This week’s movers and shakers in the digital marketing industry: YouTube | Titan | LoveFilm | SapientNitro | Nudge | Companeo | Webcredible | MandMDirect.com | Salford Business School | Diffusion | balloon dog | Tottenham Hotspur | LeadPoint | e-Dialog | Cool Camping | Digital Element | Flybe | Energy Saving Trust | Webloyalty | CBS Outdoor | Maxymiser | Computer Love | Dog Digital | Nissan | toptable | Stardoll | Shazam | eWEEK Europe | Steak Digital | Maximiles | Homephonechoices | bigmouthmedia | Columbus Travel Media
YouTube signs first local TV news deal
YouTube has teamed up with a San Francisco television station, ABC7 News, to publish video news reports produced by citizens. This is the first time the world’s largest video-sharing website has struck a partnership deal with a local news provider.
Proposing possible submission ideas, ABC7 News says: “What’s not working in your city? How long are those bathrooms at the park going to remain closed? Why can’t they stop my street from flooding every time it rains? Who’s responsible? Submit video of what’s broken in your community and we’ll try to get it fixed. Since the site went live six days ago, users have uploaded footage of emergency services responding to an incident, a brief interview with a local candidate for an election and footage of a protest. Videos are categorised into breaking news, events, weather and bay area scenes.
See the ABC7 News innovation here.
Titan Publishing creates international comic book site to create sense of community
Leading popular culture publisher, Titan Publishing, launches its new international website www.titanbooks.com. The site, created by the leading digital content agency, Zone, represents a step forward in Titan Book’s digital strategy, raising the publisher’s profile in the digital world. The vibrant new site is designed to more effectively merchandise and showcase much-loved cultural brands including The Simpsons, Supernatural, Batman, Star Wars and Mark Millar’s Kick-Ass in more exciting ways such as the use of exclusive content and interactive features. New functionality includes a blog allowing Titan to guide users in their purchasing decisions and for Titan’s passionate fan base, to create user generated content. Featured guest blogs will be compiled by authors and experts in the sci-fi and comics arena, such as spoken word artist Scroobius Pip and Zodiac author Robert Graysmith.
Clear user experience and a strong design aesthetic were at the heart of the redesign, to enable books, products and other merchandise to be found with the minimum number of clicks. Both the site structure, and text and video content, have been search engine optimised, with improved external and internal links, and the use of social media to communicate with the comics and entertainment community. New video content will include exclusive video interviews with Titan’s authors and artists, launching with Kick-Ass’s Mark Millar and comics legend Joe Simon. The international versions of the site will be localised for Titan’s international English speaking audiences in the UK, U.S., Canada and Australia. The July launch of the site is timed to coincide with the leading event in the comics industry calendar, the San Diego Comic Convention. Not all titles will be available to buy online when it initially goes live, but Titan plans to launch full e-commerce functionality later in the year.
www.titanbooks.com
LoveFilm partners with WideVine to bring streaming video to mobiles
LOVEFiLM, Europe’s largest subscription service – streaming movies and TV episodes over the Internet and sending DVDs by post – has signed a significant agreement with US-based Widevine, naming Widevine as LOVEFiLM’s preferred provider of digital rights management (DRM) and video optimisation solutions. This will allow LOVEFiLM’s digital content to be accessed on the broadest cross section of devices. The agreement with Widevine will see LOVEFiLM further develop its digital content to be playable on many new devices, ensuring the largest possible audience for future use. Widevine’s DRM, adaptive streaming and virtual-DVD like trick play technologies will ensure the video remains both secure and at the best possible quality, providing viewers with the ultimate viewing experience across many devices.
The Widevine platform is deployed by major Internet content services and large cable, satellite and telecommunication companies launching over-the-top strategies. The solution is natively supported in nearly all major brands and types of network connected consumer electronics including televisions, Blu-ray players, mobile devices, gaming systems and more. In addition to offering its 1.4 million members access to over 67,000 titles for rental, LOVEFiLM already offers thousands of films and TV shows available to ‘Watch Online’ via the LOVEFiLM Player and on connected devices including SONY BRAVIA and Samsung TVs.
www.lovefilm.com
SapientNitro produces global TV campaign for Volvo Car Australia
SapientNitro, part of Sapient , has created a television commercial for Volvo Car Australia which is the first Volvo advertising campaign to be produced in Australia for a global audience. Launching on Monday 2nd August, the “Attention Seeker”