Revolution articles from July 2007

Revolution archives from July 2007

Letter from Revolution.
July 9, 2007... If you can't beat 'em, then buy 'em - or at least scratch one another's backs. This is the mood of the moment as media owners and marketers stumble around the changing consumer landscape. In the case of our cover star, TV broadcaster...

Aegis enjoys multimillion-pound acquisition spending spree.(Aegis Group PLC)(Vivid Marketing)(Marvellous Ideas )(Brief article)
July 9, 2007... UK-based Aegis Group has acquired ad-serving business Bluestreak.com for pounds 6 million, event agency Vivid Marketing for pounds 2m and mobile company Marvellous Ideas for pounds 800,000. Aegis, home to media networks Carat and Vizeum,...

TBG acquires brief to extend offline push.
July 9, 2007... MoneySupermarket is unveiling its first, large-scale online brand work, following a flotation plan announcement. TBG won a competitive pitch against diffiniti, Quantum Media, Agency.com, and MediaCom to handle media planning, buying and...

Universities go digital in hunt for students.
July 9, 2007... Kingston and Middlesex Universities are using digital channels to boost student recruitment. Kingston University has appointed Tonic to develop a new digital brand, web site, online game and online marketing campaign for its flagship...

Deals: Dare sells majority stake to Cossette.
July 9, 2007... Dare has sold a majority stake to Canadian marketing services firm Cossette Communication Group. Cossette will initially acquire a 65.4 per cent stake in the agency, with the remainder to be purchased in two stages as part of a five-year...

Deals: Lycos extends its relationship with blinkx.
July 9, 2007... Lycos has extended its relationship with blinkx, the video search engine. Users of the video community can now search for and view video results powered by blinkx without leaving the site

Deals: Universal Music UK signs partnership with ROO.
July 9, 2007... Universal Music UK has signed a partnership with ROO, online video service for content providers, advertisers and web sites. ROO will launch 130 online video players featuring Universal Music video content. Under the deal, ROO will roll out...

Deals: Picsel Technologies forms partnership with FrictionTV.
July 9, 2007... Picsel Technologies, a dynamic mobile platform provider, has formed a partnership with FrictionTV, an online debating web site. FrictionTV is an online platform for user-generated news, opinion and debate. Users can post video blogs of between...

Deals: Commission Junction partners eCall.(Brief article)
July 9, 2007... Commission Junction has partnered click-to-call provider eCall, to provide a call-tracking solution for advertisers. The first client on board is short break holiday company Superbreak. The service will track web-based telephone calls from...

Deals: Setanta Sports and 4thegame.com sign deals with Zebtab.(Brief article)
July 9, 2007... Setanta Sports and non-club soccer web site 4thegame.com have signed deals with Zebtab to deliver their content direct to football fans' desktops. Zebtab allows users to consume rich content from their favourite sites via their desktops....

Deals: Babelgum announces agreement on broadcast programming.(Ministry of Sound TV )(Brief article)
July 9, 2007... Global internet TV network Babelgum has announced an agreement to broadcast programming and dance music from Ministry of Sound TV which will be delivering content from this summer's Ibiza season. Babelgum has also inked deals with 25...

Deals: WMI and Premium TV announce agreement.
July 9, 2007... Warner Music International (WMI) and Premium TV have announced an agreement to develop a series of online TV sites. WMI will distribute and monetise music-based content via specially created direct-to-consumer online platforms. Consumers will...

Stolichnaya doubles spend on interactive.
July 9, 2007... Stolichnaya has doubled its worldwide interactive marketing budget to pounds 1.5 million as part of a new global focus reflecting growing distribution rights around the world. The online move is part of a pounds 30m brand revamp to make its...

ITV and BiBC deal offers download-to-own service.
July 9, 2007... ITV has launched its first download-to-own service, complementing its broadband offering. ITV DVD struck a deal with The British Internet Broadcasting Company (BiBC) to offer more than 300 films initially, including ITV-owned BBC content. ...

Baco uses web to promote a healthy message to families.(Baco Consumer Products)(Prego)(Baco Rainbow Island )(Brief article)
July 9, 2007... Baco, famed for its Bacofoil product, has turned to the web to build brand awareness among children and parents. Agency prego has created an interactive online world called Baco Rainbow Island to promote its new Baco Rainbow product range...

Good month/bad month.
July 9, 2007... Good times for News Corp and NBC. The European Commission has approved their proposed YouTube rival over possible antitrust violations, marking a major step towards creating a new video-sharing site. AOL, Yahoo!, Microsoft and MySpace are...

Marston's uses online presence to promote cricket sponsorship.
July 9, 2007... Marston's is promoting its link with the England cricket team through an online summer push to activate its cricket sponsorship deal. The 'Uncompromising England XI' competition invites cricket fans to Marstonscricketclub.co.uk to create a...

Pan Macmillan gets users to hunt the Tube.(Brief article)
July 9, 2007... Pan Macmillan Books has launched a campaign with an online treasure hunt. The work, created by Holler to support the launch of David Baldacci's The Collectors, consists of short animations being screened on London Underground digital...

Submarine showcase for Navy site's visitors.
July 9, 2007... The Royal Navy has boosted its 'Life Without Limits' recruitment campaign with an interactive online submarine experience. The demonstration, an insight into life aboard a submarine, is the latest addition to the content-rich recruitment...

Just breaking: Top 10 breaking banners by impressions.(Table)(Brief article)(Company rankings)
July 9, 2007... TOP 10 BREAKING BANNERS BY IMPRESSIONS (1-30 JUNE 2007) 1 Norwich Union Save up to 10 per cent when you buy online 2 Orange Free with unlimited texts 3 Skype ...

Pure wins Rightmove brief for email push.
July 9, 2007... Rightmove is ramping its email marketing activity as the channel grows in importance for the business. The property web site has hired email marketing agency Pure to reach almost a million users with monthly newsletters. Pure will...

Emap raises stakes with search software.
July 9, 2007... Emap is using enterprise search software to boost user experience and increase advertising revenue for its biking and golfing digital brands. Motorcyclenews.com has boosted page impressions by 500 per cent to five million a month since...

Vital statistics.
July 9, 2007... This month Pan-European research reveals that the UK is leading the online ad market, with search the strongest format. Hayley Pinkerfield reports. The UK accounts for the largest share of European online adspend, found IAB Europe's first...

LA Fitness launches online sign-up push.
July 9, 2007... LA Fitness, the health club chain, has launched a new integrated acquisition campaign to encourage sign-up this summer. 'Summer Body Rescue' encourages new members to sign up to lose weight for summer with the offer of a month's membership...

Account wins.
July 9, 2007... BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, has appointed Complete Control to create the official standalone web site for a new children's programme, 'In the Night Garden'. The site was due to go fully live early in July. Gumtree.com, an...

Owen on digital media: How consumers came to devalue a brand's street cred.
July 9, 2007... Now, here's a story that touched me. It might not seem to have a lot to do with digital marketing, but the rebranding of 'the Stella' to the 'Artois Championship' at Queens Club in June brought a tear to my eye. Here was proof of the...

Griffiths on mobile: Vodafone may be boasting too soon of a new beginning.
July 9, 2007... 'The internet is mobile' - so states the Vodafone strapline for a recent campaign involving a bewildering number of advertisements on TV, online and in print. So is this a new beginning or just another expensive ad campaign from the Big Red...

Twinings invites Play to 300th tea party.
July 9, 2007... Twinings has hired Play to enhance its worldwide brand positioning by creating a global homepage for its 300th anniversary web site. The appointment follows the success of an international site built by the interactive agency earlier this...

Performance index.(Brief article)
July 9, 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 Cheapflights.(Francesca Ecsery-Merrens appointed as general manager)(Brief article)
July 9, 2007... Cheapflights, an online flight price comparison site, has hired Francesca Ecsery-Merrens as general manager, UK, with effect from 1 August. Based in London,Ecsery-Merrens will report to Cheapflights' group MD, Chris Cuddy. She brings 14...

Moving on up: Appointment at Joost.
July 9, 2007... Internet television service Joost has hired Mike Volpi as CEO, to succeed founding CEO Fredrik de Wahl. De Wahl will remain at Joost as chief strategy officer. Volpi, who joins after 13 years in strategic management at Cisco Systems, has...

Moving on up: Appointment at CNBC Europe.
July 9, 2007... CNBC Europe, a pan-European business and financial TV channel, has appointed Ted Holas as digital account director. Holas joins from CNN International, where he was online account director. In his new role, he will look after digital clients...

Moving on up: Appointment at Holler.
July 9, 2007... Digital agency Holler has appointed a digital marketing manager, Jasmin Griffiths. She will report to Holler co-founder James Kirkham Griffiths was previously account manager at oncampus:uk, a student media solutions supplier.

Moving on up: Appointment at buy.at.(Louise Green appointed as client services director)(Brief article)
July 9, 2007... Affiliate network buy.at has recruited the MD of competitor OMG Network, Louise Green, as client services director. Green will be responsible for directing client relationships with clients of buy.at, including John Lewis, T-Mobile and Thomas...

Moving on up: Appointment at Multimap.(Steve Frost promoted as sales head)(Brief article)
July 9, 2007... Multimap has promoted Steve Frost from head of sales for Europe to head of worldwide B2B sales. Heading Multimap's global sales team, which is based in London, Boston and Sydney, Frost will take responsibility for business solutions for...

Moving on up: Appointment at VCCP.
July 9, 2007... VCCP has appointed Bradley Woodus as its head of TV. He will work on a range of accounts including O2, Diet Coke and Dyson. Previously Woodus was deputy MD at Bikini films, and before that he was at BBH for six years working on the agency's...

Moving on up: Appointment at Scotsman.com.(Alan Greenwood appointed as editor)(Brief article)
July 9, 2007... Scotsman.com has appointed Alan Greenwood as editor. Greenwood was previously editor of the Helensburgh Advertiser and news editor of icBirmingham, Trinity Mirror's Midlands web site network, and then multimedia editor of the Birmingham...

Moving on up: Appointment at Future.(Bob Abbott appointed as creative director in Future Publishing)(Brief article)
July 9, 2007... Future, the special interest publisher, has appointed a creative director, Bob Abbott, to drive its print and digital portfolio. Abbott has been promoted to the new role from group art director. Most recently, he has played a significant role...

Moving on up: appoints director of search.(dialogue with Cynthia Crossley of Online Services Group)(Interview)
July 9, 2007... Cynthia Crossley has been appointed director of search at Microsoft's Online Services Group (OSG). Crossley was formerly director of the Microsoft Windows Business Group. She will now lead and drive UK search strategy with ultimate...

Google loses a round in fight with Microsoft.
July 9, 2007... Google's attempt to force an extension of US Government's surveillance of Microsoft's activity has been refused, as the battle between the internet goliaths intensifies. The search giant appealed to a federal judge to limit Microsoft's...

Mortgage Brain push on software upgrade.
July 9, 2007... Mortgage Brain has appointed digital creative agency twentysix Leeds to create an integrated online campaign combining digital and telesales marketing. The push, launching in July, aims to maximise sales of Mortgage Brain's new software,...

Submissions sought for 2008 awards.
July 9, 2007... Entries are now being sought for the Revolution Awards 2008, to be held on 7 March next year at London's Grosvenor House. Submissions can be made online at www.revolutionawards.co.uk by 7 December. As last year, entries can be made for...

Gaffney on America: Finally, the internet is cited in defence of poor TV figures.
July 9, 2007... In American basketball parlance,'taking it to the rack' means taking the ball to the basket with little regard for the defenders in front of you. National Basketball Association commissioner David Stern doesn't get to do this much. But in the...

Digital direct: Relevance, based on reliable data, is the key to success.
July 9, 2007... Response rates to spam emails may be incredibly low, but someone, somewhere must reply and pay money for the services offered or the spammers wouldn't be in business. Of course, no credible and responsible brand would take this approach to...

PDV pulls all brands into single new site.
July 9, 2007... PDV is relaunching its portfolio of data collection web sites under the banner of Fair Exchange from 23 July. The portal brings together the permission marketing company's eight brands, such as Chooseaprize, the Daily Draw and Scratch and...

Direct Stats.(Search engine optimization)(Survey)(Brief article)
July 9, 2007... This month E-consultancy quizzed the industry on the relative importance of paid search and SEO on brand. Hayley Pinkerfield reports. The UK Search Engine Marketing Report 2007, from e-consultancy and Neutralize, found that both clients and...

Brands set to focus on mobile this year.
July 9, 2007... More than half of brands could have a mobile internet presence within the next six months, according to poll results from Revolution's latest webinar, the future of mobile marketing and advertising. A live survey during the online event,...

Charity focuses on interactive content.
July 9, 2007... Youth charity Leap Confronting Conflict has focused on interactivity and user-generated content to develop an online platform for its youth mediation and conflict resolution programme, Peerlink. The initiative creates a national resource,...

Minister makes virtual history with interview.
July 9, 2007... Foreign secretary David Miliband has used Second Life to promote the Government's green agenda, becoming the first cabinet minister to be interviewed in the virtual world. The interview with the then environment minister, conducted by Sky...

Murphy on dotcom life: Recruiting new skills is the quick route to scaling a business.
July 9, 2007... If you're like a lot of our members, you might not be aware of the breadth of listings available on Friends Reunited. One of the most interesting listings we have is the armed forces section for ex-servicemen and women. Very strong...

Analysis: Interflora waves the loyalty flag.
July 9, 2007... WebLoyalty, which claims to offer a new revenue model for online retailers, has descended on the European online loyalty market with the signing of its first UK client, Interflora. The US-born marketing firm operates as a rewards provider...

Analysis: Promise of a new dotcom boom.
July 9, 2007... The sale of Last.fm for pounds 140 million in May to CBS, a giant US media conglomerate, represents the largest web 2.0 deal this year, but it's certainly not the first. Acquisitive predators have been circling web 2.0 sites - specifically...

Vox Pop: Are the new IPA and ISBA guidelines actually helpful?
July 9, 2007... What does the industry think of new campaign guidelines? IPA Digital, in association with ISBA's Online Action Group, has compiled a practical guide, '10 Easy Steps to Best Practice in Online Campaign Development'. This is the first in...

Quotes of the month.
July 9, 2007... 'There's a balance to be struck between anticipating what people want and trying to inspire them. Toinspire people is a lofty goal Anticipate what consumers want, fire their imaginations and present your offer with humility - it works' - Ian...

Editorial: Hard work will fuel the next boom.(digital investments of media business)(Editorial)
July 9, 2007... All over London, the sound of digital entrepreneurs brushing up their business plans can be heard. Whisper it gently, the dotcom boom is back. Or is it? There are some indications that after years of viewing new media as an investment...

Comment: Marketers need a new approach to the consumer.
July 9, 2007... As an industry, we are going through some huge changes and face an increasingly challenging task of making our message more relevant to today's online customer. With growing concern about privacy, spam on the increase, pop-up ads and flashing...

Sector checker: Engaging, positive content - and it's all in a good cause.
July 9, 2007... Katy Adelson of MSN, assessing charity sites, finds The Brooke promotes its cause effectively with great video content, but she would like to see options to sponsor an animal. Web www.thebrooke.org.uk Developer Baigent The Brooke...

Shopping Review: Amazon scores with shoot-em-up.(Brief article)
July 9, 2007... Back in my days at university (in between chasing girls) I would spend far too much time playing my PlayStation when I should have been reading up for my latest assignment. The game I remember most was 'Resident Evil'. It was a very cool...

Shopping Stats: Retailers suffer as online fraud increases.
July 9, 2007... Online credit card fraud calls for stricter security measures. Cyberfraud is hitting e-retail turnover, despite the industry's efforts to step up web site security measures. Online fraud is costing Britain's growing e-commerce sector an...

Chasing the dream: Eurosport and Yahoo!
July 9, 2007... Alicia Buller meets Jacques Raynaud - a man with a mission to make Eurosport, in league with Yahoo!, the must-visit site for the sporting masses. Less than a decade ago, Britain's media industry knew where it stood. TV stations entertained...

Web analytics: Best to merge on and offline.
July 9, 2007... The link between online and offline activity may be murky to marketers unless they can access competent analysis. As a specialist travel agency focusing on volunteering abroad, i-to-i used to rely on guesswork to ascertain how many calls to...

People power.
July 9, 2007... This year's ad:tech show is calling on its audience to go back to basics - studying consumers and their behaviour online. Stuart Derrick reports. Visitors to this year's ad:tech show at London's Olympia 2 are being urged to focus on the...

Round Table: Rocky road ahead for internet TV.(Discussion)
July 9, 2007... Industry figures met to discuss the future of IPTV at a round table hosted by Revolution in association with Utarget. Leigh Gower reports. Internet protocol TV is sitting in uncertain waters. Despite the UK being one of the most established...

The Revolution Web Hosting Report: Exploiting the marketer's dream.
July 9, 2007... The internet has enabled consumers to shop, socialise, interact and communicate any time, anywhere and with anybody. It has made home PC, telephone boxes, laptops, mobile phones and TVs interactive access points to large proportions of the...

The Revolution Web Hosting Report: Case study - Building stronger sites.(Case study)
July 9, 2007... Unpredictable surges in demand are driving the UK's web hosting market, Rackspace managing director Jacques Greyling explains to Andrew Brady. Web hosting has become a finely balanced service. Increasingly interactive technologies coupled...

Masterclass: The Revolution Masterclass on email deliverability.
July 9, 2007... Do-it-yourself email marketing can be hazardous to your brand's health. Getting it right takes care and expertise. Suzy Bashford reports. Before Lee Patmore took on his current role as internet marketing manager at outdoor sports company...

Trailblazer: Video vector.(talk with Jill Orr)(Interview)
July 9, 2007... Jill Orr tells Hayley Pinkerfield about her plans to innovate in online video at CNET Networks. Video is now the buzzword in the online ad world. We have heard that interruptive ad formats, pop-ups in particular, are dead (see Revolution...

Creative review: Tom Evans creative director and co-founder, Mook, BIMA member for five years.
July 9, 2007... Evans started his career in 1996 at one of the UK's first interactive specialists, AMX Digital. Moving to AMX spin-off iGroup as head of interactive design in 1998, his clients included The Sun, Laura Ashley and Group 4. At iGroup, he met...

Campaign study.(Adventure Ecology )
July 9, 2007... To raise awareness of climate change, environmental youth mission Adventure Ecology created Second Life's first mass virtual flood. Background: Adventure Ecology sets out to engage youth on environmental issues with the ethos that learning...

Terminator: So much hard work - when can we get back to the boozer?
July 9, 2007... Oh how great it is to be in digital communications now, when all around us our years of bleating, bellowing and red-faced postulations are being ratified by the very souls who said we were mad, daft or even (shudder) uncool. Oh yes, for...

Terminator: Decadence marks the first decade.(Brief article)
July 9, 2007... Few of you, dear readers, can have failed to notice that Revolution has turned 10 years old. Thanks to those of you who joined us to celebrate - what a night it was Terminator naturally did the decent thing and circulated the party with a...

Terminator: Where the left is right and the right was wrong.
July 9, 2007... Ever the ones to pick up on a web trend, Revolution has indulged in a bit of 'Googleganging'. Yet another Google-inspired neologism, the semi-official definition of the newly-coined word is 'another person of the same name, whose records...

Terminator: World wide worship site claims copious converts.
July 9, 2007... You'd think the church would be the one safe haven left in an increasingly online world. Apparently this is not so. UK clergy now have their very own web site to help with planning and preparing church services. Technologically-minded...