Revolution articles from March 2007

Revolution archives from March 2007

Letter from the editor.(Editorial)
March 14, 2007... There are some things one just can't forget. It's of no use whatsoever, but on my death bed I'm sure I'll still be capable of telling anyone to hand that the French for guinea pig is cochon dande Such factettes become lodged in the brain in a...

Ikea enlists Agency.com to build its entire through-the-line push.
March 14, 2007... Ikea has hired a digital agency to develop its entire through-the-line campaign in what is believed to be an industry first. The retail chain appointed Agency.com to design its print and outdoor ads, as well as the digital work; thought to...

Shortlists are revealed for Rev Awards.
March 14, 2007... Shortlists for two new gold categories at the Revolution Awards 2007 have been announced. In the Supplier of the Year category, BlueLithium, Commission Junction, Eyeblaster, Omniture and Tangozebra are on the shortlist. And for Media Owner...

Network Q eyes the web for 2007 work.(Brief article)
March 14, 2007... Network Q, the used-car retailer, is set to push its ad strategy to the web this year. It has doubled its online ad spend and will be launching a multimedia campaign targeting a more internet-savvy audience. The campaign will launch...

Deals: Microsoft and Vodafone are working together.
March 14, 2007... Microsoft and Vodafone are working together to deliver an enhanced, co-branded Instant Messaging service, accessible on PC and mobile. The service will let customers use their address book, view Messenger contacts and exchange messages

Deals: O2 UK chooses NewBay Software.
March 14, 2007... O2 UK has chosen NewBay Software, a provider of mobile multimedia and social-networking products, to deliver its LifeCache user-generated content service. The 'My bluebook' will let users store, share, create, manage and print mobile content

Deals: MIG renews its contract.
March 14, 2007... Mobile Interactive Group (MIG) has renewed its contract with Celador's Who Wants to be a Millionaire?. It will continue to provide high-speed mobile interactive services, allowing viewers to earn a place as a contestant and play the 'Walkaway'...

Deals: General Atlantic LLC invests in AKQA.
March 14, 2007... General Atlantic LLC has invested in a majority stake in AKQA. It follows negotiations between the digital agency and several potential investors

Deals: Buongiorno acquires Inventa.
March 14, 2007... Buongiorno has acquired Inventa, Pete Tong's mobile video production agency, for pounds 1 million. The deal comes two weeks after its acquisition of eDongAsia, China

Deals: Digital Marketing Group acquires Cheeze and Alphanumeric.
March 14, 2007... Digital Marketing Group has acquired Cheeze and Alphanumeric Group (trading as Jaywing) to create a new digital direct marketing platform The initial consideration was pounds 24m.

Deals: Viagogo signs exclusive deal.
March 14, 2007... Viagogo has signed exclusive deals with Leicester Tigers and London Wasps to be their secondary ticket company. This marks the company's first partnerships in rugby

Deals: Story Worldwide merges with Byte Interactive.
March 14, 2007... Story Worldwide, the content marketing agency, has merged with Byte Interactive. The combined company will focus on creating content-rich marketing across all media

Deals: News Corporation becomes strategic investor in ROO Group.
March 14, 2007... News Corporation has become a strategic investor in ROO Group, the online video products provider. News Corp will get up to five per cent interest if it achieves certain revenue targets

Deals: Emap acquires Yospace.
March 14, 2007... Emap has acquired mobile UGC firm Yospace for pounds 8.7m for its consumer media division, including FHM and Grazia

Deals: JumpTap announces investment from WPP.
March 14, 2007... JumpTap, the mobile search and advertising company, has announced a new strategic investment from WPP, which will give WPP clients access to mobile search and advertising

Deals: Synovate expands in the Netherlands.
March 14, 2007... Synovate is expanding in the Netherlands with the purchase of Interview-NSS, an independent full-service market research firm. Its specialist areas are polling, media and branding research

Deals: 50Connect.co.uk signs deal.
March 14, 2007... 50Connect.co.uk, the UK web site for the over-45s, has signed an exclusive global content partnership deal with British mountaineer Ian Woodall. He will provide site visitors with live video feeds as he makes his attempt to climb Mount Everest

Friends of the Earth reaches out online.(Brief article)
March 14, 2007... Friends of the Earth is looking to digital channels to help in the drive to educate young people about global climate change. The charity has launched a dedicated site (www.climatesafe.co.uk) on the issue, plus a viral campaign to encourage...

So London is sold on digital to advertisers.
March 14, 2007... So London, the new magazine for the rapidly growing London millionaire market, has chosen digital platforms to promote its spring launch to advertisers. The first phase of the campaign is targeted at brands and media planner-buyers. A...

NSPCC sponsors Habbo Hotel to promote ChildLine to kids.
March 14, 2007... The NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) is using the virtual world to target the teen market. The charity has chosen to repeat a previous successful promotional partnership with Habbo, the community site set...

Good month/bad month.(Microsoft Corp.)(Yahoo! Inc.)(YouTube Inc.)(Brief article)
March 14, 2007... Yahoo received a boost after revealing that its new search advertising system, Panama, will be launched earlier than expected. Its shares rose almost six per cent after the announcement that the system, which is hoped to better compete with...

Just breaking: Top 10 breaking banners by impressions (1-31 January 2007).(Table)(Brief article)
March 14, 2007... TOP 10 BREAKING BANNERS BY IMPRESSIONS (1-31 January 2007) 1 AOL Free wireless router worth pounds 55 2 CISNet Someone's got the hots for you...

Capri Sun embarks on an online first to promote new juice drink.
March 14, 2007... Capri Sun, a Coca-Cola Enterprises brand, has invested in online ads for the first time with the launch of its Capri Sun 100% Juice drink. The campaign, which targets mothers, will run across Handbag, iVillage, Female First, AOL, MSN and...

Dubble invites kids to design internet game.
March 14, 2007... Dubble, the fair-trade chocolate brand, has launched a competition site, inviting children under 16 to design an internet-based computer game. The site offers advice on developing game ideas, from concept to storyboard and level...

Vodafone uses online ads to push call offer.
March 14, 2007... Vodafone is launching an online campaign to support its Free Weekends offer. The digital push features a range of formats, including banners and Skyscrapers, each focusing on a different scenario in which users can take advantage of the...

Charlotte redesigns site for new series.
March 14, 2007... Charlotte Church's management team has commissioned a new web site to coincide with the new series of her TV show. The launch supports Channel 4's recommission of two more series of The Charlotte Church Show. The site is being developed to...

Account wins.
March 14, 2007... Asda, the supermarket chain has hired The Search Works as its retained search marketing agency. It will offer a complete SEM service for the brand to target users more effectively online. MassMedia Studios has signed a 12-month deal with...

Owen on digital media: Let imaginations run free if you want the best creative ideas.(advertising)
March 14, 2007... I went to a talk by Jon Steel, the WPP planning guru, recently. I learnt many things: that you can stand Sir Martin Sorrell up for breakfast and still hold down a senior job at WPP (but only if you're very, very smart); that Powerpoint is a...

Classic FM rolls out free music to users.
March 14, 2007... Classic FM is offering listeners the chance to download free music every day for two months. The music is downloaded as a universally-compatible MP3 file, which is not encoded with digital rights management (DRM), so the music will play on...

I-Spy goes to Yahoo for managing director.
March 14, 2007... I-Spy, a new search marketing agency, has poached Yahoo!'s search marketing director, Nick Jones, as its managing director. Prior to Yahoo!, Jones was a director at Goto.com and developed paid-search in core vertical markets of travel,...

Tracker.(Internet usage)(Brief article)
March 14, 2007... DEFINITIONS Unique visitors: The number of unique people who have gone to the site at least once in the defined time period Reach % (active): The number of unique web users seeing a web site one or more times, expressed as a percentage...

HM Treasury calls for public opinion online.
March 14, 2007... HM Treasury has launched a microsite to engage the public in the imminent Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR). The Treasury commissioned interactive agency Cimex to develop a site that supports the Chancellor's mission to encourage a...

Audi gives roadster promo a musical lift.
March 14, 2007... Bartle Bogle Hegarty has unveiled a multi-platform web site to support the March launch of the TT Roadster using music as its inspiration for all things Audi. The site (www.TTremastered.com) features a range of content across digital...

WPP's Read to deliver keynote at June Forum.
March 14, 2007... Mark Read, strategy director of WPP and Sir Martin Sorrell's right-hand man, will lead the next Revolution Forum, to be staged in June, by delivering the keynote speech. Read, who is driving WPP's efforts to invest in the digital sector...

Griffiths on mobile: All those with an interest in mobile, look to Barcelona.(mobile industry conference)
March 14, 2007... Last month saw more than 50,000 mobile executives gathering in Barcelona for 3GSM for the second year. Previously held in Cannes, this mobile jamboree enables the industry to meet with existing and prospective partners. There was a focus...

Channel 4 integrates its two talent sites into one portal.
March 14, 2007... Channel 4 has merged its two creative talent web sites to create a new, rebranded portal for all of its talent development schemes. The site (www.channel4.com/4talent) aims to encourage innovation and create career opportunities for both...

Miele unveils 'Miles Better' push integrating online communities.(Brief article)
March 14, 2007... Miele is to launch a national, integrated campaign to promote the manufacturer's range of domestic appliances. The 'Miles Better' campaign aims to promote the brand by word-of-mouth through traditional and social media. The main digital...

Digital agency trio gain work accreditation.
March 14, 2007... Digital agencies featured prominently in a recent accreditation list recognising good work practices and employee care. Of the eight ad agencies in the Best Companies Accreditation lists 2007, three were digital. Profero gained two...

Time thief: Donald Hamilton MD, wunderloop, tells us about his day.(Diary entry)(Brief article)
March 14, 2007... 5% Get the kids to school - Getting the kids up can be a challenge, but walking them to school is very rewarding. 5% Papers and magazines - I get my daily dose of national and industry news. They say you shouldn't believe everything you...

Volvo drives the C30 via Flash-based site.
March 14, 2007... Volvo has launched a global campaign web site, 'A Product of Free Will', to promote its latest model, the C30. The Flash-based site plays with the misconception that a Volvo is 'that boxy car your dad drives', and invites visitors to...

Performance index.(search engines)(Brief article)
March 14, 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...

Gaffney on America: Snickers' creepy ad bowled me over as it slithered online.
March 14, 2007... In the US we love to trash the Super Bowl ads. This year the chorus against them has been as long and loud as ever. I, for one, would beg to differ - I saw a lot to like at the Super Bowl. I wasn't at the game, but watched it with some...

Moving on up: Appointment at 24/7 Real.
March 14, 2007... Ed Stevenson has been hired as the new MD of 24/7 Real's UK office Stevenson joined the company in early 2005 as business development director, moving to director of search in October 2005, where he was responsible for a team of 18. In his new...

Moving on up: Appointment at Guardian Media Group.(appointment of Steve Folwell)(Brief article)
March 14, 2007... Guardian Media Group has appointed Steve Folwell to the newly created position of head of strategy as it aims to increase its focus in areas such as digital services and radio. Folwell, a leading member of the UK media practice at consultancy...

Moving on up: Appointment at Media Contacts.(appointment of Grant MacFarlane)(Brief article)
March 14, 2007... Media Contacts, Havas Media's digital arm, has poached Google's head of agency client services, Grant MacFarlane, as head of search MacFarlane was at Google for years and played a key role launching the search giant's AdWords programme. Brian...

Moving on up: Appointment at Agency.com.
March 14, 2007... Agency.com has recruited Jez Jowett as group account director. He joins from Cake's London office where he was head of digital. Meanwhile, James Clifton (above) has returned to Agency.com from AKQA to take up the newly created position of...

Moving on up: Appointment at ITV.
March 14, 2007... ITV has promoted Ann Cook to partnership director for ITV Consumer The new role, which Cook takes on in addition to her role as controller of interactive, will focus on maximising revenues for ITV Consumer; the division responsible for...

Moving on up: Appointment at Chrysalis Content.
March 14, 2007... Paul Sylvester has been appointed as manager of Chrysalis Content to improve the radio station's podcasting and bespoke content offer to its clients. Sylvester, who previously developed podcasts for LBC, will work across all of Chrysalis'...

Moving on up: Appointment at 2-one.
March 14, 2007... Online ad sales and marketing firm ad 2-one has promoted Simon Haynes from head of sales to sales director. He will continue to be responsible for both the Advance and More divisions, as well as developing other areas, including the company's...

Moving on up: Appointment at FullSIX.
March 14, 2007... FullSIX has boosted its creative department with the appointments of a new senior art director, Melanie Platt (left), and Duncan Paterson as senior copywriter. They join from Modem Media as an established creative team and will be responsible...

Moving on up: Appointment at Cheapflights.
March 14, 2007... Cheapflights has hired Chris Martin as chief technology officer Martin brings more than 20 years' experience of leading consumer-focused technology teams. Most recently, he was CTO at eBuyer.com, responsible for all technical aspects of the...

Moving on up: Appointment at Code Computerlove.
March 14, 2007... Manchester-based agency Code Computerlove has announced four new appointments: Joe Saunders joins from Lightmaker as an account manager, working on the NUS account; Deborah Clarke moves from Moonfish to take up the position of project manager;...

Moving on up: Appointment at Advertising.com.
March 14, 2007... Advertising.com has boosted its UK sales team by hiring Colin Smith and Rob Blake. Smith joins from the UK arm of marketing technology company Interactive Communication Group (ICG). Blake has worked across diverse media sectors, including...

Moving on up: Joanna Shields joins Bebo.
March 14, 2007... Joanna Shields, MD of strategic partnerships at Google EMEA, has joined social networking site Bebo as president, international. Based in the London office, she will be responsible for expanding Bebo's global business. Her experience spans over...

Which? hires Lateral as lead web agency.(Brief article)
March 14, 2007... Which? has appointed Lateral as its retained agency, after a five-way pitch, to work alongside media specialist MC&C/WPN as the consumer organisation's lead digital agency. Lateral's main brief is to work on improving Which?'s consumer...

RAF adds mobile to recruitment activity.
March 14, 2007... A Royal Air Force recruitment drive is embracing mobile marketing to secure more recruits. It has developed a mobile internet site that provides information on the roles available within the RAF, along with salaries and required...

Hypertag goes global with its poster network.(Brief article)
March 14, 2007... Hypertag has launched a global network of its mobile-enabled poster sites. The sites, which allow mobile users to download content from posters, are to be rolled out in 15 countries. The firm's first fixed network in London has...

Murphy on dotcom life: Time for Mr Money Bags to come to the aid of the party.
March 14, 2007... There's the kind that's thumping with great music and you end up talking to dozens of people, but never hear their names properly, let alone half of what they say. Then there's the other sort of party. Quieter, the crowd more select You...

OgilvyOne opens new email marketing arm.
March 14, 2007... OgilvyOne has set up a specialist email marketing practice. Headed by former Digital Impact chief Skip Fidura, the arm will include an email insight manager and a team of account managers, creatives, copywriters and data analysts from around...

Direct Stats.
March 14, 2007... This month Email marketing spend is rising, but marketers are failing to measure ROI, says the Email Marketing Industry Census. Of 500 email marketers polled by Adestra and E-consultancy, 47 per cent are not tracking campaign ROI and yet a...

Digital direct: How we've all been missing the point of brand measurement.(Brief article)
March 14, 2007... The digital industry, for all its achievements and resourcefulness, has been haunted by a guilty secret for years - we ignore the brand impact of our response campaigns. This isn't a new revelation. A brand-focused campaign is a common request...

Sony goes digital for PlayStation 3 game.
March 14, 2007... Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has launched two dedicated web sites to promote the new racing game Motor Storm on the PlayStation 3. The European site has been developed with gamers in mind, and offers rich-media content and interactive...

News Intl refreshes Times site for pounds 10m.
March 14, 2007... News International has invested pounds 10m in a relaunch of the Times Online site, incorporating new features, improved integration with The Times and The Sunday Times, and an ad campaign. Times Media said the new site was a more integrated...

Vital statistics.
March 14, 2007... This month Research shows the role that online video ads can play in influencing consumer attitudes. The impact of online video advertising varies widely, depending on whether the ad quickly reinforces the brand and differentiates it from...

Analysis: Profits up, but perfomance varies.(digital advertising agencies)
March 14, 2007... Profits are definitely rising in the digital sector, but financial performance is hugely varied across agency types. This is the most striking finding of Fintellect's New Media Agencies Financial Intelligence Report, which surveys the financial...

Analysis: MMA seeks recognition at 3GSM.
March 14, 2007... As the European mobile industry descended on Barcelona for last month's 3GSM conference, the Mobile Marketing Association was at last seeking to establish a consistent and convincing presence. Laura Marriott, executive director of the...

Vox Pop: What do you think of the new daily newspaper web sites?
March 14, 2007... We quizzed our Sector Checker regulars on the relaunch of two national dailies' sites. Both The Times and The Daily Mirror relaunched their web sites last month, promising better navigation and cleaner designs. While The Times suffered...

Quotes of the month.
March 14, 2007... 'We love The Beatles, and it has been painful being at odds with them over these trademarks' - Steve Jobs after reaching a new agreement over the use of the Apple name with The Beatles' record label 'This set of rights packages have been...

Editorial: Digital worked hard for this success.(Editorial)
March 14, 2007... Even Sir Martin Sorrell knows his place. While presenting himself with an honorary fellowship at the IDM last month (cue faux shock on his part), the WPP supremo revealed an arresting sum: the market cap of Google (dollars 150bn) is three times...

Comment: Let's work together to improve online advertising.
March 14, 2007... It is widely recognised that the digital media industry's incredible pace of growth has put pressure on resources as media owners and agencies ramp up operations to meet the needs of online advertisers. In many ways it's the best problem to...

Shopping Review: My last online buy was in a shop.
March 14, 2007... Having been a PC user all my life, I've always jealously eyed the Apple Macs in the creative departments of the agencies in which I've worked. Every day I commute to London from Hertfordshire, so, when I bought an Apple iPod Video when they...

Shopping stats: Brits and Scandinavians top web shoppers.
March 14, 2007... More European users are buying products online, with concert tickets and mobiles seeing big increases. Conversion rates for European users browsing online shops grew significantly last year, according to new research commissioned by the...

TV gets personal.(internet protocol television services forecasted)
March 14, 2007... IPTV promises to bring viewers the shows they want when they want to watch them, but how close is it in reality? IPTV might not ring too many bells among consumers as yet, but it has enough pull to attract an expected 5,000 delegates to a...

Web analytics: What to ask of your site data.
March 14, 2007... Web analytics can turn your campaign into a success, but what should you ask from it? Victoria Furness finds out. One of the biggest selling points of the web as an advertising and CRM channel is that it is easy to measure. Web analytics...

Usability: USwitch perks up web personality.
March 14, 2007... The utility-switching site has a new look following a revamp that involved over a year of testing, new technology and a fresh development approach, reports Mark Mayne. Utilities are not exactly exciting, but uSwitch is making a brave...

Mobile search: Search sector on the move.
March 14, 2007... The Revolution Search Marketing Report sponsored by MSN adCenter. Mobile search comes to the fore as the major search engines chase a pounds 16bn market. Gareth Jones reports. Using your mobile to search the internet for everything from...

Swiftcover lets search lead the way.
March 14, 2007... The Revolution Search Marketing Report sponsored by MSN adCenter. Newcomer Swiftcover took on a competitive market with search at the helm. Nicola Harrison finds out how it succeeded. Swiftcover Insurance has reason to celebrate. In...

Event preview: Revolution Forum - Wednesday 4 - Friday 6 June.(Conference news)
March 14, 2007... Forest of Arden Marriott Hotel & Country Club, Warwickshire Revolution takes a look at the upcoming 10th Forum in June. Mark Read, strategy director at WPP, will kick off Revolution's 10th Forum with a keynote speech on understanding and...

Masterclass: The Revolution Masterclass on mobile video advertising.
March 14, 2007... Only two per cent of mobile owners have watched a TV programme on their handset, so how can brands get them to interact? The success of mobile campaigns using SMS and MMS has helped to open advertisers' eyes to the power of the channel. The...

Trailblazer: Traffic trader.(Trader Media Group Ltd.'s Jerry Fowden )
March 14, 2007... Trader Media Group CEO Jerry Fowden tells Hayley Pinkerfield the firm is improving its site to add value for customers, dealers and advertisers. One might ask why a brand like Auto Trader needs to do anything trailblazing. Not only has it...

Creative review: Gareth James - interactive creative director, digitaltmw.
March 14, 2007... BIMA member since 2007. James joined digitaltmw when it launched in 2000, having previously been a senior creative at Razorfish. Clients he has worked for include Guinness, T-Mobile and L'Oreal. 'Brands are no longer asking us to force...

Campaign of the month: Trinny and Susannah Undress.(ITV PLC)
March 14, 2007... To promote Trinny and Susannah's new TV programme, ITV asked Play to create an interactive push that got couples talking. Campaign: Trinny and Susannah Undress Client: ITV Agency: Play Background: New show Trinny and Susannah...

Terminator: Ad dinosaurs will still look skyward as the digital meteor lands.(digital advertising)
March 14, 2007... It's 2007 and already I've been listening to our conventional cousins talk 'baby-digital' in agency integration meetings and it got me wondering how far they have got in their drive to become digitally aware. Not very far it would seem. ...

Terminator: Camberwick Green pops out of Auntie's box.(marketing)(Brief article)
March 14, 2007... There seems to have been a flurry of recalled press releases of late. Every time it happens it sparks the kind of agitated journo chat usually reserved for things like how to spell 'practise' or conjugate a verb. Don't tell anyone, but...