Revolution articles from December 2007

Revolution archives from December 2007

Letter from Revolution.
December 4, 2007... The UK is forecast to spend more than pounds 13 billion online in the run up to Christmas, so it's little wonder a lot of retailers' attention is focused on how to ensure the e-tail experience is a positive one. I lose track of the number...

Emap creates Christmas Wish Tree application for Facebook.
December 4, 2007... Emap, publisher of magazines including Heat and FHM, is planning a major Christmas campaign in the wake of a profit slump. Online is a key element of the push, created by Meteorite, which sees Emap launch its first Facebook application. It...

Online rebrand for Lipsy sees etail relaunch.
December 4, 2007... Lipsy, the UK fashion brand known for dressing celebrities, has relaunched online with a rebranded e-commerce web site created by Imano. The new site delivers a branded online shopping experience, which Lipsy hopes will achieve its target...

Emirates develops 'longest ad in world'.(Emirates Airline)(advertisement)(www.nonstopfernando.com)(Brief article)
December 4, 2007... Emirates, the Dubai-based airline, has briefed Lean Mean Fighting Machine to create a digital campaign to promote its new, non-stop service from Dubai to Sao Paulo. A microsite, www.nonstopfernando.com, features campaign character Nonstop...

Deals: Media Run acquired by AdKnowledge.
December 4, 2007... Online advertising network Media Run has been acquired by AdKnowledge, a US-based behavioural targeting firm. Media Run's UK, European and Australian business will rebrand as AdKnowledge, taking on its suite of products, including ad-serving...

Deals: Microsoft invests in Facebook.
December 4, 2007... Microsoft has invested dollars 240 million (pounds 117m) in Facebook, valuing the social networking site at dollars 15 billion, and has agreed a key advertising deal. Microsoft's investment gives it a 1.6 per cent stake in Facebook, and renewed...

Deals: IGA Worldwide signs agreement with Nadeo.
December 4, 2007... IGA Worldwide has signed a three-year agreement with Nadeo to place ads in the online racing game, Trackmania Nations Forever. This marks the second time that IGA has worked with Nadeo and Trackmania - the original Trackmania was downloaded...

Deals: flyMonarch.com joins forces with PayPal.
December 4, 2007... Low-fares airline flyMonarch.com has joined forces with PayPal, enabling customers to pay for flights using their PayPal accounts PayPal has more than 15 million UK accounts.

Deals: IPC Media acquires TrustedReviews.
December 4, 2007... IPC Media has acquired product review site TrustedReviews, as it looks to extend its digital portfolio. The site carries free product reviews across 19 categories, including digital cameras, televisions, mobile phones and MP3 players, as well...

Deals: Media Corporation acquires Interactive Consulting.
December 4, 2007... Media Corporation, the parent company of Eyeconomy and Gambling.com, has acquired Interactive Consulting, (which trades under the name Nash Digital). The deal is worth pounds 224,700. Nash Digital provides online advertising space to media...

Deals: Hasgrove acquires online agency Amaze.
December 4, 2007... Pan-European marketing group Hasgrove has acquired Cheshire-based online agency Amaze for pounds 600,000. Hasgrove will inherit 90 staff, and will continue to run independently. Peter Cookson has been drafted in as interim chief executive

Deals: ITN is Bebo's worldwide news launch partner.
December 4, 2007... ITN is Bebo's worldwide news launch partner on new video service, Open Media, as the social networking site repositions itself as an entertainment portal. ITN is launching its own player on the service with showbiz, sports and entertainment...

Deals: Kaboose acquires marketing company Bounty.
December 4, 2007... US online media company, Kaboose, has acquired direct-to-parent marketing company Bounty from private equity firm ECI partners for pounds 70m, less debt and other long-term liabilities of around pounds 12m. Bounty, which distributes product...

Fortnum & Mason hires VCCP Search.
December 4, 2007... Fortnum & Mason, the upmarket grocer on Piccadilly, is expanding its digital marketing with the appointment of a specialist search engine marketing agency for the first time. The fine food and wine emporium, which celebrated 300 years of...

Marriott boosts brand with dance campaign.(Marriott Hotels UK)(AMP London)(Brief article)
December 4, 2007... Marriott has launched a fully integrated, global brand campaign as it freshens its image to appeal to the frequent business traveller market. The campaign, created by AMP London, features outdoor, press, TV, online advertising and a...

Maybelline New York promotes Clothes Show Live sponsorship.
December 4, 2007... L'Oreal-owned cosmetics brand Maybelline New York has launched its first UK-originated campaign, promoting its position as an official Clothes Show Live sponsor. Online advertising, on sites including glamourmagazine.com, getlippy.com and...

Good month/bad month.(briefs)(Brief article)
December 4, 2007... Good times for FT.com. It has brought in its first head of video, Richard Edgar, as it launches new video content including a weekly 'View from the Markets' spot. Increased content will be a perky offer to advertisers. More video pleasure...

Just breaking: Top 10 breaking banners by impressions (1-31 November 2007).(Brief article)
December 4, 2007... TOP 10 BREAKING BANNERS BY IMPRESSIONS (1-31 November 2007) 1 The National Lottery Play online now 2 Toyota Do something memorable 3 Cornhill Quality car insurance 4 McDonald's...

T-Mobile teams up with Weebl's Stuff to promote Top Up Fridays.
December 4, 2007... T-Mobile is running a 12-part interactive adventure series on cult animation and game web site Weebl's Stuff, to promote its Top-Up Fridays campaign. Prawn to be Wild, featuring Weebl's Stuff character Insanity Prawn Boy, will use subtle...

Manchester gallery creates online artwork.
December 4, 2007... Manchester Art Gallery is turning to the web to help children to explore an artist's work and encourage visits. The gallery has briefed Manchester creative agency prego to create an educational site to enable a young audience to learn about...

CNET launches web TV channel offering.
December 4, 2007... CNET Networks, the UK's largest online-only publisher, has launched an ad-funded web TV channel. CNET Networks claims that CNET TV, www.cnettv.co.uk, will be dedicated to entertaining and engaging people around areas of content that they...

R&B star appears in Habbo's Star Lounge.( Sean Kingston )(Brief article)
December 4, 2007... R&B star Sean Kingston has used social networking arena Habbo Hotel to reach his younger fan base. Kingston's avatar entered the site's Star Lounge ahead of the launch of his second single, Love Me, on 26 November, to interact with users...

Account Wins.
December 4, 2007... Breakthrough Breast Cancer has brought in Baigent to redesign its online fundraising system and improve data capture for future marketing. OMG Network has won a pitch to secure the affiliate marketing for RBS Insurance, covering its Direct...

Owen on digital media: The tried-and-tested giveaway finds new life via the internet.
December 4, 2007... From branded gifts on Facebook to Nectar's new mission to 'treat the nation', all the way through to the hidden treasures on Orange's 'unlimited' site, it seems online marketers have succumbed to an attack of generosity. It's easy to be...

Griffiths on mobile life: Devices alone will not drive the next big thing in mobile.
December 4, 2007... All the press this month appears to be about mobile devices - the iPhone and the Gphone. Devices are the tangible evidence of activity, and, in Apple and Google, we have brands that have captured the public's imagination in the past couple of...

comScore predicts bumper Christmas.(Survey)(Brief article)
December 4, 2007... Shoppers will spend less offline but more online this Christmas, according to a survey by comScore. In the UK, 36 per cent of Brits said they expected to spend more on their Christmas shopping on the web than they did last year. 'The...

Performance index.(Brief article)
December 4, 2007... The Revolution Keynote Performance Index measures the performance of 20 representative sites from across the digital economy in terms of speed of loading and availability. The top 10 sites are featured each month and the worst performer is...

Moving on up: Appointment at ipoints.co.uk.(Robert Barker)(Brief article)
December 4, 2007... Robert Barker has been appointed chief operating officer of online loyalty programme ipoints.co.uk, replacing Geraldine Tosh who left in October. Barker joined the firm in 2000 as financial director, moving to commercial director in 2006....

Moving on up: Appointment at Trinity Mirror.(Rick Gleave)(Trinity Mirror Newspapers)(Brief article)
December 4, 2007... Trinity Mirror has appointed Rick Gleave as group head of interactive to take charge of the publishing group's mobile development. He will take responsibility for all telephony-based services, including premium SMS and voice services....

Moving on up: Appointment at DSG International.
December 4, 2007... Richard Clark has joined DSG International as marketing manager for its pureplay businesses, Dixons and The Link. Clark will be tasked with strengthening the marketing of DSG's pureplay businesses in the UK to contribute to sales growth and...

Moving on up: Appointment at Sumo.tv.
December 4, 2007... James Brown, the founder of Loaded magazine, has been appointed creative and editorial director of the user-generated content TV channel Sumo.tv. Brown will be responsible for developing the Sumo brand and building the editorial and marketing...

Moving on up: Appointment at TradeDoubler.
December 4, 2007... TradeDoubler has appointed Jim Brigden as group managing director. Brigden joins from The Search Works, part of the IMW Group acquired by TradeDoubler in September. He takes over from Andreas Bernstrom, who was promoted to COO for TradeDoubler...

Moving on up: Appointment at VideoJug.(Nancy Cruickshank)(Brief article)
December 4, 2007... Nancy Cruickshank will leave her post as managing director at Hearst Digital after seven years to take up the global chief executive position at VideoJug in early 2008. Cruickshank replaces Dan Thompson, who becomes chairman. In the role,...

Moving on up: Appointment at Reading Room.
December 4, 2007... Reading Room has hired a senior strategy team made up of senior creatives, planners and technologists. Andy McLane, previously in senior creative roles at Tequila, BBH unlimited and Claydon Heeley, has joined as creative director. Darran...

Moving on up: Appointment at Dealgroupmedia.(Chris Russell-Smith)(Brief article)
December 4, 2007... Dealgroupmedia (dgm) has brought in Chris Russell-Smith as marketing director. He joins from Newsquest Media Sales, the national advertising sales operation for Newsquest Media Group. Before this, Russell-Smith spent six years agency-side...

Moving on up: Appointment at easyCar.com.
December 4, 2007... Bill Jones, former vice-president marketing and sales at Hertz Europe, has been appointed chief executive at easyCar.com, the online car rental firm majority owned by easyJet founder, Stelios Haji-Ioannou. Jones worked at Hertz for nine...

Microsoft invests in history site launch.
December 4, 2007... A start-up company backed by Microsoft has launched a site that allows users to browse through moments in time and track personal timelines. Miomi.com tracks history using content from Encarta and Wikipedia, but also allows people to...

Hitches drive people off e-commerce sites.
December 4, 2007... Nine out of ten users experience problems when completing e-commerce transactions on the web, according to the latest research from Harris Interactive. And, more worryingly, 37 per cent of users immediately abandon a transaction when...

Brand and tech revamp for Euroffice.
December 4, 2007... Euroffice.co.uk chief executive, Simon Drakeford, who joined from T-Mobile UK where he led the online business, has spearheaded a complete online rebranding to drive future growth. The branding coincides with a technology and functionality...

Gaffney on America: If you use the 'rithm method, you may get a big surprise.
December 4, 2007... One of my favorite mind-stretching web sites is called Edge.org It's based in the UK, and does an admirable job of presenting some of the more disruptive global questions. It spreads the answers among the global minds that might have an...

Digital direct: Communications must be genuinely consumer-centric.
December 4, 2007... The agency world is in a state of flux. The great and good are debating, once again, what the right operating model is in an environment where media fragmentation and the rise of digital are creating a challenging scenario for traditional...

PaddyPower boosts its email marketing.
December 4, 2007... PaddyPower, Ireland's fixed-odds bookmaker, is ramping up its email marketing strategy in line with geographical expansion and increased user volume. The move comes as PaddyPower grows its retail presence in the UK. As part of the new...

Direct Stats.
December 4, 2007... Silver surfers take a different view on how email marketing should be used. Hayley Pinkerfield reports. New profiling of the over 50s by Prospect Swetenhams and Diamond Life reveals that almost 80 per cent of the over 50 age group do not...

Tesco loyalty scheme targets fashion fans.
December 4, 2007... Tesco is launching an online customer loyalty scheme, Fashionfile, in partnership with integrated agency WARL. Clothing at Tesco will send emails to Tesco's database of 600,000 'Save in Style' programme members. They will be invited to...

Marketing Society to provide digital advice.
December 4, 2007... The Marketing Society has teamed up with Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions (MDAS) to meet demands for advice on digital marketing. The society is unveiling a three-part digital strategy, encompassing e-publications, a new web site,...

Vital statistics.
December 4, 2007... Television, magazine and online advertising have different benefits throughout the purchase cycle, but work best combined, Hayley Pinkerfield reports. New research by Dynamic Logic, a Millward Brown company, into 32 different cross-media...

Analysis: Microsoft buys into Facebook.
December 4, 2007... Microsoft scored a victory over Yahoo! and Google in October when it announced an exclusive deal with Facebook to supply display advertising. Both internet companies had allegedly been courting the social networking behemoth with the hope...

Analysis: Income is up despite low margins.
December 4, 2007... Digital agencies are experiencing the highest growth income of all marketing disciplines, despite having the lowest margins. The findings, from the annual Willott Kingston Smith (WKS) survey, Financial Performance of Marketing Services...

Vox Pop: What were the momentous digital deals of 2007?
December 4, 2007... Which of this year's big deals will change the industry the most, asks Hayley Pinkerfield. The past year has seen a raft of M&A activity, as traditional and digital businesses have readied themselves for yet more growth and interest in the...

Quotes of the month.(Quotation)
December 4, 2007... 'Digital is becoming a lifestyle phenomenon. I see social networks as extensions of people's lifestyle and brand choices' - Dele Atanda, global digital marketing business partner, Diageo. - 'Google can't do everything, and it won't. Google...

Editorial: Online is moving up the agenda.(Editorial)
December 4, 2007... If Heather Mills McCartney needed any advice at the moment, it would have to be about reputation management. Every brand seems concerned about where they're seen or spoken about, and her slightly unhinged rantings on GMTV have certainly...

Comment: Is digital media measuring its way out of a profit?(Column)
December 4, 2007... In the early years, 'new' media modelled itself on some key points of difference between itself and other media - notably measurement. As online media struggled to find its voice and an audience with media agencies, it was forced to...

Sector checker: Electronics manufacturers hit all the right switches.
December 4, 2007... Katy Adelson of MSN is impressed by Philips' user-friendly consumer site, which proves technology doesn't have to be complicated. Web: www.consumer.philips.com; Developer: In house Consumers are increasingly buying their technology...

Shopping: Review - Moonpig does the remembering.(Moonpig.com)(Column)
December 4, 2007... I am one of those people who tends to forget birthdays and anniversaries, so this web site is a must for all those people that sometimes need a little reminder! Moonpig.com has a wide range of cards to choose from. Whether you are after a...

Shopping: Shopping stats - Pre-Christmas retail services vary widely.
December 4, 2007... Online retailers are generally well-liked by consumers, but there are issues with the services they offer. Hayley Pinkerfield reports. There is a huge difference in the services offered by online retailers in the run up to Christmas,...

Audi: The man at the wheel.
December 4, 2007... Audi is known for its innovative approach to car-making. But its progress in media is truly mould-breaking. Adam Woods reports. Audi head of marketing, Peter Duffy, spends a good deal of time with his agencies, and only partly because...

E-commerce: Social storefronts.
December 4, 2007... Social networking sites want to monetise their offerings, but can it be done without alienating users, asks Trevor Clawson. What a difference a couple of years makes. Back in 2005, when Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation announced that it...

Agencies: Where did the love go?
December 4, 2007... The thrilling pitch. The stimulating brief. Your agency/client relationship may be mutual love at first sight, but how do you stop it all going pear-shaped, Adam Woods asks. 'Agencies win business on the creative and lose it on service,'...

Market research: Get to the truth with web 2.0.
December 4, 2007... Market research companies have disbanded the gangs of ladies with clipboards, calling in the internet instead. Adam Woods reports. A survey conducted by change-management consultancy Cambiar in 2005 predicted that global online research...

The Revolution Usability Report: Creativity - Looks aren't everything.
December 4, 2007... It's the perennial problem - the balancing act between creativity and effectiveness. So what's it to be, asks Adam Woods. The question may seem a tad old-fashioned, but should web sites sacrifice creativity for the sake of usability or...

The Revolution Usability Report: User experience - The art and craft of usability.
December 4, 2007... A more usable web site is a more successful web site when all else is equal, as Handbag.com and Boden have found. CASE STUDY: Handbag.com Much has changed in the world of web design since online women's magazine Handbag.com was...

Masterclass: The Revolution Masterclass on affiliate regulation.
December 4, 2007... Many working in affiliate marketing believe regulation is long overdue in the sector, but who should be the regulator, asks Victoria Furness. One could argue that the affiliate marketing industry has been this year's surprise success story...

E-tail: Make the most of Christmas.
December 4, 2007... Whether it's 'oh no no', or 'ho ho ho', depends on how you have planned to cope with spikes in demand, writes Trevor Clawson. Thanks in no small part to a toxic combination of stumbling house prices and higher credit card charges, UK...

Trailblazer: CondeNet rides the wave.(Conde Nast Publications Inc.)
December 4, 2007... Stefano Maruzzi talks to Hayley Pinkerfield about CondeNet International's plans for digital domination. Stefano Maruzzi has implanted hefty strategic changes since being appointed president of Conde-Net International, the online division...

Creative review: Ed Carveth, Craik Jones Watson Mitchell Voelkel.
December 4, 2007... Ed Carveth, digital creative head, Craik Jones Watson Mitchell Voelkel, BIMA member for one year. At Craik Jones, Carveth is responsible for developing and running digital campaigns, ensuring continual creative excellence across accounts....

The Revolution Usability Report: Consider usability from the beginning.(Column)
December 4, 2007... User experience has come a long way since I launched User Vision in 2000. Back then it was an uphill struggle to educate our clients about the clear benefits to their products, software or web site of user experience research. But...

Terminator: Terminator 1: Product placement on the net has huge potential for brands.
December 4, 2007... James Bond has done it for years, while the Bourne series is something of a newcomer; likewise, The Simpsons Movie and Ocean's Thirteen have embraced product placement with gusto. You can't move for someone opening up an Apple computer,...

Terminator 2: Entrepreneuse finds a market for pubic hair.(www.milliondollarpubes.com)(Brief article)
December 4, 2007... Sex sells. Just look at Katie Price (aka Jordan), outselling the entire Booker shortlist with her novel, Crystal. Her brand is built upon an immense pair of breasts, rather than literary flair, but those magnificent mammaries must have gone...

No escape from Christmas past.(Brief article)
December 4, 2007... Christmas is coming, and Argos commercials are flooding television screens across the nation. Seasonal present panic is setting in. You'll want to come up with something slightly more original than socks or aftershave. You're keen to give...

Remember Movember?
December 4, 2007... And while we're on body hair... last month was unofficially known as Movember - the month of moustaches. The fundraising event invites men to raise money for prostate cancer by growing a righteous winter lip-warmer. To get in a...

Campaign study: Plan Your Invasion.
December 4, 2007... Campaign: Plan Your Invasion Client: Hadrian's Wall Heritage Agency: Milton Bayer Creative Hadrian's Wall Heritage wanted to stimulate new interest in the ancient monument and remind old fans of what the World Heritage Site offers...