Revolution articles from September 2007

Revolution archives from September 2007

Letter from Revolution.
September 3, 2007... Were the triumphant cries of web 2.0 pioneers at the turn of the year premature? Their jubilation paled somewhat with the news that the BNP was gaining favour with the help of Facebook last month, inadvertently becoming a site mate of COI and...

Symantec warns on dangers of social networking applications.
September 3, 2007... The social networking phenomenon is helping to foster a host of new security risks, according to online fraud experts, Symantec. 'Mash ups are a new phenomenon that consist of a range of personal data gleaned from internet sources; social...

New face for Revolution with Clark's return.(appointment of Mairi Clark )(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... Revolution has appointed a new editor, Mairi Clark who joins the magazine replacing Philip Buxton, who has moved to Circus Street as a consultant. Clark was previously editor of Scottish advertising, marketing and media title The Drum, and...

Anonymous Wikipedia editors will 'lose trust'.
September 3, 2007... Brands that were exposed last month for editing their own profiles on Wikipedia need to think more carefully about the ramifications of their actions, according to leading online PR experts. An online tool called WikiScanner revealed that...

Deals: TradeDoubler acquires IMW Group.
September 3, 2007... TradeDoubler has acquired IMW Group, comprising The Search Works and sister company The Technology Works, for pounds 56m. TradeDoubler, which is based in Sweden, said the acquisition would bolster its global and UK expansion plans

Deals: News Group Newspapers signs Ladbrokes as exclusive betting and gaming partner.
September 3, 2007... News Group Newspapers has signed bookmaker Ladbrokes as its exclusive betting and gaming partner partner for The Sun and News of the World web sites. The deal, initially covering sports betting, will extend to online poker, casino and games,...

Deals: Associated Northcliffe Digital acquires JobsGroup.net.
September 3, 2007... Associated Northcliffe Digital (AND), a division of the Daily Mail and General Trust, has acquired JobsGroup.net for around pounds 10m. AND has also signed a deal with Tomorrow Focus AG, to be lead UK partner for the pan-European ad network

Deals: Adify launches in UK with The Guardian as its first partner.
September 3, 2007... US online advertising network Adify has launched in the UK with The Guardian as its first partner. The network will comprise small- to medium-sized publishers who offer high-quality content

Deals: Datingdirect.com partners with Sky.com to launch Sky Dating.
September 3, 2007... Datingdirect.com has partnered with Sky.com to launch Sky Dating, allowing Sky.com users to contact more than five million registered users of the dating service

Deals: Mobestar announces partnership with Datech.
September 3, 2007... Mobestar, the mobile community application provider, has announced a partnership with Datech. The deal allows Mobestar to offer integrated web and mobile solutions to white-label dating site operators. Datech provides dating services to 7,000...

Deals: buy.at acquires Lightstate.
September 3, 2007... Affiliate marketing network buy.at has acquired online lead-generation provider Lightstate, which collects consumer information, via online application forms, from partnerships with financial sites, portals and comparison sites. The acquisition...

Deals: Piczo appoints Tomorrow Focus as advertising sales partner in Germany.
September 3, 2007... Piczo has appointed Tomorrow Focus as its advertising sales partner in Germany following European expansion. The deal offers advertisers in Piczo's second biggest market the opportunity to target ads and create branded content within Piczo

Deals: ValueClick acquires MeziMedia.
September 3, 2007... Online marketing company ValueClick has acquired US comparison shopping site MeziMedia. With the acquisition, ValueClick aims to extend its footing in the European comparison shopping market, under the PriceRunner brand, to the US

Deals: Tiscali buys Pipex.
September 3, 2007... Italian ISP Tiscali has bought Pipex, the independent UK broadband supplier, for pounds 210 million bringing Tiscali's UK broadband customer base to 1.4 million

Deals: Virgin Media agrees deal with Shootline.
September 3, 2007... Virgin Media has agreed a deal with ShootLive to produce real-time images of all 380 Premier League games this season, which will be hosted on the broadcaster's sports homepage

Audi Channel looks to digital platforms.
September 3, 2007... Audi has extended its digital TV property, the Audi Channel, to new digital platforms, inking content deals with Joost, Nokia and Top-Up TV. The Audi Channel is now live on Joost, featuring on-demand content targeted at existing and...

IAB and DMA publish first set of search guidelines.
September 3, 2007... Agency experts have welcomed the first UK search best-practice charter, a move intended to bring greater regulation to the industry. The guidelines, developed by the IAB and DMA, are aimed solely at search engine marketing companies. ...

Orange tempts sports fans to WAP through Rugby World Cup.
September 3, 2007... Orange is using sponsorship of this month's Rugby World Cup to drive uptake and usage of its Orange World WAP portal. Activity kicked off a week before the 7 September start of the six-week tournament. The campaign will see digital...

Good month/bad month.
September 3, 2007... Strength in numbers for companies involved in the Google copyright lawsuit. Eight more US parties have joined the lawsuit charging Google with deliberately encouraging copyright infringement on YouTube. Happy days for online gamers. BSkyB...

Sony Pictures promotes Surf's Up with Piczo homepage deal.
September 3, 2007... Sony Pictures is targeting teenagers via social networking site Piczo to promote its animated film Surf's Up. The deal includes a two-day homepage takeover, featuring characters from the film. Users can also visit a branded special at...

School Food Trust unveils nutrition tool.(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... The School Food Trust has launched a web-based tool to encourage higher nutritional standards in school lunches. The School Lunch Checklist tool, found at www.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk, will help assess whether food and drink served in...

Peugeot pushes 308 via integrated activity.
September 3, 2007... Peugeot has launched a fully integrated advertising campaign to launch its brand new 308 model. The car manufacturer handed the digital activity to Underwired, one of four digital creative agencies on its roster, without a pitch. ...

Just breaking: Top 10 breaking banners by impressions (1-31 July 2007).(Table)(Brief article)(Company rankings)
September 3, 2007... 1 COI Stolen mobiles can be blocked 2 Halifax Online discount for home insurance 3 The National Lottery Free pounds 1 play 4 Orange Free Sony Ericsson phone on pay monthly ...

WWF creates virtual island in Second Life.(World Wide Fund for Nature)(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... WWF is venturing into the virtual world with a branded interactive island in Second Life. The wildlife conservation charity is working with Enable Interactive to reach new and existing audiences. WWF is initially using Conservation Island...

bmi looks to attract business travellers.
September 3, 2007... bmi, the airline, is repurposing its web site to reflect a renewed focus on business travellers. The relaunched site (www.flybmi.com) by twentysix London, focuses on customer service, with more business-led content and a usability...

Tracker.
September 3, 2007... Local social networking web sites (week ending 4 August 2007) Average session duration 19 minutes 41 seconds Bebo 31 minutes 54 second MySpace 25 minutes 3...

Facebook enters top ten web sites in UK.(Website overview)
September 3, 2007... In July, Facebook became a top ten web site for the first time in the UK, behind Bebo at six and MySpace in eighth. Facebook's decision to expand registration to allow anyone to use the site has had a clear impact on its popularity,...

Paramount creates serial killer Java app.(contracts of Paramount Pictures Corp. and ZenithOptimedia)(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... Paramount Pictures is backing the release of its new thriller, Disturbia, with a mobile push based on a Java application. The campaign, developed by ZenithOptimedia, plays on the film's tagline: 'Every serial killer lives next door to someone.'...

Owen on digital media - Can web marketers hope to keep up with the Joneses?
September 3, 2007... Much was made last year of the contribution internet users made to the Samuel L Jackson movie Snakes on a Plane. If you believe the stories, time was set aside at the end of the shoot to film scenes suggested by the online hordes - without whom...

Account wins.(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... Moneysupermarket.com has selected The Search Works to drive targeted traffic to key areas of the site, including sister brand travelsupermarket.com. The Search Works also picked up easyJet as a client this month. The Open University has...

Gamers respond to ads finds IAB survey.(Survey)(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... In-game advertising influences gamers' buying decisions, adding realism to their gaming experience and creating positive brand associations. This is according to new research by CNET Networks and the IAB, which presents the channel's...

Performance index.(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... 1 July - 31 July 2007, 8am - 8pm Rank Site Performance Availability (secs) (per cent) 1 Argos.co.uk 0.09 99.98 2 Google.co.uk ...

Griffiths on mobile: Are the days of SMS numbered as email and IM take over?
September 3, 2007... In July, Forrester published a report that suggested SMS would be swept aside by email within the next two or three years, as more consumers are able to access email on their mobile device. This is the latest of a number of reports of the...

Moving on up: Appointment at Travelodge.(appointment of Daniel Heale at Travelodge Hotels Inc.)(Interview)
September 3, 2007... Daniel Heale has been appointed marketing and sales director by Travelodge. Heale joins as the company looks to increase both its footprint and the role of e-commerce in its business. The hotel chain aims to open 200 hotels and have 7,000 rooms...

Moving on up: Appointment at uSwitch.com.
September 3, 2007... Allan Tattersall has taken the position of marketing director at online price comparison site uSwitch.com. Tattersall has been with the company as director of products since 2004. He replaces Barry Holloway, who is leaving in April 2008 after...

Moving on up: Appointment at IPC Ignite.
September 3, 2007... IPC Ignite has appointed Keith Walker as online men's lifestyle editor across Nuts and Loaded. Walker moves from IPC Inspire, where he edited the yachting and boating portal www.YBW.com. Walker will work closely with Ignite Digital...

Moving on up: Appointment at Logitech Europe.(appointment of Garreth Hayes )(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... Logitech Europe has hired Garreth Hayes as marketing director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with a remit to support the brand and ensure co-ordinated product launches across the region. Hayes oversees a team of 50-plus operating out...

Moving on up: Appointment at AdLINK.
September 3, 2007... AdLINK has promoted Nicky Iapino to managing director, replacing Andy Mitchell, who leaves the ad network. Iapino was previously managing director of Affilinet, AdLINK's affiliate marketing arm. The appointment marks a strategic refocus,...

Moving on up: Appointment at Arc.
September 3, 2007... Arc, part of the Leo Burnett Group, has poached Proximity London's senior creative team. Paul Faulds and Chris Rambridge join the agency as creative group heads and have worked together for eight years on accounts including Yell, Whiskas, WWF,...

Moving on up: Appointment at Webcredible.
September 3, 2007... Usability and accessibility firm Webcredible has chosen Ismail Ismail as client services manager. He joins from digital agency IMG Media where he was head of interactive production. Ismail will be managing key client accounts and contributing...

Moving on up: Appointment at Rackspace.
September 3, 2007... Rackspace, the web hosting provider, has hired Doug Loewe as managing director, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Loewe joins from iPass, where he was vice-president and managing director, EMEA. He will be responsible for directing UK growth,...

Moving on up: Appointment at Zac Toons.(appointment of Nicky Basson )(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... Zac Toons, an animation studio producing content for mobile, online and TV, has hired Nicky Basson as lead account director for the company's international and local partnerships. The former Warner mobile marketing manager will manage...

Moving on up: Appointment at GMG Radio.
September 3, 2007... GMG Radio has appointed Sarah Bellamy as its first director of digital media. Bellamy was previously commercial operations director of Endemol UK. The appointment reflects GMG's plans to take its portfolio of 11 stations into interactive and...

Moving on up: Appointment at eCircle.(appointments of Simon Bever and Austen Keep)(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... Email provider eCircle has recruited two members of staff from online data company IPT. Simon Bever joins as business development director, bringing more than 20 years experience in the financial services sector. Austen Keep joins eCircle as...

Fairtrade cola brand builds online identity.
September 3, 2007... New Fairtrade cola brand Ubuntu is looking to the web as a point of difference as it enters the competitive soft drinks category this autumn. Claiming to be the 'UK's first Fairtrade-labelled cola', its site, www.ubuntu-trading.com, aims...

Lightspeed launches WAP-based surveys.
September 3, 2007... Lightspeed Research has launched a WAP-enabled mobile consumer survey that allows brands to collect mobile images from consumers as well as gauge instant responses to brand activity. Ralph Risk, marketing manager, Europe, said: 'The real...

Google adds interactivity to US news site.(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... Google has launched a feature allowing the subjects of news stories to comment on articles. The experimental feature is currently live on the US Google News site Any person mentioned in a news item can submit a written response. Once the...

Gaffney on America: The iPhone is brilliant - so why can't we get on and love it?
September 3, 2007... It is a well-known fact that Americans like to build things up to tear them down. We love a good trashing. Thanks for Posh and Becks, by the way. More fuel for our fire. After everyone in LA realises soccer on TV just doesn't lend itself to big...

Email overtakes print direct mail by volume.
September 3, 2007... Email marketing has overtaken print direct mail by volume for the first time, as companies maximise the targeting and cost-saving potential of digital direct marketing. The average number of emails rose by 50 per cent in the last quarter,...

Digital direct: Don't underestimate the visual elements of email marketing.
September 3, 2007... Email marketing generates plenty of discussion about list building and acquisition, subject lines, frequency of emails sent, demographic segmentation, deliverability, clickthrough rates, conversions and so on. It's a left-brain thinker's...

Direct Stats.
September 3, 2007... This month Email marketing campaign success is down to lists, offer and creative, according to the DMA's latest Email Benchmarking Survey (Q4, 2006). Hayley Pinkerfield reports. A well-segmented list with an appropriate and powerful call to...

Barclays Bank signs to Asian ad network.
September 3, 2007... Barclays Bank has signed up as the first advertiser on a newly launched online advertising network targeting British Asians, with a campaign for its wealth-management service. Indoor Media claims to be the first network to service the...

Vital statistics.(reports on online sellers)(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... This month Only 28 per cent of online sellers are using customer ratings and reviews, despite the importance placed on them by consumers, according to research by E-consultancy and Bazaarvoice. Stuart Derrick reports. More than half of...

Murphy on dotcom life: When you listen to your instincts, you'll hear great things.
September 3, 2007... Throughout my time in business, I've learnt that small changes can have a big effect. Last month, we had a perfect example of that. One of my younger, more learned colleagues described it as the Butterfly Effect. The Butterfly Effect is...

Analysis: Search engines weigh privacy issue.
September 3, 2007... Google was applauded and mocked in equal measure in March when it became the first search engine to announce that it would be making its server logs - information relating to a user's search, such as the query itself, IP address and cookie...

Analysis: Can IASH halt blind chain buying?
September 3, 2007... Internet Advertising Sales Houses (IASH) has issued a comprehensive review of its members, following a complaint of malpractice brought against a UK-based sales house. The issue was publicised in BBC's Panorama, which exposed that ads for major...

Vox pop: What effect will Yahoo!'s new search ranking model have?
September 3, 2007... Yahoo!'s launch of its new paid-search platform, Panama, in July was eagerly awaited by practitioners of search marketing and their clients. Panama marks the move to a relevance-based ad-ranking model This means that sponsored search findings...

What impact will Panama have on search marketing in the UK?
September 3, 2007... - Barry Holloway marketing director, uSwitch Yahoo!'s Panama is not going to change the marketplace - the relevancy model is essentially the same as Google's Ad Words. What Panama does is to bring Yahoo! in line with Google and move away...

Quotes of the month.
September 3, 2007... 'We're hoping that by adding this feature, we can help enhance the news experience for readers... a personal view can add a new dimension to the story'. A Google spokesman promotes a new Google News tool, allowing those quoted in stories...

Editorial: The wild frontier is being tamed.(Editorial)
September 3, 2007... In the early days of the internet, the idea of cyberspace as a lawless new frontier was widely accepted, and even celebrated. The new online playground would be free from the rules and regulations of the real world, especially those of...

Comment: Where digital fits in the sphere of media planning.
September 3, 2007... In recent months, pretty much every media agency has declared that 'digital is at the heart' of their agency, almost to the point that the phrase has become meaningless. There is no doubt that marketers and agencies are very clear about the...

Sector checker: Mixed bag of web sites reflects the reality on the high street.
September 3, 2007... Supermarket web sites have been undergoing changes as e-commerce takes off, says Carl White, chief executive of ValueClick Europe. Web: www.waitrose.com Developer: twentysix London Waitrose targets the higher end of the grocery...

Shopping Review: From search to order in four clicks.
September 3, 2007... People who run out of disk space while downloading Schubert's Eighth Symphony can derive some satisfaction from the fact that the Eighth Symphony was, itself, unfinished. For those whose disks fill up in an irony-free way, however, the only...

Shopping stats: Under 20s find the funds to spend online.
September 3, 2007... Young people are spending a significant amount of time online, but is this reflected in their shopping habits? Hayley Pinkerfield reports. - Q: Research surveyed 800 11 to 20 year olds and found that they are both active and comfortable...

Microsoft: now it's personal.(Interview)
September 3, 2007... Microsoft is taking a leaf out of Amazon's marketing book, with a focus on customer experience and participation. Alicia Buller talks to global marcoms director, Bill Capodanno. Bill Capodanno admits that he's so tired he's got no idea...

Online travel: Travelling straight to the top.
September 3, 2007... When Kuoni, one of the world's leading travel companies, commissioned Fortune Cookie to redesign its web site, www.kuoni.co.uk, it required more than attractive, user-centric, accessible design and compelling content. Kuoni wanted serious...

Recruitment: Understaffed but never uninspired.
September 3, 2007... You don't need us to tell you there's a recruitment crisis in digital media. Some agencies are employing all their creative skills to overcome the problems, as Adam Woods discovered. The UK has an ever-expanding prison population and many...

Roundtable: A taste of things to come for affiliates.
September 3, 2007... Revolution, in association with Affiliate Window, discusses how the affiliate industry can improve results. Hayley Pinkerfield reports. Revolution, in association with Affiliate Window, invited a select group of industry figures for the...

Time to put quality ahead of quantity.
September 3, 2007... Having nurtured affiliate marketing through its formative years, it is clear to me that the industry has come a long way as it has matured and established its well-deserved place in the digital marketing landscape. The rapid pace of...

Channels: Maximising your mix.
September 3, 2007... Diversification is the name of the game for affiliate marketers that want to gain maximum conversion rates for their advertiser clients Gareth Jones reports. It's crucial that advertisers take advantage of as many different publishing...

Betfair looks to multi-channel.
September 3, 2007... Betfair, the online sports betting exchange, launched a multi-channel affiliate programme as part of a wider digital campaign to promote its brands in conjunction with the Fifa 2006 World Cup finals. The company appointed Mediaplex to bring...

Technology: Pay your dues.
September 3, 2007... Improved tracking technologies mean better remuneration systems, while more sectors will find a place for affiliate marketing in their strategies, says Gareth Jones. The age-old gripe about knowing half of your advertising spend is wasted,...

Masterclass: The Revolution Masterclass on making every click count.
September 3, 2007... What can marketers do to optimise the success of their pay-per-click marketing strategies? Victoria Furness investigates. Paid search, or pay per click (PPC), might be one of the most established online marketing channels - accounting for...

Millennium Hotels experiments with PPC to boost ROI.
September 3, 2007... Joe Nguyen used his background in search and web site development to ramp up search activity at Millennium & Copthorne Hotels, when he joined the global chain of 110 hotels last November as director of e-commerce. Netbooster was selected to...

Event preview: Revolution Forum.
September 3, 2007... 12 -14 November, Marriott Forest of Arden Hotel and Country Club, Warwickshire. The Revolution Forum offers a valuable opportunity to discuss and learn about the important issues of the day with your peers and suppliers from the digital...

Trailblazer: Club community.
September 3, 2007... Calum Brannan tells Hayley Pinkerfield about his plans for youth networking site PPLParty.com. The dotcom world has seen some notably young pioneers. Most recently, Facebook was developed by college students, though the dispute as to who...

Creative review: Jon Sharpe creative director and chief executive of Play.
September 3, 2007... BIMA member for one year Sharpe oversees the entirety of the agency's creative output for clients including Royal Bank of Scotland, Heinz, Silverjet and NatWest. Before co-founding Play, he was digital marketing director at Agency.com and...

Campaign of the month.
September 3, 2007... Campaign: Midlife crisis Client: Volkswagen Agency: Tribal DDB London Background: Two years after its successful launch, Passat faced new competition. So it was time for Volkswagen to push the latest Passat model and reassert the...

Terminator: Join my mission to save the web from meaningless jargon.
September 3, 2007... Rewind ten years to 1997 and we'd be in a world where the Spice Girls were number one and the internet was in its infancy. It was a cyberworld populated almost exclusively by brochurewear: brands publishing corporate messages to be dutifully...

Terminator: We love to party like it's any year you want it to be.
September 3, 2007... One month, two fun invites for Terminator. (Obviously there were more than two invitations, but, afflicted with summer colds and beavering away between editors, the team had to be selective this month Please don't let this put anybody off...

Terminator: Dry Shield sniffs out new market.(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... They say that genius is one per cent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration. Which is all very well, but hardly good news for co-workers or fellow travellers when your pits start to pong. Luckily, the internet has come to the relief of...

Terminator: McCann aims to catch em young.
September 3, 2007... A new course promises to teach budding agency hacks how to get ahead in advertising. McCann Erickson launched its first marketing summer school, promising hands-on experience in the everyday reality of working with marketing specialists. ...