Revolution articles from November 2005

Revolution archives from November 2005

Lucozade Sport repositions with first online campaign.
November 30, 2005... Lucozade Sport is to embark on its first web promotion in an effort to reposition the brand. The campaign will push the benefits of the drink on performance, regardless of consumers' sporting prowess. Advertising will exploit...

MSN rolls out second online quiz promo.(Brief Article)
November 30, 2005... MSN is embarking on another online push for its new search service after finding it is the second most-used search engine. The campaign, devised by MRM Partners, is a new version of the 'Search Supremo' quiz, and aims to attract more people...

Diageo pushes new spirit with digital.
November 30, 2005... Diageo is set to unveil a web site and online marketing as part of a pounds 2 million marketing campaign to launch its new ready-to-drink (RTD) whiskey brand, Slate 20. The online push, valued at pounds 500,000, will launch on 7 November...

Deals - EMI Music UK supplies videos on network.
November 30, 2005... EMI Music UK is to supply full-length music videos to customers on the 3 mobile network. This includes all artists for whom EMI has mobile rights, such as Kylie Minogue, Coldplay and Jamelia.

Deals - Associated New Media adds price-comparison service.
November 30, 2005... Associated New Media has added price-comparison services to the shopping channels on its Daily Mail online and This is London web sites through a deal with PriceRunner.

Deals - Sega Europe makes games available for handsets.
November 30, 2005... Sega Europe plans to make eight games available for handsets through a partnership with mobile-gaming specialist iFone. Titles include Sonic The Hedgehog and Super Money Ball Mini-Golf.

Deals - Pigsback.com announces deal with Whitbread.
November 30, 2005... Pigsback.com has announced a deal with Whitbread's Leisure Vouchers whereby members of the reward-based site will be able to redeem their PiggyPoints at Pizza Hut, Beefeater, Cafe Rouge, Marriott Hotels and TGI Friday's.

Deals - FLW signs deal with mobile operators.
November 30, 2005... FremantleMedia Licensing Worldwide (FLW), the licensing division of FremantleMedia, has signed deals with UK mobile operators Orange, O2, T-Mobile and 3, giving them rights to a package of mobile content around its talent show, The X Factor.

Deals - Blinkx signs with MIVA.
November 30, 2005... Contextual search engine Blinkx has signed MIVA as the first partner for its Smart Ads Platform. It enables advertisers to target users of its search toolbar and video-search engine, Blinkx.tv, with geo-targeted, content-related paid listings.

Deals - O2 signs with 100 plus brands.
November 30, 2005... Mobile operator O2 has signed deals with more than 100 brands, including Egg, Channel 4, The National Lottery, Sony BMG and FT, to launch services on its i-mode mobile internet platform.

Deals - Glamour.com links with AOL UK.
November 30, 2005... Glamour.com, the women's portal owned by Conde Nast, has linked with AOL UK for a co-branded CD-Rom of exclusive fashion content and offers. It will be distributed in Superdrug stores.

Deals - RedEye acquires e-rm.
November 30, 2005... ECRM specialist RedEye has acquired email-marketing firm e-relationship marketing (e-rm) for an undisclosed sum. The deal creates a firm with about 40 staff and projected sales of pounds 5m.

Deals - Decoy Farm signs with The Grid.
November 30, 2005... Decoy Farm, which creates bespoke music and comedy video content for web and mobile, has signed a joint-venture with agency Greenroom Digital's new branded content department, The Grid.

Deals - Arts Alliance Media expands European reach.
November 30, 2005... Arts Alliance Media, owner of UK online DVD rental service LOVEFiLM, has expanded its European reach with the acquisition of Denmark's biggest DVD rental site, Digitarian A/S. The move gives the company access to 20,000 customers in...

Deals - SimplySwitch.com signing.
November 30, 2005... SimplySwitch.com has signed providers such as ntl, Tiscali, AOL and Wanadoo for its new broadband-comparison service.

Deals - Correction.(Correction Notice)
November 30, 2005... In last month's Power 50, we reported that Stephen Carter, chief executive of Ofcom, took the role after two years off. We are happy to make clear that he joined two months after leaving ntl.

Barclays drives new focus in web rethink.(Brief Article)
November 30, 2005... Barclays has overhauled its web marketing strategy as part of its multi-million pound effort to appear more customer-focused. A relaunch of its site (www.barclays.co.uk) is being backed by a homepage takeover on four sites: Yahoo! MSN, AOL...

Vogue takes mobile users shopping.(Brief Article)
November 30, 2005... British Vogue is to go mobile for the first time in an exclusive partnership with operator O2, which will see it launch a style and fashion portal, O2 Style. Vogue.com becomes the first content provider for the new mobile portal, which has...

Sudhakar leaves Lastminute to join Telegraph as online head.(Brief Article)
November 30, 2005... Sonia Sudhakar is to move from her role as head of CRM at lastminute.com to The Telegraph as head of online marketing. Sudhakar will take up her new position at the end of November and will take responsibility for marketing the newspaper's...

Americana offers online stage for future Bench clothing lines.
November 30, 2005... Fashion group Americana has launched a new site to promote its Bench clothing label as a 'sub-culture' brand. The site (www.bench.co.uk) will showcase the brand's latest collections, 'dressed' on virtual models that glide across the...

Major brands see benefits of broadband.
November 30, 2005... Disney Online, HSBC and Tesco are among the top 10 brands to have benefited most from rising broadband uptake in the UK, according to a new study from Nielsen//NetRatings. Disney Online's broadband audience grew to 991,088 visitors in...

SportingBet's poker site bids for novices.(SportingOddsPoker.com)(Brief Article)
November 30, 2005... SportingOddsPoker.com, owned by SportingBet, is being relaunched as part of a new strategy to appeal to novices. The poker site has been overhauled by design agency Beechwood to target newcomers to the game and, in particular, the Texas...

Just Breaking: Top 10 breaking banners by impressions (1-30 September 2005).
November 30, 2005... 1. Arsenal Football Club - Exclusive Arsenal wallpapers and more to your mobile 2. Ultralase - Click here and you could win pounds 2,000 of cosmetic treatment 3. Auto Trader Magazines - Visit www.carcrimeawareness.co.uk 4. Online...

Unilever builds site for Gromit film tie.(Brief Article)
November 30, 2005... Unilever-owned tea brand PG Tips is backing its association with the new Wallace and Gromit feature-length film with a major web push. A microsite on the main consumer site (www.pgmoment.com) offers a host of competitions and merchandising...

Account wins.
November 30, 2005... HP has consolidated its pan-European search marketing and digital ad business into Modem Media following a competitive pitch. The win, reported to be worth about pounds 10 million, will see Modem handle online marketing for all HP business...

Owen on digital media: Time to invest in tomorrow's digital marketing talent.
November 30, 2005... Digital marketing is on a roll. As online advertising heads for the pounds 1 billion barrier, overtaking outdoor in the process, it is tempting to think that nothing can go wrong. But it can. Rapid growth requires rapid expansion and this,...

Bike insurer unveils latest viral game.
November 30, 2005... Motorbike insurance specialist Bennetts has launched an online game in a bid to capitalise on the success of last year's 'Neil Hodgson's Super Jump'. The latest viral, 'BSB Redline Racer', again features the 'Bennett's Babes' models, hired...

Smirnoff debuts new 'sipping vodka' online.
November 30, 2005... Diageo-owned vodka brand Smirnoff is backing its latest offshoot with an online marketing campaign. The new 'sipping vodka', called Smirnoff Norsk and made with Nordic berries, has already launched in bars and is now being promoted to the...

Tracker: Search engines, September 2005.
November 30, 2005... Traffic to UK sites: 80.85% Average session duration: 9 mins 11 secs The combined UK and .com properties of Google, MSN Search, Yahoo! Search and Ask accounted for 94 per cent of all UK searches in the four weeks ending 1 October....

ITV runs digital panel drive for new drama.
November 30, 2005... ITV is using a digital outdoor campaign to promote ITV's new drama, Vincent, starring Ray Winstone as troubled private investigator Vincent Gallagher. The broadcaster is piloting a campaign using Viacom's digital escalator panels in...

Hooch revamps web identity for women.(Hooch.co.uk )(Brief Article)
November 30, 2005... Fashion label Hooch has unveiled a new web site targeted at a female audience. Hooch.co.uk showcases the brand's fashionable streetwear for women and features a range of interactive tools. In the 'dressing room', users can flick...

Ex-24/7 Real Media head launches rival.(Tim Brown)(Brief Article)
November 30, 2005... Tim Brown, former UK head of online media specialist 24/7 Real Media, has launched the UK office of rival US company BlueLithium. Brown, who left 24/7 three months ago, was hired by Blue-Lithium's founder, Gurbaksh Chahal, to launch it in...

Griffiths on mobile: Mobiles that offer music on the move take centre stage.
November 30, 2005... It's easy to forget that portable music has been around for decades, although there's no denying that it is enjoying a renaissance. This has, in part, been driven by stylish digital devices like the iPod and their ease of use. However, one...

Time thief: Geraldine Tosh, managing director of iPoints, tells us about her day.(Diary entry)
November 30, 2005... 50% - The good stuff Meeting new and existing clients. I might see new loyalty partners who are joining iPoints or agencies that want effective email campaigns. No doubt, a coffee or two will feature. 15% - Internal meetings ...

O2 commits pounds 2m to make web site accessible for all.
November 30, 2005... Mobile operator O2 is spending pounds 2m on overhauling its consumer portal (www.O2.co.uk) to make it accessible to users with disabilities. The revamped site is scheduled to go live in Q1 2006, after more than two years in development. It...

New Look rolls out interactive offer in first brand campaign.
November 30, 2005... High-street fashion retailer New Look has launched an interactive outdoor ad campaign, enabling shoppers to download money-off vouchers to their mobile phone. The push, which forms part of the firm's first brand campaign, 'New Look, The...

Half of young users access net by mobile.
November 30, 2005... Half of all 20 to 24-year-old internet users are using their mobile to access it, according to August's quarterly Internet Monitor from the British Market Research Bureau (BMRB). The report also found that, while this group showed the most...

Volvo spends pounds 750k on Ocean Race drive.
November 30, 2005... Volvo is spending pounds 750,000 on phase two and three of a web marketing campaign to back its sponsorship of the Ocean Race. The car marque hired interactive agency Incepta Online following a pitch against Graphico and Framfab to design a...

Performance index.(Brief Article)
November 30, 2005... 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...

Gaffney on America: Measurement points the way for all of us digital adventurers.
November 30, 2005... I watched Martin Scorsese's bio-documentary No Direction Home, featuring a very sharp, coherent and insightful Dylan, who referred to himself on several occasions as a 'musical expeditionary'. I love that phrase. I love it because it describes...

Moving On Up: Appointment at Domino's Pizza UK & IRL.
November 30, 2005... Domino's Pizza UK & IRL has promoted Chris Moore to the newly created position of chief operating officer, effective immediately. He will take responsibility for the core operational areas of the business, including the strategic development of...

Moving On Up: Appointment at BBC.(Jonathan Kingsbury)(Brief Article)
November 30, 2005... The BBC has hired Jonathan Kingsbury, currently head of editorial affairs, as head of external supply, new media. The newly created role will promote the use of external suppliers to the BBC's new media division and internal producers. He will...

Moving On Up: Appointment at Camelot Group.
November 30, 2005... Camelot Group, the National Lottery operator, is hunting a new marketing director following Jo Kenrick's resignation. She is joining B&Q early next year as marketing and customer propositions director. Kenrick joined Camelot in September 2002...

Moving On Up: Appointment at Dgm.(Diana Herriott )
November 30, 2005... Dgm has hired Diana Herriott as client services director and Michelle Gilmore as head of publishing. Prior to joining dgm, Herriott worked at Data Locator as partnership account director. Gilmore joins from Opodo, where she was online marketing...

Moving On Up: Appointment at Wheel.
November 30, 2005... Wheel has hired two new account executives. Nicki Willoughby leaves Tribal DDB where she was an online planner and buyer, working on the Volkswagen UK account. Una Carney joins from mOne, where she worked on accounts such as HSBC, Nike, Britvic...

Moving On Up: Appointment at Omnicom's agencies.
November 30, 2005... Martin Brooks has been given overall responsibility for Omnicom's digital and direct agencies, Agency Republic and Claydon Heely Jones Mason, in the creation of new group Zulu. Brooks is group chief executive and has been promoted from his...

Moving On Up: Appointment at IPC media.
November 30, 2005... IPC Media has appointed consultant Miles Ross to the new position of head of mobile development. His task will be to develop and launch new mobile services for its magazine brands. Ross has eight years' experience in the online and mobile...

Moving On Up: Appointment at All Response Media.(Simon Halstead )(Brief Article)
November 30, 2005... Simon Halstead has joined All Response Media as client services director to develop relationships with clients and media owners. He moves from AdLINK Internet Media where he was client services director, and ran the product management and ad...

Moving On Up: Appointment at Greenroom Digital.
November 30, 2005... Agency Greenroom Digital has hired Philip Dowgierd, former joint head of Happen, Fallon's communications and creative planning arm, as strategy director. His main responsibility will be to develop branded content business.

Moving On Up: Appointment at Universal McCann.(Brief Article)
November 30, 2005... Universal McCann has promoted John Kimbell to group account director, with overall responsibility for the More Than, Virgin Atlantic, The Daily Telegraph and Tiffany & Co accounts. Meanwhile, Hannah Amess (pictured) has been promoted to digital...

Moving On Up: Appointment at Eyeblaster UK.
November 30, 2005... Dean Donaldson is joining Eyeblaster's UK international HQ as business development manager. He moves from rival rich-media company b3 Products, the technology arm of Lawton eMarketing. He brings more than 10 years' creative experience in the...

Moving On Up: Appointment at MSN UK.
November 30, 2005... Adrian Simons has been appointed head of marketing at MSN UK. In his new role, he will be responsible for web marketing and drive awareness of online products and services like MSN Hotmail, Messenger and Search. He will manage a team of...

Lopez to warm up Live launch online.
November 30, 2005... Lancaster Group is to launch Jennifer Lopez's new fragrance, Live, online, ahead of a TV campaign at the end of November. The star's perfume is being pushed in a homepage takeover on Newwoman.co.uk until November. It features a full-length...

Bellwether finds net spend on the rise.(Brief Article)
November 30, 2005... Online ad spend continues to surpass expectations, despite a fall in overall budgets, said the latest Bellwether report. Marketing budgets in Q3 were lower for the second quarter in a row; the steepest fall since the Iraq war in 2003, it...

Gervais backs new Flanimals with web site.
November 30, 2005... More Flanimals, the sequel to the children's book by comedian Ricky Gervais, is being supported online with a site and shop. Fans will be able to buy limited edition models from merchandise firm White Snapper. Flanimals.com features...

Pankhurst on Dotcom Life: The business would be nothing without our subscribers.
November 30, 2005... We're starting to plan the office Christmas party, but I'm struggling to think of a venue. In the early days, a work get-together meant a trip to the off-licence for a crate of beer and a few bottles of wine and back to ours for a knees...

Digital direct: Google's scheme is not the be-all and end-all for search.
November 30, 2005... Google certainly caused a stir when it announced its plans to abolish its agency commission system in favour of the European Third-Party Programme (see analysis, p17). Designed to encourage best practice and empower third parties, the programme...

ITN Archive pushes film library via email.
November 30, 2005... ITN Archive has embarked on an extensive email campaign to advertise its collection of archived footage, spanning news, music and features from 1896 to the present day. A movie trailer-style ad sent to the company's database of customers...

Direct Stats.
November 30, 2005... This month The DMA reported a rise in the volume of b2b and b2c emails being sent. The second benchmarking report from the DMA Email Marketing Council's found the number of emails sent in Q3 2004 was 29 per cent higher than in Q2. ...

John Peel's vision to live on in music site.(Johnpeelmusic.com)(Brief Article)
November 30, 2005... John Peel's son, Tom Ravenscroft, hopes to continue the legacy of the deceased radio broadcaster with a web site devoted to new musical talent. Johnpeelmusic.com, a joint-venture between Peel's label, Dandelion Records, and Universal...

Vital statistics.(digital TV )
November 30, 2005... This month Almost half of the UK's digital TV viewers are not interested in the interactive extras. Just under a third of the UK's digital TV subscribers have never used iTV or enhanced programming. Of those, almost half are just not...

The Sun lures footie fans with chant site.(Brief Article)
November 30, 2005... The Sun has launched a new microsite enabling football fans to personalise a team chant. It aims to position itself as the number one newspaper for football coverage by endearing itself to fans and build on the passion of crowds at games....

Analysis: Fears as Google axes commission.
November 30, 2005... Clients' search marketing costs are expected to rise, following Google's announcement that it is to drop agency commissions in the UK from January. Google's new European Third-Party Programme will provide quarterly payments, based on...

Analysis: Online growth beats expectations.
November 30, 2005... Growth in online ad spend in the first half of this year not only outstripped all expectations, yet again, but really started to hurt some traditional channels. The latest figures from the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) reveal that...

Analysis: Cable firm eyes video on demand.
November 30, 2005... The pounds 3.4 billion merger of ntl and Telewest has arrived and the clout of a combined 3.3 million subscribers will give the new cable firm a real chance to take on Sky, which dominates pay-TV with 7.8m subscribers. The merged company,...

Vox pop: What does it take to make a great digital brand?
November 30, 2005... We asked the industry what makes a good digital brand great? Last month, Revolution published its top 40 digital brands, so this month we caught up with some of the names on the list to get their opinions on what makes a powerful digital...

Editorial: Accessibility is good for everyone.(Editorial)
November 30, 2005... What will it take to get site owners to commit to accessibility? The legal threats, commercial benefits and moral correctness of opening up a web site to all its potential users have been debated endlessly. Yet, the vast majority of...

Comment: Digital is vital for the media planners of tomorrow.
November 30, 2005... Have media agencies held back online advertising? In part, yes, and though we're not the only ones, there's no excuse in the digital future. Most of you know what online marketing can mean to advertisers, and it's our job to know. However,...

Sector checker: Mazda focuses on specs, but the journey needs more zoom.
November 30, 2005... Cxpartners' Giles Colborne fails to be won over by Mazda's site for the MX-5, which could have given users a better experience online. Web: www.mx5liveit.co.uk; Developer: Syzygy The problem with developing a pre-launch site is that...

O2 invests in access for all.
November 30, 2005... Dermot O'Mahony tells Susie Harwood why O2 is pouring pounds 2m into making its site accessible. O2 is on a spending spree. On top of signing a pounds 6 million-a-year deal to rebrand the Millennium Dome 'The O2', the mobile operator has...

Digital leaders: Ten of the best that broke on the web.
November 30, 2005... Digital has led some of the finest campaigns in marketing history, whether through a viral teaser to warm up a TV ad or an online only push. Emma Rigby takes a look at some of the best. Levi's iconic Flat Eric Who knows what the mute,...

Shopping Review: Swing away those work blues.(hammockheaven.co.uk)
November 30, 2005... It's a hectic and fast-paced world in a thriving digital agency, and it's even tougher to meet deadlines when you're coping with the relentless demands of a young, ever expanding family. At times like these, you need to find a place away from...

Shopping stats: Users call for buying guidance online.
November 30, 2005... Retail web sites are losing customers by failing to supply clear buying information. More than two-thirds of consumers cannot find the information they require to make a purchase on a retail web site and this is driving them away, says new...

Meet the affiliates.
November 30, 2005... Affiliates of all sizes make money for networks, retailers and themselves, but who are they? Philip Buxton finds out. They inhabit a shadowy world of bewildering commission structures, search algorithms and constant site updates. The most...

The BIMAs 2005: BIMAs shortlist.(british interactive media association)
November 30, 2005... The BIMA Awards celebrate the best in digital creativity. Find out if you made it on to this year's shortlist for November's event. Campaigns for Manchester United, Orange, Nike and Honda are among those to have made the shortlist for this...

SMEs Online: Where the small can be mighty.
November 30, 2005... We've found a healthy public awareness of, and support for, SME web sites. This should encourage every UK small business to make its mark on the web Andreas Gauger 1&1 Internet The web is a thriving digital high street, with a...

The Revolution Search Marketing Report: It's easy to forget search is complex.
November 30, 2005... Sponsored by The Search Works. According to the latest figures from the IAB, online marketing spend has overtaken outdoor advertising for the first time and is growing at an impressive rate of 62 per cent. Of this online spend, 40.2...

The Revolution Search Marketing Report: Search gets clever.
November 30, 2005... Sponsored by The Search Works. Engines are using search results to learn more about consumers and, in turn, offer them more relevant and personalised services that keep them coming back. Competition has led to innovation in search marketing...

The Revolution Search Marketing Report: Search expertise - Brands ponder internal option.
November 30, 2005... Sponsored by The Search Works. Should clients bring search in-house or outsource it? Suzy Bashford finds out. Unless you've been stranded on a desert island, you can't fail to have noticed the burgeoning media interest in search. While...

Masterclass: The Revolution Masterclass on banner campaigns.
November 30, 2005... The simple banner ad has proven so successful that it is an advertising favourite, so how can marketers create standout? It is more than a decade since AT&T launched the first banner ad on e-zine Hotwired in 1994. Appropriately, it...

Trailblazer: Future voice.
November 30, 2005... The future is written online for Skype's Saul Klein, who tells Emma Rigby about his ambitions for the telephony firm. Saul Klein wanted to be a playwright, yet, somehow, he wound up as vice-president of marketing at internet telephony...

Creative review: Christian Hoper creative director, Design UK.
November 30, 2005... Roper has worked in advertising and design for about 13 years, starting out as a creative in print-based media before being seduced by the possibilities of online. Eight years ago, he founded his own digital agency, Design UK, and has worked...

Campaign of the month: Lurpak.
November 30, 2005... In a first for FMCG brand Lurpak, Arla Foods invited customers to a special microsite to interact and win prizes. Background: Arla Foods wished to reward its customers and develop a dialogue with them. The company's promotional agency,...

Terminator 1: Why I'm not giving up the sweetest things on the web.
November 30, 2005... Most people know what an eclair is and have probably heard the gag 'How do you make a fat man get of the sofa? It's a piece of cake'. Well, RSS is my cake and I'm a very fat man. Let's face it, many people don't know what an RSS feed is...