Internet Marketing Weblog
Julian Sharpe | 4:54 pm | May 30, 2008 | News
Ranked one of the most visited sites online the BBC.co.uk main site has overspent its allocated budget by up to 48%, according to a report into the spending by the BBC Trust.
It is estimated that the overall the final budget for bbc.co.uk was in the region of 110m, much higher than its agreed 81.6m.
The costs are associated with the creation of additional content for the site, although no indication of what content has been disclosed at this stage, in addition the final cost does not include any of the costs in relation to the iPlayer and streamed media.
Julian Sharpe | 9:47 am | | Mobile, News
ComScore has purchased M:Metrics the mobile measurement company for 22 million. It is believed the move gives digital measurement company ComScore a statistical view into mobile figures and was purchased after competitor Nielsen’s purchase of mobile measurement company Telephia in the summer of 2007.
ComScore future development is to increase the size of its metered panel which M:Metrics currently utilises to collect information and survey based data. ComScore and M:Metrics are expected to benefit from financial savings and a strong overall commercial growth as ComScore’s 950 clients base becoming increasingly interested in mobile data as part of there overall strategies.
A quote from Dr Magid Abraham, CEO of ComScore, said mobile had reached an inflection point in the market.
“Our acquisition of M:Metrics makes ComScore an immediate market leader in this space and positions ComScore to deliver significant shareholder value as wireless carriers, telecom equipment providers, media companies, advertising agencies, online publishers, and marketers extend their reach into the mobile internet world,” said Abraham
Julian Sharpe | 12:32 pm | May 29, 2008 | News
Asda aims to become the UK’s top value-clothing e-tailer at it looks to launch its George clothing range online.
Adsa which is owned by Wal-Mart, is looking to open the online store for its george clothing range in September. The site will feature almost all 3,000 George products currently available.
The move follows on in this largely unexplored value-clothing sector from Tesco who trialled online clothing sales, which including its Florence + Fred brand, last November in 2007 but this was stop in March 08, along with its Flower service as part of an overall review.
Primark is quoted as saying “there are no plans for its site to go ecommerce, this was also indicated by Sainsbury’s with its TU clothing range.
Asda which shows sales of George clothing reaching over £1bn in 2007 first looked at the idea of selling the label online last July, saying it would be ready for a limited service of 1,000 products in February 2008, but has held back to go for a full product launch instead.
The George site will be incorporated into Asda.com, which is due to be revamped with a focus on including items not sold in-store, such as fitness equipment.
Quote from Robert Halliday-Stein, senior marketing manager at George, has major ambition for the brand. “We want to be the number-one online value-clothing retailer,” he said. “We think the market is ready for this and no other retailer is making value clothing available online.
“The redesign also gives us the opportunity to offer equipment that we can’t fit into the store. It’ll be like the Argos catalogue,” he added.
Visitors will be pushed to the site through an ad campaign. “Most of the marketing will be in-store, but there will be other marketing activity including press, radio and online to support it,” Halliday-Stein said.
In addition Katrin Magnussen, senior fashion analyst at retail analyst firm Mintel, said, “Clothing retailers have left it late coming online but it’s inevitable that most value retailers will do so. I think they’ll do very well as they don’t have much competition in that sector.
Julian Sharpe | 9:49 am | | News, Social Media
Sofia’s Diary has been commissioned for second series, Social Media site Bebo’s interactive drama Sofia’s Diary has been a great success. Since going live on Bebo in March the show has had over 12.9m interactions.
The show also transferred to Television in April, where it has become Fiver’s part of the Five network second most popular show. The show is mainly advert funded, with sponsors including Nair Care, Pearl Drops and Golddigga clothing.
Quote from Sarah Gavin, global communications director at Bebo, said, “The success of Sofia’s Diary has been hugely satisfying to the entire team working on the fantastic series. We’re delighted with its performance over multiple platforms and pleased with the synergy it has built with its community of followers both on and offline.”
Julian Sharpe | 10:09 am | May 28, 2008 | Google, News, Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
The Google MCC Dashboard makeover has been fully released after feedback from users it now makes it easier to view a wide range of client account statistics from the highest level of your MCC account.
Key changes are the Performance and budget statistics for client accounts are now shown on separate tabbed pages, providing a more detailed, top-level view of key stats across managed accounts. You can now also select time periods for viewing statistics, making it more flexible to a view of account statistics in a particular week, month, and year or date range.
In addition on the Performance page, you will now find statistics on clicks, conversions and conversion rates, with a separate column for Search and Content CTR, allowing for easier comparison of performance based on network placement.
And final on the Budget page, you will find information about start dates and end dates; percentage of budget spent and total spend for each account. A good update with user feedback being used effectively and smartly now any chance of changing the keyword tool back please Google.
Julian Sharpe | 11:37 am | May 27, 2008 | News
Woolworths has refreshed its online download store to coincide with its decision to stop selling CD singles in-store. Woolworthsdownload.com includes music, game, video and mobile downloads and is set to replace the former music-only .co.uk site.
Woolworths have said that every major music release will be available from a catalogue of over 1.2m tracks, with the addition of over 1,000 films and TV shows can also be downloaded.
Quote from Jim Batchelor, commercial director at Woolworths, said, “Digital downloading is now the true customer choice for listening and purchasing single music tracks. CDs are alive and well for album sales, but unfortunately the physical singles market is in terminal decline.”
“Our customers are now starting to embrace the world of downloading which is why we feel the time is right to launch our new digital site.”
Julian Sharpe | 9:47 am | | News, Social Media
Beer brand Beck’s hunts for full-time blogger
Top German beer brand Beck’s is looking full time blogger to create a unique communication experience for its web users. Beck’s is looking for an individual with online experience to take up the six-month contract.
If you’re interested in this work you will need to apply via the site. The blogger will be integrated as part of Beck’s creative team based in Amsterdam, and will contribute to online research projects and branding.
Quote from Jorge Inda Meza, global marketing manager for Beck’s, said, “Our consumers actively seek out links to new trends and genuine material from around the globe. The new Beck’s columnist will help uncover and highlight relevant and exciting topics for our consumers, enabling us to better connect with them.
Julian Sharpe | 11:01 am | May 23, 2008 | Google, News, Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
Teletext is set to take legal action against Directline Holidays to stop the company from bidding on its brand terms on Google adwords and other pay per click portals.
Last month Teletext had already threatened legal action against any companies bidding on its trademarked terms, and following Directline’s alleged refusal to stop, Teletext has now begun legal proceedings.
Matt Cheevers, MD Teletext Holidays, is quoted as saying, “We made it extremely clear from the start that this activity would not be tolerated and have given those companies involved plenty of notice that legal action would be the next step if bidding continued. We will take a hard line with those that continue to bid against us.”
Teletext Holidays said it would continue such action against any other companies using its branded terms.
As previously blogged by our brand expert Garret Cunningham this is just the tip of the iceberg and we do expect to see similar action as the brands try to defend they position online, especially with the current credit issue.
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Julian Sharpe | 7:20 am | May 22, 2008 | News, Online Media Planning (OMP), Social Media
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has released its online ratings scheme for downloaded and streamed multimedia content.
BBFC is quoted as saying “Independent research has indicated that 63% of adults (74% of parents) are concerned about downloading video material which does not come with independent content advice and labelling. 84% of adults (91% of parents) want to see BBFC film and DVD classification on downloadable / streaming films and other digital audiovisual content”.
The currently voluntary scheme, called BBFC Online. It will be applied to films, TV shows and games based on the web, and will where possible replicate the U to 18 certificates currenty used at cinema’s, DVD releases and Games such as GTA.
The BBFC have quoted that the scheme which has already had numerous studios signing up including Warner Bros, 20th Century Fox and Disney had been created to assist parents with what their children access or view online, as well as ensuring the relevant content only reaches the target demographic age group.
It has asked publishers to assist by placing the ratings prominently and clearly on their sites and prior to the start of any download.
Julian Sharpe | 3:30 pm | May 21, 2008 | Mobile, News
Microsoft has increased its overall mobile advertisment inventory by adding further display banners to Hotmail and Messenger accounts. first advertiser to take advantage of these new spaces is Paramount Pictures.
Before this updated Microsoft’s display advertising, which is controlled by Screentonic, was limited to the MSN Mobile homepage. In the near future Microsoft also plans to expand its mobile advertising opportunities around its Live Search service.
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