Revolution articles from December 2004

Revolution archives from December 2004

Letter from the editor.(Editorial)
December 22, 2004... Just as the holiday season gets closer, so the end of the year heralds some new media traditions. Here comes the old crystal ball-gazing into the New Year and the look back over 2004. Recently, we've developed a tradition of noting record...

O2 uses interactive rich-media ads to promote handsets.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... O2 has launched an online ad campaign, guiding users to buy the right handset for Christmas. The push targets 18 to 34-year-olds to drive sales of O2's latest handsets while boosting online acquisition. Agency Republic has created...

Audi shows latest car via memory stick.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Audi is using a plug-in memory stick as a marketing tool to promote its new A4 model. Five minutes of video and interactive content showing off the design, engine and features of the car will be loaded on to the sticks, which plug into...

Carling goes live with Bluetooth first.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Carling is pioneering a Bluetooth-enabled mobile marketing technique to promote both its brand and its sponsorship of Carling Live music events. The drinks brand is delivering information and offers to users of Bluetooth-enabled mobiles...

Deals: Swapits teams with Funday.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Swapits, the online youth reward-currency has teamed with The Funday Times for a new offer targeting six to 18-year-olds. Full-page features in the children's section of The Sunday Times will give away 10 free Swapits to readers who sign up to...

Deals: Yahoo! Europe pre-installs icons.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Yahoo! Europe is pre-installing the icons for Y! homepage, Yahoo! Messenger and Yahoo! Personals on Sony VAIO notebooks and desktops in a distribution agreement with Sony Europe. The deal, which includes the UK, aims to make Yahoo! the internet...

Deals: Services team for Ford dealers.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Auto Trader Digital and dealer web site consultants Global Beach Automotive have announced a business partnership that links Ford dealer web services to autotrader.co.uk. The integration of the two services will enable Ford dealers to upload...

Deals: Sport-e.com teams with Fast Web Media.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Littlewoods Home Shopping Group-owned online sports retailer Sport-e.com has teamed with Fast Web Media, which hosts football site 4thegame.com (see page 15), to offer retail opportunities on the web. Sport-e.com is the exclusive online partner...

Deals: Amazon.co.uk and Borders sign alliance.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Amazon.co.uk and Borders have signed an e-commerce alliance to launched a site (www.borders.co.uk) for Borders and Books etc customers in the UK, which is powered by Amazon's e-commerce platform. The site uses Amazon.co.uk's shopping technology...

Deals: Lycos.co.uk and Opera Telecom join forces.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Lycos.co.uk and premium mobile services provider Opera Telecom have joined forces to bring Lycos content to mobiles. Opera Telecom will offer games, ringtones and wallpaper via the Lycos-branded mobile channel. Content is likely to be expanded...

Deals: Multimap Europe partners University.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Multimap Europe has partnered the University of Sheffield to help people find their way to and around the campus. Multimap's Travel Directions service delivers directions from anywhere in the country to the various departments, plotting the...

Deals: Warner Bros and T-Mobile sign deal.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Warner Bros. Online and T-Mobile International have signed a wireless distribution deal that will provide the mobile network's customers with games, wallpapers, screensavers and other mobile applications based on Warner Bros. brands, including...

Deals: SUBtv signs deal.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... SUBtv, the national student union TV channel, has signed a sponsorship deal with mobile network 3. The package involves Hutchison-owned 3 sponsoring SUBtv's Video Jukebox across its 65 union venues. The campaign, featuring 3's 'critter'...

Absolut embarks on major digital drive.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Swedish vodka brand Absolut is conducting a major, interactive campaign for its first pre-mix offshoot, Absolut Cut. The promo aims to create a cult-following for the drink and to drive users to a new web site (www.absolutcut.com). The...

Lycos Europe to roll out 3G services.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Lycos Europe is launching 3G services early next year for the first time. Chat, dating and mail services will be translated to mobile, with added features, such as 'photo chat'. Love@Lycos, currently on 2G, will be faster and more...

IAB targets marketing budgets with first online ad campaign.(Internet Advertising Bureau )(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... The UK Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) has launched its first web advertising campaign to persuade marketers to spend more of their budgets online. The body has worked with a number of digital agencies to produce the work, which starts...

Good month/bad month.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... A good one for Find a Property (www.findaproperty.co.uk), which sold up to Daily Mail and General Trust, owner of Daily Mail and Evening Standard, in a pounds 13.8m. It's just six months since Find a Property's management bought out the online...

Just breaking: Top 10 breaking banners by impressions (1-30 November 2004).
December 22, 2004... 1. British Heart Foundation - We'll help you give up before you clog up 2. Microsoft - Microsoft Office 3. Bulldog Radio - What are you doing listening to that? 4. DVLA - Personalised registrations 5. Screentrade - Free city break 6....

Procter & Gamble pushes key beauty brands on iVillage.co.uk.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Procter & Gamble is bringing its beauty brands Max Factor and Clairol together on the web for the first time through an online partnership with women's site iVillage.co.uk. The two brands are featured alongside iVillage's coverage of the...

Virgin Atlantic aims to boost online sales.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Airline Virgin Atlantic aims to raise online flight sales with its revamped web site (www.virgin-atlantic.com). 'The new Virgin Atlantic site contains useful features such as booking, check-in, seat assignment and Flying Club account...

Hustler Hollywood in web shopping offer.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... American porn mogul Larry Flynt's retail brand, Hustler Hollywood UK, is launching a transactional site. It will be the main commercial channel for the brand in the UK and support the opening of the first of its chain of UK stores in...

Overture campaign services to hit UK.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Marketing Console, the campaign measurement and control service that Overture offers advertisers in the US, is launching in the UK early next year and is already being trialled here. The service enables brands to compare the sites, keywords...

Account wins.
December 22, 2004... V2 Music, Richard Branson's record label, has turned to email and mobile marketing service Sign-Up.to to handle its fan communications. The Sign-Up.to platform has integrated some 100 databases into one system and provides a global view of...

Owen on digital media: There's no mistaking an O2 ad and that's what sets it apart.(Column)
December 22, 2004... Great to see O2 pick up the IPA Effectiveness Grand Prix last month. There were far more glamorous campaigns, many of which had been highly successful, but O2 was rightly rewarded for transforming the failing BT Cellnet business into a...

Heinz launches film competition online.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Heinz has launched Soup Cup Shorts, an online film competition to promote its soup range to office workers. The brand launched the push after research discovered staff spend an average of seven minutes eating at their desk. It is inviting...

Clearasil For Men targets older teens.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Skincare brand Clearasil For Men has launched a site targeting 16 to 24-year-old males with a new range of products. Created by interactive agency Carlson Digital, the site (www. clearasilformen.co.uk) aims to develop brand and sampling...

MSN takes Overture deal into mid-2006.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... MSN has extended its deal with Yahoo!-owned paid-for search business Overture, which provides it with sponsored search listings across MSN sites in the UK and Europe, as well as the US, Canada and Asia. The extension takes the deal, due to...

Vodafone 3G shows video across Yahoo!(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... As part of Vodafone's 3G launch in Europe, Carat International Interactive, the media agency's online arm, has developed a pan-European campaign showing the brand's TV ads online. Following a partnership with Yahoo!, ads have been created...

Twentieth Century Fox in online push.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Twentieth Century Fox has joined with boys' site Monkeyslum.com to promote new film Taxi. The comedy, starring Queen Latifah and supermodel Gisele Bundchen, will be promoted via a takeover of the Monkeyslum homepage with the yellow...

Hope of the States opens new fan site.(Rock band )(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Rock band Hope of The States has launched a new fan site at hopeofthestates.com. Users can access news, live images, events and downloads, listen to music and watch archived videos of the band's past and current releases. Fans can...

Griffiths on mobile: It's evolution rather than revolution for mobile operators.
December 22, 2004... By the time you read this, Vodafone will have unveiled its 3G version of 'live' (see news story alongside), to be followed by the other operators releasing updated portals for 3G handsets. They have all invested significant resources in...

Time thief: Tracy Ross - interactive marketing manager, ITV Interactive.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... 20% Campaign launch - Our recent on-air campaign, 'Bringin' Home The Bacon', looked to drive viewers to press red and promoted our ITVi 24/7 interactive service as 'The Home of Interactive Entertainment'. I spend a lot of time working with the...

Five offers interactive TV sponsorship packages.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Five is launching two interactive TV sponsorship packages for advertisers early next year. The channel, which has been carrying interactive TV ads since 1 September, is pitching '24/7' and 'eTV' packages to potential sponsors, alongside...

DreamWorks pushes Shrek 2 DVD with viral products online.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... An online viral assault will mark the release of DreamWorks' film Shrek 2 on DVD and video. Agency Naked Penguin Boy has developed viral products to push the release to users of all ages. There are five online games plus downloadable...

Peugeot gives dealer sites new features.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Peugeot has revamped its entire network of dealer web sites in the UK and France. The car firm has updated some 1,300 sites after introducing a system that lets dealers run their own sites with the basic look set by Peugeot. The web...

Nectar starts user surveys for brands.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Nectar, one of the largest loyalty schemes in the UK, is striking deals with sponsors, including Ford, to acquire online customers and data for them. Questionnaires on Nectar's site (www.nectar.com) will offer members reward points in...

Performance index: 1 October - 31 October 2004, 8am - 8pm.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... The Revolution Keynote Performance Index measures the performance of 20 representative sites from across the digital economy in terms of speed of loading and site availability. The top 10 are featured each week, and the worst performing web...

Gaffney on America: Forget print and TV, they're just just one-night stands.
December 22, 2004... Last month, I had the privilege of spending a week touring companies out there in the western US region known as Silicon Valley. You remember Silicon Valley. It was the place where the internet went up, up and away, and then came back down...

Byrne appointed at Egg.(Emma Byrne )(Interview)
December 22, 2004... Emma Byrne has been appointed as chief brand and communications officer at Egg, reporting to chief executive officer Paul Gratton. Her remit has been expanded from her previous position as group corporate communications director and now...

Moving on up: Appointment at AOL Europe.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... AOL Europe has appointed a new director of interactive marketing. Chris Humphrey will lead international agency sales and focus on developing advertiser interest across all AOL European properties. He joins from OMD International, where he...

Moving on up: Appointment at mBlox.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Jeff Clark has been appointed chief executive officer of mobile messaging service provider mBlox. He joins from Vodafone Global Platform and Internet Services, where he was senior vice-president, Vodafone Americas. Gary Cuccio, who has been...

Moving on up: Appointment at EMI Music UK.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... EMI Music UK has hired Shai Eilon for the newly created role of CRM manager. Previously email marketing manager at Amazon, Eilon will develop and implement an eCRM strategy across music labels. At Amazon.co.uk he implemented and ran...

Moving on up: Appointment at TBG.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Anna Brunt joins agency TBG as account manager to work on accounts for First Web, AllSlots, WildJacks and Capital Casino.

Moving on up: Appointment at Agency.com.(Andy Hobsbawm)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Andy Hobsbawm has become chairman of Agency.com, Europe, and will oversee local and global marketing strategy. He hands management of the London arm to London office MD David Eastman. Hobsbawm and Amsterdam MD Vincent van de Ven, will report to...

Moving on up: Appointment at Profero.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Patrick Collister has joined Profero's board of directors. He brings industry experience from his previous roles, including executive creative director at EHS Brann. Prior to that, he was executive creative director and vice-chair at Ogilvy and...

Moving on up: Appointment at Yahoo! Europe.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Yahoo! Europe has appointed Jerome Mercier to the newly created role of vice-president of marketing. Jerome joins from Egg, where he was director of sales and marketing and a member of the executive board since June 2003. In his new role,...

Moving on up: Appointment at Wheel.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Wheel has hired Paul Frost to head strategy and planning. Frost moves from JWT Group's RMG Black Cat, where he was head of interaction planning, working with clients such as Shell and DaimlerChrysler.

Moving on up: Appointment at BBC Broadcast.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Benedicte van Boxel has been appointed account director of BBC Broadcast's interactive design team. She has worked with the team since October 2003 as account manager, and has been involved with various projects for Honda and Zip TV. She...

Moving on up: Appointment at Visa International.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Visa International has hired Gabriele Cappelletti as head of commercial solutions for Visa Europe in the London office. He will be responsible for developing and marketing the full range of Visa Commercial Payment Solutions across all channels....

Moving on up: Appointment at Fish4jobs.co.uk.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Sean Mahon has been appointed to the newly created position of marketing director at Fish4jobs.co.uk. The ex-News International marketer was previously head of marketing strategy for The Sun and News of the World. He joined News Group...

Ask Jeeves boosts its search service.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Ask Jeeves has launched four new 'smart' search tools as it continues to boost the relevance of its results to compete with Google, MSN and Yahoo! Services include 'binoculars', an option that allows users to roll over an icon and see a...

Sky Active revamps interactive TV offer.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Sky has relaunched Sky Active, its interactive TV channel. The service, accessible for free by Sky Digital's 7.4m subscribers, now features more video and original editorial content, according to the broadcaster. The relaunch is an...

Card firm to launch sites overseas.
December 22, 2004... Moonpig.com, the web site for creating and sending cards and messages, is to launch in Australia and the US following investment in new technology. The site can now take orders for next-day delivery in Australia after a deal with HP's...

Pankhurst on dotcom life: It's time for some genuine PR or you will get the bunny.(Column)
December 22, 2004... I went back to school recently. I didn't visit my old school though - I took the trip up to Yorkshire to give Wakefield Girls high school a Friends Reunited award for being one of the 'friendliest' schools in the UK. We don't just win...

Digital direct: Context has taken over from content for the consumer.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... The way in which consumers relate to brands has fundamentally and irreversibly altered. The consumer-driven, bottom-up nature of the internet originally effected this change, but it has now permeated all levels and channels of communication....

Oxfam asks donors to email message.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Oxfam is ramping up its email marketing to boost its online fundraising and get members to recommend new donors. The charity recently launched an album of downloads to raise cash for refugees, and is now working strategically with email...

Direct Stats: This month.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... September was a good month for spam haters. That could be down to bad weather hindering spammers in the US, reports Philip Smith. In September, UK users had less spam, possibly thanks to hurricanes on the other side of the Atlantic, says...

4thegame revamps to move into e-tail.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... 4thegame.com, the portal site devoted to the English football Premier League, has been given a revamp and moved into e-tailing for the first time. Designed, built and managed by Fast Web Media, the new web site represents an expansion...

ITV set to provide online DVD rentals.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... ITV is to join the online DVD rental market after striking a deal to offer a version of Video Island called ITV MovieClub. The new service, available at itv.com/movieclub, is set to be launched this year and will offer viewers a choice of...

Vital statistics: This month.
December 22, 2004... As penetration of digital TV rises in the UK, Emma Rigby finds out why viewers who interact are more positive about advertising. Digital TV is predicted to reach 15.9 million homes in the UK (almost two-thirds of homes in the country) by...

News Analysis: Net finds the hard-to-reach teens.
December 22, 2004... Teens are more sceptical about advertising than their parents, believes Roisin Donnelly, corporate marketing director of FMCG giant Procter & Gamble, who spoke on the falling power of TV to reach this cynical audience in August. But now, brands...

News Analysis: Digital finds a new ally in radio.
December 22, 2004... Online ad-spend could overtake radio marketing budgets by the year end if it continues to grow at the same pace, according to November's figures from the IAB and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Online advertising in the first half of 2004 made up...

News Analysis: Market leaders talk shop at digital Forum.
December 22, 2004... High-level suppliers, delegates and speakers at Revolution's fifth Forum event in November found integrated campaigns, accessibility, email marketing, web analytics and creativity topped the agenda for discussion. Staged at the Oxford...

Vox pop: How can we take the online advertising space forward?
December 22, 2004... As the IAB chief steps down, who should take the sector forward? Danny Meadows-Klue is stepping down as chief executive of the UK Interactive Advertising Bureau, a position he took in 2000. The organisation represents almost 200 firms...

Editorial: Digital promises more innovation.
December 22, 2004... Has there been a better time to be working with digital media? As we are on the cusp of a new year, there are an unparalleled number and range of opportunities for brands and firms to make the most of digital. Retailers can take advantage...

Comment: Mobile looks set to be the entertainment channel.
December 22, 2004... Fans long to listen to music whenever and wherever they want, and, although the mobile music industry is still in its infancy, the wonderful effect on telecoms providers and record labels - and ultimately, consumers - is already becoming clear....

Shopping: Review - Online promise, but no luck yet.(Column)
December 22, 2004... I've done some bad things. And I think gambling might be my new bad habit. When I realised you can buy a lottery ticket online, it seemed like an interesting use of my paid time. Plus I could do with the winnings. It was easy to find the...

Shopping: Shopping stats - Users irritated by poor site performance.
December 22, 2004... Slow web sites and failure to complete transactions top the list of grumbles for users. Poor web site performance means companies can lose up to three-quarters of their potential customers to rivals. So says a survey by...

Sector checker: Less talk, more action gives the Conservatives standout.(www.conservatives.com )
December 22, 2004... Starcom Digital's Jeremy Hill tours the Conservatives' newly launched site and finds a user-friendly offering packed full of information. Web www.conservatives.com - Developer Fresca/in-house Having never visited a political party web...

Can iTV give Five an edge?
December 22, 2004... Five's interactive business controller, Damon Letzer, tells Philip Buxton how the channel aims to steal a march on its rivals in the interactive space. Five, the TV channel famously built on 'films, football and f***ing', has a new weapon...

The Revolution Mobile Telecoms Report sponsored by StealthNET: Why we need to innovate to keep mobile moving.
December 22, 2004... As recently as four years ago, premium SMS was not seriously used as a method of bill-payment. Even for a company like StealthNET - at the time, our focus was on creating and building ringtone sites for our online customers - we used...

BIMAS 2004 in association with Revolution: The BIMA judges.(British Interactive Multimedia Association)
December 22, 2004... 1. Lorraine Twohill is European marketing manager for Google UK and is responsible for promoting the business in Europe. She joined Google from online travel portal Opodo, where she was head of sales. 2. Giles Colborne is said to be 'the...

BIMAS 2004 in association with Revolution: Grand Prix.(Future Proof)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Future Proof Client: Keele University Agency: Code Computer Love However, the Future Proof project, which won the Best use of CD/Kiosk (see page 62) award is a very worthy winner. Future Proof is an educational CD-Rom, produced...

BIMAS 2004 in association with Revolution: Best broadband site.(Bioinformatics Molecular Analysis Section (NIH))(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Who Wants to be a Millionaire on AOL broadband Client: Celador International Agency: JailDog Although the game is based on the famous TV show, it doesn't replicate any of the other available interactive versions, such as the DVD...

BIMAS 2004 in association with Revolution: Best integrated campaign.(Abba to Zappa game)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Abba to Zappa Client: Observer Music Monthly Agency: Poke hype Client: HP Agency: Publicis Dialog The Abba to Zappa game, designed to promote The Observer's Music Monthly (OMM) magazine and supplement, presented great...

BIMAS 2004 in association with Revolution: Best interactive advertising.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... AOL Trade Advertising Client: AOL Agency: Lean Mean Fighting Machine There are obstacles to overcome in order to speed up this process, as the campaign acknowledges. To get people to accept the idea of taking out more online...

BIMAS 2004 in association with Revolution: Best use of the internet.(Bioinformatics Molecular Analysis Section (NIH) )(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Vodafone Future Vision Client: Vodafone Group Services Agency: North Kingdom/Paregos It aims to give people an idea of how things will be in the future and show, with the aid of interactivity, how technology will change over time. ...

BIMAS 2004 in association with Revolution: Best use of interactive TV.(Bioinformatics Molecular Analysis Section (NIH) )(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Adidas - Kicking it Client: adidas/PHD Agency: Weapon7 In this case, the solution for adidas was to provide exclusive footage of sporting superstars Johnny Wilkinson and David Beckham on interactive TV only. Outtakes from filming...

BIMAS 2004 in association with Revolution: Training & home learning.(British Interactive Multimedia Association)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Gridclub.com Client: DfES, C2K (NI), SEED (Scotland) & Grid Learning Agency: Intuitive Media In January, the Gridclub Clubs launched with new technology - created with Intuitive Media Community Engine - designed to meet the needs of...

BIMAS 2004 in association with Revolution: Business & corporate communications.(Bioinformatics Molecular Analysis Section (NIH) )(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Vodafone Future Vision Client: Vodafone group services Agency: North Kingdom/Paregos The aim was to give consumers an idea of how things could be in the future and show, using interactivity, how technology may change. The Future...

BIMAS 2004 in association with Revolution: Best usabiity & accessibility.(British Interactive Multimedia Association )(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Cancer Research UK Running programme web site Agency: Cancer Research UK with Big Picture The charity's microsite (www.cancerresearchuk. org/running) aims to give fundraisers information quickly and provide them with an easy and...

BIMAS 2004 in association with Revolution: Best use of mobile services.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Text Message Banking Client: first direct Agency: in-house They can receive mini-statements showing their balance and last five transactions, and they can request a combination of up to eight different alerts to inform them each time...

BIMAS 2004 in association with Revolution: Online relationship marketing.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Orange eCRM Programme Client: Orange Agency: Fullsix/Poke The campaign built on the success of its pilot programme, in which a monthly email was sent out to 18,000 high-value customers. It featured content that was framed around the...

BIMAS 2004 in association with Revolution: Best online game.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2004... Frosties Client: Kellogg's Agency: magneticNorth With a target audience of eight to 12-year-old boys, Kellogg's wanted to appeal to their desire to learn new skills, enjoy activities and compete with either themselves or others. ...