the biggest group of mobile users.
February 14, 2008... There are now more than 66m mobile phone subscriptions in the UK. Yet networks and handset manufacturers still need to get to grips with what consumers want from their phones. Most new connections come from people switching networks...

Online overtakes print as top daily source of news for 15-44-year-olds.(Brief article)
February 14, 2008... Daily readership of online news is now greater among 15-44-year-olds than of daily newspapers, according to research commissioned by consultancy Spectrum Consulting. The report, based on a sample of 1,000 UK adults, revealed that 45% of...

ANALYSIS: Buy.at buyout signals big changes for affiliates.
February 14, 2008... AOL's acquisition of affiliate company Buy.at gives the media giant a stake in all aspects of online marketing. Is this the start of consolidation in the affiliate market? Last week AOL acquired affiliate marketing company Buy.at, its...

COMMENT: Embracing the need for effectiveness.(Column)
February 14, 2008... Procter & Gamble head of interactive marketing Emma Jenkins' comments in NMA a few weeks ago unleashed a flurry of debate. She was calling for digital agencies to focus much harder on delivering return on investment from campaigns rather...

21St century media takes fast fingers rather than strong arms.
February 14, 2008... A metaphor that we developed last year to explain the difficulties in achieving true 360-degree planning - and to point the way towards a comprehensive and inclusive framework for mapping all forms of consumer- brand encounter, from TV to...

LETTER: Best practice is needed to ensure email delivery.(Brief article)
February 14, 2008... From Mike Weston, MD EMEA, Silverpop The quarterly National Email Benchmarking Report is a useful tool for stirring debate but I often think the results hide more than they reveal. This quarter's report says that email delivery rates fell...

LETTER: Innovation takes action to become a reality.(Letter to the editor)
February 14, 2008... From Debi Bester, director of innovation, Proximity London It seems everyone is talking about innovation, including your own Michael Nutley (NMA 17.01.08). But for all the attention being given to innovation and how to foster it, there's...