Revolution articles from November 2007

Revolution archives from November 2007

Letter from Revolution.
November 1, 2007... It must be the changing seasons, but everyone seems to want to challenge everyone else at the moment. Digital versus TV; print versus digital and even online versus offline. So it was refreshing to hear Chris Dobson, vice-president of...

Carphone Warehouse develops X Factor sponsorship via web.
November 1, 2007... Carphone Warehouse is backing its X Factor sponsorship online, marking a step beyond television idents. The brand worked with ad agency CHI & Partners to create a mobile-phone audition web site, following the interactive theme of the TV...

Teens to run Penguin youth books site.(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Penguin is handing over complete control of its new youth site to a team of teenagers. The team, aged between 13 and 18 years old, will write and edit all content for www.spinebreakers.co.uk, as well choosing and approving the titles to...

Digital hub to back Texaco safety activity.
November 1, 2007... Texaco is delivering a corporate social responsibility campaign with a digital hub to teach road safety to children. The independently owned service station brand is working with VCCP to create a rich interactive site, aiming to educate...

Deals: Yahoo! signs global deal with Telefonica.
November 1, 2007... Yahoo! has signed a global deal with Telefonica. Yahoo!'s oneSearch mobile search product will now be the main search service on Telefonica's mobile portals in 15 countries, including O2 in the UK

Deals: Joost partners with Off the Fence.
November 1, 2007... Joost has partnered with independent production company Off the Fence and launched two online channels - Off the Fence Go Wild and Off the Fence Explore

Deals: WAYN brokers deal with Apollo Direct.
November 1, 2007... WAYN, the social network for travellers, has brokered a deal with independent travel agency Apollo Direct, giving WAYN's 1.9 million UK members access to a holiday concierge service

Deals: Turner Broadcasting signs online video deals.
November 1, 2007... Turner Broadcasting has signed online video deals with YouTube, which will make clips from CNN and Turner Classic Movies available on the video-sharing site. Animated comedy and live action channel Adult Swim and the newly launched Nuts TV, a...

Deals: Google buys Jaiku.
November 1, 2007... Google has bought Finnish mobile social-networking service Jaiku for an undisclosed sum. Jaiku, a 'micro-blogging' service, allows users to send text message update to a network of friends. The deal follows Google's purchase of another mobile...

Deals: Viagogo signs deal with Mojo Concerts.
November 1, 2007... Viagogo, the secondary ticketing company, has signed a deal with Mojo Concerts, the Dutch arm of Live Nation, marking the first time a concert promoter has gone into partnership with a secondary ticketing company

Deals: Global Beach acquires Interesource.
November 1, 2007... Interactive agency Global Beach has acquired social media and web 2.0 specialists Interesource as the agency moves to strengthen its digital marketing solution

Deals: ipoints teams up with mySupermarket.
November 1, 2007... Online loyalty firm ipoints has teamed up with mySupermarket, the independent grocery comparison site. MySupermarket aims to increase sales frequency and value of orders from its web site by rewarding customers for purchasing

Deals: AdLINK Media handling online ad sales for AOL in Europe.
November 1, 2007... AdLINK Media, AdLINK Group's digital display marketing specialist, is now handling online advertising sales for AOL portals in Italy, Sweden, Spain and the Netherlands. This allows European advertisers to run brand campaigns across these...

Deals: Oodle teams up with Lycos.
November 1, 2007... Online classifieds network Oodle has teamed up with Lycos, the portal, to power the new classifieds section on Lycos

Deals: BBC Worldwide signs distribution deals.(Prominent Television )(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... BBC Worldwide has signed distribution deals with Prominent Television and talkbackTHAMES to deliver the independent production companies' content on digital media platforms. BBC Worldwide will be able to exploit the rights to properties such as...

James Brown signs Moss in festive push.(Kate Moss to endorse for James Brown London)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... James Brown London, a new haircare range, has signed Kate Moss to front a digital assault in the run up to Christmas. The supermodel, who has collaborated with session stylist James Brown to develop the brand, will feature on fashion...

MSN reveals plans for advertising profiler.
November 1, 2007... MSN is to allow users to choose the advertising they see on its sites, by placing question boxes on the sites asking: 'Why did I get this ad?' The new profiling system was revealed in an exclusive interview with global head of sales, Chris...

Sony Bravia and Immediate Future seek online PR focus.
November 1, 2007... Online PR will be a prime focus for the next phases of Sony Bravia's 'Play-Doh' campaign. Sony told Revolution that there will be plenty more to see and hear from Bravia over the coming months. Ruth Speakman, European PR manager for Sony,...

Good month/bad month.(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Great times for the internet advertising industry, which broke through the pounds 1.3 billion barrier in the first half of 2007. The latest figures from the IAB and PwC reveal sector growth of 41.3 per cent year on year to reach pounds 1.33bn....

New Jeep viral game boosts Patriot buzz.
November 1, 2007... Jeep is using a viral game to create buzz around the launch of its new 2008 Jeep Patriot. Inbox Digital has created two new levels in driving game, Jeep Big Adventure, a forest trial and an urban challenge. The aim is to give the target...

Colgate kiosks to educate on dental hygiene.
November 1, 2007... Colgate Palmolive, the oral health brand, is trialling a new digital application to reach consumers. The brand has hired GT to develop digital kiosks, being piloted as part of Colgate Oral Health Month. Using digital touch screens,...

WWF invests in web push over green bill.(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... WWF is launching a major online push to stir interest around its Climate Change Bill campaign. The wildlife charity has hired digital agency Poke to raise awareness around the bill, which aims to cut the UK's carbon emissions, and recruit...

Just breaking: Top 10 breaking banners by impressions (1-30 September 2007).(O2 Ltd.)(Skype Technologies S.A.)(Trader Media Group Ltd.)(Brief article)(Company rankings)
November 1, 2007... 1 Trader Media Ltd Auto Trader.co.uk; Buying a Used car? 2 Skype Free phone calls... worldwide... forever .. 3 National Lottery Free pounds 1 play. Sign up now! 4 Property Finder Time to get some space? 5 O2 ...

War Child puts Twitter on new-look web site.(Website overview)
November 1, 2007... War Child, the charity working for children affected by war, is putting its biggest effort into online to date, working with Bristol-based agency Enable Interactive. A completely overhauled web site makes use of Twitter, in a bid to get...

Miva offers alot users homepage service.(Netvibes)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Miva Direct, the web site portfolio side of Miva, has partnered with Netvibes, to create personalised homepages for users of its alot toolbar downloads. The deal will enable users of the alot toolbars to create a personalised start page at...

Tracker: Google, Microsoft and Yahoo! fight it out.
November 1, 2007... The combined properties of the four large search engines, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo! and Ask, accounted for 94 per cent of all UK searches in September 2007. The market continues to consolidate around the big brands, as this is an increase...

Pounds 1m digital boost for New York campaign.
November 1, 2007... NYC & Company has invested pounds 1 million in digital advertising for the first phase of a global communications campaign to promote New York City as a must-visit destination. The cash will fund its Q4 initiative to target the UK, Ireland,...

Account wins.
November 1, 2007... Sky Bet and Nestle have both enlisted Neutralize to handle SEO. Neutralize will be working across Sky's betting and gaming products including Sky Bet, Sky Poker, Sky Vegas and the forthcoming Sky Bingo. Glass has been appointed to...

Owen on digital media: Almost anything can be a medium when form follows function.
November 1, 2007... One of the effects of the digital revolution is the blurring of long-established boundaries. We're all familiar with the arguments about the 'convergence' of TV and the internet, mobile phone and the PC, mobile and landline. These are...

Griffiths on mobile life: Networks will have to cut their margins to boost text voting.
November 1, 2007... As the newspapers splashed the news that Brian had won the longest Big Brother competition in the UK a few weeks ago, my mind was cast back to five years ago with the launch of Big Brother 3, when text voting burst on to our screens as a simple...

West London Clinic renews online brand.(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... The West London Clinic is completely shifting its digital strategy, moving its site from a simple online brochure style to a fully interactive, rich-media experience. The clinic is being positioned primarily to focus on the deeper,...

Performance index.(Google Inc.)(Yahoo! Inc.)(eBay Inc.)(Brief article)(Company rankings)
November 1, 2007... The Revolution Keynote Performance Index measures the performance of 20 representative sites from across the digital economy in terms of speed of loading and availability. The top 10 sites are featured each month and the worst performer is...

Moving on up: Appointment at YCD.(Barry Salzman appointed as chief finacial officer )(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Barry Salzman, former president of DoubleClick, has been made chief finacial officer at digital signage and digital media firm, YCD. As president of DoubleClick's global media businesses, Salzman spearheaded the US-based company's expansion...

Moving on up: Appointment at Facebook.
November 1, 2007... Facebook has poached Yahoo!'s commercial director, Blake Chandley, to be its UK sales director. Chandley will be Facebook's first UK employee, and is expected to drive a push into the UK market, building up a UK sales team to work with agencies...

Moving on up: Appointment at Telegraph Media Group.
November 1, 2007... Telegraph Media Group has hired Paul Cheesbrough, the BBC's controller of digital media, as its new chief information officer. At the BBC, he was responsible for the production and broadcast technology strategy and investments and led the...

Moving on up: Appointment at IPC Weeklies.
November 1, 2007... IPC Weeklies has hired Darren Davidson as its first digital advertising director. Davidson, formerly head of digital sales at News International, will be responsible for developing and implementing the digital advertising strategy across the TX...

Moving on up: Appointment at TradeDoubler.
November 1, 2007... TradeDoubler, the pan-European digital marketing company, has appointed Matt Adams as international sales director. Adams, ex-Yahoo! group head of media sales, will take responsibility for sales across TradeDoubler's 18 European countries

Moving on up: AOL promotes Michael Steckler.
November 1, 2007... AOL has promoted Michael Steckler to UK managing director, replacing Andy Jonesco, who moved on to Sky earlier this year. Steckler joined AOL as vice-president of interactive marketing from Microsoft

Moving on up: Appointment at Steak Media.
November 1, 2007... Robert Campbell, the ex-United London managing partner and creative director, has joined Steak Media as a non-executive director. Also joining Steak Media's board is Matt Clark, finance director and partner at Mother since 1999. Clark has also...

Moving on up: Appointment at Trinity Mirror.
November 1, 2007... Trinity Mirror has appointed Max Alexander, the chief executive of Thomson Directories, to the new role of managing director of new ventures and strategy. He will take responsibility for analysing and recommending business opportunities for...

Moving on up: Appointment at Blyk.(Shaun Gregory appointed as chief executive)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Blyk, the pan-European free mobile operator, which went live in the UK on 24 September 2007, has appointed Shaun Gregory as UK chief executive. Gregory will be responsible for the overall strategic direction of the company and lead the...

Moving on up: Richard Hurd-Wood to leave Camelot.
November 1, 2007... Richard Hurd-Wood, the man responsible for Camelot's online strategy, is leaving the company for a short sabbatical before taking up a new, undisclosed post. Hurd-Wood joined Camelot in 2001 as interactive director with responsibility for...

Moving on up: Appointment at GMG Property Services Group.(Interview)
November 1, 2007... Suzanne Deakins has been made head of group marketing by GMG Property Services Group, a division of Guardian Media Group. GMG owns thinkproperty.com, the independent consumer property portal, now ranked fourth within the top 10 UK property...

Barnardo's shifts to multichannel strategy.
November 1, 2007... Barnardo's, the children's charity, has revealed its digital strategy for 2007-2010, as it looks to create a completely new online presence. Key to the change is a shift in focus from a one-channel web site strategy to a multi-channel...

Swiftcover.com plots blog conversations.
November 1, 2007... Swiftcover.com, the insurance company, has unveiled a blog as it looks to develop online customer relationships beyond display advertising. Working with its PR agency, Lansons Communications, Swiftcover.com is looking to put across aspects...

Sling Media in pre-Christmas sales initiative.
November 1, 2007... Sling Media has launched a pure online campaign to raise awareness of its products during the pre-Christmas period. Created by Kitcatt Nohr Alexander Shaw, the initiative is the biggest UK advertising push to date for the devices, which...

Murphy on dotcom life: Web 2.0 is eating our bandwidth. But what's to be done?
November 1, 2007... Is it just me and people I speak to, or is everybody in Britain suffering from unreliable internet services - poor bandwidth that is nowhere near what is claimed and poor customer service for everything from installation to problem solving? ...

Gaffney on America: Free content is an opportunity for the smart advertiser.(Column)
November 1, 2007... It has been a very cruel couple of months for subscription-based business models. In fact, I'm not sure that people will ever pay for content online after witnessing recent decisions at some quite reputable international properties. And it...

Pitch broadcasts Red Dwarf for mobiles.
November 1, 2007... Pitch, a mobile social networking service, is to broadcast animated episodes of the cult BBC science-fiction comedy series Red Dwarf. Animated 'mobisodes' will be made up of classic moments from the series, and fans will be encouraged to...

Work Club scoops Wallpaper* account.
November 1, 2007... IPC's style magazine Wallpaper* has appointed Work Club to handle its creative digital marketing remit without a pitch. The initial assignment will be an online campaign to drive new annual subscriptions as Christmas gifts. Wallpaper*'s...

BA viral film to push quality of cabin crew.
November 1, 2007... British Airways has chosen a tongue-in-cheek viral campaign to promote the quality of its cabin crew service. The series of clips, created by Agency.com, shows different on-board comedy sketches featuring Australian spoof air stewardess Pam...

B&Q adds 'room designer' to enhanced web presence.
November 1, 2007... B&Q has created a raft of online tools, including a virtual 'room designer', in one of the DIY retailer's most significant programmes of change to date. Central to the changes is a newly enhanced web site, www.diy.com, featuring extended...

NME takes its anti-racism activity online.(New Musical Express)(Love Music Hate Racism)(NME.com)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... NME has turned to the web to deliver the second part of its anti-racism campaign. The music title has teamed up with Love Music Hate Racism (LMHR) to release an exclusive free album, the second of which is available to download from a...

Nails inc launches online booking system with automated text reminder service.(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Nails inc has launched an online appointment booking system, including automated texts to remind customers of their upcoming appointments. The nail bar brand is looking to the internet to boost its customer service offering with a tailored...

Cornhill hires TBG in online growth plan.(Cornhill Direct)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... The insurance company Cornhill Direct has appointed digital agency TBG as it makes online integral to its future growth strategy. TBG will manage display marketing for all of Cornhill's car and home insurance sectors. The first stage...

Virgin Media in 50-event sports broadcast deal with M3U.com.
November 1, 2007... Virgin Media has signed a deal to bring near-live sports content to its sports portal, as it aims to strengthen its overall position as a major content portal. Following a 50-event deal with webcast provider M3U.com, Virgin Media will be...

Loyal Brand Advocates conference.(Conference news)
November 1, 2007... Places are still available at Revolution's Loyal Brand Advocates conference, which takes place on 27 November at The Selfridge Hotel in London. The conference will focus on how to engage consumers and has attracted 12 speakers from...

Time thief: Ollie Bishop, chief executive, Steak Media, tells us about his day.(Interview)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... 5% Cycling to/from work - We're eco-friendly at Steak. 10% Meeting the team - Going round the desks stealing food, getting the lowdown, brainstorming, informing the team where we're going. 10% Recruiting - Interviews are important; we...

Digital direct: DM and email are complementary, so keep them coming.
November 1, 2007... The flood of reports showing the relentless advance of email - and its cannibalisation of traditional marketing channels, DM particularly - is not subsiding. And they're basically right: email IS eating into other marketing channels. The...

Underwired reveals eCRM web offering.
November 1, 2007... Independent digital agency Underwired, whose clients include Peugeot, Virgin Megastores, News International, the Institute of Cancer Research and Deutsche Bank, has launched a web site focused specifically on its eCRM work. The web site,...

Direct Stats.
November 1, 2007... This month Mobile marketing is being used more for retention and for selling existing products than generating new revenue. Hayley Pinkerfield reports. Mobile marketing is still a new and developing direct marketing channel, but...

Nivea uses desktop to reach consumers.
November 1, 2007... Nivea has launched 'Beauty Is', an integrated on- and offline push delivered by Carat, which uses a desktop application to reach users. The aim of the push is to drive consumers to a newly updated web site, www.nivea.co.uk/, which is being...

Vital statistics.(Survey)
November 1, 2007... Affiliate marketing has been cited as the most cost-effective channel for driving customer acquisition, in research by E-consultancy with buy.at,the independent affiliate network. Hayley Pinkerfield reports. The research into how UK brands...

Yahoo! updates its US search engine.
November 1, 2007... Yahoo! has updated its search engine in the US, with plans to roll out improvements across Europe. The new search engine promises more relevant answers to queries, integrating audio, video and photos into its results pages. It also...

Profile: The poacher turns gamekeeper.
November 1, 2007... As Microsoft fragments into an entertainment company, a media owner and a software company, it seems search has fallen off the edge of its plans. With MSN's share of the search engine market dropping from 14 per cent to just 9 per cent, Mairi...

Vox pop: Will targeted advertising succeed on social media?
November 1, 2007... Social networks could be the next big thing for advertisers. Social networking site Facebook has announced plans to offer marketers targeted advertising to its 39 million users based on their personal information. While the company has said...

Quotes of the month.
November 1, 2007... 'To stop the inevitable slide into irrelevance, the management team must consider more radical actions and strategies. Incremental changes to rebuild revenues simply won't cut it this time' - Analyst Jeffrey Lindsay advising that Yahoo! should...

Analysis: London Underground goes digital.
November 1, 2007... 'You could argue that the London Underground more or less invented outdoor advertising,' says Richard Parry. 'And today we are still keen to innovate.' As director of strategy and services at London Underground, Parry has been overseeing...

Editorial: Small is the next big thing in digital.(Editorial)
November 1, 2007... The majority of the conversations at this year's Microsoft Imagine! conference in Paris were on what is the next big thing. As brands struggle with how to tap into social networks and how to get around the engagement issues with negative...

Comment: Financial services should rebuild trust via the web.
November 1, 2007... In a world where customer confidence is paramount, recent corporate failures such as the Northern Rock debacle and the mis-selling of financial products have seen some UK financial organisations suffer. Combined with the continuing press...

Sector checker: Energy companies power up their green credentials.
November 1, 2007... Jeremy Hill, of digital consultancy Circus Street, is impressed by the green focus of some energy sites, but would still rather pick up the phone. Web: www.powergen.co.uk Developer: Redweb One of the interesting things about the...

Review: Forbidden Planet cagey on stock.(Forbidden Planet International)(www.ForbiddenPlanet.co.uk)
November 1, 2007... The embarrassment factor of buying your wife a doll for her birthday will always be high. However, when the doll in question is a Gothic fashion doll called Pandora, it's time to go online and visit those good people at...

Shopping stats: Online stores provide too little information.
November 1, 2007... Online retailers still fail to offer basic information, delivery options and review features to reassure customers, finds Hayley Pinkerfield. E-tailer web sites lack multiple delivery options, contact details and customer testimonial...

Virgin 1: She's the one.
November 1, 2007... It takes guts to challenge Sky, but Virgin 1's head of programming, Celia Taylor, has plenty of the right stuff. Alicia Buller reports. Her sweet smile belies a storm of ongoing corporate uncertainty. But no one could accuse Celia Taylor,...

Web analytics: The perils of niche targeting.
November 1, 2007... Online advertising targeting has great benefits, but how much is too much, asks Gareth Jones. When behavioural targeting hit the UK three years ago, it fundamentally changed online marketing. Internet advertising went from a passive...

Whatever happened to Yahoo! and MSN?
November 1, 2007... With MSN and Yahoo! lagging behind in search, Gareth Jones asks whether there's hope for them. The fact that 'to Google' was officially declared a verb by the Oxford English Dictionary in June last year is testament to the brand's...

The Revolution Mobile Marketing Report: Mobile marketing is getting personal.
November 1, 2007... Mobile marketing means different things to different people but mobile phones have two fundamental characteristics - they are highly personal and very pervasive. Our phones are very much our own and always with us, presenting a unique...

Mobile search: Ready for take off?
November 1, 2007... Mobile search is still very much a nascent sector, but industry players are working hard to improve the search experience on the phone, reports Victoria Furness. One of the most over-hyped technologies in recent years is the mobile...

Mobile marketing is yet to bloom.
November 1, 2007... Are the problems mobile is having establishing itself as a medium down to immaturity, or is the whole concept flawed, asks Christian Doherty. It's a great idea, but mobile marketing and advertising have not taken off in the way many...

Case study: Max it out with mobile.
November 1, 2007... The medium has a long way to go but some brands and agencies are making the most of the unique opportunities mobile can offer in terms of reach and engagement. Christian Doherty investigates. Mobile, as one of the least developed new media,...

Roundtable: The bright future of affiliate marketing.(Discussion)
November 1, 2007... Revolution, in association with Affiliate Window, gathered a group of affiliate marketers to discuss the future of the sector. Alicia Buller reports. Revolution, in association with Affiliate Window, invited a select group of industry...

Targeting: If it's relevant, they'll read it.
November 1, 2007... You need to target email marketing to your audience precisely Otherwise, it's just spam, says Trevor Clawson. 'We've taken an amazingly powerful marketing medium and we turned it into spam,' says Mark Patron. It's a surprisingly rueful...

Power of relevance in email marketing.
November 1, 2007... In today's market, 97 percent of all marketers use email to communicate with customers. The reasons are clear - email works; DMA research shows that it provides significant cost advantages and the highest ROI of any other online marketing...

Case study: No 'one size fits all' for Flybe.(Flybe British European)
November 1, 2007... What appeals to a business customer looking for flexible flights won't suit a young couple looking for a city break, so Flybe found a way to target each group of customers. Trevor Clawson reports. Airline customers are a disparate group of...