News round-up: 5th February 2010
- Added:
- Feb 05, 2010
This week’s movers and shakers in the digital industry: File-sharing campaign | Net Communities | GetJar | LoveFilm | Tangent One | Living | IDM | Toptable | Aedgency | Bourne | The art Fund | I Spy | Whitecloud | Tagman | IPC Connect | Adconion | Moneysupermarket | Experian | MIG | The Agency | Epsilon | Grass Roots | Huzu | Maxymiser | Civic
File sharing legal campaign continues
More innocent ‘pirates’ are receiving legal letters this week accusing them of illegally sharing porn and music files, according to Which? Computing. London law firm ACS Law has already contacted thousands of people who it claims have been illegally sharing copyright material on everything from video games to German techno music. The letters offer the recipients the chance to ‘settle’ the claim by paying a compensation fee of around £500 to end the matter. ACS Law says its letter writing campaign is protecting the copyright of its clients. But Which? Computing had heard from more than 150 consumers who believed they had been wrongly accused, with even more getting in touch as a result of these latest letters.
One wrote: “My 78 year old father yesterday received a letter from ACS law demanding £500 for a porn file he is alleged to have downloaded. He doesn’t even know what file sharing or bittorrent is so has certainly not done this himself or given anyone else permission to use his computer to do such a thing.”
Another said: “I have never been in trouble for anything and I am at my wits’ end. I feel guilty even though I am not.”
The government is currently considering plans that would see consumers warned about file sharing before legal measures can be taken. In the meantime, law firms continue to write to consumers, asking them to pay cash up front to settle a file-sharing accusation. People who believe they have been wrongly accused of file sharing can get advice at www.which.co.uk/filesharing
Digg hires Net Communities for UK direct ad sales
Net Communities has been appointed to handle the UK direct advertising sales for social news site Digg.com. Digg now has 4 million users in the U.K. (40 million in the U.S.) and Alexa ranks Digg as the 64th most trafficked U.K. website. Among UK tech news sites, Digg enjoys a 13.6% market share, more than three times that of CNET News and The Register, according to Hitwise.com, August 2009.
In Q4 2009, Digg introduced its Ad platform, DiggAds, which integrates ads alongside organic content on the Digg website. The system is designed to elevate great ad content and filter out what isn’t resonating with the Digg community. As users “digg” or vote up ad content, the advertisers will pay less per click and see better ROI, while lower performing ads will be seen less until they are priced out of the system.
GetJar launches white label app store
App store GetJar has launched App Catalogue Express (ACE) – a white label mobile app catalog for carriers, aggregators and partners to launch their own app stores quickly and easily. One of the launch projects for ACE is GetJar’s work for Spare Backup to create a mobile app store for The Carphone Warehouse, Europe’s leading independent mobile phone retailer.
Spare Backup has used ACE as part of the build for The Carphone Warehouse’s new customer portal, a cloud based service, which includes a mobile app store. The Carphone Warehouse portal offers a selection of high quality mobile apps to customers in the UK, including GetJar’s most popular apps – available for all major platforms and devices.
New head of digital strategy at LoveFilm
Online DVD rental service LOVEFiLM has appointed Lesley Mackenzie as Group Digital Officer in charge of all digital activity across the business. Lesley will spearhead the growth of LOVEFiLM’s rapidly expanding streaming services. She was previously BSkyB Director of Channels and Operations for a decade, with responsibility for all television operations, management and development with third party channels on the Sky platform. Lesley has been at the forefront of digital development and innovation in the UK, having recently been Interim Chief Executive of Kangaroo, the online joint venture project between BBC, ITV and Channel 4.
LOVEFiLM’s catalogue is already the UK’s largest collection of film and TV entertainment with thousands of digital titles available for members to stream direct to their computer. Recent distribution deals with Sony and Samsung Electronics will take LOVEFiLM direct to TVs through their internet-enabled devices.
nails inc revamps website with Tangent One
Cosmetic retailer, nails inc (www.nailsinc.com) has launched a new, optimised ecommerce website designed to further enhance the customer journey and drive sales. The website makeover has been carried out by its retained digital agency, Tangent One (www.tangentone.com), which set up nails inc’s ecommerce site in 2007 and since has been handling the digital communications strategy for the business.
A key focus of the re-launch is the creation of the nails inc ‘Ultimate Reward Scheme’ devised by Tangent One to engender loyalty and increase spend amongst shoppers. Those that sign up and pay the £5 membership fee will receive 10% off purchases on the website, the opportunity to earn points on purchases that can be redeemed for further discounts at the checkout and free gifts. Also Tangent One has improved the checkout process by enabling nail inc’s customers to register on the website to create an account, so their user details including, billing information and shopping history, will be remembered for when they next log onto the site. Customers can choose to remain as guests on the site, if they prefer, to avoid having their information retained.
LIVING goes Supernatural with alternate reality game
US TV drama Supernatural found a new home in the UK – LIVING. To raise awareness for the premiere of series five, LIVING has launched an alternate reality (AR) game, offering viewers the chance to appear in the show. Fight the Apocalypse, an AR game which calls on Supernatural fans to mobilise their armies and join the fight against Lucifer. The AR game is based around collecting hidden symbols – ‘Enochian Sigils’ (which players must locate, photograph and send via MMS to the campaign shortcode). One of the first truly cross-platform campaigns of its type, the AR game utilises online, mobile, print and real world elements. A video featuring Castiel (Misha Collins), Supernatural’s resident angel, launched the game.
Enochian Sigils have been hidden online and at real world locations throughout the UK, with every unique Sigil having a different number of points to help the users score. Clues to the Sigil locations are delivered by Castiel (Misha Collins) in specially filmed sequences on the Fight the Apocalypse website. Once located, Sigils are photographed on any mobile device and using groundbreaking technology which recognises any image taken on a mobile phone camera – are uploaded to the player’s profile.
Online media partners are collaborating in the game, with some sites hosting their own bespoke mini challenges for gamers to find sigils. These online partners will bring the AR game to a mainstream entertainment audience and raise the profile of the show more broadly. Partners will not be revealed until post launch. Twitter is the social hub for Fight the Apocalypse which counted down to the start of the game, announces new clues, and brings together the community of fans playing the game. Followers of the Fight the Apocalypse Twitter feed are given extra tips and additional mini challenges to win seperate prizes. Fans can follow the Fight the Apocalypse Twitter at www.twitter.com/fightapocalypse.
Top brands join IDM B2B Marketing Council
Three senior marketers from Google, Vodafone Global Enterprise and Salesforce.com have joined the Institute of Direct Marketing’s Business to Business Marketing Council, which continues its work into 2010 to raise the profile of B2B marketing as a distinct discipline.
Richard Robinson, Head of Business Markets, Google, Deane McIntyre M IDM, Head of Campaigns and Online, Vodafone Global Enterprise and Lisa Hutt M IDM, EMEA Programs Director at Salesforce.com join the IDM B2B Council with immediate effect and will be assisting the Council in all aspects of its mission.
The B2B Barometer benchmark survey, amongst B2B client practitioners and agencies, reveals the current state of the UK B2B market and provides a factual marketing perspective on how B2B companies have been behaving in the recession and how they plan to move forward. The Council produces an ongoing series of outputs (white papers, reviews, press articles) to share and promote best practice B2B marketing and regularly advise the Institute on its B2B training and qualifications portfolio. The Council’s next initiative will be the 7th Annual IDM Business to Business Marketing Conference, which is scheduled for 19 May 2010 in central London.
http://www.theidm.com/b2bcouncil
New marketing director at toptable
toptable, Europe’s leading dining community and online restaurant reservation service, is delighted to announce that Carl Lyons has joined the company as Marketing Director. Launch marketer of lastminute.com, Carl brings a wealth of experience to toptable. Carl has also held senior marketing roles at Guinness, the Guardian, Capital radio - where he spearheaded the re-launch of the breakfast show with Johnny Vaughan - and Bauer Media.
Aedgency Video Guide helps marketers make the switch to conversion-based campaigns
Performance-based marketing specialist Aedgency has today released the latest in its video guide series for online marketers. Aedgency’s Head of Media Buy, Sven Hezel, outlines how to migrate campaigns from a CPM (Cost Per Thousand) to a CPA (Cost Per Action) payment model.
The video tip provides marketers with simple advice on how they can convert to the more profitable conversion-based rate for campaigns with very specific targets, such as downloading a brochure or making a particular purchase. The CPA rate is agreed with the partner in advance hence making it a completely transparent pricing model for advertisers allowing for accurate real-time forecasting.
Sven Hezel makes two simple recommendations for making CPA work:
Marketers should set a budget and clearly defined end dates to their campaigns. Between €1,500 and €3,000 is a sensible initial budget and once the end point is reached it is straightforward to evaluate the success of the placements and thus decide whether to continue or update as necessary.
Optimisation is key; marketers should review the performance of their campaigns on an ongoing basis and adapt as necessary. This may include better targeting, but also testing of new banners, new landing pages and new placements. If products and placements are not performing, discontinue them and start testing on something else.
The video can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/user/Aedgency#p/u/0/wXAIyw9yH0I
Bourne revamps StepStone corporate site
StepStone Solutions has appointed Bourne to lead the redesign and build of its new corporate site. The global talent management software specialist selected the digital design agency following a multi-agency pitch late last year. Charged with creating a high-performance corporate website that quickly delivers relevant results to the right target audience, Bourne delivered the entire site in eighteen days.
Dame Judi Dench joins digital campaign for Anglo-Saxon Treasures
Dame Judi Dench has joined a growing list of celebrities who have pledged their support to save the £3.3million Staffordshire Hoard for the West Midlands, independent charity The Art Fund announces today. News of Dame Judi’s support comes on the day that The Art Fund launches a new interactive element to its dedicated microsite www.artfund.org/hoard. From the comfort of their own home, members of the public can now join the craze for treasure hunting that has been sparked by the find of the extraordinary hoard of Anglo-Saxon treasure in Staffordshire. ‘Buy Your Dig Site’ is a virtual map of the field where the Hoard was discovered. For a donation of £5 individuals can try their luck by “digging” a square of the field to see if it reveals an item of the Hoard. Players can buy as many virtual squares as they wish to boost the campaign. Everyone who gives to the fundraising appeal to save the Hoard for the West Midlands by playing the game can elect for their name to appear when a mouse is hovered over the virtual piece of land which they have dug.
Dame Judi Dench said: "It is essential that the Staffordshire Hoard should be kept and displayed in the area in which it was found. It would have so much more meaning to visitors, and it would be a great boost for the area." Dame Judi Dench joins a growing list of stars backing the campaign to save the awe-inspiring Staffordshire Hoard for the West Midlands. Other supporters of the campaign include West Bromwich-born comedian Frank Skinner, ex-Rolling Stone and metal detector enthusiast Bill Wyman, and Tony Robinson, presenter of Time Team. The three major political party leaders have also pledged their support. The Art Fund is spearheading the campaign raise £3.3million to save the Hoard before the deadline of 17 April. www.artfund.org/hoard
Expansion to broader marketing services pays off for I Spy
Specialist digital marketing agency I Spy, has announced a 65% increase in demand for its integrated service offering during 2009. The significant rise directly correlates with the popularity of the agency’s newly-launched social media marketing and conversion optimisation packages. These new offerings, along with I Spy’s track record in paid and natural search, have been key to securing the company a raft of new business. New client wins for I Spy in the last quarter of 2009 span across fashion, luxury, retail, travel and financial services sectors. Key account wins include Teletext, UNICEF, Dunhill, Boden, Viking Airlines, RSPCA and London Capital Group. These wins bolster I Spy’s already impressive client list which includes Littlewoods, UKTV, Vauxhall, Waterstone’s, Parkdean Holidays, Avon and Jobsite.
Jim Brigden, chief executive of I Spy, said: “Achieving stand-out and ROI online is becoming increasingly challenging as marketers continue to shift their budgets online. I Spy’s bespoke digital marketing programmes are proven to outperform traditional approaches to optimisation. Our expanded client portfolio is testament to I Spy’s expertise as we continue to deliver cutting- edge digital campaigns and drive ROI for our clients. We are gearing up for further growth in 2010 as the online advertising industry goes from strength to strength.”
Last year the agency dropped the word “Search” from its name and rebranded as I Spy “The Uptimisation Agency”. The name change and re-positioning reflect their expanded services and differentiate I Spy as a second-generation digital agency that utilises customised tools to maximise ROI and guarantees money back if return on investment is not delivered.
http://www.ispymarketing.com/uptimisation.asp
WhiteCloud signs Steak to affiliate technology white label
WhiteCloud Digital Solutions has signed Steak as their first commercial partner to use their WhiteCloud affiliate management interface. Steak will be using the serving, tracking, and reporting platform to manage affiliate campaigns on behalf of its clients. . WhiteCloud comes from a strong heritage of ongoing development in the online marketing sector, and is based on technology and infrastructure also used by affiliate network, dealgroupmedia. The platform manages over a billion global transactions a month and is considered to be the most robust systems of its kind in the marketplace.
Clothes retailer Boden appoints TagMan for online tracking
Online clothes retailer Boden has hired independent universal tag management system TagMan for tag management and to help the company understand the full journey its customers take on their way to buying from its websites. The company, which employs 800+ staff and operates in the US, UK, Germany and Austria, will use TagMan to manage the tracking tags from search, display and affiliate campaigns on all its websites.
By plugging the third-party tracking tags from all its marketing channels into a single TagMan container tag on its pages, Boden will be able to follow the complete path to conversion that any of its customers take, including whether they come direct to the site or click or view on natural or paid search results, affiliate links or display campaigns. It will use this insight to plan future campaigns more effectively, since it will be able to see which channel played what role in delivering a customer.
IPC’s Connect TV syncs with Sky Songs for music promo
IPC Connect’s portfolio of TV magazines has teamed up with Sky’s new online music service, Sky Songs, to promote the service and offer free downloads to readers. TV & Satellite Week, TVTimes, What’s on TV, TV easy and Soaplife will all run the promotion for one issue each in consecutive weeks between February and the beginning of March. Readers of the magazines will have the chance to download 10 free songs from the Sky Songs music library, which contains over five million songs. The Sky Songs promotion will be highlighted on the covers of Connect’s TV magazines, as well as on its website whatsontv.co.uk.
New science and strategy chiefs at Adconian
Audience and content network Adconion Media Group (www.adconion.com), has appointmented Ramazan Demir as Chief Advisory Science Officer and Patrick Meininger as Chief Strategy Officer. Both men serve on Adconion’s executive management and advisory team.
“Ramazan and Patrick are important additions to our executive team, as together they will improve our business by leading our growth in video and technology licensing while enhancing our capabilities in data interpretation and monetization,” said Tyler Moebius, CEO, Adconion Media Group. “We are committed to providing agencies and advertisers with the best technology, products and information in the marketplace so their cross-channel campaigns achieve maximum effectiveness.”
New CTO at MoneySupermarket.com
Comparison website Moneysupermarket.com has appointed Annie O'Grady as its chief technology officer with effect from 1st February. Reporting to Paul Doughty, chief financial officer, Annie will take responsibility for leading the Group's 180 strong IT team and delivering its ambitious and challenging development programme. She will also join the Group's executive management board. Annie joins the Group from McDonalds UK where she has been interim CIO since June 2008. Before that her career includes four years as group IT director at EMAP and senior IT roles at Punch Taverns, BBC Technology and IBM.
New Product and Marketing Director for Experian QAS UK & Ireland
Experian, the global information services company, today announced the appointment of Nik Haidar as Product and Marketing Director for Experian QAS, UK & Ireland. In his new role, Nik will be responsible for 60 staff across five teams including product management, professional services, marketing, business development and business and market insight.
Nik joins Experian QAS from Telstra, Australia’s leading telecommunications and information services company, where he was responsible for product management and strategy in the EMEA region. Nik has also held senior commercial positions at Tiscali and NTL. Nik will report to Stuart Johnston, Managing Director of Experian QAS in the UK & Ireland.
Mobile Interactive Group powers SMS campaign for retailer Faith
Fashion footwear retailer Faith required an interactive platform to power mobile marketing campaigns to enable the brand to communicate to its ever growing database and mobile opt in customers. The purpose of each SMS campaign was to provide new product information and promotional offers to drive footfall into high street stores and build brand loyalty. SMS interactivity ran across two consecutive campaigns and delivered impressive return on investment, brand engagement and customer loyalty.
Contributed to 47% of the uplift in revenue via ‘Friends and Family’ promotion (online and in-store)
Contributed to 30% of the uplift in revenue via a fashion magazine promotion (online and in-store)
Redemption of promotional codes was higher for second campaign
Over 70,000 SMS messages distributed throughout both campaigns
Faith activity commenced with two campaigns: Firstly, a ‘Friends and Family’ promotion offering 25% off full price products which ran over a three day period, and secondly a promotion in conjunction with a high circulation fashion magazine offering 20% off full price products which ran over a six day period.
TheAgency creates 100th birthday campaign for BSM
BSM, the largest and most established driving school in the UK, is launching its ‘Pass on the BIG 100’ campaign in January, created by TheAgency to celebrate its 100th birthday. The campaign, the third in a succession of sales beating quarters, will run across online, radio, press, direct mail as well as point of sale, and will celebrate BSM’s landmark achievements over the last century. These have included inventing the driving test, teaching the Queen to drive as well as a host of celebrities that include Pixie Lott, Aston Merrygold from JLS and George Sampson.
The new ‘Pass on the BIG 100’ campaign will be rolled out in the first quarter of 2010 using advertising that adopts the theme of fashion, highlighting the phrase ‘Our fashions may have changed but our success hasn’t.’ The new campaign is part of an ongoing relationship with TheAgency.
http://www.theagencyonline.co.uk/
New UK sales boss at Adconion
Online audience network Adconion Media Group is gearing up for 2010 by bolstering its UK sales team with new appointments and key promotions. Kicking off the new hires for 2010 is Byron Munson, who will lead the UK sales team as a new account director. Byron brings to Adconion seven years of experience in print and online media sales. Prior to joining Adconion, he spent time in online sales at Advantage Media. Byron will be supported by Chris Holmes, who has been promoted to account manager, and Amy Andrews, who has been hired as a new account executive.
New marketing director at Epsilon
Epsilon International has promoted Richard Wright, marketing manager of Epsilon and subsidiary Abacus, to marketing director EMEA responsible for all marketing activities for both brands. This is a new executive position at Epsilon International as the global email marketing services firm gears for further expansion in the region. Wright first joined Epsilon at Abacus in January 2008 as marketing manager, from Rapp. His remit will cover traditional and digital marketing and PR within the UK, Germany and France, where Epsilon already has a presence, and strategic marketing in new markets.
World of Golf appoints Grass Roots for web revamp
World of Golf, the driving range and adventure golf operator, has appointed Grass Roots to create its new website. The work follows on the back of an employee recognition platform completed by Grass Roots for the company at the end of last year. Since joining World of Golf two years ago, CEO Grant Wright has refreshed the company’s core proposition, giving it a broader leisure appeal. Offering high quality practice facilities and tuition across four UK locations, Wright has added Jurassic Adventure Golf and a Costa Coffee café to its New Malden centre, revamped the golf shop and is reviewing the potential for a gym facility at its Glasgow location. The brief given to Grass Roots was focused on bringing out the breadth of offer now available at World of Golf, improving the navigation and adding content that will encourage customers to return to the site.
www.grg.com
Huzu appoints ex-Wee World’s Duncan Mason as CTO
Duncan Mason has joined social media software company, Huzu, as CTO. He joins from WeeWorld, the social gaming platform with 30 million registered users. At WeeWorld, he was most recently software development manager, managing a team of technical and creative developers. Prior to that, he was a senior .net developer for WeeWorld, during which time he designed and developed software tools and applications for the virtual world. Mason is an expert in developing complex web applications, particularly virtual worlds. At Huzu, he will be responsible for overseeing the development of Huzu’s growing suite of white-label software products for the social media sector. Mason will report to Huzu MD, Steve Richards.
Maxymiser debuts ‘one-touch’ analytics integration
Conversion Management firm Maxymiser has launched a unique ‘One-Touch’ integration methodology which puts control of website testing and optimisation firmly in the hands of marketers, rather than their technical colleagues. Using One-Touch, marketers can now ‘go live’ with multivariate website tests in a matter of days rather than weeks without requiring any technical skills or assistance, which means they can now achieve a much quicker conversion uplift.
Part of Maxymiser’s Conversion Management Platform, One-Touch is a very fast and easy way for brands to launch multivariate tests. Instead of marketers having to make numerous requests to their technical team to implement code changes on a per-test basis, there is only a single request at the start of the first test. For each subsequent test, the Maxymiser team carries out all the necessary set-up work ready for final client sign-off, meaning that marketers are no longer constrained by the availability of their IT colleagues to implement website changes.
Agency Civic to manage Sport Scotland digital drive
Sportscotland, Scotland’s national agency for sport, is launching a major new digital communications strategy aimed at providing a portal of information and resources to stakeholder audiences and the Scottish public. These audiences include governing bodies of sport, local authorities, network groups within sport, athletes as well as the people of Scotland.
Digital design agency, Civic, has been appointed to lead the development of this high profile three year strategy that will bring together 10 individual websites under one digital roof. It is expected Civic's digital strategy will bring cost and time efficiencies and will help deliver sportscotland’s corporate aims of increasing participation and improving performance in sport by investing in and joining up the people, places and thinking that make sport happen.
Central to the strategy will be a new sportscotland website that will act as an arena for anyone in Scotland to find out how they can get involved in sport and also help to forge stronger links at a community level between sports clubs, schools and councils. Expected to launch in 2010, the site will be a database made up of thousands of events, venues, people, resources and information. Presented in a creative and engaging way it will draw people in and give them reasons to return again and again. Critically, social media will form an important element of the site, allowing users to personalise the site, defining and configuring their view of the site depending on their interests.
