News Round-up: 7th April 2010
- Added:
- Apr 07, 2010
This week’s movers and shakers in the digital industry: Google’s guide to the web | Doctor Who games | Subtv iPhone app | Demand Media | Ciao | ADTECH | Postcode Anywhere | Fjord | Hotwire | ePages | Greenlight | Vinspired | Tradedoubler | Pressit | Silverpop | twentysix | Code Computerlove | Digital Element | TopFox | Brightcove | TMW | 24/7 Real Media | GetJar | Shazam | Moshi Monsters | ATG | New Brand Tribalism | Sportpost | Crunch.co.uk | AdMob
Google to produce internet guide leaflet
Google is to print a leaflet as part of push to get all Britons online by the end of 2012. The Simple Guide to the Internet is part of the search engine group's commitment to Race Online 2012, an initiative started by the UK government's digital inclusion champion, Martha Lane Fox. The co-founder of Lastminute.com and the entrepreneur behind a growing Lucky Voice karaoke bar empire hopes to get 10,000 British businesses and charities signed up to her campaign, which is designed to put everyone in the UK online by the end of 2012.
Google's leaflet, which it intends to start distributing this year through libraries, charities and other public bodies that work with the digitally excluded, will give novices all the information they need to carry out basic online tasks, such as communicating with friends. It will not be used to push Google's own services. Google will create a complementary website, and hopes that the leaflet and site combined will reach a million people by 2012.
More than 10 million adults in the UK have never used the internet, according to the digital inclusion task force. Roughly 4 million of that group are socially excluded adults, including elderly and unemployed people, whom Race Online is particularly interested in reaching.
Alongside Google, the first corporate partners for Race Online include BT, McDonald's, Microsoft, Moneysupermarket.com, BSkyB, the electrical retailer Comet, internet telephony specialist Skype and broadband provider TalkTalk. BT has pledged to get at least 100,000 people online for the first time by encouraging all of its staff, consumers and corporate customers to 'Pass IT on' through a series of partnerships which include UK online centres and Age UK.
BBC to launch Doctor Who online games
The BBC is set to launch a series of four Doctor Who online adventure games to run alongside the current BBC TV series. The games make up four original interactive episodes in which players can fight aliens, fly the Tardis and time travel as the Doctor himself.
There will be downloadable games available for PC and Mac and the storylines will relate to the TV series which began last Saturday. Sumo Digital has developed the games with stories and scripts written by some of the writers behind Doctor Who and Torchwood. Matt Smith, who plays the Doctor and Karen Gillan who plays sidekick Amy have provided full voice-overs. The first episode of Doctor Who - The Adventure Games will be available to download from bbc.co.uk/doctorwho from June.
Subtv launches music iPhone App for students
Students at 94 top universities across the UK now have the ability to select and schedule music content on the SUBtv national screen network. Subtv has launched an iPhone App called ‘Subtv Touch Screen’, which is available for students to download. Once it is installed, each student can control and schedule particular tracks to appear on the Subtv system in their venue.
They can also attach messages and comments to these selections, which then appear on screen during the broadcast of their chosen content. The student choices feed a play list which plays out as the tracks are added to the play list. As the students vote for tracks, these get promoted up the play list so that the more votes a track gets, the higher it rises. They can only vote once for each track and can schedule the same track only once a day. Already since launch there have been over 1,000 downloads and in the last seven days, over 5,000 separate selections have been made. Subtv is already talking to sponsors who are interested in sponsoring the facility. With 12,000 selections each week from the iPhone and its touch screen network. Subtv is building a running database of the most popular music among students.
ITV selects Demand Media for ‘This Morning’ social media platform
ITV has selected the Pluck social media platform from Demand Media to enhance viewer engagement with “This Morning” before, during and after the programme is shown. ITV plans to implement the technology across other areas of ITV.com, which will include Loose Women, Coronation Street and its football section in time for the 2010 World Cup.
Viewers of “This Morning” have been able to catch up on their favourite sections of the show on the programme’s website for some time, but they can now also react to the online content by posting comments on the site via the Pluck Comments application. They can also “agree” or “disagree” with other users’ comments to spark debate about the shows content. The site also lets users directly connect their activity with their other social networks; aggregating the comments and discussions they make on the “This Morning” site into their feed on Twitter and Facebook, thus extending the conversation to a far broader social networking community.
Ciao integrates 3D technology onto UK site
Ciao, Bing’s exclusive shopping service and the UK’s leading shopping community, has integrated Photosynth (www.photosynth.net) onto ciao.co.uk. The new technology will enable users to view products on ciao.co.uk in 3D, providing an enhanced reviews experience and greater understanding of products on offer.
Photosynth is a free downloadable tool from Microsoft which enables users to take several images of the same scene or object and stitch them together, creating a 3D viewing experience which can be shared online. The service will be open to Ciao UK users of a certain level (those with over 1000 community points). A number of products reviewed on Ciao already have Photosynth in place – from films, games and music to consumer goods, toys and places.
Skill gaming site picks ADTECH for ad serving
Skill gaming site King.com is replacing its incumbent technology OpenX, with ADTECH’s digital ad server solution. Since 2003, King.com’s mission has been to produce the highest quality and most enjoyable casual games on the market. They attract approximately 25 million unique users each month. Visitors can either play for free courtesy of advertisers or play each other for winnings in tournaments, where skill determines the outcome, and the winners take home cash prizes. The community allows players to connect with their friends and play challenges.
Postcode Anywhere debuts new site
Business efficiency web service company Postcode Anywhere unveiled its new website this week, after more than 12 months of preparation. The new website has an improved user interface and an increased focus on the company’s entire suite of award-winning services, including international address validation and route optimisation.
Postcode Anywhere website
Fjord team grows in London and Helsinki
Digital design agency Fjord has appointed Curt Collinsworth as its new Managing Director in Helsinki. Iñaki Amate, the previous MD, has been promoted to Regional Managing Director. In addition, Scott Ewings has been appointed as Director, Business Development, in the London office. The changes reflect Fjord’s continued growth and investment in its strong management team.
www.fjordnet.com
Autotrader picks Hotwire for digital drive
Motoring website AutoTrader.co.uk has selected Hotwire for a multi-dimensional campaign, with the overriding objective of transforming the site into a British digital beacon brand. The campaign, which focuses on opening up the brand to new audiences such as women and young drivers, will marry corporate, consumer and digital strategies.
Hotwire will employ different techniques to hit Autotrader.co.uk’s key stakeholders. Digital and consumer techniques will be used to push the website’s core message of the “joy of motoring”, while traditional corporate and trade thought-leadership campaigns will be employed to engage with the motoring industry and other brands interested in connecting with Autotrader.co.uk’s userbase.
ePages powers LCN cloud-based online shopping platform
LCN.com, the sixth largest domain registration and web hosting company in the UK, has launched three new on-demand online shop packages as a cloud service powered by ePages. LCN.com holds over 350,000 domain names and hosts over 50,000 websites for nearly a quarter of a million satisfied customers in the UK. It helps UK SMEs to market their business online, offering the finest internet solutions backed by unparalleled customer support.
Launched on 24 March 2010, the LCN.com eShop solution is available in three editions from £8.95 to £34.95 per month. The ‘Personal’ package gives customers everything they need to start selling online within minutes. The ‘Professional’ package offers powerful marketing tools such as newsletters, blogs and third party integration with comparison websites, to help the customer rapidly grow their online business. The ‘Enterprise’ package provides shop owners with every standard feature of the powerful ePages on demand application to offer the ultimate online experience to their visitors, including forums, coupons and product ratings and comparisons. When comparing functionality and price, the packages are extremely competitive and offer a compelling solution in today’s economic climate, at a time when SMEs are looking to cut costs and increase sales in order to stay solvent and compete with the larger players.
Greenlight to manage SEM for Thomas Cook
Travel company Thomas Cook UK & Ireland, has appointed SEO and PPC consulting and technology firm Greenlight, to handle its SEO strategy. Greenlight will manage Thomas Cook UK & Ireland’s search engine optimisation (SEO) marketing efforts - from strategic planning and development right through to implementation, to achieve Thomas Cook UK & Ireland’s online marketing objectives.
http://www.greenlightsearch.com
New website inspires the volunteering community
The launch of a new website from v, The National Young Volunteers Service, aims to help charities break down barriers to youth volunteering by creating an inclusive, free-to-use, social volunteering platform.
Developed to build a people-focused community, www.vinspired.com is a response to young people who want an online community that works in the same way as a social network and voluntary organisations who need an interactive marketplace where they can quickly and easily engage interested volunteers and stay connected to them throughout their volunteering experience. Organisations that are already taking advantage of the new site include Save The Children, Barnardos, Catch22, British Red Cross, Beat Bullying, Childline, Guide Dogs for the Blind, Global Action Plan, Lawn Tennis Association, Museum of London, Read International, People & Planet, The Waterways Trust, Trees for Cities and Teenage Cancer Trust.
New SEO boss at TradeDoubler
Pan-European digital marketing company TradeDoubler, has appointed Nathan Wood as Head of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). Based in the UK, Nathan takes on responsibility for all SEO across the business and is keen to further develop the positive synergy between TradeDoubler and its clients. Nathan brings a wealth of experience to the role and joins from 4MAT.com, where he held the position of Head of Digital Marketing. Prior to that, Nathan began his career in the days of the dotcom boom, where he worked for well known brand, Ask Jeeves, where he quickly became European Search Quality Manager.
Nathan continued his exploration into the world of search by jumping the fence into SEO, working within the competitive financial comparison field and conducting SEO consultancy projects for Proximity London and the Royal Mail. Nathan has also run full digital marketing campaigns for leading companies within the recruitment arena, including the world’s largest recruiter, Adecco.
www.tradedoubler.com
Pressitt re-launches with platform upgrade and Google News listing
Social Media News Release (SMNR) service Pressitt is coming out of public beta and re-launching with a fully upgraded platform and host of new features and functionality. In addition, all Pressitt releases will be featured in Google News ensuring higher visibility for all SMNRs created and published via the service.
Pressitt is a free Social Media News Release (SMNR) service currently available in the UK. Its feature-rich platform revolutionises the traditional, text-heavy press release format, providing journalists, bloggers and consumers with a new and simpler way of gathering information. The upgraded Pressitt 1.0 service has been redesigned to offer greater performance and usability, based on user feedback. New features include improved search functionality across the site, and the ability to tag releases to assist with visibility. Pressitt is owned by PR and social media agency Liberate Media and web development firm Best Served Cold.
Silverpop launches Next-Gen digital marketing platform
Silverpop has launched a new digital marketing platform that combines sophisticated email marketing tools with its top-ranked marketing automation and lead management applications. Silverpop Engage is now uniquely able to provide both B2C and B2B marketers the sophisticated on-demand solutions previously unavailable in one powerful platform.
A recent Silverpop survey of more than 1,800 marketers found that B2C and B2B marketers share many of the same goals. When asked what their top challenges are in the coming year, both groups said finding more prospective customers, up-selling or cross-selling to the customer base, improving analytics to strengthen campaigns and better leveraging new marketing channels are problems they face. Silverpop’s new platform provides the tools and solutions to help B2C and B2B marketers overcome these challenges and better engage with customers and prospects. The new platform moves marketers from a “list-centric” to a “behavioural-centric” marketing approach, making it easier to develop campaigns that respond to individual interests and needs.
House of Fraser pick twentysix for site revamp
Department store House of Fraser has appointed full-service digital agency twentysix after a five-way competitive pitch. The agency will be working with the in-house client team on a project to optimise the department store’s ecommerce channel – a task which will include an overhaul of information architecture and design.
http://www.houseoffraser.co.uk/
Beaverbrooks appoints Code Computerlove for e-commerce task
National High Street jeweller, Beaverbrooks has appointed Manchester based Code Computerlove as its digital marketing agency following a four-way competitive pitch. Beaverbrooks the jewellers has more than 65 retail stores across the UK as well as internet and Mail Order sales functions and the agency has been tasked with designing a new e-commerce site for them. The new site is due to launch in September, in time for the Christmas sales period.
http://www.codecomputerlove.com
Webtrekk selects IP Intelligence technology
Webtrekk GmbH, a provider of premium web-analysis technology, is leveraging Digital Element’s geolocation technology to provide its customers with comprehensive geographical information about user traffic on their websites. Using Digital Element’s technology, Berlin-based Webtrekk can now provide clients, such as T-Online Shop, Allianz, Unilever, Siemens, Esprit, Tommy Hilfiger and Beck’s, with geo-segmented information about online visitors. Using this information will enable these leading brands to deliver more relevant information and improved campaign engagement, based on a better understanding of buying patterns and website visitors’ usage patterns.
http://www.digital-element.net,
Loot picks TopFox for online comps
TopFox (http://www.topfox.co.uk), a white label competition platform, has been integrated into both Loot.com and its range of print publications. TopFox has developed a ‘text to win’ feature for the brand that has trialled successfully with Loot and is now being incorporated into its core business. Loot, part of Associated Newspapers, initially signed up to TopFox to increase repeat visits to its site by providing them with quality prizes and offers.
The solution helps publishers set up, host and manage competitions with a seamless look and feel, keeping visitors within their site at the same time as generating an additional revenue stream. Publishers can completely customise their content and offers, create banners and email newsletters, add their own exclusive competitions and have complete control over the promotions run on their site. Loot has now rolled the TopFox solution out to its print publications.
Brightcove launched video ad platform for iPad
Brightcove, an online video platform has launched Brightcove Experience for HTML5, a framework for publishing and delivering interactive and ad-supported Web video experiences for HTML5-compatible devices. The new platform solution, available free of charge to customers lets marketers expand the reach of their online video initiatives to popular consumer devices including the Apple iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.
Customers are using the Brightcove Experience for HTML5 today to build iPad-ready websites. Over the course of this year, Brightcove will expand the Brightcove Experience for HTML5 to include full support for customization and branding of the player environment, advertising, analytics, social sharing, and other capabilities currently found in Brightcove experience solutions for other platforms. Brightcove customers already taking advantage of the Brightcove Experience for HTML5 solution to produce iPad-ready websites include The New York Times and Time Inc. The New York Times Company is a Brightcove investor.
http://www.brightcove.com/en/video-platform/solutions/html5
TMW makes four senior appointments on the back of new business wins
Digital and direct agency, Tullo Marshall Warren (TMW) part of the Creston Group of companies, has this month made four senior appointments as a result of new client wins, including Kerry Foods, Organix and the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), and growth across existing accounts.
Vincent Huttner joins TMW as a Senior Account Director to help develop TMW’s offering in the health sector and in the Middle East. He will be actively involved in both business development and the delivery of live client projects for TMW’s health portfolio and SAGIA, TMW’s primary client in the Middle East. Other senior appointments include Raj S Bakhshi who joins TMW as a Project Director to manage processes and delivery within the Infiniti programme. Victoria Fellows has been appointed as Account Director to work on the recently won Kerry Foods account. Finally, Susannah Clark has re-joined TMW as an Account Director working on social and relationship marketing strategy and implementation on the Lynx account.
24/7 Real Media updates ad management tools
Digital marketing firm 24/7 Real Media has released Open AdStream 10, the latest upgrade to its ad management platform for the targeting and delivery of multi-channel digital advertising. Open AdStream 10 combines 24/7 Real Media’s latest technology innovations with Omniture’s SiteCatalyst to offer enhanced ad targeting, all within an improved user-friendly interface.
Open AdStream 10 enables publishers to manage digital advertising across virtually every medium and channel, including Mobile and iPhone, IPTV, VOD, and now offers new enhancements in video. The platform is compliant to the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s VAST standards for video ad management, providing enhanced capabilities in video trafficking, tracking and reporting. With ease of managing video creatives, and advanced analysis across multiple user interaction points, publishers have the flexibility to manage turn-key video advertising on their sites.
GetJar offers 60,000 free apps to Canadians
App store GetJar will make its entire library of 60,000+ free mobile applications available to Rogers customers at no charge. Customers gain immediate access to GetJar’s massive library of applications via a GetJar link on the Rogers Application page accessible from the mobile Internet on their wireless device.
To access GetJar’s catalog, text APPS to 555 to be sent a link to the Rogers Application page, then click on the link and select the “Free Apps from GetJar” link under Spotlight. Data plans are required to download the applications and data charges may apply with regards to application usage.
Shazam passes 1 million downloads on Nokia’s Ovi Store
Mobile discovery service Shazam has announced its application has been downloaded by over 1 million Nokia users since its launch on the Ovi Store by Nokia. Shazam was the number one downloaded app on the day of launch and continues to be one of the most popular apps in Ovi Store. The app has been downloaded in over 200 markets onto over 40 different Nokia handsets.
Moshi Monsters surpasses 15 million players
Mind Candy, the UK-based developer of the children’s free-to-play social online game Moshi Monsters, has announced it has exceeded 15 million registered players at www.moshimonsters.com/. The game, which launched its subscription service just over a year ago, allows children to adopt their own free pet monster to play mini-games, customise their homes, explore the in-game world, and solve educational puzzles.
Moshi Monsters offers a unique combination of adoptable virtual pets, social gameplay and fun educational puzzles that appeal to both children and parents. Within the game, players choose from one of six monsters to customise and nurture. Once players customise their pet, they then navigate the magical world by solving puzzles that test a variety of skills including basic math, spatial awareness, logic and vocabulary. As players solve puzzles, their pet monsters earn Rox, the in-game currency that can be used to purchase accessories to customise their virtual homes.
www.moshimonsters.com
Molton Brown picks ATG for web push
ATG, a provider of commerce solutions, today announces that luxury retailer Molton Brown will deploy ATG Commerce to increase online sales and create an integrated cross-channel buying experience and marketing platform. The ATG platform will also be at the foundation of Molton Brown’s international e-commerce expansion. The new commerce platform, to be implemented by IT service company and ATG partner Sceneric, will apply ATG’s advanced personalization capabilities to improve conversion rates and customer satisfaction both online and in the contact centre. ATG Commerce Service Centre will give call centre and customer service agents a unified view of the customer, allowing them to close sales more efficiently as customers move between online and offline channels. In addition, Molton Brown’s marketing team will be able to create dynamic, targeted marketing campaigns and recommend products based on customers’ personal profiles, purchasing history or activity on the website.
Molton Brown currently operates online in the UK and US, and has plans to expand to other European countries, as well as Japan and Australia.
New Brand Tribalism launches consultancy
New Brand Tribalism (NBT), a consultancy specifically designed to help brands unify their brand tribes, has launched. Brand tribes consist of groups of people connected to each other through their shared belief in the culture of the brand of their choice. NBT has developed a framework that enables organisations to unify management disciplines including brand, culture & organisational development, to drive improvements in business performance.
To coincide with its launch, NBT has developed an ‘Alpha Tribes’ report, which compares a range of established brands across a variety of sectors including, air travel, fashion, food & drink, internet search, photography and sports apparel. The report gauges how successful these organisations have been to date in embracing the brand tribalism model, whether knowingly or not, and examines the challenges that those that have failed to embrace this model are experiencing as a result.
Sportpost launches European sports social media site
A new website, Sportpost.com, has launched combining videos, blogs, news and debates from the world of sport into one central location. Sportpost.com also gives voice to the superstars of world sport, with exclusive deals to publish personal sports blogs from athletes including England rugby international James Haskell, Cheltenham challenger renowned jockey A.P. McCoy and England football star, West Ham striker Carlton Cole.
Sportpost.com will be monetised via site advertising, joint promotions with channel partners and innovative partnerships with premium service providers such as the Ladbrokes-powered betting portal and Brightcove video platform. Within six months the site will be streaming live premium sports events from selected partners. The site is the brainchild of three co-founders, Loughborough University alumni and sporting fanatics, Peter Janes (Managing Director), Paul Stewart (Sales Director) and Charlie Cooper (Technical and Design Director).
Crunch.co.uk brings online accounting service to gaming freelancers
GamesIndustry.biz, the news and community site for the global videogames industry has partnered with Crunch.co.uk, the UK’s first combined online accounting system and accountancy practice designed specifically for freelancers and contractors.
The deal will see Crunch.co.uk being introduced to the gaming community via GamesIndustry.biz and online forums. Crunch.co.uk enables users to manage their entire accounts, invoicing, expenses and returns on a secure and user-friendly website, with the benefit of having an accountant at the end of the phone. Online entrepreneurs Paul Birch, co-founder of Bebo, and Chairman of Skype Michael van Swaaij are investors in the company.
The partnership comes in the wake of the Budget, which promises an investment of £457million in the UK gaming industry, as well as tax relief, to stimulate the creation of 3,500 new jobs in this sector over the next five years.
AdMob helps developers monetise traffic across mobile platforms
Mobile advertising network AdMob is expanding the ability of publishers and application developers to monetise their mobile traffic across platforms with the launches of new SDK’s for Android, Flash Lite and iPhone platforms. The company is also launching a number of new tools to enable publishers to manage their mobile business including a new Publisher Dashboard, an enhanced Reporting UI, a new Reporting API (beta), and new Server Side SDK Controls.
