Revolution articles from September 2003

Revolution archives from September 2003

Letter from the editor.(marketing industry U.K.)(Brief Article)(Editorial)
September 4, 2003... Littlewoods Pools has filled a particular niche in British life for decades, but just as football is no longer a game played only on Saturdays, so the relationship between the betting brand and consumers is changing. Like so many...

MarketPlace goes live with a new credit card broking service.(www.market place.co.uk)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... The MarketPlace at Bradford & Bingley has launched an online credit card-broking service giving customers access to more than 100 market-leading cards. The service, at www.market place.co.uk, searches through a panel of best-of-breed...

Richard Eyre to speak at digital forum.
September 4, 2003... Richard Eyre, chairman of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, is to address Revolution's Forum in November. He joins a series of key figures who will talk to delegates at The Oxford Belfry from 10-12 November. Other speakers at the Forum,...

John Lewis to sell Future subscriptions.(Johnlewis.com)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Johnlewis.com, the online sales arm of John Lewis department stores, has launched a magazine subscription service in conjunction with Future Publishing. Visitors to johnlewis.com will be able to subscribe to Future Publishing titles such...

DEALS: Vodafone partners range of retailers.(Vodafone UK)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Vodafone UK has partnered a range of retailers, including HMV, Oddbins and Firebox, to launch its mobile store Vodafone live! Shopping. An icon on the live! menu takes customers to a virtual shopping centre where they can order goods on their...

DEALS: Ebay UK set to become sole content provider.(MSN.co.uk auctions channel)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Ebay UK is set to become the sole content provider for MSN's auctions channel on MSN.co.uk. MSN will still drive users to eBay's trading platform as the two extend their partnership. EBay will get exclusive placements on MSN's auctions channel...

DEALS: BBC's Fame Academy stars music online.(British Broadcasting Corporation Ltd. www.bbc.co.uk/fameacademy)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Stars of the BBC's Fame Academy reality show will have their music available for download following a link-up between record label Polydor and online music service OD2. Full-length tracks from successful Academy students will be available for...

DEALS: ebookers.com teams up with Streetmap.(www.streetmap.co.uk)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Travel agency ebookers.com has teamed up with Streetmap, which will see it display late travel deals and its flight, hotel and car booking engine on the location-finder site (www.streetmap.co.uk). Basil Hyman, marketing manager at ebookers.com,...

DEALS: Shazam agrees deal with Universal Music catalogue.(marketing U.K.)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Mobile venture Shazam has agreed a deal giving it access to the Universal Music catalogue, which has a roster of more than 1,000 artists such as the Sugababes. Shazam will use 30-second audio clips from artists in its Songmail service, whereby...

DEALS: Ntl Home customers to gain access to a games channel.(Cartoon Network and YooMedia retainer)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Ntl Home customers will gain access to a Cartoon Network branded games channel and a dating offer, after the cable firm struck a deal with YooMedia, which built and runs both. They also get access to a game library and YooMedia's 24/7 Chat...

DEALS: Freeserve Broadband to offer streaming video clips.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Freeserve Broadband will offer streaming video clips of a range of programmes from Gamer.tv, the content producer that makes TV shows focused on video games. Gamer.tv has six video game-related programmes in production, including a weekly show....

DEALS: ISP Virgin.net to distribute registration CDs.(retains Robert Dyas stores)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... ISP Virgin.net is to distribute registration CDs for its service via the 72 offline stores of Robert Dyas across the UK. The hardware retailer will also feature as an e-commerce partner on virgin.net and offer discounted hardware and other...

DEALS: Golf365 signs marketing deal with Golfbreaks.(Rivals Digital Media www.Golfbreaks.com)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Rivals Digital Media's golfing site, Golf365, has signed a marketing deal with Golfbreaks, a tour company that sells weekend and midweek golfing holidays. The retailer (www.Golfbreaks.com) offers bespoke packages and special offers at some 150...

Heinz drives Bite Me teen brand on web.(retains Viacom Plus)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Heinz is promoting new teen snack brand Bite Me with a digital push created by saleshouse Viacom Plus, as part of a pounds 3.5 million launch campaign. Digital forms about a quarter of launch activity for the frozen foods, said Rebecca...

Digital Top 40 puts Friends Reunited top.(new-media brands award)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Friends Reunited has topped Revolution's first-ever Digital Top 40 of new-media brands, produced in association with research firm NOP World. Steve Pankhurst, co-founder of Friends Reunited, said: 'After a fantastic couple of years for the...

Lucozade goes beyond Lara with 'brain energy' campaign.(GlaxoSmithKline launches web site, www.brainandbody energy.com)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... GlaxoSmithKline is launching a web site as part of an integrated campaign to promote its Lucozade Energy drink. The site (www.brainandbody energy.com), which launches on September 1, has been developed by marketing agency Billington...

Good month/bad month.(digital advertising U.K. report by IPA Bellwether)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... It was a good month for digital advertising as the IPA's Bellwether report revealed that the net was the only medium seeing a rise in marketing spend. The number of advertisers spending more than 10 per cent of their marketing budget on...

Brylcreem teams up with MTV for fun Bad Barnet campaign.(Bad Barnet Challenge advertises Next Generation Ultra Gel; www.mtv.co.uk/brylcreem)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Mens' hairstyling brand Brylcreem teamed up with MTV to run an interactive MMS and online viral push for its Next Generation Ultra Gel. The Bad Barnet Challenge aligned Brylcreem with mtv.co. uk and targeted males aged 16-24 during July and...

Revolution to expand next year's Awards.(endorsed by Direct Marketing Association)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Digital businesses will be able to enter three new categories in next year's Revolution Awards, endorsed by the Direct Marketing Association. The three new awards are best public sector service, most innovative digital business and best...

Stella Artois sets up film and brand sites.(stella screen.co.uk and stellaartois.co.uk)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Stella Artois has two new sites, one dedicated to film at stella screen.co.uk and a brand-dedicated site at stellaartois.co.uk. Relationship marketing agency Lowe Plus created both. Stellascreen.co.uk features film trailers, background...

JUST BREAKING: Top 10 breaking banners by impressions (1-30 July 2003).(marketing campaigns U.K.)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
September 4, 2003... 1 William Hill All the sports at Williamhill.co.uk 2 Dial4aloan Dial4aloan.com 3 Alliance & Leicester The Alliance & Leicester Credit Card 4 Hewlett-Packard HP and BMW...

Search gets revamp at Ask Jeeves UK.(www.ask.co.uk)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Search engine Ask Jeeves UK (www.ask.co.uk) has revamped its results page in a bid to improve the relevancy of its advertising products and boost usage of the site. Untargeted ads have been removed from the results page and new features...

ACCOUNT WINS.(Cadbury Trebor Bassett retains E3 Media)
September 4, 2003... Cadbury Trebor Bassett has appointed digital agency E3 Media to its roster. The account includes sites like Dairy Milk, Creme Egg and Flake, besides ongoing work for the company's range of confectionery brands. Hilton International has...

OWEN ON DIGITAL MEDIA: Net is failing to give brand marketers the armoury they need.(marketing U.K.)
September 4, 2003... Since Revolution was last with you, prior to its summer break, the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising has issued a report giving everyone involved in digital marketing a real boost. While it made depressing reading for other disciplines,...

NatWest launches student microsite.(www.natwest.com/students)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... NatWest has unveiled a micro-site targeted at students at www.natwest.com/students. Built and designed by Zentropy Partners, the site allows users to view details of the new NatWest student package and apply for it online. When a...

Sky News unveils broadband offering.(Sky News Active Online)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Sky News has launched a subscription broadband package, Sky News Active Online, and a desktop alert service. Sky News Active Online costs pounds 2.99 a month or pounds 25 a year. Subscribers can access eight screens of video clips, ranging...

TRACKER: About IPT.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... IPT is a supplier of email marketing data and services, with brands such as MyOffers and OK-mail providing permission-based data to advertisers every quarter. IPT's low-cost managed email-delivery service, EmailBureau, sent more than 50...

Estee Lauder aims ads at brides-to-be.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Estee Lauder is targeting brides-to-be with a campaign on wedding site Confetti.co.uk. The cosmetics firm is running an advertorial on Confetti's Health & Beauty channel, where users can download an invitation to a free beauty consultation...

Ferry site seeks to attract vacationers.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Nine ferry firms are hoping to encourage holidaymakers to sail to their destinations rather than fly through their new site (www.sailanddrive.com). The site, created by design and marketing agency Navigate Design, is funded by Brittany...

PlayStation promotes the Experience.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Sony PlayStation is using the site it launched for the pounds 2 million campaign for its Experience to market the event worldwide. The site (www.playstationexperience.com) was designed by marketing agency Maher Bird Associates and went live...

GRIFFITHS ON MOBILE: Wi-Fi access has arrived, but how will it make money?
September 4, 2003... The less-than-catchily-titled Wireless LAN, or rather Wi-Fi, has been having its turn in the press spotlight recently, but why? It doesn't have a killer application and no-one is spending vast sums of marketing money on it. One reason for...

TIME THIEF: Tanya Lidstone, head of web development, Opodo, tells us her day.(Brief Article)(Interview)
September 4, 2003... 40% Current projects Being head of web development makes me sound a real techie, but I'm actually in charge of customer experience across the Opodo site. There are always lots of trains leaving the station at the same time, and I might be...

T&T Beverages takes a 'pop at pop' with drinks promo.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Soft drinks firm T&T Beverages has unveiled a new site as part of a multi-million marketing U-turn which sees it slamming the pop music it used to endorse. The site is part of a complete brand relaunch and aims to take a pop at pop by...

Heinz in first online promo for new Top Down Tomato Ketchup.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... FMCG giant Heinz is launching its first promotional site for its Tomato Ketchup brand. The site (www.heinzketchup.co.uk), which has been developed by digital agency swamp, aims to target mothers and teenagers with a mix of games, recipes,...

Dig-It (Online) for sale after end of trading.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Gardening e-commerce company Dig-It (Online) was looking for a buyer after going into administrative receivership as Revolution went to press. The firm, which employs 20 staff at its Fulham offices, has a yearly turnover of pounds 3...

Red Cross seeks to boost online donors.
September 4, 2003... The British Red Cross is revamping its web site and boosting its search-engine marketing to increase online donations. According to Robin Moore, new-media strategist at the British Red Cross, the charity raised more than pounds 100,000...

PERFORMANCE INDEX.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... 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: Paid-search users need 3D glasses to glimpse the future.
September 4, 2003... This has been the summer of terrible weather, undiscovered weapons of mass destruction and search-engine marketing. That's right. Like the wildfires sweeping through the parched western forests, it seems that paid search advertising is suddenly...

MOVING ON UP: Cheapflights.co.uk.(Brief Article)(Interview)
September 4, 2003... Jenny Taylor, former UK country manager at online travel portal Opodo, has been appointed to the newly created post of head of marketing at Cheapflights.co.uk. Taylor has more than 10 years' marketing experience in publishing and online...

MOVING ON UP: lastminute.com.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Ian McCaig, previously vice-president of 3G operations at Nokia, has joined lastminute.com as chief operating officer. He takes on responsibility for operations across the whole group, including holidayautos.com, travel price.com and...

MOVING ON UP: Betfair.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Betting-exchange firm Betfair has chosen Stephen Hill as new chief executive. He was formerly chief executive of the Financial Times Group, part of Pearson, but left last year to pursue opportunities in private equity. He is also a...

MOVING ON UP: Associated New Media.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Associated New Media, the digital publishing division of Associated Newspapers, has promoted Mark Milner to the newly created role of group commercial director. The former commercial director joined ANM in April 2001 from Express Newspapers...

MOVING ON UP: i-level.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Faith Carthy steps up to the role of group managing director at media planning and buying firm i-level, effective from the start of September. She replaces Nick Gutfreund who is leaving to pursue a new career in furniture design and...

MOVING ON UP: Look-Smart UK.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... James Averell becomes sales manager at search firm Look-Smart UK. He has more than seven years' experience in the ad industry, having held sales management positions at The Hot Group and Stepstone.co.uk.

MOVING ON UP: handbag.com.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Ruth Brownlee has been appointed as advertisement director at handbag.com to head up the women's lifestyle site's in-house sales team She joins from Channel 4 where she was commercial development controller. Brownlee will report to managing...

MOVING ON UP: IPC ignite!(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... IPC ignite!, the men's lifestyle, music and entertainment division of IPC Media, has made Kevin Heery head of online. In his new role, Heery will oversee overall online activity at ignite! and be responsible for developing and implementing the...

MOVING ON UP: Espotting Media.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Espotting Media has appointed 10 staff since announcing plans to merge with FindWhat.com (see p17), with key addition Jason Smith as UK affiliate manager. He will manage the eight-strong UK affiliate team responsible for distribution deals with...

MOVING ON UP: AOL UK.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... AOL UK has turned to print and radio for the latest recruits to its interactive marketing strategy team, picking the Evening Standard's Domenica DiLieto and Capital Radio's Brigitte Stanley as sales strategy managers. They will identify new ad...

MOVING ON UP: Flytxt.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Dave Barker has moved from Hyperlink Interactive to mobile marketing company Flytxt as head of sales. He takes responsibility for Flytxt's revenues from client services and new business. Prior to Hyperlink, Barker held a business development...

MOVING ON UP: Neutralize (*\*).(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Internet marketing firm Neutralize (*\*) has named Caroline Bielby as client services manager. She leaves marketing agency Strategic-i and will now manage clients such as the Eden Project and take on other projects.

DatingDirect.com in offline magazine j-v.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... DatingDirect.com and Future Publishing are to launch a print magazine about online dating. Connect will be a quarterly title with the first issue out on 24 September. It aims to be a practical title with a lifestyle slant, targeting...

Bluewater offers a virtual tour of malls.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Retail and leisure centre Bluewater has unveiled a web site for its customers. Precedent designed and produced the site (www.bluewater.co.uk), which groups information in four zones: Entertain and Excite; Family and Friends; Relax and...

More account services from money sites.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Money Telegraph and This is Money have new comparative account aggregation services through financial services site moneysupermarket.com. Users can view all their financial account information in one place, along with other products that...

PANKHURST ON DOTCOM LIFE: Our dating service will bring something new to the market.
September 4, 2003... I can't pretend that being poked in the eye by Arsenal's veteran centre-back Martin Keown wasn't the most exciting thing that happened to me this summer (see p82), but despite the sticky heat, holidays and the pre-season, Friends Reunited has...

Fish4 uses Sky for classifieds service.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Fish4 has launched its classifieds service on Sky digital. The interactive service gives Sky viewers access to ads for jobs, homes and cars. Users can search the online services of the fish4 network anywhere in the UK using their Sky...

Sports firm Frostfire launches global site.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... A global extreme sports community and site has opened from Frostfire Group, a sports technology and media firm. Frostfire-X.com covers a range of extreme sports such as BMX, skate, moto-x and surfing, with each activity supported by tips,...

MY INBOX: Nicole Morse marketing director of Lycos UK & I.(Interview)
September 4, 2003... Nicole Morse marketing director of Lycos UK & I, thinks consumers should have the right to select who contacts them by email and who doesn't. What percentage of the emails you get each week are marketing or commercial emails? Five to...

Profero in ABCe first for a digital agency.
September 4, 2003... Profero has become the first digital ad agency to get an online campaign audited by ABC Electronic for a summer push for Lufthansa. The agency, which signed up as an ABCe associate subscriber earlier this year, served an online campaign for...

Malvern hosts ideal dinner party online.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2003... Malvern English Natural Mineral Water and lifestyle channels UK Food and UK Style, part of the UKTV network, have teamed up to launch a site to help users host the perfect dinner party. The site (www.malverndinner partyplanner.co.uk)...

VITAL STATISTICS: This month B2c ecommerce is growing in the UK, but it still hasn't caught up with b2b, says Charlotte Goddard.
September 4, 2003... July's Internet Shopping Day, organised by the Interactive Media in Retail Group, turned attention on the growth of b2c ecommerce in the UK, which, according to eMarketer, should bring in revenue of dollars 60.7 billion (pounds 37.71bn) this...

ANALYSIS: Search firms consolidate further.
September 4, 2003... Search marketing has seen much consolidation recently. Pay-for-performance firms such as Overture, Espotting and Google's AdWords provide services to the big portals, but the first two have been involved in a raft of substantial deals that are...

ANALYSIS: Publishers welcome BBC review.
September 4, 2003... Ever since the then BBC deputy director-general Bob Phillis unveiled his plans for commercial web venture beeb.com back in 1996, commercial online content providers have been vocal in their dissatisfaction with its encroachment on their turf....

ANALYSIS: Media moves to narrow data gaps.
September 4, 2003... As the saying goes, two plus two doesn't always make four, and the current debate between media owners, agencies and online advertisers on discrepancies in statistics. Ultimately, some advertisers and the Institute of Practitioners in...

VOX POP: How can big brands market to kids responsibly online?
September 4, 2003... How can parents and internet firms work to protect children? The internet has been under a particularly harsh spotlight in terms of kids' safety. When 12-year-old Shevaun Pennington met a man double her age through the internet, the...

EDITORIAL: Top 40 brands show focus is key.(Editorial)
September 4, 2003... It's not a widely held view, but the explosion of dotcoms did a lot of good as well as a lot of harm. Certainly, it should be thanked for pushing traditional firms and brands into the digital arena quicker than they might have moved had they...

COMMENT: Different media but the issues remain the same.(Editorial)
September 4, 2003... When asked last year by the ASA Council to explain its ad strapline, 'For People Who'd Rather Burn Rubber Than Money', MG Rover contended that the phrase 'burn rubber' referred to driving long journeys. The explanation failed to convince on...

SHOPPING: Review - One gift that just keeps giving more.
September 4, 2003... A magazine subscription is the present that just keeps on giving. For 12 months anyway. Every time that magazine pops on to the doormat, the happy recipient will think fond thoughts of you and your ongoing generosity, or that's the plan. With...

SHOPPING: Shopping stats - Brook Street races ahead of job sites.
September 4, 2003... Brook Street had the fastest loading web site out of a survey of five job sites. When it comes to job interviews, first impressions count, and it's the same with recruitment sites - with competitors just a click away, they need to give job...

SECTOR CHECKER: Ribena's sparkling web site trumps other soft drinks.
September 4, 2003... Virgin Group's Richard Halstead takes a trip down memory lane with Ribena and finds a bright, seamless site packed full of fun and interesting ideas. Web: www.ribena.co.uk Developer: Intercea Ribena and me go back a long way and...

DIGITAL GAMING: The easy way to a digital fortune.
September 4, 2003... Littlewoods Gaming updates the image of the door-to-door Pools collector with its ventures in iTV, director of interactive Peter Cuffe tells Charlotte Goddard. As a child one of my tasks was to fill in the weekly Pools coupon before the...

DIGITAL BRANDS: Digital Top 40.
September 4, 2003... The Revolution Digital Top 40, in association with NOP World, puts the spotlight on the biggest new media brands, from portals to e-tailers, that use digital as their main route to market. As well as confirming the growth of Friends...

MOBILE AND TV: Mobile's TV adventure.
September 4, 2003... As broadcasters use mobile to make their programmes more interactive, so mobile firms are launching new TV channels. A few years ago, when convergence was the word on everyone's lips, the two media envisaged to come together in beautiful...

THE REVOLUTION USABILITY REPORT sponsored by fhios: Successful brands understand users.
September 4, 2003... User experience research, whether by usability testing or needs analysis, is not about stifling creativity or dogmatically preaching about the do's and don'ts of interface design. It is about uncovering needs, wants and desires; observing...

THE REVOLUTION USABILITY REPORT sponsored by fhios: Real user testing - Reality check.
September 4, 2003... A site's usability can be summed up by its effectiveness, efficiency and user satisfaction. Emily Booth finds the wise test their designs before going live. If you've ever been to a web site and spent ages trying to find specific...

THE REVOLUTION USABILITY REPORT sponsored by fhios: Accessibility - Access denied.
September 4, 2003... Improving usability for groups with special requirements can benefit all users. And, of course, it benefits brands. The term 'accessibility' is often associated with the placement of a ramp alongside a set of steps to enable wheelchair...

THE REVOLUTION USABILITY REPORT sponsored by fhios: Work to rule.
September 4, 2003... Guru Jakob Nielsen's stringent guidelines on web design may work in theory but do they in practice? Amanda Nottage sees if creatives are giving clients what they need. It's a common complaint that if designers followed Jakob Nielsen's...

NDM Show preview.
September 4, 2003... Robert McLuhan finds out what exhibitors at September's National Direct Marketing Show in Birmingham will have to interest digital marketers. Direct marketers in London and the south are well served by the mammoth International Direct...

B2B EMAIL MARKETING MASTERCLASS: The Revolution Masterclass on B2b email marketing.
September 4, 2003... With business-to-business emailings, marketers need to be aware of the subtle differences from consumer campaigns, says Charlotte Goddard. Email marketing is just as effective in targeting a business market as a consumer one, but there are...

TRAILBLAZER: Music box - VidZone's Paul Conroy aims to convince the big record labels that the future of music lies on the net.
September 4, 2003... There is a cow on Paul Conroy's balcony, but the chairman of VidZone and former president of Virgin Records doesn't appear to be particularly phased by this. VidZone (www.vidzone.tv), a subscription-based streaming music video service, launched...

CREATIVE REVIEW: Marc Giusti, group creative director, Wheel:Group.
September 4, 2003... Marc Giusti is responsible for the creative output and development of Wheel:Group - consisting of Abel & Baker, Foresight and Wheel - one of the digital agencies on the COI creative roster. 'To deliver within the digital space, we have to...

CAMPAIGN OF THE MONTH: 02 Free SIM giveaway.
September 4, 2003... 02 opted for a free SIM card promotion when it sought an effective but simple way to boost sales and its customer base. Background: In order to boost its pre-pay customer base, 02 was looking to run a high-profile campaign that would...

TERMINATOR 1: Lazy marketers are just adding to the mountain of spam.
September 4, 2003... Spam is hitting headlines again. According to email security firm Messagelabs, 55 per cent of email is spam, up 52 per cent on this time last year. Enrique Salem, president of anti-spam software firm Brightmail, reckons it has risen 500 per...

TERMINATOR 2: Steve tackles the Gunners with Barnet FC.
September 4, 2003... One of the most notable aspects of Friends Reunited's rise to one the UK's most recognisable digital brands is its frugality. Which is why it's so remarkable, and a little touching, that co-founder Steve Pankhurst (39) splashed out pounds...

TERMINATOR 2: Have spam, will travel ... back to the future.
September 4, 2003... Although general opinion is that EU regulations will do little to dent the flow of spam from outside the European Union, it appears the spammers are running. No longer feeling safe in Florida or Nigeria, they've stepped into a time machine...