Revolution articles from December 2008

Revolution archives from December 2008

Leader: The creative bar has been raised in 2008 by brands thinking big online.
December 4, 2008... If you Google 'best ever online ads', you get a link to a 'fart button' featuring the words 'press it, you know you want to'. Entertaining, yes, but sadly, for a long time a farting banner was about the best you could expect from an online...

The Download: Advertising - Digital should 'enrich lives'.
December 4, 2008... Marketers must entertain, inform or assist consumers with their digital campaigns or they will fail, says Justin Billingsley, Orange UK's brand director. 'We're there to give consumers a tool to make their journey better, to make their life...

The Download: Advertising - MGM in YouTube tie.(Brief article)
December 4, 2008... MGM has agreed to allow YouTube to post full-length TV shows and films on the video-sharing site. Ads will run next to the free videos YouTube also recently signed deals with CBS and independent studio Lionsgate to post full-length episodes of...

The Download: Advertising - Peter Griffin gets his kit off.
December 4, 2008... Twentieth Century Fox has used The Sun Online's new ad format, which allows visitors to manually expand an MPU, to promote the release of the Family Guy DVD Peter Griffin: Best Bits Uncovered. The MPU, created by Hijack Media, enables consumers...

The Download: Advertising - Cadbury flies ethical flag.
December 4, 2008... Cadbury has launched a corporate social responsibility website to engage consumers about ethical sourcing, the environment and responsible consumption. DearCadbury.com features the confectionery giant's recent corporate responsibility and...

The Download: Advertising - Sky unveils retail portal.
December 4, 2008... Sky is entering the price-comparison market with the launch of an online shopping portal sponsored by Marks & Spencer. The service allows consumers to compare more than 3.5 million products from high-street retailers including Comet and Next...

The Download: Advertising - Walt Disney plugs DVDs.
December 4, 2008... Walt Disney Home Entertainment is taking over Virgin Media's homepage to promote the UK DVD release of WALL-E during the upcoming festive season. -------------------- Did you find this article useful? Why not subscribe to the...

The Download: Online games - Obama game's a riot.
December 4, 2008... A free online video game has launched in honour of Barack Obama's US election victory. In Super Obama World, based on Nintendo's Super Mario World, the president-elect can be made to collect flags and dodge lipstick-wearing pit bulls. ...

The Download: Online games - Viral wreaks its revenge.
December 4, 2008... Jeremy Clarkson's joke about lorry drivers murdering prostitutes has spawned an online game in which the Top Gear presenter has to avoid irate hauliers while picking up wads of taxpayers' money. Flash game developer T-Enterprise's viral game...

The Download: Media - Kirill promises interactivity.(MSN Europe and Endemol teamed up )(Brief article)
December 4, 2008... MSN and Endemol have teamed up to launch Kirill, an interactive online sci-fi series. The 10-part show, available in high-definition, follows two characters living in a futuristic world. -------------------- Did you find this article...

The Download: Media - 'We're in a repeat of 2001'.
December 4, 2008... Yahoo! chief executive Jerry Yang has compared the current economic downturn to the dotcom crash of 2001, but claims that online advertising will emerge stronger than ever. 'Advertising will come out of this recession in a better position than...

The Download: Mobile - Visa teams up with Android.(Brief article)
December 4, 2008... Visa has partnered with Google Android to launch a service allowing brands to target users with special offers delivered directly to an interface on their mobile phones. The initiative will enable Waterstones, for example, to send consumers...

The Download: Sony lifts lid on 3D universe.
December 4, 2008... Sony has confirmed it will launch Home, its virtual world for the PlayStation 3, by the end of the year. The 3D universe, where players can build their own interactive environment, is expected to bring together a mix of games, TV and movie...

The Download: Killer Quote.
December 4, 2008... 'We're not interested in going back and re-looking at an acquisition. I don't know why they would be either frankly.' - Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer on Yahoo! -------------------- Did you find this article useful? Why not...

The Download: Smart Stat.
December 4, 2008... 52% of mobile internet users are aged between 15 and 35, according to research from Nielsen Online. -------------------- Did you find this article useful? Why not subscribe to the magazine? Please call 08451 55 73 55 for more...

The Download: Hot or Not.(Brief article)
December 4, 2008... HOT Spam may finally have been canned online after ISPs banned McColo, a firm with alleged links to junk mail gangs. Spam levels have since dropped by 70 per cent since, according to Ironport. Search has made brains more adept at...

The Download: Hotlinks - Stuff we found we think you might like ..(Website list)(Brief article)
December 4, 2008... - Colour to the power of 107 This is what you get by extracting colours from 10 million Flickr images. Not that ground-breaking, but it certainly looks good http://labs.ideeinc.com/multicolr - The sexier side of DIY A website...

The Download: In-depth - Banking - Banks 'are failing consumers online'.
December 4, 2008... The UK's top banks stand accused of neglecting their main acquisition channel, according to a new study. Banks are failing to use the internet to attract customers and improve their brand image in the wake of the global financial crisis,...

The Download: Viral effect - This month's hottest virals.
December 4, 2008... - Wassup Anno 2008 Charles Stone III brings a political slant to his Bud concept. 4,274,602 views on YouTube - Apple Macintosh: Bean Counter Should Microsoft decrease its ad spend and fix bugs on Vista instead? 245,910 views on...

The Download: Start up Next2Friends.(Brief article)
December 4, 2008... Next2Friends is a US-based mobile social media platform that has just set up shop in the UK. It promises to help consumers get more out of their mobile by providing a platform and community that enables peers to share videos, images and...

The Download: World-wide web.
December 4, 2008... How is digital marketing performing on an international level? This month, in New York, MTV is making money from ads on MySpace, while in Australia, Second Life's star may be falling. CALIFORNIA Tony Fadell, senior vice-president of...

The Download: Smart guide to ... Friends Reunited's future.
December 4, 2008... Friends Reunited co-owners Michael Murphy, Tim Ward and Rob Mogford will this month finally cede control of the pioneering social networking site to ITV executives, netting the trio an estimated pounds 55 million from their earn-out bonuses....

The Download: Stats - Social networks.(Survey)(Brief article)
December 4, 2008... 58% of adults worldwide do not know what social networking is, despite the sector's massive boom in popularity, claims research from Synovate. 59 of the top 100 US brands are trying to target social network users by maintaining a branded...

The Download: App:Test - Anti-Social Networking.(Brief article)
December 4, 2008... Anti-Social Networking is a Facebook application built to promote the recent cinema release of How to Lose Friends & Alienate People. - What does the app do? It encourages users to sabotage their Facebook relationships and gives them...

The Download: Inside track - Honda UK's marketing department.
December 4, 2008... Honda UK has an annual marketing budget of pounds 25 million, of which it claims to spend around 4 per cent on digital brand building and customer acquisition. The manufacturer recently relaunched its website as a state-of-the-art virtual...

The Download: Google watch - Google eyes mobile in Yahoo! aftermath.
December 4, 2008... While Google is watching you, every month we're watching Google. Google has finally given up on its proposed search deal with Yahoo!, suspecting that regulators may make the multibillion-dollar partnership untenable. Russia is also proving...

The Download: Moves - People - Tamarah Khatib, bmi.
December 4, 2008... Tamarah Khatib has taken on the role of head of online at bmi. She was previously head of global marketing at Silverjet, the now defunct business-class airline. Khatib climbed from UK marketing manager to head of global online marketing at...

The Download: Moves - Accounts.
December 4, 2008... Betfair is seeking a search agency following Google's decision to take advertising money from gambling brands. Tesco has called a review of its digital advertising roster. The supermarket giant wants to add agencies to its current line-up...

The Download: Status update.
December 4, 2008... Tom Bazeley... managing partner, Lean Mean Fighting Machine, is... - wondering whether to adopt the uniform of the commuter (blue suit, cheap shoes, balding, Daily Mail). 6.32am - convinced that gay Paul in Pret has a crush on me....

The Download: Briefing - Media consumption - Brands plan for joint TV and web usage.
December 4, 2008... More than 70 per cent of young people regularly watch TV and browse the internet at the same time - opening up new opportunities for brands. A survey of 1,000 online consumers by Tuned In Research, has found that 72 per cent of 16 to 30...

The Download: Briefing - Pepsi - Pepsi spots the potential of QR codes.
December 4, 2008... Pepsi has become the first high-profile consumer brand to use QR (quick response) codes at the centre of a UK campaign. The FMCG brand printed the codes on more than 400 million cans and bottles throughout its soft drinks range, surprising many...

The Download: Briefing - Lycos - Lycos rethinks after profit turns to loss.
December 4, 2008... Web portal Lycos is relaunching to include social networking features and content from a wider range of partner sites, in an effort to boost falling revenue. In what could be a final throw of the dice for the company, Lycos UK managing...

Opinion: User-generated comment - Is the game up for Phorm and other behavioural targeting technologies?
December 4, 2008... Orange has pulled out of trialling Phorm, the controversial ad targeting technology, amid mounting consumer privacy concerns. Meanwhile, in the US, web users have filed a lawsuit against NebuAd and six ISPs that support it, in what is being...

Blogs I can't live without: Chris Clarke, LBi.(Website list)
December 4, 2008... Chris Clarke, chief creative officer, LBi LBiQ I can't live without this blog for its wit, wisdom and occasional outpouring of vitriol (in the spirit of shameless self-promotion). I love the way we don't censor it. www.lbiq.net...

Opinion: Obama's election success represents a landmark victory for digital marketing.
December 4, 2008... On the night of Tuesday 4 November, millions of Americans got an email. Dare's managing director, Lee Wright, got one. So too did Jeremy Paxman, as he revealed on Newsnight. It was from Barack Obama. 'Lee,' said Lee's email, 'I'm about to...

Opinion: Social media can reverse the gender imbalance in the digital sector.
December 4, 2008... I have been on the conference circuit of late and it reminded me of how few women there are compared to men in the digital industry. There are notable exceptions to inspire us, of course; from Martha Lane Fox (Lastminute.com and Lucky...

Opinion: Efficiency should be about saving money not boardroom vanity.
December 4, 2008... People don't really care about efficiency when things are running smoothly. They love the word, but it's a vanity in the boardroom. Now, as global brands grapple with a changing economy, analog dollars are finding their way to a new...

Online Ads: 10 Ads that rocked the web ..
December 4, 2008... From a US presidential campaign to a kickboxing bear, digital marketing has had its moments. Kunal Dutta describes 10 of the most influential online ads of all time, as chosen by our expert panel. Over the past 12 months we have...

Innovator: Dragging Unilever into the digital age.(dialogue with Babs Rangaiah)(Interview)
December 4, 2008... Having boosted Unilever's US digital spend, Babs Rangaiah plans to help the FMCG company use the web to penetrate UK culture, writes Adam Woods. Speaking on the sort of grim winter day that obliges you to apologise to recently arrived...

Browsers: www.browserwars.co.uk.
December 4, 2008... Google plans to change the internet experience with its first web browser. Kim Benjamin investigates the impact of Chrome and what it will mean for brands. Since the launch of Netscape in 1994, browser development has been a hotly...

Planning: What is it Planners actually do, anyway.(Interview)
December 4, 2008... Planners are in a unique position to orchestrate ad campaigns from idea to execution, but what do they do and how do they do it? Adam Woods talks to six trailblazers. Given that planners are intended to bring clarity and insight to the...

US Election: Barack Obama is getting ready to enter the White House.
December 4, 2008... The next US president made millions of Facebook friends and raised dollars 450 million online. Noelle McElhatton asks can Brown and Cameron learn from the first truly digital election? In an office on the King's Road, London, a group of...

Masterclass: E-commerce.
December 4, 2008... With e-commerce set for another record year of growth, even the most established online retailers are still learning how to improve the experience, writes Mike Fletcher. By the time the global economy recovers, online user habits will have...

Web Development: Special Report - Beyond the desktop.
December 4, 2008... The arrival of a fully interactive touch-screen operating system rings the death knell for the mouse and keyboard, and will transform digital marketing, says Trevor Clawson. Microsoft Surface has the potential to transform the way people...

Web Development: Special Report - Battle of the brands.
December 4, 2008... Broadcasters are becoming increasingly reliant on digital channels to attract elusive youth audiences. Kim Benjamin judges how two top TV shows - MTV's The Hills and E4's Dead Set - fare online. A proliferation of brands and an increasing...

Web Development: Special Report - If you build it they will come ..
December 4, 2008... It's one thing to create a fantastic website with gripping content, but the real skill comes in driving traffic to it and creating buzz Robert McLuhan finds out the best ways to get your site noticed. In the offline world, you can set up a...

The Work: From brief to browser - Sony Ericsson, Agency Dare.
December 4, 2008... Brief Sony Ericsson wanted to use the internet as the lead channel to launch its Xperia line of mobile phones. The X1 is the first handset in the range, and features a touch-sensitive screen and slide-out Qwerty keyboard. Sony Ericsson...

The Work: Case studies - Automotive - Nissan Infiniti.
December 4, 2008... Campaign: Nissan Infiniti Europe Agency: TMW Background: Infiniti is the new luxury marque from Nissan. The Japanese automotive manufacturer has been working with TMW on the phased rollout of the brand in 21 markets across Europe,...

The Work: Case studies - FMCG - Domestos.(fast moving consumer goods )(Brief article)
December 4, 2008... Campaign: Grotbuster Agency: OgilvyAction Background: New Unilever cleaning product Domestos Grotbuster is designed to help consumers get to all those hard-to-reach places where mould can appear in the home, such as the corners of...

The Work: Case studies - Utilities - British Gas.(LBi)(Brief article)
December 4, 2008... Campaign: Generation Green Agency: LBi Background: British Gas launched 'Generation Green' to promote its greener side to schools and communities throughout the UK. The programme is intended to help schools, pupils, parents and the...

The Work: Creative review - Oasis.
December 4, 2008... Reviewed by Damon Mangos, creative director and founding partner, Delete. Campaign: Run Cactus Kid Run Brand: Oasis Agency: Glue Having first encountered this as a poster, I was intrigued. A human cactus? What will these...

Diary: Web crawler.
December 4, 2008... - Web Crawler recently gathered together the cream of UK creative talent for a philosophical and enlightening debate on the finer points of online advertising. - But these are hard times. Crawler's bachelor pad in Clapham now has a market...

Diary: JPEGs.
December 4, 2008... We're pretty sure this is AKQA's James Hilton but it could equally be a certain Radio 1 DJ by the name of Chris Moyles. Dare's Flo Heiss forgets the next step in the 'big fish, little fish' hand jive started by Hilton. It's 'cardboard...

Diary: Questionnaire - Ben Rotheray.
December 4, 2008... Ben Rotheray is Land Rover's UK digital marketing manager. His responsibilities include online services for Land Rover UK, plus the Land Rover UK and UK Go Beyond websites. He is involved in e-CRM programmes and has recently launched an...