Revolution articles from November 2003

Revolution archives from November 2003

Letter from the editor.
November 1, 2003... Every sector and industry that has tried to embrace digital has had to face up to its own challenges and demons in different ways. Despite embracing a range of firms and products, the FMCG sector has been no different. We've seen cereal...

Shell offers European journey and web fuel-stop planner.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Shell is offering users a European journey and fuel-stop planner on its web site to attract more users to its 14,000 petrol stations across the UK and the continent. This is thought to be the first time that Shell has offered such a...

Vauxhall online reflects new brand identity.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Vauxhall has relaunched its site (www.vauxhall.co.uk) to mirror its updated corporate branding. The site, created by IBM, aims to reflect the breadth of Vauxhall's car lines, including the Merivia, Corsa and VX220, as well as its updated...

BMG supplies SMS updates to retailers.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Record company giant BMG is offering retail partners a free text-message service with up-to-date sales information. The firm, whose artist roster ranges from Britney Spears to Cooper Temple Clause, will alert music retailers to relevant...

DEALS: ValueClick set to buy Commission Junction.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Online ad specialist ValueClick is set to buy affiliate-marketing firm Commission Junction for dollars 58 million (pounds 38.66m). The move will effectively double the size of ValueClick's Be Free subsidiary, which powers the...

DEALS: TradeDoubler signs deal with Littlewoods Game On.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... TradeDoubler has signed an affiliate marketing deal with Littlewoods Game On, the interactive division of home-gaming firm Littlewoods Gaming. TradeDoubler will help Littlewoods Game On expand online reach and presence on third-party sites.

DEALS: The Winning Line offers data on mobiles.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Betting advisor The Winning Line is offering last-minute horse-racing data on mobiles, after a revenue-share deal with mobile services provider Opera Telecom. Betting advice and information will be sent to professional gamblers in the UK via...

DEALS: Virgin and Barclays join Accommodation for Students site.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Virgin Mobile, Barclays Bank, insurer Endsleigh and Jarvis University Partnerships Programme, the student accommodation provider, have joined with student housing site Accommodation for Students. The four will be able to push services to the...

DEALS: Telewest Broadband links with Amplefuture.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Telewest Broadband has linked with Amplefuture, the mobile entertainment supplier, to offer content through the relaunched Blueyonder.co.uk. Polyphonic ringtones, Java games, celebrity greetings, logos and picture-messaging services will be...

DEALS: Liverpool FC joins forces with Energis.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Liverpool FC has joined forces with Energis to launch a new branded virtual ISP for the Premiership club's fans. LFC Internet (www.liverpoolfc.tv/lfcinternet) will offer emails and access to the club's premium content area and other services...

DEALS: Jobsite.co.uk and silicon.com team up.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Jobsite.co.uk and silicon.com have teamed up for a joint recruitment service. Jobsite will offer a co-branded 'jobs-by-email' facility on silicon.com, available to registered users. The service will be pushed on the site with co-branded...

DEALS: AOL and OUP build on long-standing relationship.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... AOL and Oxford University Press have built on their long-standing relationship. AOL UK members can now access content from 'Oxford Reference Online: The Core Collection' free of charge, as part of their subscription, through AOL's Research and...

Kellogg backs new cereal launch online.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Kellogg is targeting 18 to 34-year-old women with a site and online competition to promote Crunchy Nut Clusters, an addition to its cereal brand. The Cluster Buster microsite (www.kelloggs.co.uk/clusters), launched in October, has been...

Orange joins forces with Warner Music.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Orange has partnered with Warner Music UK to offer paid-for content to its phone owners. Orange handset owners can buy ringtones of Warner Music UK artists such as The Darkness, Holly Valance, Morcheeba, Blazin' Squad and The Streets for...

Good month/bad month.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... It was a good month for Amazon, which unveiled plans to move into search with a comparative-shopping search engine. The e-commerce giant hopes independent subsidiary A9.com will develop the technology for both Amazon and third-party sites. ...

Barclays International targets non-UK workers moving here.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Barclays International Banking has put pounds 250,000 into an online push targeting non-UK professionals working in the UK. The campaign, created by Dare Digital with media planning and buying by Starcom Motive, aims to reach non-British...

JUST BREAKING: Top 10 breaking banners by impressions (1-30 September 2003).(Illustration)
November 1, 2003... 1 Microsoft Protect your PC 2 Sainsbury's Bank Plc SainsburyBank.com 3 Capital One Bank Capital One Credit Card 4 CricInfo England Replica Strip 5 British...

UCI Cinemas opens microsite targeted at first-year students.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... UCI Cinemas has launched a microsite and online campaign with strategic marketing firm Pavilion to target students. The web site (www.ucilove students.com) is mainly aimed at first-year university students, and is designed to prompt...

David Clulow revamps web site offering.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... David Clulow, the optical chain, has relaunched its site (www. davidclulow.com) with the aim of reflecting high-street stores. It offers details of David Clulow frames and sunglasses, designer stock from Armani, Calvin Klein and Oakley, and...

Radio 1 gives tips to ambitious online.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Radio 1 has revamped its OneMusic site (www.bbc.co.uk/ radio1/onemusic) to appeal to its 16 to 24-year-old audience. The redesign by digital agency de-construct followed research including focus groups, an online panel and usability...

Lego backs Clikits launch via net push.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Toy giant the Lego Company is targeting six- to 10-year-old girls online as part of the launch of its new Clikits brand. The campaign, by Dare Digital with media-planning and buying by Starcom Motive, is running on girls' sites including...

Account wins.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... First Great Western has selected TheTrainline to provide and manage its new online-booking service. The system aims to offer First Great Western customers easier and faster booking. Expedia.co.uk has picked PHD as its new strategy, planning...

OWEN ON DIGITAL MEDIA: All those ad-serving discrepancies are no longer a mystery.
November 1, 2003... When a problem won't go away, the only solution is to ignore it. Like a zebra plagued by flies on the African plains, you swish your tail, shake your head and then get on with munching the grass in the company of flies. In this way,...

MOVING ON UP: Appointment at Opodo.
November 1, 2003... Opodo has made Neil Mott UK country manager, responsible for the development and delivery of sales and marketing for UK business. Mott, formerly UK marketing manager at EasyJet, will deliver traffic and sales performance, boost customer...

MOVING ON UP: Appointment at WeightWatchers.co.uk.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... James Hilton has joined WeightWatchers.co.uk as head of marketing, heading up ad, creative, eCRM, PR, research and search-engine optimisation. He will develop strategic partnerships and take the site to the next level. Previously marketing...

MOVING ON UP: Appointment at Yell.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Yell, the global directories business, has appointed Sophie Chambers to the newly-created position of site development manager at Yell.com. She will head up the interactive design team and brings five years' experience in new media.

MOVING ON UP: Appointment at Espotting Media.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Espotting Media has made Matthew Colebourne vice-president, operations. He joins from DoubleClick, where he held several managerial positions, most recently managing director, international (VP) where he was responsible for 18 operations across...

MOVING ON UP: Appointment at Workthing.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Workthing, Guardian Media Group's online recruitment service, has made Robert Grant head of product development. He brings 10 years' experience in new media and ebusiness, including periods at IBM Global Services and BBC Worldwide.

MOVING ON UP: Appointment at Fish4.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Fish4, the online resource for cars, jobs and homes, has made several appointments. At fish4cars, Barry Slatter, former general sales manager of TNT Publishing Group, joins as director. At fish4jobs Dominic Sumners, former managing director at...

MOVING ON UP: Appointment at TUI UK.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Paul Evans has been appointed to the newly created position of online campaign manager at TUI UK, overseeing online marketing for Thomson.co.uk, LunnPoly.com, BudgetHolidays. com, BritanniaDirect.com and SkyDeals.co.uk. He joins from Direct...

MOVING ON UP: Appointment at the IPA.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Wayne Arnold, co-founder of Profero, has been elected deputy chairman of the IPA's digital marketing group. He succeeds Nick Gutfreund.

MOVING ON UP: Appointment at Freeserve.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Freeserve has revamped its partner-marketing functions. Tracy Kingswood, at Freeserve since June 2000, leads the electrical channel and will be responsible for managing relations with electrical partners such as Orange. Anthony Gibb joins from...

MOVING ON UP: Appointment at Wheel: Group.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Wheel: Group, the digital communications agency, has made John Thekanady media director. He will boost its strategic media offering and was previously head of digital at Initiative Media. Clients include Opodo.

MOVING ON UP: Appointment at First Property Group.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... First Property Group, the online commercial property transaction and property asset service, has made David Thomas head of sales and marketing. He has spent 10 years at Estates Gazette, part of Reed Business Information, where he helped...

MOVING ON UP: Appointment at dealgroupmedia.(Interview)
November 1, 2003... Nicky Iapino, former managing director for UK & Ireland at Commission Junction, has joined the enlarged dealgroupmedia as chief operations officer. She was responsible for the set-up and launch of Commission Junction in the UK. Prior to this,...

Reebok runs online only ad campaign.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Reebok is running its new European ad campaign, Whodunit?, exclusively online. The multimedia push, already run in the US, will see Reebok's TV ads adapted for the web. It will be the first time that video is used in MSN Hotmail accounts...

Freeserve lines up a new advice service.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Freeserve, one of the biggest internet service providers in the UK, is launching a free advice line for users who are confused about the way internet services are marketed. The new advice service, called the Package Advice Line, will be...

BA scores a first with viral game launch.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... British Airways is including a viral game in its digital marketing strategy for the first time. The game, at www.itv.com/ rugbyworldcup and BA.com, will promote BA's Rugby World Cup 2003 involvement. Players can pick a rugby star to 'kick'...

PANKHURST ON DOTCOM LIFE: A new look that will take us forward as users look back.(Column)
November 1, 2003... As someone who freely admits he was a late discoverer of new media ideas like blogging, I'm proud to say that much of my spare time is now being taken up with feeding music to my new Apple iPod music player. It's a good thing too. The Friends...

PayPal unveils site for users in the UK.
November 1, 2003... PayPal, the global online payment service, has launched its first international web site and service. Designed exclusively for users in Britain, PayPal UK (www.pay pal.co.uk) will allow buyers and sellers to send and receive online...

Ryanair appoints CD Wow! as key seller.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Low-cost airline Ryanair has appointed retailer CD Wow! as the top entertainment supplier for its online shop. An exclusive CD Wow! offer will appear on the homepage of Ryanair's site each month and a regular promotion from the retailer...

MY INBOX: Darren Richard, DatingDirect.com.
November 1, 2003... Darren Richards founder of DatingDirect.com, feels that email marketing should be opt-in and feels there is no such a thing as good spam. How many of the emails you receive are marketing related? A lot of the emails I get are from...

ANALYSIS: Campaigners back digital activity.
November 1, 2003... Digital has transformed campaigning. In the age of the Flash mob, where pranksters alert participants by SMS, new media is being used to gather support for charities and political parties. Campaigning bodies such as Greenpeace are using...

ANALYSIS: If chat goes, will brands feel it?
November 1, 2003... Chatrooms are one of the most popular services online and that is part of their problem. As the controversy surrounding MSN's recent decision to close its services in 24 countries showed, there is plenty at stake. It's not just in social...

ANALYSIS: Adware generates controversy.
November 1, 2003... It has been called spyware, spam and a parasite, although the technology makers heavily defend themselves against all three charges. And now Lycos has stirred up controversy in the portal sector by using adware to promote its free email to...

VOX POP: Which new-media services complement each other?
November 1, 2003... Partnerships are in, but do some offerings fit better than others? New-media services companies are consolidating and joining forces, as firms link up to widen their range of service offerings. Online marketing group dealgroupmedia,...

EDITORIAL: Bravery pays for brands with ideas.(Editorial)
November 1, 2003... Increasingly, it feels like phrases such as 'first-mover advantage' and 'content is king' belong to an era when Spangles and space-hoppers were all the rage, as opposed to appearing a few years ago. But, it's a feeling to be guarded against as...

COMMENT: Technology shows way forward in the value chain.(Column)
November 1, 2003... Like virtually every brand or business, we've had a go at doing pretty much everything online, from producing technical web projects to trying to develop b2c music channels and become retailers. It is clear, however, that a record firm has a...

SHOPPING REVIEW: Charity begins on the home page.
November 1, 2003... It's a cliche to say that the web can do a lot for charity, but it can, and it increasingly is. From the British Red Cross to Cancer Research UK, the accountability and cost-effectiveness of the internet as a fundraising tool is appreciated by...

SECTOR CHECKER: New Five site is welcoming but navigation needs work.
November 1, 2003... Euro RSCG Circle's Giles Cosborne gives Five's revamped home page the thumbs-up, even though it fails to follow a couple of basic design rules. Web: www.five.tv Developer: Lateral/NeoWorks Five's new home page is given over to...

HEINZ: Heinz means digital.(Company Profile)
November 1, 2003... Heinz is spreading digital all over as it builds tactical sites, marketing manager Peter Ebsworth tells Charlotte Goddard. This must be every manager's dream: when asked to name a brand, any brand, 17 per cent of the UK public say Heinz,...

NON-EXECUTIVES: What's the point of a non-exec?(Industry Overview)
November 1, 2003... Non-execs can bring valuable perspective to digital firms. Glue's Mark Cridge (left) and Ken New explain why. At the beginning of the dotcom boom, a generation of young entrepreneurs set out to turn established business rules on their...

THE REVOLUTION SEARCH ENGINE REPORT: A sector in search of all the answers.
November 1, 2003... In any sector seeing large levels of growth, it is tempting to talk about the inevitable changes, acquisitions and consolidation between the businesses fuelled by this growth. These moves are important - not least to companies like MSN,...

BROADBAND: BT and Yahoo! show the way.
November 1, 2003... BT's deal with Yahoo! aims to break the mould of broadband service provision by shifting the focus on to content. Charlotte Goddard investigates. What do broadband users really want? BT's recent partnership with Yahoo! suggests content is...

SEARCH ENGINE CONSOLIDATION: Battle of the search engines.
November 1, 2003... Online searches are a huge industry with a rapidly changing landscape. What is the outlook for search providers and users? asks Sue Norris. Internet search is big business at the moment, as the major search engine companies and their...

KEYWORDS: Choose your words carefully.(Right keywords can drive Web users to your site)
November 1, 2003... The right keywords can drive web users to your site, but is the choice of keyword an art or a science? Philip Smith reports. Figures are always important, particularly when it comes to the size of the budget allocated to a marketing...

Results that get results.(Search engine marketing )
November 1, 2003... First generally means best, except in search engine marketing. Stuart Derrick finds out how users read search results. There have been few definitive facts published about the way users view search. However, search-marketing agency...

SEARCH STATISTICS: In search of stats.(Search engine market)
November 1, 2003... A look at the figures confirms the search engine market's rapid growth. Charlotte Goddard crunches the numbers. The search engine industry is in such a state of flux right now that it can be hard to base marketing decisions on anything...

More channels, more sales.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Offering people more than one channel to buy your products is a good idea, but the challenge is to work out how the channels influence each other, writes Robert Gray. Angelic is an adjective not much applied to the commercial world. ...

PERSONALISATION MASTERCLASS: The Revolution Masterclass on Personalisation.(Industry Overview)
November 1, 2003... Personalisation can be an effective CRM tool, but think carefully about which options will best suit visitors to your site, says Charlotte Goddard. There are many different levels of online personalisation, from the low-level 'Welcome back...

TRAILBLAZER: DVD on demand.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Now you can rent DVD films online and just pop them in the post when you've watched them. Saul Klein talks to Charlotte Goddard about Video Island. Entrepreneurs run in Saul Klein's family. His father, Robin, founded the Innovations Group....

CREATIVE REVIEW: Paul Banham, creative director, itraffic.
November 1, 2003... Itraffic's clients include British Airways, Freeserve, Hilton International and Heineken UK. 'As a seasoned interactive marketing agency, itraffic currently develops excellent creative solutions,' says Banham. 'My job is to make them...

CAMPAIGN OF THE MONTH: Saab.
November 1, 2003... To generate test-drive requests and lift web traffic, Saab used a mix of online ad formats and editorial on relevant sites. Background - At the beginning of 2003, Saab launched the 9-3 Aero, the high-performance model of its new range....

TERMINATOR 1: Let's face up to the perverts, criminals and wife-snatchers.
November 1, 2003... Digital has taken a serious bashing lately. If you wanted to play devil's advocate (OK then, I'll do it), your perception of our much-loved industry might resemble something like this: 'For a start, digital and kids shouldn't mix. Chatrooms...

TERMINATOR 2: Party ambush falls at the first sartorial hurdle.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Despite the recent ruckus about their marriage - he on the playing fields of Madrid, she in the nightclubs of London - Terminator can reveal that Posh and Becks are very much together. Not only that but they have taken to attending agency...

TERMINATOR: Singletons face party dilemma: who's that sleb?(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... September's National Dating Day saw a flurry of activity from online dating companies, as each sought to persuade the nation's singletons it was the place to find true love, by holding the most glamorous event. High in the glamour stakes...

TERMINATOR: SMS spam offer is profitable for glum comedian.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Terminator's joke of the month comes from an unlikely source - the Mobile Choice Consumer Awards 2003, which celebrated the achievements of such enticingly-named competitors as the Sagem myX-5 and the Orange SPV E100. O2 was overjoyed - if...