New Media Age articles from November 2007

New Media Age archives from November 2007

Blyk bids to ape MySpace's rise.(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Start-up mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Blyk is putting digital music at the core of its marketing strategy, which is to be rolled out over the next few weeks. It's looking to mimic the success of MySpace, which achieved huge...

Advertisers clamp down on blind ad buying.
November 1, 2007... Advertisers including Experian and MoneySupermarket have abandoned blind network ad buying following the recent spate of bad press about the medium. TBG London said it has stopped running blind network buys for 14 of its 15 advertisers,...

CBBC aims for half a million Adventure Rock users by April.(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Adventure Rock, the BBC's Second Life-style virtual game for kids, is looking to attract half a million users in its first six months following its launch next month. The virtual world game, which is currently in the final phase of...

Industry questions Payforit as vendors report slump in sales.(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Major concerns have been raised about the effect mobile payment system Payforit is having on content providers following O2's move to make the scheme compulsory. Payforit was designed to build consumer trust in purchasing content off-...

DoubleClick wins search pitch for Zavvi.(Zavvi Entertainment Group)(DoubleClick Performics)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... DoubleClick Performics has won a competitive pitch to do natural search for the Zavvi Entertainment Group, formerly Virgin Megastores. The appointment marks the first time that the group has outsourced its search optimisation. As part of...

Disabled users are denied access to Facebook, Google and Yahoo!(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... The UK's top online brands have come under fire for blocking access by disabled users. Facebook, Gmail and Yahoo! have all been criticised by the disability lobby for their continued use of Captchas: distorted visual and audio codes...

COI to be headline sponsor for GCap's Firework Finder.(Central Office of Information)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... The Central Office of Information's firework safety campaign will be the main sponsor of a website and interactive search facility to locate local bonfire celebrations. The COI is to sponsor GCap Media's Firework Finder as part of a push...

Pringles puts online at centre of Christmas jingle campaign.(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Pringles has launched an X Factor-style Christmas campaign to encourage consumers to record and upload Pringles-themed Christmas jingles. The Procter & Gamble snack brand has created a video website where users can upload their jingles...

Mirror in Led Zeppelin comeback promo.(Mirror Group PLC)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... The Mirror is planning a significant promotion of exclusive Led Zeppelin content in the build-up to the British band's highly anticipated reunion gig later this month. The newspaper is preparing a new area of its website after signing a...

John Lewis makes revamped etail site central to Christmas campaign.(John Lewis Partnership PLC)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... John Lewis will launch its "most significant" online Christmas campaign next week, as the retailer puts its revamped etail site at the centre of its winter marketing activity. It has developed a Christmas campaign site, is upping its...

Music-focused social network Imeem prepares for UK move.(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... US music-centred social network Imeem is set to move into the UK. The site, earmarked by ComScore as the fastest growing social site in the US in September, grew its traffic 1,590% since September 2006. It reaches 3.2m US unique users...

Virgin Media to launch shopping service.(Virgin Media Group Ltd.)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Virgin Media will be the next major online destination site to launch a shopping comparison service, following those already unveiled by The Sun and Ask.com. The Virgin Media shop will be powered by ShopWindow, a white-label shopping...

Big brands sign up to online video ads through Utarget.(advertisements)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Big brands including Pepsi, Dell and Fox TV are the latest to sign up to online video advertising. Both Dell and Fox are running high-profile pre-roll ads through online video ad network Utarget on sites such as Blinkx, Vogue, Glamour...

Saga prepares marketing strategy for full release of social network.(SAGA Group PLC)(Saga Zone)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... The Saga Group is preparing a marketing strategy for its social network, Saga Zone, as the site comes out of beta this week. The insurance and holiday giant is determined to use the site, which currently has 13,000 registered members, as...

Ex-UK Betting director launches sports sales house.(Iain Linkleter)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Iain Linkleter, former UK Betting commercial director, has set up a digital media sales house called No.9 Media focusing specifically on sports. No.9 Media intends to represent sites not consolidated under the Sky Media brand, with...

AdJug boosts UK operations with pair of senior staff hires.(Dan Newman)(Max Moore)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Online ad exchange AdJug has appointed two senior staff as it continues to push its UK operations: Dennis Interactive's digital GM Dan Newman and former VP of business development at Roo Max Moore. Newman joins as UK general manager and...

Heart uses windsock game in viral push.(Heart FM)(Squeeze Digital)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Heart FM has launched a viral game as part of a through-the-line 'feel- good' campaign. The digital marketing campaign, put together by Squeeze Digital, features a windsock that gamers can control while it dances to disco songs. The...

Avon relaunches online shop to build more dedicated UK presence.(avonshop.co.uk)(Avon Cosmetics Ltd.)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Avon has unveiled a revamped UK online presence, avonshop.co.uk, as the global cosmetics giant looks to develop a UK-focused offering. The strategy also takes in plans for partnerships with leading portals. Avonshop sells the full...

Channel 4 offers old shows for free on 4oD as anniversary gift.(Channel 4 Television Co.)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Channel 4 has released a selection of archive footage on its 4oD service as part of the broadcaster's 25th anniversary celebrations this month. Users will be able to download shows from the Channel 4 archive for free, including at least...

Buy.at opens new office in New York.(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Buy.at is to open a New York office this month as the affiliate network looks to use its technology and servicing skills in a market it believes is lacking in innovation. Malcolm Cowley, Buy.at's strategic accounts director, will become...

Lego constructs plans to improve accessibility of Euro and US sites.(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Toy brand Lego has revealed plans to overhaul its site to improve accessibility for disabled users. The current site has poor levels of accessibility and is incompatible with screen reader technology, used by those with visual...

O2 heads of music/entertainment quit.(Matt Cockett and Anne- Sophie Lanier)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Two senior members of O2's mobile content team have quit the operator. Matt Cockett, head of music, has left after five years while Anne- Sophie Lanier, head of entertainment content, had been at O2 for three years. Cockett is joining...

TV and radio ad distributor IMD plans dedicated digital service.(advertising)(Independent Media Distribution)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Independent Media Distribution (IMD), the radio and TV advertising distributor, is to launch its first dedicated digital offering, to be headed by Martin Pavey, DoubleClick's rich media director for EMEA. Pavey's appointment will see IMD...

Avenue A/Razorfish to push Wyeth Europa.(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Pharmaceutical company Wyeth Europa is to raise its digital profile and push the boundaries of the sector's presence online in a bid to become a leading online brand. The company has appointed digital agency Avenue A/Razorfish to handle...

ITV increases mobile portal content with Zac Toons deal.(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... ITV has continued to aggressively extend its mobile portal content with the addition of ITV News Uploaded and a licensing deal with animation company Zac Toons. ITV Mobile plans to allow visitors to contribute to the Momac-powered site...

Mobile must stand firm against new media.
November 1, 2007... The past two months have been a tumultuous period for the UK mobile telecoms market, with a new revenue-sharing model agreed between O2 and Apple, and the launch of Blyk, a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) funded solely by ads. These...

Just 3% of consumers say they're willing to try watching mobile TV.(Survey)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Mobile TV services have been dealt a sharp warning after a new survey revealed that just 3% of consumers are likely to try watching next year. Usage by subscribers in the past 12 months was pegged at just 1%, according to Continental...

Etailers restrict returns options for customers.(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Etailers with a high street presence are failing consumers, with two in five restricting customers from returning items bought online to stores, according to a report by ecommerce technology specialist Snow Valley. Of 43 retailers that...

ANALYSIS: What real value does iash accreditation offer?
November 1, 2007... IASH and ABCE have completed their first audits of ad networks, giving ten the stamp of approval. But the process is far from watertight, say its detractors Last week IASH - the trade body set up to audit the placement of online ads and...

COMMENT: Bans throw out baby with the bathwater.(Column)
November 1, 2007... Clients including MoneySupermarket and American Express have stopped all blind buying of online advertising - where the advertiser doesn't know exactly which sites in an ad network its campaign runs on. With such high-profile and...

LETTER: Big brands like P&G should get involved.(Letter to the editor)
November 1, 2007... From Amy Lennox, partner, Trinity Communications Why does P&G need the industry to do something about measuring the medium (NMA 09.08.07)? As one of the biggest advertisers in the world, surely it should be pioneering how to measure the...

LETTER: There's more to metrics than a single currency.(Letter to the editor)
November 1, 2007... Paul Goad, MD, Tacoda UK I was dismayed to read P&G's warning that large FMCG budgets won't move online until more robust measurement techniques are introduced. Admittedly, online still has a way to go until the standard of TV's BARB...

LETTER: Finding the right balance for internet TV.(Letter to the editor)
November 1, 2007... From Nic Brisbourne, partner, DFJ Esprit It's easy to get carried away with hype around internet TV, but good investing is about grounding yourself in reality. The truth is that millions of people watch TV quite happily every day. The...

LETTER: LA Fitness signs up to innovative thinking.(Letter to the editor)
November 1, 2007... From Tony Pye, development director, Ink Creations Following the launch of the LA Fitness website at the start of the year, it has seen incredible results from its unique online membership signup process. The process, developed and...

OPINION: Liberating games from the young so we can all play again.(Column)
November 1, 2007... Peter Bennun is director of strategy at Somethin' Else I hate the term 'ARG' (augmented-reality gaming) with all my heart. Not since the word 'leverage' has a piece of language been more trendy or misused. This is strange considering I...

AD WATCH: Wilkinson Sword's man vs baby livens up a dry subject.(Wilkinson Sword Ltd.)
November 1, 2007... Scott Andrews is associate creative director at GT You can't beat a good idea, no matter what bit of advertising or marketing you work in. It's good ideas that turn campaigns into conversations. Without ideas, a campaign is at best...

PROFILE - DAWN BEBE: Girl power.
November 1, 2007... The increasing numbers of young women using the internet convinced Dawn Bebe of OSoYou that a virtual high street will be the next big thing. Luan Goldie reports In May this year young women became online's most dominant group for the...

SOCIAL MEDIA: Treading a fine line.
November 1, 2007... Social media ad campaigns may sound like a good idea to brands, but it's key to get the balance right, or risk facing a consumer backlash. Nicola Smith reports Marketers want to be where their audience is, but just turning up on popular...

SOCIAL MEDIA: Bob Dylan on Facebook.(Facebook Inc. and Sony BMG promoting Bob Dylan's new album)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... When Sony BMG wanted to promote Bob Dylan's new album, it enlisted the help of Facebook application specialist Techlightenment. The company developed an application that capitalises on Facebook's viral potential and gives users free reign to...

NMA MOBILE: Speed dialling.(High-Speed Downlink Packet Access)
November 1, 2007... Whether you call it HSDPA or mobile broadband, high-speed mobile internet access has big implications for the mobile content industry. Stuart Dredge reports The mobile industry must be maturing. You can tell by the fact that it has...

NMA MOBILE: Confidence building.(mobile marketing)
November 1, 2007... Consumers have grown suspicious of being contacted by brands via their mobiles, and not without reason. What can be done to improve trust in mobile marketing? Mobile is heralded as the most personal medium for marketing, yet new...

NMA MOBILE: Call plans.(plans to launch mobile operating system of Google Inc.)
November 1, 2007... Rumours are rife that Google is planning to produce its own mobile phone, or a mobile operating system, or maybe both. Mike Butcher sifts the evidence The Apple iPhone has already had an impact in the US, where over 1.1.2m handsets were...

NMA MOBILE: Patent clues to Google's moves.(Google Inc.)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Google filed the Non-standard Locality-based Text Entry patent in 2005. This details an application that can predict what a user is searching for or the words they're typing in a text message by taking into account their location, previous...

NMA MOBILE: Think beyond connectivity to what you can do for your users.
November 1, 2007... Jessica Sandin is head of mobile and senior consultant at Fathom Partners, a strategic innovation company; Jessica.sandin@fathom- partners.com Every new mobile network technology launch starts with data cards. Going the laptop route,...

NMA MOBILE: Renault Twingo WAP site not as feisty as brand it drives.(Renault Twingo's marketing by Marvellous Mobile)
November 1, 2007... Tom Thorne is owner and MD of mobile marketing and content agency Candyspace International Renault Twingo Text 'feisty' to 82233 Agency: Marvellous Mobile Platform: WAP Car manufacturers have been quick to pick up on...

MOVES: Aqueduct.(Tanya Artman,Kate Steel are promoted to senior levels in Aqueduct )(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Integrated creative agency Aqueduct has made two senior appointments as it looks to restructure. Group account director Tanya Artman has been promoted to head of client services, while founding director Kate Steel takes the role of...

MOVES: Stream:20.(Jason Bird,Hannah Hafez appointed in Stream:20 )(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Affiliate specialist Stream:20 has announced the appointment of Jason Bird as business development manager. He joins from Say Communications. Recent graduate Hannah Hafez also joins as online marketing executive. Copyright: Centaur...

MOVES: Tacoda.(Glenn Perera of Tacoda Systems Inc.)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Behavioural targeting ad network Tacoda has strengthened its sales team with the appointment of Glenn Perera as agency account manager. He was previously account executive at Run Wild Media. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and...

MOVES: DoubleClick.(Mat Finch of DoubleClick Inc)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Mat Finch has been appointed as senior account director at ad serving company DoubleClick. Prior to joining he was online marketing manager at Warner Breaks. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

MOVES: Hicklin Slade & Partners.(Hicklin Slade & Partners has appointed Ed Lecky-Thompson as head of digital)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Hicklin Slade & Partners has appointed Ed Lecky-Thompson as head of digital. Formerly of Oyster Partners (now LBi) and head of technology at Dare, he has been a freelance consultant at London-based agencies for 18 months. Copyright:...

MOVES: The Search Works.(Rob Freedman,Janet Davies,Ross Duncan are the new search workers of The Search Works )(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Search agency The Search Works has boosted its team with three additions. Rob Freedman, formerly head of marketing at Flight Centre UK, has been appointed to the role of group account director for travel; account director Janet Davies was...

MOVES: Conchango.(Felix Corke)(David Ellis)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Conchango has hired Felix Corke and David Ellis as senior designer and head of performance measurement respectively. Corke joins from Nokia, where he had been lead designer for the mobile giant's UK digital operations, while Ellis had...

MOVES: Unique Digital.(Nick Sexton,Niteen Prajapata appointed in Unique Digital Marketing Ltd.)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Unique Digital has appointed Nick Sexton as search account manager. He joins from Mindshare where he was account manager on HSBC and Napster. Niteen Prajapata also joins as media technician, he was previously technical consultant to Great...

SITE INSPECTION: 7Digital.(7digital.com)(Website overview)
November 1, 2007... 7digital.com Owner: 7Digital Agency: in-house Content 23/25 Usability 23/25 Branding 22/25 Monetisation 24/25 Total 92/100 MP3 download store 7Digital sells music from independent artists...

SITE INSPECTION: Ruby and Ed.(Rubyanded.co.uk)(Website overview)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Rubyanded.co.uk Owner: Ruby+Ed Agency: Fuse Digital Content 15/25 Usability 17/25 Branding 25/25 Monetisation 25/25 Total 82/100 On first glance it's not clear whether the...

SITE INSPECTION: Vice Magazine.(Vbs.tv)(Website overview)
November 1, 2007... Vbs.tv Owner: Vice Magazine Agency: Solid Sender Content 23/25 Usability 15/25 Branding 18/25 Monetisation 18/25 Total 74/100 Vice is a youth fashion magazine with plans to...

FULFILMENT: aldoshoes.com.(Website overview)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Founded: 2006 Selection Range of shoes and boots from the high street store. Navigation Selections are categorised into numerous sections - dress fashion, dress classics, city fashion, career classics - which aren't that easy...

SEARCH MARKETING: Search gets sophisticated.(trends in internet marketing )
November 1, 2007... Some staggering statistics on UK search marketing have been grabbing the headlines. The first half of 2007 saw paid search spend of over #760m - 44% growth year on year. In July alone there were 1.4bn search queries, with 80% then clicking...

SEARCH MARKETING: The battle to be top of the page.(search engines modify themselves according to consumer preferences)
November 1, 2007... Search engines are expanding the types of content that appear at the top of results pages, so what does this mean for brands that have paid to be there? In May, Google announced one of the most significant changes since its inception to...

SEARCH MARKETING: Ask first with unified results.(Ask.com Internet Ltd. launched new Ask3D service )(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Ask has for some time been testing its Ask3D offering as a way to collate all the different information now available to web users. The result is a muchsimplified home page and a results page that includes images, maps, news, as well as options...

SEARCH MARKETING: What will be The next big thing?(trends in service provided by search engines )
November 1, 2007... Search experts from agencies and search engines give their views on what will be the most significant developments in the sector over the coming 12 months With search so intrinsic to the way consumers use the web, changes to this channel...

SEARCH MARKETING: Taking a search strategy abroad.(strategies to register a website a search engines)
November 1, 2007... Optimising your international sites requires extra considerations in order to make sure they're picked up by search engines effectively It would seem logical that, when planning to do business abroad, to roll out your SEO to the countries...

SEARCH MARKETING: Will anyone ever catch Google up?(Google Inc. is performing monopolistic competition in the market of search engines)
November 1, 2007... One of the biggest problems facing search engines is Google's sheer dominance of the sector. How have the latest moves from Yahoo! and Microsoft affected this? Google's domination of the UK paid-search market has gone unbroken since...

SEARCH MARKETING: Google holds on to its lead.(market share of search engines)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... In the four weeks to 26 May 2007 - the period leading up to Panama's launch - Google accounted for 78% of UK internet searches, Yahoo! Search 8.6%, MSN Search (including Live) 5.5% and Ask.com 5.0%, according to Hitwise. Six months on,...

Google seeks mobile ad agencies for global roster.(advertising)
November 8, 2007... Google is building a global roster of mobile agencies as it seeks to kick-start the mobile ad market. The search giant is determined to create a market for its mobile ad services by encouraging advertisers and media owners to build sites....

HMV and Play trial film downloads.(Brief article)
November 8, 2007... HMV and Play.com are launching film download services in the next six months as retailers look to take control of the embryonic market. HMV is expected to trial its service at the beginning of next year while Play is believed to be...

Jetix rolls out campaign for 15th series of Power Rangers.(Jetix Europe Ltd.)(Brief article)
November 8, 2007... Children's TV channel Jetix has rolled out a campaign site and game for the 15th series of Power Rangers. The Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive site will sit within the Jetix site and offer users background on the story, characters and...

Media Run bought by US behavioural firm.(AdKnowledge Inc.)(Brief article)
November 8, 2007... Online ad network Media Run has been acquired by US behavioural targeting company Adknowledge for an eight-figure sum. Media Run's UK, European and Australian businesses will rebrand as Adknowledge and take on the Missouri-based company's...

BMW plans to swap iTV for online video.(Brief article)
November 8, 2007... BMW is in early talks with internet TV service Joost to launch a channel on the platform. The talks are part of a move by the car manufacturer to distribute content on the internet - specifically video of its car models, with the hope that...

Ministry of Sound plans to set up mobile music download service.(Ministry of Sound Holdings Ltd.)(Brief article)
November 8, 2007... Ministry of Sound has drawn up plans for a mobile music download service that it hopes will include the four major record labels, Channel 4, Emap and Phones4U. The plan, codenamed Earwig, is for a subscription download service. The...

Glue and Profero go head to head for News Int account.(News International PLC)(Brief article)
November 8, 2007... News International has shortlisted Glue and Profero to pitch for the digital marketing account for its tabloid newspaper brands The Sun and News of the World. The two agencies will pitch next month to oversee all digital marketing for...

Absolut puts UGC video site at centre of pre-Christmas push.(Brief article)
November 8, 2007... Absolut has launched an integrated campaign with digital at its core to promote a new gift pack in the run-up to Christmas. The push for the Absolut Disco Limited Edition drives consumers to a site where they can upload videos of...

Digital agencies drop out of BBC pitch.(British Broadcasting Corp.)(Brief article)
November 8, 2007... The pitch for the BBC digital services roster has dropped to four agencies from a six-strong shortlist. After making it to the final six, Play pulled out, blaming staff shortages and a need to prioritise. Meanwhile, 20:20 London is...

GCap Media repositions Capital website as community-led guide.(Brief article)
November 8, 2007... GCap Media is to redevelop Capital 95.8's online presence as the brand looks to reposition its site as a community-led guide to London. The repositioning, being carried out by agency All Of Us, will feature a strong community element and...

Big brands back Origin8 online young songwriter competition.(Apple Computer (UK) Ltd.)(National Gallery (United Kingdom))(British Academy of Composers & Songwriters)(Brief article)
November 8, 2007... Apple, the National Gallery, and the British Academy of Composers & Songwriters are backing a national online songwriting and production competition in a bid to find the nation's most talented young songwriter. The initiative, which...

Atomic London develops gig community.(Brief article)
November 8, 2007... Music artist agency Atomic London has launched a music website, livemusic.fm, which aims to develop a community around gigging. It commissioned digital agency Glass to build the site, which will include gig reviews. Atomic has put a...

Children In Need uses web to connect with fundraisers.(Brief article)
November 8, 2007... Children In Need is embracing cross-platform tactics as it looks to build a greater sense of community for its fundraisers. The charity event, held on 16 November, is keen to connect with its supporters and is embarking on a campaign that...

Industry welcomes Google's move into social media with OpenSocial.
November 8, 2007... Last week Google revealed details of OpenSocial, a common set of APIs to allow developers to build applications for any social network. The response from the social network industry has been largely enthusiastic - apart from Facebook,...

Jimmy Leach leaves Downing Street for Freud.(Freud Communications)(Brief article)
November 8, 2007... Jimmy Leach, the head of digital communications at 10 Downing St - and the individual voted in the 2007 NMA Effectiveness Awards to have made the greatest contribution to new media over the last year - is to join Freud Communications. ...

Tesco Mobile collects over 250,000 users in six months.(Brief article)
November 8, 2007... MVNO Tesco Mobile has hit 250,000 unique visitors a month to its content portal six months after launch. The retailer has seen its traffic grow following agreements with a string of content providers, including Conde Nast, Disney, EA Games,...

Handbag.com and LK Bennett join forces in designer shoe giveaway.(Brief article)
November 8, 2007... Hearst Digital's women's portal Handbag.com has launched a promotional site with high street women's shoe retailer LK Bennett. Timed to coincide with the Christmas party season, the site, branded Shoe Heaven, will give away a pair of...

QSoft shows off Gaydar portfolio.(QSoft Consulting)(Brief article)
November 8, 2007... QSoft Consulting is to roll out an integrated campaign pushing its Gaydar portfolio of brands. An online campaign will go out across gay interest sites and QSoft's own social network, GaydarNation, centred around its annual Sex Factor...

GNER launches online ticketing in first move away from TheTrainline.(Great North Eastern Railway)(Brief article)
November 8, 2007... Major rail operator GNER has launched its own online ticketing service, a move that will see it step away from TheTrainline. The East Coast franchise-holder has revealed the service - the first time the company has sold its own tickets -...

YouGovCentaur joint venture unveils website.(yougovcentaur.com)(Brief article)
November 8, 2007... The joint venture between research company YouGov and NMA's publisher Centaur has launched its new website, yougovcentaur.com. The joint venture was launched in order to develop specialist panels covering Centaur's numerous key markets,...