Orange launches new film website
January 28, 2009
LONDON – Orange has launched a new film website building on the success of its Orange Wednesdays cinema offer, which it has placed at the heart of the site.
From: http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/RSS/
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Data Privacy Day
January 28, 2009
At the moment there is no greetings card for Data Privacy Day, but this is its second year and 27 countries around Europe, Canada and here in America will use it as a springboard to educate and make users aware of the best way to protect their information online.
As the first state in the nation to set up an office of privacy protection, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has proclaimed Wednesday “California Privacy Day.”
A range of events are being held throughout the world to mark the day from panel discussions to cocktail parties and from outreach projects to seminars and workshops.
With a constant barrage of reports of how cyber criminals are wreaking havoc on the internet, there is a renewed effort by privacy advocates to push for more to be done to protect consumers and to hold companies accountable for what they do with information that is gleaned from our online activities.
In the States, a group called the Future of Privacy Forum is calling on President Obama to appoint a chief privacy officer to create standards for how personal information can be captured by search engines, social networks and mobile browsers.
“With this administration, how data is handled is going to be far more central than ever before,” Jules Polonetsky, co-chair of the Forum and a former chief privacy officer at AOL told the Washington Post.
“We have people enthusiastically interacting with the government – wanting Barack to be our Facebook friend – yet we don’t have an accountable figure to help shape information policy.”
Microsoft, once the target of so many privacy groups, has commissioned some research into what concerns users have about going online.
For its study the company spoke to a sample of people in Dallas and in San Francisco.
Their comments ranged from: “Once you get in the internet, I don’t think there’s any control” to “I think we should be as cautious as we can, but also the companies that we’re dealing with should protect the information.”
And from: “We’re aware of the risks and the safeguards to take, there are other people who maybe aren’t as aware” to “I find I have more trust in a company when I have the option of opting out….or unsubscribing to them.”
The software giant’s chief privacy officer Peter Cullen told me that their findings refute the belief that most people, especially the young, are cavalier about the information they give away about themselves.
“There is a sense of resignation,” explained Mr Cullen. “Most people realise they are making trade-offs when online. While they are not always comfortable about those trade-offs, they do it because of the value they get from the services online or sharing information online gives them.
“They would prefer to have much more control and feel better about sharing that information and that’s where education comes in.”
To that end Microsoft is involved in hosting a major community discussion on the issue in San Francisco for Data Privacy Day.
I’ll be moderating the debate at the city’s public library and I’ll let you know how I got on.
From: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/rss.xml
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Bebo founder invests in LinkedIn rival
January 28, 2009
LONDON – Bebo.com founder Michael Birch has invested in a new social networking site for entrepreneurs called Smarta.com.
From: http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/RSS/
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Bumper March issue for Harper’s Bazaar
January 28, 2009
LONDON – NatMag’s style bible Harper’s Bazaar is to defy the economic gloom with a bumper-sized March issue.
From: http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/RSS/
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Passenger complaint letter creates internet drama for Branson
January 28, 2009
LONDON – A creative at WCRS is behind the notorious passenger complaint letter that was sent to the Virgin boss, Richard Branson.
From: http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/RSS/
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Brits watch more TV than ever, says report by Thinkbox
January 28, 2009
British viewers watched more than 26 hours of TV per week each last year – a record high matched only in 2003 – thanks to a combination of factors including hit shows such as The X Factor, bad weather and belt-tightening consumers spending more time on the sofa as the economic downturn took hold.
The record viewing figures for 2008, up by 48 minutes a week compared with 2007, also meant the public saw an average of 42 TV ads each day last year, according to a report published today by TV marketing body Thinkbox based on figures from audience research body Barb.
Last year’s viewing figures show that the average person watched 26 hours and 18 minutes of broadcast television a week, matching the previous highest figure on record for 2003.
Thinkbox said the growth of viewing had also fuelled record numbers of TV ads being watched last year.
Commercial impacts, the viewing of one ad one time by one viewer at normal speed, hit an all-time high of 2.4bn last year. This increase, up 6.3% on 2007, meant each person saw an average of 42 TV ads per day last year.
The growth, which Thinkbox said was achieved across all age groups, was driven by an increase in viewing on commercial channels, which accounted for 63% of all broadcast TV watched in 2008. The average person watched 16 hours and 24 minutes of commercial TV per week in 2008, 36 minutes more than in 2007.
Thinkbox argued that the figures show that the explosion in viewing online and on-demand, through services such as the BBC iPlayer and Virgin Media, has been in addition to people’s traditional TV watching habits.
The TV marketing body found that 78% of online TV viewing is to catch up with shows viewers missed on traditional TV channels and that digital video recorders, such as Sky+ and Freeview+, have led to an overall increase in TV viewing of 17%.
Thinkbox said a combination of “compelling programming” – The X Factor, which reached new ratings highs last year in its fifth series, is cited as a big entertainment show that is “bringing people together in the living room” – the very wet summer and cold spring last year and the economic downturn all played key roles in the equal record TV viewing figures for 2008.
“These figures show that people rely on channels and schedules to help them find the TV they want to watch,” said Tess Alps, chief executive of Thinkbox. “The broadcast audience may not always be watching the same programme at the same time as it did when there were a handful of channels… but viewers haven’t gone anywhere.”
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From: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/advertising/rss
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Bob Dylan’s Blowin’ in the Wind to soundtrack Co-op TV ad
January 28, 2009
Bob Dylan has given rare permission for his music to be used in a TV commercial.
Protest song Blowin’ in the Wind will be used to reinforce a message of change in a TV campaign for ethical banking and retail firm the Co-operative Group.
The song, a 1960s anthem for those disaffected with the establishment, is thought to be the first track Dylan has allowed to appear in a UK TV ad.
Blowin’ in the Wind is being used to underpin a multimillion-pound relaunch of the Co-operative Group’s image.
The TV campaign, which breaks next month, aims to showcase the company’s diverse interests from food, funerals and travel to pharmacies and financial services.
In the runup to Christmas the supermarket arm of the firm, Co-operative Food, used its Christmas TV campaign to showcase a single by Australian singer Gabriella Cilmi.
The Australian singer has already had two chart hits in the UK with Sweet About Me, which reached number seven in the UK singles chart in April, and Save The Lies, which reached number 33.
Several years ago Dylan gave permission for his song Someday Baby to appear in a global TV campaign for US technology company Apple’s iPod.
“It is rare for Bob Dylan to license his recordings to TV ads,” said Mike Smith, the UK managing director of Columbia Records, which represented Dylan in the Co-op deal. The decision to do so with the Co-operative and Blowin’ in the Wind shows a willingness to embrace fresh ways of reaching a new audience through an ethical and fair trade organisation.”
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From: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/advertising/rss
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BeatThatQuote.com ad cleared of encouraging workplace bullying by ASA
January 28, 2009
The advertising watchdog has cleared a TV campaign for a price comparison website despite more than 100 complaints that it promoted workplace bullying.
Online financial comparison service BeatThatQuote.com’s TV ad opened with a fully dressed office supervisor and hairy, shirtless male employees seeking better internet deals than competitors.
The commercial, by ad agency Leagas Delaney, showed the supervisor pulling wax strips from employees’ backs when he felt they could have found better deals for the Beat That Quote service. The ad closed with the boss pulling wax strips off employees even if they managed to find the best deals.
BeatThatQuote.com’s ad prompted 101 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority, with 65 objecting that the commercial “trivialised, condoned or encouraged bullying in the workplace”.
A further 28 complained that the level of violence – some of the employees were seen with pink, tender skin – was offensive and condoned physical abuse, while seven were concerned the ad would be disturbing to children and three felt it “mocked or degraded call centre employees”.
BeatThatQuote.com said it used “exaggeration and absurdity” to depict the process of finding better prices and that using “theatrical violence in a stylised cartoon or slapstick quality” did not break the advertising code.
The company pointed out that the ad carried an “ex-kids” timing restriction, meaning it could not be broadcast around programmes of particular appeal to children, and that the scene depicted was clearly not a call centre.
In its ruling the ASA said that the employees in the “bizarre office-based scenario” did not “appear generally unhappy or frightened and intimidated by their supervisor”; instead, they appeared “keen” to provide better quotes.
Because the ad was surreal and exaggerated the ASA felt it was unlikely to trivialise, condone or encourage bullying.
The watchdog also said the TV campaign was meant to be humorous and that most people would not consider it to condone violence or physical abuse.
As the office featured in the ad could not be viewed as a “typical workplace”, most viewers would not take it seriously and so it did not “mock or degrade” staff in call centres, the regulator added.
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From: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/advertising/rss
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BBC freezes pay of top 400 employees
January 28, 2009
The BBC puts salary increases of its most senior employees on hold for 18 months and suspends its bonus scheme to help save £20m a year and fill a large funding shortfall in six years
From: http://www.ft.com/rss/companies/media
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Poor ads picture blurs ITV and Five prospects
January 27, 2009
Penny-pinching and comfort-seeking is prompting people to stay at home and watch more television
From: http://www.ft.com/rss/companies/media
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