News round-up: 19th October 2009

Amuso gets $1.5m for online cash quiz site

Amuso has closed its latest round of funding to support strategic activities in the UK and US with a $1.5 million investment from Mangrove Capital Partners, the principal investor at its launch in 2007, as well as a series of angel investors. The additional funding has enabled Amuso to set up new headquarters in London to accommodate its expansion programme and acquire new talent to develop the business. Since launching its multiplayer, micropayment-based trivia game platform, Trivia Star, in June 2009, Amuso has signed commercial partnerships with AOL, Bebo, MySpace, MTV and Associated Newspapers in Europe and Heavy and Rap Basement in the US. Amuso is currently in talks with a number of leading US online publishers and plans to announce a new round of partnerships over the forthcoming weeks. Amuso said it now reaches over 50 million users globally, with 200,000 registered users.

www.amuso.com

Skype to focus on mobile

Internet telephony firm Skype will focus on growing its mobile and corporate business next year while further developing its key offerings to consumers, its chief executive said.  An upcoming change in ownership will boost the focus on growth, CEO Josh Silverman said. Last month a group led by top Internet financiers in Silicon Valley and Europe agreed to pay eBay $1.9 billion in cash for a 65 percent stake in Skype. Closure of the deal is pending. The group buying Skype includes London-based Index Ventures and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), along with Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz.

More than 15 million users sign on every day to Skype for Web-based chats, phone conversations or video phone calls. Skype has registered nearly 500 million users worldwide since it was founded in 2002. Silverman said one third of users already use Skype wholly or partly for business, but the company is focusing increasingly at offering tailored products for companies, which are in demand.

www.skype.com

Mother to deliver multi-million pound Match.com campaign

match.com has appointed Mother as its advertising agency of record with immediate effect. The multi-million pound account was won following a competitive six-way pitch between Mother, Fallon, VCCP, BBH, DDB and Adam & Eve which kicked off earlier this year. Mother will work with match.com as it initiates a holistic review of its vision for the brand in the UK market, leading to the launch of an integrated campaign in 2010. Previous work by the agency includes campaigns for Orange and Boots.

www.motherlondon.com

New sales boss at MySpace

MySpace has hired Nada Stirratt to the role of Chief Revenue Officer, effective immediately.  In this newly created role, Stirratt will lead global sales and strategy for MySpace and focus on developing new advertising products as well as creating unique opportunities for both marketers and users. Stirratt will be based in New York and report to MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta.

www.myspace.com

iCrossing debuts social media monitoring iPhone App

iCrossing, a global digital marketing agency today announced the release of Say What?  a free iPhone social media monitoring application that enables integrated search of Twitter, Digg, and thousands of forums and blogs.  The application scans the most active social media networks on the Web for a keyword or phrase, and returns a real-time snapshot of what is being said where and by whom.  Users enter a search term on a simple interface, and the latest conversations from each of the social media sites are returned in an easy-to-read format.  Say What? displays the most recent conversations in aggregate, unlike searching social networks or blogs via a mobile browser. Users have the option to dig deeper into the responses on a particular source, and a search history is saved so users can get easy updates for their regularly-searched terms.

www.icrossing.co.uk

Shazam surpasses 50 million global users

Shazam, the world’s leading mobile music discovery provider, today announced that more than 50 million people around the world have used the Shazam service, an increase of 15 million users since February of this year. Shazam is also announcing a strategic investment from Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers who has an unparalleled track record in assisting digital consumer businesses such as Google and Amazon to become market leading global enterprises.

www.shazam.com  

Dennis works with Adify to launch own online ad network

Dennis Publishing has launched its own ad network, working with ad network builder Adify to enable advertisers to buy inventory across small and medium-sized publishers. Adify already provides The Guardian, The Financial Times and B2B publisher IDG with a technology platform to build ad networks.

www.adify.com

txttrans rebrands as paythru, launches new payment platform

mobile payment specialist txttrans today launched Version 3 of its mobile payment platform and announced that it has rebranded as paythru. aythru is expecting to handle 25 million transactions, worth £100 million, by 2012 through Version 3 of its platform, in a m-commerce market that Infiniti Research forecasts will be worth $122 billion by 2011. paythru offers platform packages that are easy to fully integrate with existing systems or as simple as introducing a ‘plug and play’ ‘Buy Now’ button for retailers’ websites on mobiles. Consumers can purchase goods and services using any Internet enabled mobile phone, using any credit and bank card, at any time, anywhere through paythru.  

www.paythru.com

Spinvox's Whatley joins 1000heads

James Whatley, former head of digital for voice-recognition business Spinvox, has joined social media firm 1000heads as its engagement strategy director. He will be responsible for heading 1000head’s word-of-mouth consumer engagement services. 1000heads offers integrated social media intelligence and engagement campaigns. Clients include the BBC, Nokia, STA Travel, Sky and 3.

www.1000heads.com

Thomas Cook Sport debuts World Cup digital campaign

Thomas Cook Sport is launching a dedicated football microsite to support its 2010 World Cup campaign. The site, which is designed and created by digital and viral agency TAMBA, will present customers with unique travel packages and flight offers to South Africa where the tournament takes place.  Coinciding with the microsite release, Thomas Cook Sport is also launching an extensive online display advertising campaign that will run over a series of high profile sporting websites; increasing awareness of the latest travel offers, with packages starting from £2,499, and directing customers to the new microsite.  The microsite and display advertising campaign will launch in October.

www.thomascooksport

www.TAMBA.com

Ubisoft targets Glam Media audience for Wii Fit web ad campaign

Game developer Ubisoft has chosen to generate buzz around the latest game to be released for the Nintendo Wii console, New U Fitness First Personal Trainer, by advertising with Glam Media

 During the campaign, all online advertising surrounding will have premium placement on the Glam Health Channel and Glam Wellness Channel. The New U Fitness First Personal Trainer will gain brand exposure across leading niche blogs, online communities and video sites such as Vitabeat.  Running along side the advertising campaign, Glam Media has aggregated RSS feeds from Twitter conversations on Wii and Health and Fitness.

www.glammedia.com

Samsung raises $2m for breast cancer charity

Samsung has raised $2 million through its Breast Cancer Charity initiatives across Europe this year.  To celebrate this achievement, Samsung hosted a Pink Ribbon High Tea at Westfields London.  The event saw Samsung present a cheque for $2 million to ambassadors from Breast Cancer Charities across Europe. As well as raising funds, Samsung has focused on the prevention of breast cancer through knowledge, campaigning and awareness.  www.morethantalk.eu, which launched in September 2009, has already provided this on an unprecedented scale. 

www.morethantalk.eu

Outdoor retailer Tiso picks Bazaarvoice for online reviews

Scottish outdoor clothing and equipment retailer Tiso Group is adding ratings and reviews functionality to its two websites, Tiso.com and AlpineBikes.com. Social commerce provider Bazaarvoice has been appointed to implement the service, along with its customer to customer helpdesk Ask & Answer. Additionally, Tiso Group will use customer feedback to help the company’s buying team; enabling it to identify best sellers and products that could be improved.

www.bazaarvoice.co.uk

TagMan appoints former AdGent 007 sales head for US expansion

Tag management solution TagMan has appointed Chris Brinkworth to lead its commercial expansion in the US.  Brinkworth is the former VP of business development for international digital sales house AdGent 007, based in New York. Prior to AdGent 007, he was media director for emitch, Australia's largest digital media agency, controlling budgets for the market's biggest advertisers, and interactive media manager for digital media agency Outrider, based in London. Chris is also the founder of the Digital Ministry, a community formed for professionals in the online advertising sector. Brinkworth will take the role of EVP, Americas for TagMan, aiming to grow the company's presence and sales in the US market, where TagMan has several clients.

www.tagman.com

Thai Children’s Trust runs online video campaign

The Thai Children’s Trust has teamed up with digital media marketing company Initiative and Adconion Media Group to create its very first online video campaign. The campaign, which launches in early October, is aimed at 30-plus women and encourages them to help the Thai Children’s Trust (TCT) raise funds for Karen refugees in Thailand, amongst the neediest children in south-east Asia. The campaign videos, created by the TCT under consultation with Initiative’s creative department LAB, focus on the stories of Chenu and Yin, two Burmese children who were forced to flee the country.

www.thaichildrenstrust.org.uk

www.adconion.com

Siemens Gigaset appoints TheAgency for global brand proposition

Cordless phone maker Siemens Gigaset has appointed TheAgency to help define its global brand proposition, reaffirming its focus on attracting high end users and brand conscious consumers to its innovative products. The German company is reviewing the Siemens Gigaset brand and how it currently manifests itself globally to maximise its appeal to its target customers. The new global brand proposition will be used across all Gigaset communication, including above-the-line advertising right through to its packaging.

www.theagencyonline.co.uk

BE Broadband offers unlimited mobile storage

BE Broadband customers will get a 35% discount on Livedrive services, which enable customers to share their files between all of their computers, and securely access them online from anywhere.  Livedrive automatically adds a virtual drive to the PC into which users can drag and drop files. These files are then accessible, not only from the PC, but from any browser using a unique and secure web address allocated at sign up. Users can view files, play music, watch videos and, with built in web applications, edit photos and Microsoft Office documents on the move.  To add to the mobility, Livedrive is also accessible from mobile devices. Additional functionality includes a back up function which allows users to protect any folder on their PC.

www.bethere.co.uk

www.livedrive.com

Gurkha Welfare Trust revamps website

Direct marketing agency Nurtural has won a brief to devise a digital marketing strategy and design and build a new website for The Gurkha Welfare Trust. Nurtural is working with Totally Communications, a web Design and technology firm as its lead bid partner. The Gurkha Welfare Trust provides welfare pensions for 10,000 Gurkha veterans who did not serve for long enough to qualify for an army pension, or their widows.  The Trust also provides medical and community aid to alleviate hardship and distress among Gurkha ex-servicemen and their families.

www.gwt.org.uk

www.nurtural.co.uk

Sapient partners Web Analytics Demystified

Sapient Interactive has struck a European partnership with Web Analytics Demystified.

The partnership allows Sapient and WAD to benefit from each other’s mutual expertise and client base and provide a full range of strategic and operational services. These range from measurement of online activities to defining sustainable models for web analytics resources, while taking into account the inherent specifications of the European continent. Clients can now benefit from expert advice on KPI Frameworks and Measurement Plans, Web Analytics Process, Learning Agendas, Strategic Roadmaps and actionable analysis that goes beyond reporting and insights towards recommendations and constant optimisation of customer experience, conversion and retention.

www.sapientinteractive.com

CS Healthcare appoints DBD Media for search drive 

Private health insurance firm CS Healthcare has appointed search engine marketing specialist DBD Media following a competitive pitch.  DBD Media will manage the insurance provider's Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising and provide search engine optimisation (SEO) consultancy and management to drive traffic and enquiries.  The appointment follows CS Healthcare's recent website relaunch.

CS Healthcare

DBD Media

Flutteroo launches UK online auction site

Auction site Flutteroo.co.uk has gone live, offering three different ways to play on one website. With ‘reveal the deal’ every player is guaranteed a discount. Every product will sell for less than £25 with ‘pick the price’. With ‘control the clock’ the winner is guaranteed a saving of over 75% vs recommended retail price. Players are supported by UK based operations and customer service. Products available at launch include flat screen TVs, Wii games consoles, digital cameras, iPhones, laptops, Sat Navs, designer handbags, DVDs, CDs and toys.

www.flutteroo.co.uk

Silverpop wins European clients

Email marketing firm Silverpop has added numerous clients and achieved a greater than 60 percent increase in revenue for its European operations as compared to the same period last year, folloing its expansion to Germany.  A select list of European clients that recently joined Silverpop include, British Film Institute, LexisNexis UK, CASIO Europe, Pinnacle Sports and STA Travel.

www.silverpop.com

British Council appoints Sapient

Sapient has been appointed by the British Council to redesign its Education UK website and provide supporting data services and collection as part of an initial two-year contract. The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. The Education UK website acts as the first port of call for international students considering coming to the UK to study, supporting the Prime Minister’s Initiative for International Education, which aims to increase the number of international students studying in the UK. Sapient will help the British Council deliver a new site that provides prospective students with a comprehensive online resource. The site will promote the UK as a cultural destination and also aims to become an essential companion for students, providing support throughout their entire transition process, culminating in their actual study in the UK. The contract extends to 2011,

www.sapientinteractive.com

True creates website for prestigious school Millfield

Bristol based digital marketing agency True has created a new website for the prestigious Somerset school, Millfield. Millfield has a distinguished and enviable alumni, including international sportspeople, world business leaders and leading figures in the arts. Lesley Humphreys, Millfield¹s Director of Marketing comments: “True showed a real understanding of the challenges facing us.  They impressed us with their ability to translate the school¹s values online, something that¹s absolutely vital for prospective parents and students.”

www.millfield.co.uk

Summit Media to manage PPC for Comet

Summit Medit will handle all pay-per-click requirements for Comet, the specialist electrical retailer. The agency’s newly-launched Portfolio Manager tool increased Comet’s reach across key categories whilst maintaining their desired cost of sale.   Portfolio Manager is the only technology available to UK retailers that lets them synch their warehouse with their PPC campaigns in real time, across all major search engines. 

www.summitmedia.co.uk

SoGlos.com launches regional media’s first widgets

SoGlos.com – The online magazine for Gloucestershire, has announced the launch of a series of seven new interactive widgets, allowing readers to embed, share and interact with its editorial content. A first for UK regional media, the what’s on widgets, available at www.soglos.com/widgets, are dynamically updated on a continual basis to show a carefully-selected choice of upcoming Gloucestershire arts, entertainment and leisure events, while users can also interact with the widgets – choosing to see events taking place over a specific date range. Widgets are available for Gloucestershire as a whole, as well as for the county’s six main areas specifically: Cheltenham, the Cotswolds, the Forest of Dean, Gloucester, Stroud and Tewkesbury.

www.soglos.com/gloucestershire-events

Google ‘Mystery’ website reveals other people’ searches

Google has launched a new site that anonymously displays what others have searched for. When a user types their search on Mystery Google it will take them to the last person's search results on the main site.

Mystery Google

MoMac launches mobile specific online casual games platform 

MoMac has launched its casual games platform, GoPlay. Part of the GoMedia platform, GoPlay has been designed to allow mobile network operators and major media organizations to offer game-play directly from the mobile device browser. Users simply browse the GoPlay portal to select a game, which is then launched immediately in their mobile internet session. For users this means instantaneous gaming. Multiple games can be played in a single session, without having to download large files to be stored on the device.

www.momac.net

BetClick, National Trust and Direct Golf appoint Epsilon

Email marketing firm Epsilon International has won a raft of new clients for its email marketing and integrated digital solutions business.  As email marketing proves its value in the down economy BetClick, National Trust and Direct Golf UK have appointed Epsilon International as strategic digital services provider. Ian Hitt, managing director for Epsilon International EMEA, said: “In spite of tightening marketing budgets Epsilon International is thriving.  These signings are a testament to the growing demand for highly targeted, measurable, ROI-based digital marketing solutions. We’ve grown from being an email marketing service provider into a global integrated strategic email services business, providing communication strategies that strengthen customer relationships and grow clients’ businesses.” 

www.epsiloninternational.com

Simonseeks strikes flight partnerships

Simonseeks.com has announced further commercial partnerships focusing on flights as it looks to build its reputation as a one stop travel resource. The new partners are featured in a money saving guide to short haul flights which gives expert tips on how to book the lowest fares using five simple steps, authored by site editor Nick Trend. New deals have been signed with Airlinedestinations, Flightmapping, dohop Airflights and  Firstchoice.

Simonseeks.com