Revolution articles from June 2004

Revolution archives from June 2004

Letter from the editor.
June 1, 2004... As a whole the music industry has struggled to adapt to digital. Initially, the response of record companies to the rise of file-sharing sites like the original Napster and Kazaa was to ignore them, but then it decided to threaten them. Now, in...

Thistle Hotels to relaunch web sites with improved services.
June 1, 2004... Thistle Hotels is relaunching its web site at the end of June to offer a slicker customer experience that's more in line with the brand's recent developments. 'The existing site has been in operation since 1999 and the brand collateral has...

Kids' cartoon brand brings brand online.
June 1, 2004... Independent production and IP management firm Spellbound Entertainment is launching a web site for BBC2 kids cartoon The Koala Brothers in August. The stop-frame animation is shown on the US Disney Channel and Australia's ABC channel. ...

IAB agrees standard for online metrics.
June 1, 2004... Marketers can rely on standard metrics for measuring electronic media in Europe due to a decision by online trade bodies to back common measures. The strategy council of the Interactive Advertising Bureau Europe, which represents 15...

Deals: British Airways teams up with Vodafone.
June 1, 2004... British Airways has teamed up with Vodafone to offer Vodafone live! mobile internet users airline information, including the ability to check flight availability and obtain quotes on their handsets. Customers with enabled phones will be able to...

Deals: insurancewide.com extends its partnership with MSN.
June 1, 2004... Internet insurance portal insurancewide.com is extending its partnership with MSN for two years. It will offer insurance services on MSN's Money, Cards and Property channels. MSN has linked with financial services provider Ample (www.iii.co.uk)...

Deals: Flybe partners eXhilaration.
June 1, 2004... Low-cost airline Flybe has partnered eXhilaration, a specialist 'experience' provider and part of the lastminute.com network. Flybe will offer eXhilaration and lastminute.com products on flybe.com. EXhilaration offers holiday events such as spa...

Deals: Kwickee Bitesize collaborates with NetDoctor.co.uk.
June 1, 2004... Kwickee Bitesize, publisher of mobile content, has collaborated with health web site NetDoctor.co.uk to provide medical content for mobile. Guides written by NetDoctor.co.uk's professionals, including reviews, training and sales messages, will...

Deals: AOL offers new online games from Pogo.com.
June 1, 2004... AOL UK is offering new online games from Pogo.com, the online games site published by developer Electronic Arts. AOL members will have free access to 20 new games, including backgammon and pool on the AOL Games channel. Nine games are already...

Deals: Ntl announces contract with Hertfordshire Grid for Learning.
June 1, 2004... Ntl has announced a contract worth pounds 22.6 million over five years with Hertfordshire Grid for Learning, which will see the communications giant providing broadband access to all local education authority schools across the country. Ntl...

Deals: Black Circles forms alliance with autotrader.co.uk.
June 1, 2004... UK tyre retailer Black Circles has formed an alliance with autotrader.co.uk in an ongoing deal that will continue for at least a year. The tyre retailer will have direct links from autotrader.co.uk to blackcircles.com and will pay Autotrader...

Deals: Holsten Pils teams up with Sky Bet.
June 1, 2004... Holsten Pils has teamed up with the BSkyB-owned betting service Sky Bet to offer consumers free bets on the results of Euro 2004 in a promotion that's worth more than pounds 500,000. Consumers who buy two bottles of Holsten Pils in a...

Audi gives TT range first web presence.
June 1, 2004... Car manufacturer Audi is giving its TT range a distinct online presence for the first time. The German car firm's micro-site will showcase its stable of seven TT coupes. It is also believed to be planning to launch the new Audi A6 online...

Credit card to target online travel buyers.
June 1, 2004... Morgan Stanley is competing with Air Miles and Nectar for travel loyalty this summer with a campaign to push a new credit card offering free flights. The Morgan Stanley Buy & Fly Mastercard will launch online on 7 June with a banner...

Good month/bad month.
June 1, 2004... It has been a good month for lastminute.com, announcing that sales had doubled in the past year, with gross margins up to 17.3 per cent. The online retailer recorded a pounds 1.5 million loss, down from last year, but expects its order bank to...

Revolution renews partnership for this year's BIMA Awards.
June 1, 2004... Revolution is continuing its successful relationship with the prestigious British Interactive Media Awards by hosting the event for the second year. The call for entries for the 20th annual awards, known as the BIMAs, has been announced...

Boots promotes Clearasil with online snow-boarding game.
June 1, 2004... Boots Healthcare International has launched a 3D game to push its Clearasil range. The multi-player 3D snowboarding simulation, operating in 25 countries including the UK, uses geo-targeting and content management tools, so players will...

Stanleybet to bring SMS bets to UK.
June 1, 2004... Stanleybet will launch the UK's first SMS-based gambling service on 1 June for Euro 2004. The service, TXT2BET, was created by mobile communications developer m-connected and is being trialled by Stanleybet with a view to full roll-out at...

Franz Ferdinand site to offer fans extras.
June 1, 2004... Scottish band Franz Ferdinand is to put communicating with fans at the heart of its revamped web site. Franzferdinand.co.uk will promote the band's current European and US headline tour and its eponymous debut LP, released earlier this...

Just breaking: Top 10 breaking banners by impressions (1-30 April 2004).
June 1, 2004... 1 Tele2 Why pay more? 2 Alliance & Leicester Loan sale - further reductions 3 udate.co.uk Find a date! 4 Toyota Prius Bright ideas for a better tomorrow 5 ING Direct ...

Playboy online ads get mixed reception.
June 1, 2004... Playboy TV's online launch of its Climax3 branded adult channels has been hampered by publishers' reluctance to carry the campaign creative. The promo, using the tagline 'Take Control Tonight', has broken on FHM.com and Megastar. But...

Account wins.
June 1, 2004... Champagne Mercier, part of Moet Hennessy UK has hired Confetti.co.uk to promote its champagne to the UK wedding and special occasions market this summer. The web site will host a Champagne Mercier competition throughout June, supported by a...

Owen on digital media: Marketing is only as good as the people employed to do it.
June 1, 2004... What's the toughest thing about operating in a young industry such as digital marketing? Educating colleagues and clients about what digital media can do? Ensuring people get involved in the process earlier at a more strategic level? Or, at the...

Virgin to introduce interactive games.
June 1, 2004... Virgin is launching an interactive gaming site, Virgin Games, in the UK and Ireland in June. Virgingames.com will feature a selection of games to preview and play. Visitors click on tabs on the left-hand side of the web site to access...

Cornwall pushes its new media wealth.
June 1, 2004... Cornwall aims to attract 78 new businesses and some 800 jobs to the county with a four-year integrated campaign. The Clear Thinking campaign, through local agencies Gendalls Design and Chilli Media, will emphasise the region's work/life...

Tracker: About IPT.
June 1, 2004... IPT is a supplier of email marketing data and services, with brands such as MyOffers and OK-mail providing permission-based data to advertisers every quarter. IPT's low-cost managed email-delivery service, EmailBureau, sent more than 50...

Disney's web game comes to the UK.
June 1, 2004... Disney is making a foray into the UK online games market with Toontown, the interactive, multiplayer community it launched in the US in June 2003. The game launched here on 24 May, promising to provide a safe and entertaining environment...

Video Island links with Meetup.com.
June 1, 2004... Video Island has hooked up with Meetup.com to take its brand offline with a series of branded film quizzes around the UK. The online DVD retailer is promoting them on the US-based site. 'Meetup.com has spread like wildfire in the US and we...

Black & Decker site promotes new laser tool.
June 1, 2004... Black & Decker has launched a microsite (wwwbiackanddecker.co.uk//asers), created by digital agency Profero, to inform users of its new laser products. It is being rolled out across Europe over the next few weeks. The laser tool transmits...

Griffiths on mobile: Is 'gamebling' the new direction for gambling online?
June 1, 2004... In the mobile data business, two questions we're looking to answer are: 'what's next for mobile games?' and 'how can we get involved in the gambling market in a way that appeals to customers and is also responsible?'. The market for mobile...

T-Mobile to offer exclusive UEFA Euro 2004 content.
June 1, 2004... T-Mobile is to offer exclusive European Football Association UEFA content and services. As the only mobile operator to sponsor UEFA Euro 2004, the company has exclusive mobile rights for all live matches. Customers with Java-enabled...

Dealgroupmedia offers IW visitors chance to set agenda.
June 1, 2004... Digital marketing firm Dealgroupmedia is offering visitors to June's Internet World show the chance to join a think-tank debate in Portugal and watch England play Croatia at Euro 2004 on 21 June. Dealgroupmedia, Internet World and...

Yahoo! hosts full film trailer of Troy online.
June 1, 2004... Yahoo! has signed a deal with Warner Bros to promote Brad Pitt film Troy, including hosting the cinema-length trailer. It is the first time a full-length trailer has hosted on Yahoo! UK & Ireland. It will appear on the homepage with further...

Time thief: Anna Rafferty, head of Penguin.co.uk tells us how she spends her day.
June 1, 2004... 35% Meetings Either internal with editors, publicists or marketing teams, or external with authors, agencies or media partners. 25% Writing briefs and strategy Translating book marketing campaigns and authors' aims into exciting...

Google serves up ads with pictures.
June 1, 2004... Google has stolen a march on its rivals with the global launch of a system allowing advertisers to serve up images as well as text-based ads. Image Ads, which launched in May, will be served only to publisher web sites and will not appear...

Sterne on web ROI: Less is more when it comes to use of web analytics.
June 1, 2004... We know what you clicked last summer. No, really, we do. We can track your exact mouse movements across the page, what you hovered over, what you typed in and what you clicked on. Spooky? You bet. But knowing all that isn't necessarily the...

Performance index.
June 1, 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...

Moving on up: Appointment at Cheapflights.
June 1, 2004... Cheapflights has hired Alan Arnfeld as site director and architect. In this newly created role, Arnfeld will be in charge of user experience, usability and navigation for the company's range of flights and travel sites. He moves from the Yahoo!...

Moving on up: Company launched - NowellStone.
June 1, 2004... Merlin Stone, IBM professor of relationship marketing at Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, has joined forces with the executive recruitment agency Adrem to launch NowellStone. The new company is an executive search and...

Moving on up: Appointment at Incepta Online.
June 1, 2004... Incepta Online, the digital marketing communications agency, has promoted Pere Perez to finance and operations director for the group's London-based agencies. These include online advertising and marketing solutions provider Tangozebra and...

Moving on up: Appointment at EHS Brann.
June 1, 2004... EHS Brann has hired Chris Leonard as people and development director, a board position, working across all EHS Brann operations. He joins from Citigroup Private Bank in Geneva, where he was head of human resources for 18 months. Prior to that,...

Moving on up: Appointment at Dowcarter.
June 1, 2004... Mark Griffiths has been appointed creative director at digital agency Dowcarter where he will handle online advertising for Honda, Siemens and Carling-Live. He moves from the creative team of ad agency Strawberryfrog. Previous roles include...

Moving on up: Appointment at 192.com.
June 1, 2004... Jean Parodi has joined online directory 192.com as its first marketing director. He leaves travel specialist iglu.com, where he held the same post. Parodi will be responsible for developing a campaign to promote the service over the 118...

Moving on up: Appointment at Zendor.
June 1, 2004... Tracey Travis is sales & marketing director at Zendor, which provides e-services to retailers like River Island and Lloyds TSB. She will be responsible for sales and marketing strategy, as well as heading up consultancy and business-to-consumer...

Moving on up: Appointment at twofourtv.
June 1, 2004... Corporate communications firm twofourtv, has appointed two new marketing executives: Clive Martyn and Annika Ginman-Trout. They will be responsible for marketing the company's communication services, focusing on online. Martyn joins from Taurus...

Moving on up: Appointment at WSPS.
June 1, 2004... Nick Hynes is the new chief executive officer of search engine marketing agency WSPS. He was formerly managing director, president and founder of Overture Europe. Hynes' career achievements include launching AirMiles' electronic points system,...

Radio 1 web game shows heroic edge.
June 1, 2004... The self-proclaimed saviour of 'Breakfast radio', Radio 1's Chris Moyles, is the inspiration for a superhero-themed online game to launch this autumn. After a four-way pitch, digital gaming agency de-construct and interactive digital...

Green Flag sponsors AOL's UEFA content.
June 1, 2004... Motor insurer Green Flag is the exclusive sponsor of AOL's coverage of UEFA 2004. It aims to raise sales of items like breakdown cover by targeting AOL's two million UK subscribers. The sponsorship deal involves Green Flag branding on...

Blockbuster offers DVDs online in UK.
June 1, 2004... Video rental giant Blockbuster is to launch an online DVD service in the UK as the market for rentals through the post becomes more competitive. It is offering 15,000 titles for a pounds 13.99 monthly subscription and users can rent three...

Pankhurst on dotcom life: How successful marketing opened up my horizons.
June 1, 2004... You may find this funny, but in all seriousness, I knew absolutely nothing about marketing when we first set up Friends Reunited. We've built a popular, strong brand and an excellent business, mainly on the back of excellent PR. Not only...

Digital direct: Official complaints about SMS are not the whole story.
June 1, 2004... It sometimes feels like you can recognise the growth of a new marketing medium by the number of complaints made about it. We are reminded by organisations like the MDA about the continual growth of text-messaging for personal communications...

Damovo begins UK email promotion.
June 1, 2004... Telecoms provider Damovo, which demerged from Ericsson in 2001, is launching an email programme to raise awareness in the UK and drive sales. Damovo will start by emailing prospects with product updates on the value of its data and...

Direct Stats.
June 1, 2004... This month: Certain phrases, when used in emails, trigger spam filters and stop emails arriving. Philip Smith finds out what these phrases are. Spam triggers can be innocent words or phrases, html/text ratios, html tags or image names, but...

RAC rehires Tamar to ramp up search.
June 1, 2004... The RAC has rehired Tamar as its search-engine optimisation agency for another two years after a three-way pitch as part of a direct marketing review. Activity will focus on optimising natural search for RAC's web sites and managing...

Hotgroup adds two web sites to stable.
June 1, 2004... Online recruitment specialist Hotgroup has spent pounds 1.23 million on two new job sites as it seeks to expand its financial offering and develop new areas. Hotonline.com has added Jobs Financial.com and Gisajob.com to its fold of nine...

Vital statistics.
June 1, 2004... This month: How are UK adults using SMS to communicate? Emma Rigby reports on the findings of NOP World. According to The Mobile Data Association, in March, 2.1 billion texts were sent in the UK - a 25 per cent increase on the same month...

Analysis: Why content is key for mobile.
June 1, 2004... At the turn of the millennium, media owners and brands had to consider content for online, but increasingly they are formatting it for mobile. Picture-enabled handsets mean operators can offer more types of content and downloads. But what...

Analysis: DRC's accessibility wake-up call.
June 1, 2004... Brands should heed a wake-up call to develop accessible sites or face possible legal action. This is the warning from The Disability Rights Commission (DRC), the independent body responsible for advising the Government on disability...

Analysis: Promos give standout.
June 1, 2004... Online brands pride themselves on the targeted nature of their marketing, but recent campaigns indicate that some are looking to make a bit more noise. BT Broadband's latest bid to convince the UK to sign up for faster net access adopts a...

Vox pop: Will the CAP guidelines have an impact on mobile marketing?
June 1, 2004... Is there enough of the right guidance for mobile marketers? Mobiles are becoming more popular as a marketing medium but, in turn, complaints are on the up. From 2002-03, the Advertising Standards Association (ASA) reported a rise of 500 per...

Editorial: No excuse for poor accessibility.
June 1, 2004... If you have responsibility for any aspect of a brand's online presence, you have every right to be nervous that its web site doesn't meet the highest standards of accessibility. According to research by The Disability Rights Commission (see...

Comment: Practical steps to ensure your site is compliant.
June 1, 2004... So, you've got a web site. You suspect it might not comply with the Disabilities Discrimination Act (DDA) and you could be right as some 81 per cent of sites fell foul of the DRC's recent report. But, what practical steps can you take to make...

Shopping Review: A site that's a refreshing change.
June 1, 2004... My kettle worked well for three years and, in this consumer world of planned obsolescence, I haven't been feeling too upset that it has decided to misbehave in the last few weeks. But, I do know for certain that it has been three years since I...

Shopping stats: Clothes and footwear lead the e-tailers.
June 1, 2004... Clothes and shoes saw a 53 per cent rise in online sales last year. The majority of clothing and footwear retailers in the UK have yet to offer online shopping, despite an audience eager for it. And e-business expert Zendor has found that...

Sector checker: Here's Johnny, and Capital FM really dances online.
June 1, 2004... ValueClick's Carl White finds Capital FM's web offering may attract listeners to the Breakfast Show as Johnny Vaughan starts as presenter. Web: www.capitalfm/breakfast Developer: in-house/Skinkers After the appalling Tommy Steel...

Music on the move: BMG's Jon Davis and Clive Rich tell Philip Smith how the record company is making mobile work for its artists.
June 1, 2004... Sitting in the reception area of BMG's west London HQ, you don't feel part of an industry in crisis. From the plasma screens blasting MTV to the giant pictures of famous stars in the music label's history. From Elvis to the Eurythmics and...

Conde Nast: Driving women online.
June 1, 2004... Though more women are buying a car, the industry is still geared towards men. Suzy Bashford finds a new deal set to redress the balance. It's a rare woman who swaggers into a car dealer's and feels unphased by the barrage of jargon she'll...

Music downloads: Keep the music moving online.
June 1, 2004... Music online isn't just about downloads. Adam Woods finds out what music content the major players have to offer consumers. When Madonna's concert at Brixton Academy on October 2000 was streamed live on MSN's network to an audience of some...

The Affiliate Marketing Report: A watershed for UK e-commerce.
June 1, 2004... Sponsored by TradeDoubler. TradeDoubler's monthly Tracker of online sales and trends across its European network shows the first quarter of 2004 outperforming the traditionally strong Christmas period of 2003. This is a remarkable...

The Affiliate Marketing Report: What price success?
June 1, 2004... Affiliate marketing is a growing industry, but what should the advertisers pay? Robert Gray reports. In April, e-consultancy published Affiliate Marketing - A Buyer's Guide, projecting that 2004 would see total sales of pounds 500-600...

The Affiliate Marketing Report: Demographics - Group target.
June 1, 2004... How can affiliate marketing help those advertisers who want to target a specific demographic? Caspar van Vark takes a look. There's a broad rule in life that you get what you pay for, but with affiliate marketing it's generally the...

Internet World: Show preview.
June 1, 2004... Stuart Derrick takes a look at what visitors to June's Internet World show in Earls Court, London, will find of interest. It's a sign of the growing maturity of the digital market that the internet now forms a major element of many trade...

Email content masterclass: The Revolution Masterclass on email content.
June 1, 2004... Email marketing needs to be spot on to be effective. Marketers should look at targeting and technology, as well as the words, says Emma Rigby. A badly written, designed or targeted email campaign will generate as much audience resonance as...

Trailblazer: Question time.
June 1, 2004... AQA chief executive Colly Myers tells Emma Rigby how he plans to give mobile users the answers to just about anything. AQA, Any Question Answered, is a directory service for mobile phone users with the scope to answer just about any query,...

Creative review: David Bryant, creative director, Modem Media Europe.
June 1, 2004... Modem Media Europe's clients include HP, Unilever and General Motors. Bryant is in charge of the agency's output, having been involved in advertising and interactive for 12 years. He worked at BBH for seven years before moving to BMP DDB where...

Campaign of the month: Launch of the new England Away Kit.
June 1, 2004... Campaign: Launch of the new England Away Kit Client: Umbro Agency: swamp Background: Umbro wanted its web site to have a more modern image. It hired digital marketing agency swamp to develop a global presence at Umbro.com and a...

Terminator 1: Imagine a place where information is beyond control.
June 1, 2004... I wanted to know what really happened when some allied soldiers were revealed to be 'abusing' Iraqis in detention. The Mirror exclusive didn't sound like the whole story, so after scanning all the usual portals, I trawled through loads of...

MMS Mess: Here comes the sun ... and the fashion police.
June 1, 2004... It's a sensitive matter, but, as you may know, Terminator isn't afraid to say what needs to be said. And, putting it plainly, the new media world is not noted for its sartorial standards. In fact, in recent years, the dressing-down...

Morph's mate leads the hhm party swingers.
June 1, 2004... Next time someone tells you agencies don't party like it's, er, 2000 and a dotcom boom, feel free to point them in the direction of hhm... Not content with inviting darts star Bobby George and Posh 'n' Becks lookalikes to a past event...

Wade calls vote 4 tomorrow's words on site.
June 1, 2004... Grown-ups wot got upset bout txting cos it means kids don't spel proper won't like Freespeling.com - the campaign to modernise English spelling. Terminator thinks it's worth a mention. The web site, founded three years ago by Richard Wade,...