Week commencing 28th April 2008
 Ad
complaints hit record high as online attracts concern. TV was
by far the most complained about medium, generating 9,915 complaints,
while internet advertising was the most complained about non-broadcast
medium and the second most complained about medium overall. The
number of TV & radio complaints increased by nearly 20% to 10,685,
compared with 2006. A total of 2,980 complaints were received about
internet advertising, 2,144 of which related to the content of websites
and as such were outside the ad watchdog's remit. The most common
issues raised by the public about internet content were pricing,
availability of goods and charges. The report also focuses on new
policy developments in 2007, including the introduction of new tightened
advertising rules for food and soft drink products. Gambling ads
were also allowed to appear on TV for the first time and stringent
rules were put in place to ensure ads are socially responsible.
The advertising watchdog said the food and gambling sectors revealed
a "highly encouraging compliance rate", with the new rules
demonstrating the effectiveness of self-regulation. Lord Smith,
the ASA chairman, who has just completed his first year in the post,
said: "These complaints are almost entirely about truth, accuracy,
misleadingness and availability -- the 'meat and drink' of the ASA's
daily work. "We hope for an early outcome to the detailed discussions
under way within the industry on the development of ways to ensure
continued responsibility in advertising in new media settings."
Source - Brand Republic
 Sky has recorded 56,000 net customer additions in the three
months to March 31 - a 10% improvement on the same period last year
- bringing its total number of subscribers to 8.89m.Of those,
3.39m are Sky+ users, with 262,000 customers having signed up to
the personal video recorder service in the third quarter. Sky's
high definition product gained 43,000 subscribers, taking it to
a total 465,000. Source - Digital Spy
Virgin Media today announced a partnership
with the BBC to launch BBC iPlayer onto its platform, making its
3.5 million TV customers the first in the UK to get the popular
service via a TV platform. Viewers using BBC iPlayer on Virgin Media
will be able to watch full screen pictures at full quality on their
television set without the need for downloading. Source - Media
UK
 RAJAR is to pilot a new online system of recording radio listening and
abandon its trial of electronic device alternatives to its diary-based
system. The two-year trial of portable people meters as due to continue
until the beginning of 2009 but will now end in June.
The new survey is intended to give the radio industry more flexibility
and a wider scope, with the option of greater analysis. Nunwood
Research is designing the online diary, which is to be field tested
in July. If it proves successful, it could eventually be incorporated
in to the main RAJAR survey. Sally de la Bedoyere, RAJAR managing
director, said that the decision to withdraw from the portable people
meter (PPM) trial was a "rational and pragmatic one".
"Over the past year the pilot has delivered a wealth of data
but it has continued to highlight serious concerns with respondent
compliance, particularly at breakfast time," de la Bedoyere
added. RAJAR is today launching an industry wide review of the future
direction of radio audience research, which will be headed by former
PHD Media chief executive Morag Blazey. Blazey has been tasked with
getting feedback on how the RAJAR survey should move forward in
the coming years. She will also address the issues and concerns
of the radio and advertising industries on a raft of topics from
the scope and content of the current survey, to reporting and trading
turn-around times and proposed innovations including the value of
bigger samples, the introduction of an online diary and future requirements
for podcasting, programming information, time-shifted listening
and event response. Blazey is to consult with a range of key radio
and advertising industry stake holders and her findings, coupled
with the results of the online survey, will feed into RAJAR's new
three year strategy which is to be announced later this year. Blazey
said: "The pace of change in the radio market is dizzying,
and quite rightly RAJAR feels it is necessary to keep pace in order
to serve its users as effectively as possible. "The project
I have been asked to undertake is really interesting, far reaching
and genuinely democratic in its intent. I am really excited to be
part of it." Source - Newsline
Young people turn to radio
as trusted medium says RAB. It also found that this age group's
average radio listening hours are significantly higher if they listen
to radio via digital platforms. If they listen to radio on the internet,
the RAB said, the average number of listening hours is 25% higher
than when listening on analogue. Alison Winter, head of audience
insight at the RAB, said the study was undertaken in part to challenge
the misperception that radio was not performing well for 15 to 24-year-olds.
Winter highlighted one of the report's other key findings, that
71% of this group claim that radio "keeps them company",
while only 45% said they use the internet for company. In addition,
46% of respondents described radio as trustworthy, while only 15%
of respondents felt the same way about newspapers. Winter added:
"The most interesting results for us were these attitudinal
figures, which really prove that there is still a strong emotional
relationship between young people and radio." Source - Media
Week
 JC
Decaux Airport is more than doubling
its six-sheet poster sites at airports in a bid to attract more
packaged-goods brands. The company is adding 250 new six-sheet sites
to its 200-strong portfolio today. It has also created 12 new packages
for advertisers around the sites, which are within 20 metres of
retail outlets such as WH Smith. JC Decaux Airport's marketing director,
Richard Malton, says: "Airports have always been seen as places
where you make corporate statements, but why not have Coca-Cola,
the drink, as well?"Malton says the company is looking to further
attract advertisers using WH Smith's financial results, which last
week reported a 14% increase in sales at transport outlets, at the
expense of the high street, which dropped by 2%. The initiative
is also part of a drive to increase "flexibility" and
short-term ad opportunities at JC Decaux's airport sites. On March
27, JC Decaux Airport launched digital sites across its UK airports
. It also introduced a Sphere 10 package, which aims to move campaigns
from design to launch in ten days. The company has sitesin 141 airports
across the world. Its UK sites include Heathrow's Terminal 5, Gatwick,
Edinburgh, Stansted, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Southampton. Its specific
sites include giant "welcome" billboards at major airport
entrances and the Emirates Roundabout site at Heathrow. Source -
Mad
 Total Media boost In-house Search team. The Total Media Group
has hired Carolina Vicente to head up its search operations. Reporting
to Nick Oram, head of digital at Total Media, she will be working
across the group's client base. Vicente previously worked for Google
at their European headquarters in Dublin as a Senior Account Manager
working across a range of divisions (finance, travel, technology)
and international markets.
Carolina Vicente |
This was followed by eDreams, the biggest
online travel agency in Spain,
as the Head of PPC. Immediately before joining Total Media she worked for Mediaedge:CIA as a Search Director
handling clients such as Sony Ericsson, Xerox, Monster, Visa and
Microsoft. Guy Sellers, Managing Director of Total Media Group,
said that "We are delighted to have secured Carolina to head-up
our search team. This is a major area of growth and interest to
our clients and having Carolina's experience, gained on the client
and agency side, together with time at Google, gives us extremely
valuable insights. We expect to announce further growth and development
for the team in due course"
Hitwise, the online intelligence service has revealed that the
top 100 Google internet properties sent over one third of
all internet traffic to websites in the UK during March 2008. A
custom category consisting of the 100 most visited web properties
in the UK that are owned by Google accounted for 36.55% of upstream
traffic to all categories of websites in the UK during March 2008,
up from 30.19% in March 2007. The most visited Google property in
the UK is www.google.co.uk and, with a market share of 7.77% of
all UK internet visits in March, it was also the most visited website
in the UK last month. www.google.co.uk was also the website that
sent most traffic to other websites during March, accounting for
27.48% of upstream traffic to all categories. This was followed
by www.google.com, which had a market share of 1.70% and accounted
for 4.43% of all upstream traffic in March. Source - Newsline
Mobile instant messaging is set to cannibalise texting and
eventually email from PC, a survey from TNS Technology has found.
The TNS Global Telecoms Insight study, which interviewed 17,000
respondents across 30 countries, found that once mobile users adopt
mobile instant messaging (MIM) it overtakes other messaging tools
with potentially dramatic consequences for service and network providers'
revenue. Among those who use MIM, it is the most used feature on
their phone: 61% use it daily, compared to only 55% who use SMS
daily and only 12% who use email on their mobile. The survey also
found that 11 out of every 100 messages sent by mobile devices or
fixed PC globally are instant messages. However, among MIM users
36 out of every 100 messages sent is an mnstant message from their
mobile, making this the dominant messaging form for these users.
The number of messages sent via SMS falls dramatically among MIM
users from 38 to only 23 messages per 100. MIM users also use fixed
email less with 21 out of every 100 messages sent via this medium,
compared to 31 messages among all consumers.
Matthew Froggatt, managing director of global technology for TNS,
said: "Once a mobile phone user has access to the internet
from their handset, the cost of instant messaging is next to nothing,
as the only cost is a very small data transfer fee. "With consumers
being accustomed to instant messaging from their PC from companies
like Yahoo and MSN, and more mobile operators offering unlimited
use of web browsers, the take up of MIM is going to increase significantly
- leaving SMS and fixed email from PC behind." Consultancy
firm Strategy Analytics conducted a survey which found that global
demand for mobile phone handsets remains strong. Strategy Analytics
said that 282 million handsets were shipped worldwide in the first
quarter of 2008, up 14% year on year. However, earlier this month
Nokia warned that the global mobile phone market is set to decline
for the first time. The mobile phone company, which was releasing
its first quarter results, said that it expects the number of phones
sold to increase by 10% from the 1.1 billion phones sold last year.
Source - Newsline
Global demand for mobile phone handsets remains strong,
according to new research from consultancy firm Strategy Analytics.
It said that 282 million handsets were shipped worldwide in the
first quarter of 2008, up 14% year on year. Strategy Analytics said
that the growth was driven by rising demand in markets such as Africa
and Asia. It added that rising food prices in developing countries
and the financial crisis affecting richer countries had as yet had
limited impact on demand for mobile handsets. Nokia was the dominant
handset supplier with a market share of 40.9%, although shipments
of LG and Samsung phones were the fastest growing. Strategy Analytics
predicts that 290 million handsets will be sold in the second quarter
of this year, up 12% year on year. However, earlier this month Nokia
warned that the global mobile phone market is set to decline for
the first time. The mobile phone company, which was releasing its
first quarter results, said that it expects the number of phones
sold to increase by 10% from the 1.1 billion phones sold last year
Source - Marketing Week
 UK Box Office Office Charts
1) Forgetting Sarah Marshall (£1.7m)
2) The Eye (£704k)
3) 21 (£547k)
4) Fools Gold (£476k)
5) In Bruges (£408k)
6) Son of Rambow (£278k)
7) Deception (£255k)
8) Street Kings (£250k)
9) The Spiderwick Chronicles (£238k)
10) Happy-Go-Luck (£237k)
source -Time out
Edited by Total Media Digital |
