News round-up: 7th July 2010
- Added:
- Jul 07, 2010
This week's movers and shakers in the digital industry: Virgin Media | Buxter | Bazaarvoice | Pluck | B2B Contact Marketing | Capgemini | Be Broadband | Magiq | Infiniti Europe | Experian CheetahMail | Blue Barracuda | Thomson Local | Inception | smartFOCUS | Webcredible | Just Search | The Rubicon Project | SapientNitro | 4th Screen Advertising | Improve Digital | StrongMail
Virgin Media to trial 400MB broadband service
Virgin Media claims its cable network could support broadband speeds of up to 400 Mbits/sec. The communications provider, which already offers a 50 Mbits/sec service and is currently trialling a 200 Mbits/sec connection in Kent, said it is preparing for a trial for 400 Mbits/sec by the end of the year. Jon James, Virgin's director of broadband, said: "The DOCSIS 3 network gives us a dial we can turn to give more speed to customers if we think that is the right thing to do both for those customers and commercially.
Buxter lets Facebook users trade virtual currency
Buxter, the peer-to-peer payment application for Facebook users, could also hold the key to helping developers generate revenues from previously free-to-play social network games. Facebook game developer Platogo has today announced that it has begun using Buxter as a way for its players to purchase virtual currency in its games. This is the first commercial use of the Buxter application.
Buxter, launched earlier in 2010 by payments company ClickandBuy, is the first application on Facebook that allows users to send and request real currency. Buxter users can send or receive amounts of up to EURO 50, for example to contribute towards a friend’s birthday present, or to re-pay a share of a restaurant bill.
Bazaarvoice links branded sites to social media
Bazaarvoice has unveiled a new tool that integrates social channels like Facebook and Twitter into broader social marketing strategies that engage customers and drives measurable return on investment. Marketers can also bring the social graph directly into their brand sites through Bazaarvoice’s support of the Facebook “Like” button on product or review pages. Meanwhile, an industry-first partnership with Google to bring ratings and reviews into Google Search and Ads. SocialConnect Sharing enables shoppers to share consumer-generated content from the corporate or brand website to their personal profiles on social networks.
IPC Media hires Pluck for social media platform
IPC Media today announces the selection of the Pluck social media platform from Demand Media, Inc. Pluck has been chosen to increase on-site user engagement and improve social bridging between IPC Media’s websites and social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
The news follows the recent appointment of Cathy Ma as IPC’s new social media product manager.
The Marketing Map’ launched by B2B Contact Marketing
B2B Contact Marketing has created the ultimate ‘Marketing Map’. It is based on the iconic London tube map, with Advertising taking over the Central Line, with stops for everything from TV to billboard advertising, viral, fly posting and SEO. Database Marketing replaces the Circle line showing how it is crosses over all areas of marketing and is key to marketing success. Those that are only interested in digital marketing should focus on the Piccadilly line.
Whether you are looking at marketing for the first time or refreshing your existing strategy, this map is a fun way of seeing how many options are available to you through advertising, direct marketing, digital, event, relationship or database marketing, and how they all link together.
www.marketing-map.co.uk/cms/home
Capgemini launches first ad on IPad
Consultancy firm Capgemini has launched its first iPAD advertisement in the US in partnership with the New York Times. The campaign will see us reach more than 400,000 high quality unique users, for 8 million impressions. The display ads include both banners and full-screen ads optimised for iPad devices.
Be Broadband trials landline service
BE Broadband will be running a trial of their upcoming landline service. Once the landline service launches, BE members will have access to either a basic landline, and Evening & Weekends package, and an Anytime package.
Tom Williams, Head of BE Broadband, explains why BE are launching a landline service: “The launch of BE Landline is a response to the demand of our member community. It means that they'll be able to benefit from the great service from BE for both their broadband and landline. There's also the convenience of a single monthly bill and our members should be able to save a little bit of money compared to what they currently pay for a BT line.” Those interested in signing up to take part in the trial should go http://bit.ly/BElandlinetrial
Magiq launches personalised CRM services for agencies
Magiq has launched its on-demand site personalization and CRM services for marketing agencies. The services are built around a suite of pay-as-you-go tools that allow agencies to offer clients dynamic online personalization and lead generation campaigns for a fraction of the cost of traditional approaches.
Agencies can provide clients with the chance to benefit from the level of personalization and customer engagement previously only available to large organizations. It avoids the time and expense of having to employ armies of programmers, analysts and taggers to implement traditional personalization, CRM and targeted marketing programs. It automatically captures key events and information such as e-mail address, organization, location and visitor history, and dynamically personalizes sites and communications using this data.
Infiniti Europe launches new iPhone app
Infiniti, the latest premium performance car brand to arrive in Europe, is set to release a new iPhone app designed to build prospect relationships and keep them engaged with the latest Infiniti news and exclusives. To complement their existing prospect nurture programme, Infiniti Europe has developed a new iphone application, which streams the very latest brand videos, photography, news and exclusives directly into the palm of their hand.
The application is called Infiniti In Motion and is available for free via the iTunes app store or the Infiniti website, www.infiniti.eu. The app has been designed by digital and direct agency Tullo Marshall Warren (TMW – www.tmw.co.uk), with the specific objective of nurturing the prospect relationship over time through regular, engaging content in order to ultimately generate brochure and test drive requests. In essence, any prospect with an iPhone 3G can now enjoy and experience Infiniti’s brand philosophy of Inspired Performance in the palm of their hands.
Full shopping tools are integrated within the app. So once the viewer has explored the range they have the option of requesting a brochure, requesting a test drive or finding their local Infiniti Centre using the built in iPhone GPS technology.
Experian CheetahMail launches new analytical capabilities
Email marketing provider Experian CheetahMail has launched a web based digital analytics tool. The new tool enables organisations to precisely measure customer engagement and drive greater marketing ROI across email, mobile and social media. Available in the UK and across EMEA, the digital analytics tool enables organisations to input and analyse multiple data sources to understand which digital marketing messages will resonate best with which customers, at a specific point in time. Email and SMS campaign history can be viewed alongside contact information, transactional data, and web analytics in addition to Experian’s unique data sets such as Mosaic.
Organisations can then use the tool to develop a detailed understanding of individual customer preferences and behaviours. At a basic level, users can cap frequency of campaigns and create, for example, flags according to levels of spending and age bracket. At a more advanced level, they can develop predictive segments based on values such as propensity to convert, repurchase or engage. Once the analysis is complete, the data can be set to automatically populate segments and trigger pre-configured, dynamic-content based campaigns. These campaigns can be deployed through email, mobile and social channels, providing an integrated multichannel channel approach designed for top performance.
Blue Barracuda ramps up technical skills
Blue Barracuda, has made several strategic hires to increase the independent digital agency’s in-house technical skills. Tom Bentley, formerly Associate Director of Technology at Digitas, is joining as Technical Director, Olivier Hochet joins from TwentySix Digital as Head of Project Management and Neil Fenwick joins from Peabody to be Head of .Net Development. Blue Barracuda’s technology includes ‘Discovery’, an online qualitative research platform, designed, built and hosted by the agency, and a variety of bespoke content management systems built for several clients.
New marketing director at Thomson Local
Local business search company ThomsonLocal.com has announced that it has promoted Jill Pringle to the position of Marketing Director from her previous role as Head of Marketing. Reporting directly to Chief Executive Officer Elio Schiavo, Pringle is tasked with reviewing the company’s digital and print product offering, brand position and communications strategy in order to drive greater usage of local search site ThomsonLocal.com and reinforce the company’s ‘Local’ credentials. Pringle, who has been with the company since 2001 and has worked across its online, print and data divisions, replaces former Product and Marketing Director Gary Brown who left the company in February to pursue other interests.
Inception engages fans in social media driven real-world hunt
Warner Brothers UK has launched a nationwide social media driven real-world hunt to celebrate the release of blockbuster summer release INCEPTION, in cinemas July 16. The hunt utilises a myriad of social media activation points including Facebook, twitter and FourSquare.
Users will be asked to hunt down The Extractor in 7 UK cities by correctly deciphering clues and following “check-ins” posted on both the official UK Facebook page. The Extractor will be “checking-in” at various locations in each city. On successfully tracking down The Extractor, the user needs to reveal a code sentence to win tickets to the World Premiere of Inception in London, with travel and accommodation.
Warner Bros have partnered with Orange Wednesdays Film Club to amplify the reach of this innovative piece of on and offline activity which embraces a range of cutting edge digital tools. The first clue of each day will be posted on Orange Wednesday’s Film Club Facebook page.
http://myinception.substance001.info/terms.html
thetrainline.com hires smartFOCUS for marketing drive
smartFOCUS, a global provider of multi-channel marketing software, has been selected by thetrainline.com, the largest independent retailer of UK train tickets, to maximise customer value and improve its marketing activity by enhancing visibility of customer data.
thetrainline.com selected smartFOCUS’s Intelligent Marketing solution to improve customer targeting and improve one-to-one communications across multiple channels in order to drive customer retention and revenue. To achieve this it needed a deeper insight of user activity to engage with customers and nurture relationships. With smartFOCUS’s Intelligent Marketing solution and proven expertise in this area, thetrainline.com will be able to deliver these objectives in a cost-effective and efficient manner.
smartFOCUS’s multi-channel marketing solution will enable thetrainline.com to conduct investigative analysis on customer behaviour and deliver actionable information to its partner organisations and clients, which include Virgin Trains and First Group. This insight will improve customer interaction to drive sales and revenue growth. With smartFOCUS’s analytical capabilities, thetrainline.com will be able to easily extract customer data and export it for relevant marketing campaigns.
Webcredible appoints Head of Marketing
Webcredible, the user experience consultancy, today announced the appointment of Claire Savage as Head of Marketing, a new role created to support company growth and ensure effective management of the Webcredible brand.
Prior to joining Webcredible, Claire has run her own marketing consultancy, My Marketing Manager Ltd since she founded it in 2005. She has over 14 years national and international experience in both strategic and tactical marketing communications within blue chip, corporate and SME environments, including work with companies like Force10 Networks, Cunningham Lindsey and Areva T&D.
As Head of Marketing, Claire will be responsible for planning and implementing Webcredible’s marketing strategy, managing the Webcredible brand and external PR agency, and working with the client services team to develop new business leads. In addition to her previous experience, Claire also teaches Chartered Institute of Marketing qualifications.
New Sales Director for Just Search Europe
Getupdated Internet Marketing has appointed Justin Yates as Sales Director for Just Search Europe. He will be responsible for the sales growth in the current markets UK, France and Ireland as well as exploring new markets.
Justin Yates, who was the co-founder of Just Search, has recently been responsible for the establishment of the new sales office in Dublin, Ireland. Since the start-up only two months ago the sales team, under the management of Justin Yates, has managed to sign 15 new customers to date. Prior to this Justin Yates was responsible for the sales growth at Just Search UK and he has extensive knowledge and experience within internet marketing. Justin Yates will assume the new role in August. He will report directly to the Group CEO Paul Yates. A new Sales Manager has been appointed to continue the success in the office in Dublin.
The Rubicon Project expands team in Germany
the Rubicon Project, the digital advertising technology and data company, has enhanced its recently launched team in Germany. Anne-Cathrin Voltmer is appointed as the new Account Manager in charge of Premium Publisher customer relations and new business for the German-speaking countries based in its new office in Hamburg. Reporting to Nina Taubenreuther, Director Publisher Development, the Rubicon Project now offers German premium publishers the opportunity to monetise their inventory much more securely, effectively and efficiently on a global scale.
Anne-Cathrin Voltmer previously worked as Key Account Manager in the Publisher Services department of AOL/Advertising.com, where she was responsible for managing the Premium Publisher accounts. She graduated from Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge with a degree in European Business Studies, specialising in International Management and Management Information Systems.
Backed by more than $42 million in investors’ capital, the Rubicon Project recorded annual growth of 270 percent, and successfully entered new markets on all five continents in 2009 alone. Founded as a pioneer in ad network optimization in 2007, the Rubicon Project is now one of two internationally leading technology platforms in terms of total worldwide user reach.
SapientNitro appointed interactive partner for Sunglass Hut
SapientNitro, part of Sapient, has picked up interactive design and marketing duties for Sunglass Hut, the specialty retailer owned by Luxottica Group S.p.A., a global leader in premium fashion, luxury and sports eyewear, following a competitive review. Sunglass Hut, with 2,000 stores around the world, has tapped SapientNitro to handle all digital marketing and Flash design on the Sunglass Hut e-commerce site. In addition, SapientNitro will be responsible for supporting all online branding, seasonal marketing and digital promotions for key (Oakley, Revo and other) brands sold at Sunglass Hut.
vouchercloud signs exclusive mobile advertising contract with 4th Screen Advertising
4th Screen Advertising today announced it has been appointed as the exclusive mobile advertising sales agency to vouchercloud. The partnership will utilise unique targeted ad formats, including interstitials and sponsorship packages to drive engagement throughout the UK, via serving relevant mobile advertising based on the user’s current location.
Reported as one of the hottest utility apps, the free vouchercloud iPhone App enables users to download vouchers for restaurants, retailers, cinemas, days out and more. Promotions include two for one meal deals, a third off for cinema tickets for all screenings and buy one get one free and money off coupons, using innovative mobile advertising formats and techniques that use location based look ups to serve relevant ads based on the user’s request, making the most of GPS features on the device.
Nearly half a million consumers have downloaded the vouchercloud app since its launch in February and downloads are continuing at a further 100,000 a month. The latest version of the app, uploaded this week, includes new sections offering loyalty schemes and personalised offers. Further announcements on partnerships with blue-chip brands are also expected shortly.
Improve Digital accepted by Astia for elite entrepreneur programme
Online advertising revenue specialist, Improve Digital (www.improvedigital.com), today announced that it has been accepted to join Astia (www.astia.org), the premier global network that has served high growth start-ups led by women since 1999. Astia’s global Advisor network, which includes more than 100 former and current CEOs and 125 investors, will provide Improve Digital with increased access to funding and commercial expertise in order sustain and accelerate its business growth.
Founded in 2008 by Joëlle Frijters and Janneke Niessen, Improve Digital was created to meet the needs of online publishers looking for additional ways to generate revenue from their advertising inventory, whilst protecting their brand image, audience and premium income stream. With its headquarters in Amsterdam, the company has since opened offices in London (March 2008), Hamburg (January 2009), and Paris (August 2009). In the first quarter of 2010, the company quadrupled its client base compared to the previous quarter, with global top ten Comscore media owners now monetising unsold inventory through Improve Digital. To be accepted into the Astia community, Improve Digital had to pass a robust two-month screening and qualification process, and it is one of only six European companies joining this quarter.
StrongMail Brings Measurable Social Media Marketing to the UK
StrongMail, has launched Social Studio in the UK, a centralised campaign management application that enables marketers to engage their brand influencers in social channels with detailed performance measurement and analytics. Social Studio includes a referral marketing platform, a campaign management application and social sharing tool.
Richard Bewley, Online Marketing Manager for leading supercar competition company, Best of the Best, said: "Until now, it has been incredibly hard to measure the impact of social media. But with StrongMail Social Studio, we finally have access to the metrics that we need to evaluate the performance of our social media efforts. Whether launching viral referral campaigns or making content sharable, everything can be measured and tracked back to the business’ bottom line. The time has finally come for businesses to make social media marketing accountable."
