New Media Age articles from June 2008

New Media Age archives from June 2008

M&S sizes up overseas markets to aid web sales.(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... Marks & Spencer is looking into launching its ecommerce proposition overseas to boost web sales. The retailer, which last month announced record-breaking profits of over #1bn, is assessing potential sales volumes and competitors in a host...

Orange runs virtual balloon race.(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... Orange is kicking off one of its most innovative online marketing campaigns to date. A virtual race will see users follow personalised balloons across hundreds of sites in a seven-day bid to win a #20,000 VIP trip to Ibiza. The...

CondeNet to roll out digital-only brands in UK.(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... CondeNet International is set to launch two pure-play digital brands to sit above its existing magazine websites in the UK. The digital division of Conde Nast International, which oversees all countries outside the UK, will soon launch...

Turner set to offer branded games on BT's IPTV platform.(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... Turner Broadcasting is to launch branded interactive games featuring cartoon characters on BT Vision's IPTV platform. The paid-for games will be based around Turner's popular kids programmes from its Cartoon Network and Boomerang channels,...

Legal & General searches for agency to overhaul websites.(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... Insurance firm Legal & General is seeking a digital agency as it looks to revamp its online presence. Legal & General is in talks with four agencies, including incumbent Fortune Cookie, to develop its strategy and redesign its websites....

Cartier becomes first luxury brand to set up community on MySpace.(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... French jeweller Cartier is rolling out a major online campaign in support of its Love brand and charity work, including the first work by a luxury brand on MySpace. The Love brand is used to encompass a collection of jewellery and to...

Sainsbury's Bank talks to agencies as it rethinks online.(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... Sainsbury's Bank is in talks with digital agencies for a strategic review of its online presence. The financial services brand, which is a joint venture between J Sainsbury and Halifax Bank of Scotland, has asked agencies to pitch ideas...

Google adds local business ads to Mobile Maps service.(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... Google has begun a fresh drive into mobile advertising through the beta launch of local business ads into its Maps application. The service means that consumers who use the latest version of Google Mobile Maps are shown sponsored links to...

BB8 contestants to endorse Hello Kitty.(Big Brother)(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... Cult Japanese brand Hello Kitty has signed up last year's Big Brother twins to endorse its online community in the UK over the course of this year's show. Amanda and Sam, who came second in last year's Big Brother, will act as brand...

Channel 4 plans major mobile site revamp to coincide with BB launch.(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... Channel 4 is preparing a major overhaul of its mobile site to support the latest series of Big Brother. The broadcaster is keen to use clips of the reality TV series to drive traffic to the site. It will also add interactive...

Shortlist overhauls website as it prepares its first digital push.(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... Free men's magazine Shortlist has overhauled its website ahead of its first significant digital push since it launched last autumn. The magazine - which has an ABC of nearly 500,000 and is distributed at stations and transport hubs on a...

Bluetooth added to knife-crime campaign.(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... Bluetooth is being incorporated into the Home Office's #3m marketing campaign against knife crime. The government department is warning teenagers via their mobile phones about the dangers of carrying knives. It has prepared a series of...

Helpline charity launches site for young filmmakers.(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... Helpline charity Get Connected is launching a site for young people to showcase their acting, writing and filmmaking skills. The Nobody's Perfect site will go live in July to encourage those under 25 to upload films, music and scripts...

Dorling Kindersley rolls out local sites for customised travel guides.(TravelDK)(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... Book publisher Dorling Kindersley is to roll out its travel site TravelDK globally following a successful UK launch at the beginning of last year. The site, which allows users to customise their online travel guides, has been taken on by...

RFU uses digital to encourage people to keep playing.(Rugby Football Union)(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... The Rugby Football Union (RFU) has launched a digital push as part of its campaign to encourage people to continue playing rugby. 'Play on' aims to build on the success of the RFU's previous 'Go play rugby' campaign, which drew over 9,500...

Warner Brothers plans online loyalty scheme to drive sales.(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... Warner Brothers is to develop an online loyalty scheme and collectors' club to reward loyal customers who purchase its products. The move is part of a broader strategy to raise awareness and promote the collectible nature of the titles...

Mansized looks to double user numbers.(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... Men's lifestyle site Mansized has appointed W00t!media to handle its exclusive online ad sales as it aims to double its visitor figures. The ad sales house will manage the sales for standard ad formats, including banners and MPUs, as well...

Lloyds TSB relaunches global site for Commercial Finance division.(Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance)(Netstep)(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... Lloyds TSB is to relaunch its global sites for its Commercial Finance arm ahead of several digital campaigns. A roster of sites for the UK, France, Germany, Ireland, Spain and the US will go live throughout June in an attempt to build the...

Tourism Australia extends its sponsorship of Gap Year show.(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... Tourism Australia is extending its sponsorship of Bebo's online reality show The Gap Year with a branded community on the network. The community features information on working holiday visas and 'motivational content', such as videos and...

King of Shaves goes transactional in UK.(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... King of Shaves has launched an etail site in the UK for the first time. The site has been built by digital agency Parasbar and was planned to coincide with the launch of King of Shaves' first razor. It will sell the entire British...

Etv Media takes on Lightmaker MD to head online production division.(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... Etv Media Group, the digital media company responsible for Nuts TV, has launched an integrated digital agency, Etv Online. The agency will sit within Etv Media Group and will be headed by Lightmaker UK MD Andy Rogers. He will assume the...

Auto Trader secures mobile ad campaigns from major brands.(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... Auto Trader has secured mobile ad campaigns from Auto Glass, BMW, ITV and O2 in its first two months of business. The mobile site achieved around 400,000 page impressions in May, with 260,000 ads served generating a 2% click-through rate,...

NMA calls for innovation from ad industry.
June 5, 2008... NMA has issued a call for entries for innovators in online advertising who are prepared to put themselves up for public scrutiny. At the Online Marketing & Media 08 show this month, NMA will be running a Dragons' Den-style session in...

Terence Higgins drives drug safety via digital.(Terence Higgins Trust )(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... Terence Higgins Trust (THT) has launched a site to educate gay men about the dangers of using recreational drugs, as a focal point for a wider campaign. The HIV and sexual health charity, which is partly funded by the Department of Health,...

The Sun trials interactive ads to push take-up of mobile site.(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... The Sun is trialling new methods of online marketing to drive users to its mobile site. The newspaper has begun a four-week trial of interactive banners that direct users to enter their phone number to receive an SMS with a direct link...

Online changes how holidaymakers behave.
June 5, 2008... In the UK, 60% of adults are now online and most use the internet to help make travel purchase decisions. The phenomenal rise of online travel has made many people think and behave differently about the way they travel. Continental's 2008...

Sports fans more likely to embrace web activities than regular surfers.(Survey)(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... Sports fans are heavy internet users and are more likely to use a range of web services than the average online surfer, the latest report by the European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA) has found. The trade body's 'Sport and...

BlackBerry top mobile device for getting news.(Survey)(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... Data gathered from mobile media publishers like News International, Turner Broadcasting and Sky has shown that 56% of all news sites are accessed via BlackBerries. The data was taken from a survey of 50m mobile internet pages by research...

ANALYSIS: George seeks to be top name in clothing etail.
June 5, 2008... With Asda declaring its bid to lead value-clothing etail, why has it taken clothing brands so long to get online and what are the issues faced by fashion retailers? Asda has revealed plans to become the leading value-clothing retailer...

COMMENT: Don't just leave it to the specialists.
June 5, 2008... To outsource or not to outsource, that is the question? Whether to become a one-stop shop or ape the successful existing production structure of adland? On the one hand we have moves by creative agencies like AKQA to launch in-house film...

For creative success push clients to the absolute limit.
June 5, 2008... Returning to the world of advertising after a short break, I'm reminded of the fundamental truth of our business. To paraphrase the advice given to Bill Clinton during the 1992 Presidential Campaign: it's the work, stupid. Great work...

LETTER: Don't deny comparison sites their due.(Letter to the editor)
June 5, 2008... From James Scott, MD, ChannelAdvisor UK Retailers are correct to query the value of price-comparison sites (NMA 15.05.08), but to withdraw from the channel without fully understanding its true influence is short-sighted. Our...

LETTER: No law against leaving competitors alone.(Letter to the editor)
June 5, 2008... From Adam Russell, media account manager, LBi You say brands that enter into gentlemen's agreements not to bid on each other's trademarks under the new Google AdWords regime run the risk of falling foul of the 1998 Competition Act (NMA...

LETTER: Giving mobile ads a certain presence.(Letter to the editor)
June 5, 2008... From Allen Scott, general manager, NeuStar NGM Your feature on mobile advertising (NMA Mobile 08.05.08) raised some interesting questions regarding its future. There certainly is a struggle between capitalising on this new direct line to...

AD WATCH: Adidas football stories keep you coming back for more.
June 5, 2008... Being full of the joys of summer, I'm going to start and end this month's Ad Watch on a creative high. To kick off my critique of a mixed bag is a spritely little campaign for Opodo. To introduce the travel company's five new easy-to-use...

Campaign of the Month: June 2008.
June 5, 2008... Brief: To create digitally driven campaign that helps footballers everywhere to get closer to their footballing dreams Creative agency: 180 Amsterdam Executive creative directors: Richard Bullock, Andy Fackrell Art director: Tim...

PROFILE - STEFANO MARUZZI: World vision.(Biography)
June 5, 2008... With the weight of CondeNet on his shoulders, international president Stefano Maruzzi tells Ed Dorrell of his plans to implement a centralised global strategy The heirs to the Conde Nast fortune, the Newhouses, have a lot riding on...

IN-HOUSE VIDEO: Creative control.
June 5, 2008... With the rise of online video agencies are launching in-house broadcast divisions. Are they anticipating a new market or treading on toes? Nicola Smith reports Last month, digital agency AKQA became the latest in a rash of creative...

DIGITAL THINKERS: Through the wall.(Interview)
June 5, 2008... Ogilvy China's Kaiser Kuo talks to Nic Howell about the Chinese attitude to digital content and how the internet isn't as closed off there as some Westerners think Kaiser Kuo is group director of digital strategy for Ogilvy China. He...

NMA TV: Dish drive.
June 5, 2008... Freesat promises to do for digital satellite TV what Freeview has done for terrestrial. Adrian Pennington looks closer Freesat, the free digital satellite TV platform, launched last month with an offer that looks set to compete head-on...

NMA TV: Multi-channel options.(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... Freesat brings the number of flat-fee UK multi-channel options to three: Freesat, Freeview and Freesat from Sky. The cheapest of these is Freeview. For as little as #22 users can get a box that works with a normal aerial, there's no...

NMA TV: Online reality show Gap Year takes a safe route to web TV.
June 5, 2008... Endemol and Bebo have again collaborated to produce a follow-up to their online content success stories KateModern and Sophia's Dairy. The result is The Gap Year, which promises dynamic content of a reality- based nature in exotic locations,...

NMA TV: Digital advertising encourages brands to cut out ad agencies.
June 5, 2008... TV advertising online is rapidly becoming a marketer's best friend and decoupling is a great way to nurture this blossoming union. TV audiences are dwindling while new tools like the BBC iPlayer are seeing outstanding success. More...

NMA TV: TV data.
June 5, 2008... The online video sector is dominated by YouTube, but with BBC iPlayer rising fast in just six months, will this last? Nic Howell examines latest figures from Nielsen According to latest figures from Nielsen Online, online video's...

MOVES: Media Corporation.(Nigel Brown )(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... Internet media company Media Corporation has hired Nigel Brown as editor of Sport.co.uk. He was previously features writer on men's lifestyle and gadget magazine T3. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

MOVES: Dailymotion.(Gareth Walton)(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... Video-sharing site Dailymotion has taken on Gareth Walton as commercial director. He previously worked with MD Kate Burns at Google for five years and before that he was at AltaVista, where he managed advertising across a range of formats in...

MOVES: Graphico.(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... Creative agency Graphico has promoted Michelle Mitchell to client services director. She has been with Graphico for five years, most recently in the role of group account director. Also, Alastair Macmichael, previously an account director...

MOVES: Sponge.(Matt Overall )(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... Mobile marketing agency Sponge has appointed Matt Overall as chief technical officer. He will be responsible for all technical strategy and implementation of projects across Sponge's client base of agencies, brands and media groups. Prior to...

MOVES: Folk.(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... Creative agency Folk has made three appointments to its team. Head of interactive Greg Conn comes from Inter Medialab while middleweight designer Simon Ward and junior designer Lionel Cull join from N1 Creative and London University of Art...

MOVES: Affinity New Media.(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... Web design agency Affinity New Media has expanded its development teams and appointed three new staff members. Ian Hutson has been appointed as business development manager, having previously worked for European office stationery wholesaler...

SITE INSPECTION: Honda Accord.(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... Honda.co.uk/accord Owner Honda Agency Collective Content 20/25 Usability 22/25 Branding 23/25 Monetisation 16/25 Total 81/100 Honda continues to attract attention with its big,...

SITE INSPECTION: OpenSkies.(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... Flyopenskies.com Owner British Airways Agency Web Liquid Content 14/25 Usability 17/25 Branding 20/25 Monetisation 20/25 Total 71/100 What does 'interline of baggage' mean?...

SITE INSPECTION: Travelodge.(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... Travelodge.co.uk Owner Travelodge Agency TwentySix London, Sense Internet Content 19/25 Usability 18/25 Branding 17/25 Monetisation 16/25 Total 70/100 This budget hotel...

FULFILMENT: wineware.co.uk.(Website overview)(Brief article)
June 5, 2008... Founded: 2000 Selection The site is dedicated to wine glasses, racks, books and other accessories for storing and serving wine. It claims to be the UK's largest supplier of crystal stemware by Riedel, the glass brand valued by wine...

Coke & MSN in footie sticker deal.(Brief article)
June 12, 2008... Coca-Cola has signed a deal with sticker-book publisher Panini and MSN for a major campaign, including social media, around a European-wide online sticker book timed to coincide with the European Championships. The online Euro 2008 Album...

Vice looks to bring digital agency Virtue to London.(Brief article)
June 12, 2008... Virtue Worldwide, the digital communications agency owned by media brand Vice, is considering opening a London office. Spencer Baim, founder of Virtue, was in the capital last week to explore opportunities for the New York-based business,...

Yahoo! to boost UK mobile service via US developments.(Brief article)
June 12, 2008... Yahoo! is bidding to drive traffic to its mobile service with the launch of voice-enabled search. Yahoo! OneSearch Voice is set to be launched in the UK imminently, while an overhaul of the site's mobile portal is also being planned. ...

OnlineMarketing&MediaO8 show addition.
June 12, 2008... The latest addition to the Online Marketing&Media08 conference programme is a session covering the way the NSPCC used social media in its 'Don't hide it' campaign last year. The show, which takes place at London's Business Design Centre on...

Sony Ericsson beefs up digital as it takes on Nokia in music arena.(Brief article)
June 12, 2008... Sony Ericsson is preparing for a three-pronged digital assault to improve its campaign sites, interactivity and entertainment services. Key properties with which Sony Ericsson is associated, including music brands Ibiza Rocks and UBattle,...

O2 to capitalise on exclusive access to England rugby team.(Brief article)
June 12, 2008... O2 is preparing to capitalise on its England Rugby sponsorship by sending fans messages from players on tour in New Zealand this summer. Subscribers to the free O2 Inside Line service will receive a voicemail on their phones from one of...

Muller uses online branding to show products are made in UK.(Brief article)
June 12, 2008... Muller is to use online to develop brand messages about the origins of its products. The German dairy brand has launched a UK site ahead of a TV ad campaign to get across its '90/30' message, which tells consumers that 90% of its...

Xbox first to sponsor new Kontraband site.(Brief article)
June 12, 2008... Xbox is the first sponsor of relaunched viral site Kontraband. The new site is designed to offer users a more personalised service and advertisers more opportunities. Claiming to have more than 10m users a month worldwide, the site is...

Co-operative Financial Services uses web to drive ethical banking.(Brief article)
June 12, 2008... Co-operative Financial Services (CFS) has launched a major online branding campaign as it pushes its ethical banking message. It's also using online to drive awareness of the Co-operative Insurance Society's brand name change to The...

MoS makes Ibiza season core to online broadcasting plans.(Brief article)
June 12, 2008... Club brand Ministry of Sound (MoS) has unveiled plans to put Web 2.0 at the core of this year's Ibiza season. It will embrace digital content, such as mobile, blogging and internet TV, in order to create a closer relationship with dance...

The Perfume Shop plans website overhaul.(Brief article)
June 12, 2008... Discount fragrance retailer The Perfume Shop is in talks with digital agencies as it plans to redevelop its website. Jody Stapleton, ecommerce manager at The Perfume Shop, confirmed the pitch and said that the site had recently undergone...

Hasgrove eyes growth as it unites agency buys under Amaze brand.(Brief article)
June 12, 2008... European marketing group Hasgrove is to combine the recently acquired digital agencies Pavilion and Amaze with Connectpoint under the Amaze brand. The merger sees the marketing and technology company become the biggest in the North...

RBS relaunches global careers site with usability focus.(Royal Bank of Scotland PLC)(Brief article)
June 12, 2008... Royal Bank of Scotland is to relaunch its global careers site following research into user behaviour. It's believed the site will go out across 28 countries, allowing users to learn about career opportunities, graduate schemes and...

Random House uses online to launch children's comic book.(Brief article)
June 12, 2008... Random House is using online as a platform to launch its first premium comic book for children. The DFC will only be available via online subscriptions. Buyers must register online to be sent the full-colour comic by post. The weekly...

P&O Cruises targets young in site revamp.(Brief article)
June 12, 2008... P&O Cruises has overhauled its website and launched an aggressive search campaign as it looks to attract a younger clientele. The British cruise company, whose ships visit 235 destinations in 82 countries, is using online in order to...

Kelkoo drives user loyalty with voucher and cashback offers.(Brief article)
June 12, 2008... Kelkoo is to integrate voucher codes and cashback offers as the shopping comparison site looks to encourage user loyalty. The Yahoo!-owned company will this week launch vouchers at merchant and category levels, with roll-out across...

Dailymotion signs documentary deal.(Brief article)
June 12, 2008... Video sharing site Dailymotion has signed an exclusive content deal for What About Me?, the follow-up to Academy Award-nominated documentary and album 1 Giant Leap, ahead of its DVD release. Dailymotion is hosting clips, trailers and...

War Child plans social network to promote charity among schoolkids.(Brief article)
June 12, 2008... Charity War Child is to launch a social network in a bid to raise awareness among schoolchildren. The charity, which works with local organisations to help children affected by war, aims for the social network to act as a vehicle for...

Old Speckled Hen goes online to counter traditional branding.(Brief article)
June 12, 2008... Beer brand Old Speckled Hen is to use online to reposition its brand as being non-traditional. The brand will launch a site this week based on its 'Not so traditional English ale' positioning. The site will run alongside an...

City & Guilds picks Freestyle for new site.(Brief article)
June 12, 2008... Vocational awards body City & Guilds is to overhaul its web presence following the appointment of Freestyle Interactive as its retained digital agency. The agency competed in a six-way pitch to win the three-year account. Rachana...

United Biscuits invests in online for Go Ahead!(Brief article)
June 12, 2008... United Biscuits is to use online to push the expansion of its Go Ahead! healthy eating brand. The company has unveiled a new-look Go Ahead! website, designed by Inbox, to increase brand engagement and drive take-up of new products. Go...

Met Office to refresh site after climate change boosts traffic.(Brief article)
June 12, 2008... Met Office, the weather and environmental service, is responding to growing interest in its site as public concern about climate change rises. The office has appointed 23red West, the Bristol arm of marketing agency 23red, to work on...

Introducing mobile for added branding impact.
June 12, 2008... EMarketer estimates this year's global mobile ad spend will be over #2.45m, trebling by 2011. Yet only 13% of all mobile advertising is intended for branding - the rest is direct response. Are marketers missing out, firstly by not investing...

Internet most influential medium yet consumers still watch more TV.(Brief article)
June 12, 2008... The internet is the most influential of all media channels, beating TV almost two-fold, according to a joint study by Harris Interactive and Fleishman-Hillard Research. In the UK, the average response on how influential the internet is...

COMMENT: Getting creative at working in all media.(Column)
June 12, 2008... Who is driving digital creativity? The week before the Cannes Lions advertising festival, our Creativity Special this week (starting on page 23), and indeed the whole issue, both celebrates digital creativity and wrestles with the issues...

To reach the consumer you have to get past their tribe first.
June 12, 2008... The late Evelyn Waugh loved meeting friends at The Ritz on Piccadilly, in particular enjoying the fact that, whoever manned the cloakroom, he would always, with no fuss or intrusion but a gentle "Thank you, sir", be returned the correct hat...

LETTER: The inside track on outsourcing issues.(Letter to the editor)
June 12, 2008... From Matthew O'Riordan, MD, Lemon Digital As a digital production agency of five years, we at Lemon Digital feel your view on outsourcing (NMA 05.06.08) doesn't address the real reasons for outsourcing and where its benefits lie for...

LETTER: Stick to tradition in recruitment drives.(Letter to the editor)
June 12, 2008... From Chris Skinner, senior online recruitment strategist, Reading Room I read your recent Vertical Focus on recruitment with great interest (NMA 29.05.08), if only because it's about time online recruitment got some press coverage,...

LETTER: Meeting digital natives in their comfort zone.(Letter to the editor)
June 12, 2008... From Phil Guest, regional director for Central Europe, Habbo Contrary to popular belief, TV is alive and well, even among the young. I wasn't surprised to see the box coming out on top in Q Research's survey of news consumption habits...

OPINION: Downloaders can be brand ambassadors for indie labels.(Column)
June 12, 2008... I remember when the digital space started to have a profound effect on our company. It was 2004 and we'd just released what was set to be one of the biggest Brit-Asian singles for years, 'Sohniye' by Juggy D, a contemporary blend of eastern...