Week commencing 31st March 2008
 Agencies
claim Channel 4's spring/summer programming schedule which
features crime and religion shows, will help the broadcaster attract
niche audiences while cementing its appeal to its core viewers.
At the heart of the new schedule is a street crime season, to be
broadcast in June, centring around five two-hour programmes, The
Truth About Street Weapons. The programmes will follow the deliberations
of a new Street Weapons Commission, chaired by Cherie Booth, examining
the problem of gun and knife crime. C4 said its factual programming
focus would boost ABC1 male audiences. The broadcaster's ABC1 share
of commercial impacts for the month to 19 March was 2.5% higher
than the same period a year earlier. Source: Media Week
Interactive TV is
the most powerful means of driving a consumer purchase despite being
one of the youngest forms of media, according to the Direct Marketing
Association. In a recent survey by the DMA, interactive TV topped
the league table of ways to generate direct purchase, ahead of field
marketing and e-mail marketing, which were in second and third place
respectively. Meanwhile, TV and radio ads are the most effective
means of generating retail traffic, closely followed by consumer
magazines. Telephone calls, followed by interactive TV and mobile
messaging, are most likely to prompt potential customers to seek
further details. The DMA research showed that 75% of consumers feel
overwhelmed by the volume of marketing communications they receive,
although 70% remain happy to pick and choose between them. For the
first time since the research began, the internet has overtaken
mail order as the preferred method of purchasing goods. The DMA
Participation Media Report, conducted by the Future Foundation,
was drawn from face-to-face interviews with 2,000 people, detailing
their experience of direct communications. Source: Media Week
 Time
Out is launching a Hong Kong edition of its listings magazine
as part of its ongoing international expansion. Time Out Hong Kong
will launch on 23 April, with a target circulation of 40,000 copies.
It will be published fortnightly. The latest brand extension for
Time Out brings the total number of international Time Out magazines
to 24 editions in 18 countries. Source: Media Week
Hello! magazine is
to launch Hello! Couture, the second title from its new stand-alone
fashion series, on 2 April. The launch of the spin-off title follows
the launch of the first Fashion Series title: Hello! Ready-to-Wear,
which appeared in February. The Hello! Fashion Series will appear
four times a year, covering both ready-to-wear and haute couture
collections for spring/summer and autumn/winter. Source: Media Week
The Independent has
teamed up with sister title Dainik Jagran, India's most popular
daily newspaper, to give UK advertisers the chance to target 53m
new readers in the Asian sub-continent. The Independent will produce
a series of dedicated supplements to feature in Dainik Jagran during
2008. The pullouts will focus on subjects such as working and studying
in the UK, travelling to the UK and global property investment.
The Independent's sales team will coordinate advertising sales from
the UK, offering a free Hindi translation service if required. Source:
Media Week
 Bauer
Radio is looking to launch a male-skewed digital radio station
based around its male-focused magazine brands such as FHM and Empire.
According to a source close to Bauer, the company has identified
a gap in the commercial radio market for "male listening"
and is exploring that opportunity at the moment. It is understood
that Bauer Radio's plans are at "the drawing board" stage.
Source: Media Week
Centre Radio, which provides a live radio
service in shopping centres across the UK and Ireland, launched
on 1st April. The company is present in 220 shopping centres, which,
as well as playing music, offer advertisers 20 to 30-second spot
ads. Centre Radio claims the shopping centres have a combined footfall
of 160 million people every month. Source: Media Week
Virgin Radio is revamping its website, with
a new homepage set to launch this week. The new website, which has
been redesigned by the station's in-house digital media team, allows
users to customise the features most important to them. Virgin said
that the revamped site allows it to offer advertisers packages with
a guaranteed number of users, to provide more detailed analysis
for the station's corporate campaigns. Source: Media Week
 YouTube,
the Google-owned video-sharing site, is launching a tool to provide
users, content partners and advertisers with data on the site's
viewing trends. The free programme, YouTube Insight, will detail
information about who is watching certain video clips and when,
offering advertisers additional insights they can use to target
their pitches. Advertisers on YouTube are already offered data relating
to the viewing of their ads, but Insight breaks down traffic by
day and shows the states or countries where most viewers are. Source:
Media Week
A new jobs website serving the UK's magazine and
business media sector will be launched this month. Backed by magazine
publishers' association, the PPA, the service will feature job vacancies
across editorial, production, digital, sales and management. PPAJobs.co.uk
is a joint venture between the PPA and Haymarket Media
Group. Source: Media Week
 Pearl
& Dean is offering bespoke promotions that extend advertisers'
presence beyond cinema screens and aims to deepen their association
with certain films. This can range from brands appearing in the
ad reel before a film is shown, to sales promotions in cinema foyers,
point of sale material in retail outlets and film-related competition
prizes. Source: Media Week
Edited by Bex Cunnah |
