Curiosity Works

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Our friends at Mediabrands asked the question "Why do you like working at IPG Mediabrands?".

If you're interested in a career at Mediabrands, check out our Graduate Programme: http://www.ipgmediabrands.com/graduate-programme-uk

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Get Yourself Noticed!

IPG Mediabrands Graduate Programme

Today, Soraya Pugh, UK Head of Talent  for UM London's holding company Mediabrands, gives us an overview of IPG Mediabrands' newly launched Graduate Programme.

Can you give us a brief overview of the Graduate Programme?

The IPG Medibrands Graduate Programme launched on 1st November to find up to 10 of the most curious, creative and commercial graduates with a demonstrable interest in media looking to make an impact from day one.

What does the programme entail?

The programme will span Mediabrands' core businesses in the UK:  UM, Initiative, Mediabrands Analytics and MAP (which includes Reprise and Cadreon). It's a 12-month training programme that will look for the most curious, ambitious and creative graduate talent and will result in a placement within one of the Group’s business units.   Successful applicants will be placed into either Search/Performance, Marketing & Ad Operations, Analytics or Planning and Buying, depending on their individual skillset, and will have the opportunity to rotate around the various units in order to develop a complete understanding of the business.

Why does the Graduate Programme present such an exciting opportunity?

It has never been more important to stand out from the crowd as a graduate, or as a brand, for that matter.  How do you ensure you make a memorable impact when employers can only afford to spend 60 seconds reviewing CVs and applications?  Or how do you ensure your brand stands out amongst all the other challenger brands. 

Our whole graduate programme centres around this very sentiment.  We know how important it is to get yourself noticed in today’s competitive world and we want to give those who catch our eye the opportunity to flourish and progress. 

Will there be the chance to earn any qualifications?

Yes - an intensive training course will also be incorporated into the placement, offering successful graduates the opportunity to gain the industry-recognised qualification, the IPA Foundation Certificate.

Where can people find out more?

You can follow us on twitter IPGMB_Talent to hear our tips on how to #getyourselfnoticed

Or, read more about our programme here: http://www.ipgmediabrands.com/graduate-programme-uk

UM help brands to get themselves noticed each day so join us to stand out from the crowd and kick-start your career!

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YouView – A Launch Too Late?

As YouView embarks on a £multi-million advertising campaign, Broadcast Buyer Tom Cornish discusses why it took so long to get the service off the ground, how consumers have reacted, and what it means for brands and advertisers. 

After years of protracted wrangling and never-ending launch dates, the new free-to-air platform YouView finally went on sale at the end of July and is now being backed by a multi-million pound TV and VOD campaign.

Backed by an illustrious group including the major broadcasters as well as BT, TalkTalk and Arquiva and fronted by Lord Alan Sugar, the YouView service was initially scheduled to launch by the end of 2010. Various technical and political issues, however, have pushed that date back by almost two years, causing some in the industry to question its validity in a marketplace that has changed significantly in the intervening time.

Had it launched back in 2010, the service (which primarily targets current Freeview households) would have been amongst the first set top boxes to offer video-on-demand and online catch up services on TV through a direct broadband connection. It would have also been the only service that covered BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 VOD offerings in one place.

But that didn’t happen. Instead, YouView launched with a relatively high price point (£300 per box), which may well mean it struggles to compete with Freeview, some of whose boxes retail for as low as £20. What’s more, recent deals between Sky & ITV and Sky & BBC mean that Sky now sits alongside Virgin Media in offering the same VOD functionality as well as a multitude of other services that YouView doesn’t offer. And, with the rapid advent of internet connected TVs over the last 18 months, these services can also be accessed outside of a subscription or set top box and directly through the TV. So it’s not looking great for them.

Brands and advertisers may be more positive, though. The diversity and quality that YouView offers can only be positive for the TV marketplace and provides an opportunity for advertisers to reach an audience of more tech-savvy and affluent early adopters. It also offers incremental reach and diversity to currently existing VOD platforms, as the major terrestrial broadcasters expand their own pre-roll advertising to incorporate the new platform.

On the other hand, YouView themselves don’t offer a great deal to advertisers. Advertising space around the EPG and interface that was promised in 2010 has yet to appear and although they may counter that advertising revenues are not the aim of the project, there seems to be very little receptiveness towards the very group that could push the platform into the mainstream – and in the immediate future, keep it alive.

As ever, it will remain to be seen how YouView fares in an increasingly crowded market. Ultimately the consumers hold the key and Lord Sugar and his team will be hoping that YouView’s premium quality experience and backwards facing EPG (users can scroll backward in time to watch 7 day catch up, as well as look forward at upcoming programmes) will be enough to tempt current Freeview viewers to switch across to the new service.

Backed with a big marketing campaign that kicked off at the end of September, and industry giants such as BT and BBC behind the project, there’s certainly scope for success. But the opposite may also become evident, with many viewers feeling that they can get better value for money by going down the pay-tv routes that Virgin and Sky offer, or even turning to their connected TVs - that now make up over 30% of all primary TV sets owned in the UK.

It’s a big gamble and it’s one that big backers may be prepared to take, but ultimately YouView feels outdated before it’s even begun and we could see it outpaced by the very innovations that it helped to conceive.

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New UM London Study Reveals UK Addiction to Screens

UM London has launched the first in its ‘Little Book of Curiosity’ research series, Screen Time, and there are some critical messages for brands and agencies. According to the study, UK homes now have an average of three internet-enabled devices, and consumers are dedicating more and more time to each screen – often simultaneously. Marketers are therefore urged to develop more integrated advertising campaigns that span multiple screens and tap into their audiences on various levels. ‘Media meshing’ is becoming increasingly prominent, with 70% of tablet owners and 75% of smartphone owners using their device whilst watching TV. With smartphones, the majority of this activity is messaging family and friends, whilst iPad and laptop users spend more time browsing the Internet. Screen Time also considers the different ‘personalities’ of screens, to which brands need to be sensitive. On ‘playful’ tablets, for example, consumers demand advertising that is interactive and fun, whilst on TV, entertainment and relaxation are considered more important. Claire Spencer, Insights Director at UM London and author of the report, said: “With three quarters of consumers now multi-screening and multi-tasking, the days of linear media planning are over. For brands to stand out it is vital that campaigns work in three or even four screen dimensions.” Screen Time is the first in UM London’s ‘Little Book of Curiosity’ series, which is designed to unlock new ideas and fresh perspectives to help build more effective planning and communications strategies. It is a demonstration of the agency’s ‘Curiosity Works’ philosophy, in which cutting-edge thought leadership plays a crucial role. To see more specifics on the findings of the study, and gain a further understanding of the ‘actionable’ insights it provides, please see the full Screen Time report.

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A UM London take on RAJAR Q2

The RAJAR Q2 results are out, and it looks like another strong performance for digital radio. UM London’s Emily Smith and Cydne Flatter offer an expert analysis of the report’s key findings and what it all mean for the media world.

Cydne Flatter: Absolute Triumphs in this Quarter’s RAJARs

The overall story of today’s Rajar is a mixed one – whereas total reach and hours are down (1.8% and 4% yoy respectively) and the beeb has gained an additional share point quarter on quarter, it has been a story of success for digital listening with a large growth in DAB, online and mobile listening.

As Q2 has shown us, an average of 89% of the population have tuned into radio each week, equating to an 834,000 loss in listeners yoy.

In terms of national stations this meant that most major stations had to report slight decreases in listenership. Bauer’s Magic network had a weekly reach of 3.7 million, down 9.0% year on year but up 2.5% quarter on quarter with total listening hours down 13.7% year on year. Classic FM, the biggest national commercial station, had an average weekly reach of 5.5 million, down 4.4% year on year. Finally the Heart network had an average weekly reach of 7.4 million, down 4.0% year on year.

TalkSPORT, having previously always experienced high levels of growth, have seen a 9.1% yoy drop in reach, slipping just below the 3m mark. Reasons for this can be found in the move to an all sports format which was always going to be accompanied with fluctuations in listenership. It will be interesting to see how this new format unfolds once it is fully established and the Premier League returns to the station in Q3.

On a positive note there were also some commercial success stories. Capital network has been able to report a 1.5% increase with a weekly reach of 7m, Smooth Radio, which is in the process of being acquired by Global Radio, gained both in reach (up 1.6% yoy to 3.3m weekly listeners) and hours (up 5.5% yoy to 25.5m) and Choice grew 8.7% yoy to reach 738,000 listeners.

The overall commercial winner no doubt is Absolute Radio. Despite losing 8.1% yoy on hours, Absolute’s core FM stations has benefited from the live broadcast commentary of the England games at the Euro 2012, increasing its weekly reach 7% year on year and 9.4% quarter on quarter. Absolute Radio's network, which includes Absolute Planet Rock and Absolute 80s, increased its weekly reach to 3.2 million, up 9.7% year on year and 6.7% quarter on quarter and the highest reach the business has achieved in 12 years. As for Absolute’s breakfast show, Christian O’Connell has increased weekly reach by 13.7% yoy and 26% qoq to 674,000 listeners.

In London itself the market continues to be extremely competitive with only 330,000 listeners separating Capital in 1st place from Kiss in 4th of the commercial stations (Magic and Heart in 3rd and 4th respectively). However all 4 stations have reported quarter on quarter drops for their breakfast shows with even Capital London's Lisa Snowdon and Dave Berry recording a -8.6% QoQ demise.

As for the BBC breakfast shows, both BBC1 and 2 have seen an approximately 3% drop qoq, falling below the 9m and 7m mark respectively.

Overall the BBC has suffered a similar faith to commercial radio – with a combined 2% drop in reach, the only stations to have seen an increase being BBC2 (3.5% up yoy) and digital only stations 6 Music (up 8.6% yoy) and 1XTRA (+14.6% yoy)

Other key stats are:

Total listening hours down 4% yoy

Mobile listening 24% up yoyOnline listening up by 37% yoy

Total digital share of listening up 31.5%

Emily Smith: The Surge of Digital

The big story to come out of this quarter’s RAJARs is that digital radio listening has surpassed a 30% share for the first time (now accounting for 31.5% of all listening). A lot of this surge comes down to continued growth for DAB and Internet, whilst listening via digital TV has remained relatively static at just under 5%.

DAB has seen an increase of 13% share of listening hours YoY, with over 41% of adults now having access to a DAB set. Radioplayer, launched in Q2 2011, certainly seems to have played its part. By simplifying access to internet radio it has helped online listening hours increase from 39 million to 47 million YoY. It will be interesting to see the further effects of Radioplayer on UK internet radio listening, with mobile and TV apps proposed in future and a tie-in with TV platform YouView expected.

Mobile is also a success story for radio listening, with a marked increase in growth on last year. Nearly 18% of all adults claim to have listened to the radio via mobile phone, up from 14% in Q2 2011. This type of listening is proving more popular among 15-24 year olds, with 35% now claiming to have tuned in via mobile.

The popularity of smartphones has led many radio stations to create their own mobile apps, often with extra content, and many stations see this form of listening on the move as a key area of growth. Digital innovations such as mobile apps will provide radio stations with additional points of contact with consumers in future, and those who can take advantage of the explosion in popularity of smartphones will continue to benefit from this.

Key details:

Digital weekly reach now at 24.2 million (up from 22.1 million Q2 2011). 31.5% share of listening

Over 41% of adults own a DAB set, with share at 20.1% of all radio listening

Internet listening is continuing to grow now comprising 4.6% of all listening share

Mobile an area future growth with record listenership this quarter 

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Staying Connected with Gaming

UM London reports on E3, the world’s premier gaming conference.

“We'll get lots of software, and very little hardware”  - was the opinion of gaming bloggers and journalists ahead of the 2012 E3 conference, the world’s biggest gaming exhibition.

Despite the hype which began in early February, rumours around the next generation of gaming consoles had dissipated in the weeks leading up to the event, which left many industry watchers grumbling about the lack of big news.

Nevertheless, there was still plenty to see and it was clear that the major players had been hard at work extending the life of the current console generation through some quite smart accessories.

There was lots of interest around the unveiling of Microsoft’s Smartglass, an application that connects tablets, phones and PC’s to home consoles enabling users to play anywhere, anytime and anyhow. The device is not just about gaming, Smartglass will enable users to watch videos, movies and programmes on their tablet and pick up where they left off on their TV. Plus there is the ability to use your second-screen as an information window and there are remote control capabilities. This is clearly an extension of Microsoft’s drive to develop their connected entertainment offering, and joins the growing marketplace around second screening. It will be interesting to see how this opportunity will open up for brands alongside applications such as Zeebox and Shazam. Arguably, Microsoft is in the best position to capitalise on this opportunity with brands as they have a strong existing digital ad network (Microsoft Advertising) in which to integrate this technology.

Similarly, Nintendo revealed its upcoming Wii U console which features a wireless second screen controller. The device is similar to Smartglass in that it has multi-screen capabilities, yet it seemed to leave reviewers rather underwhelmed and certainly did not have as much of an impact as Smartglass. There were concerns around the battery life and the fact that it is not as powerful as other devices in the market. Plus there is the issue that it is not a portable gaming system like the other Nintendo DS models. Nonetheless, the exciting high-resolution touchpad controller and the impressive HD visuals really got people excited about the product and showed it had potential.

Sony’s interactive Harry Potter spin-off for the PS3 was another exciting instalment. In a move to broaden the console’s appeal to families, Sony has teamed up with much loved author J K Rowling to produce an augmented reality product for its PS3 console. Some feel that it may have been a little gimmicky, but it is another step forward for augmented reality and it will be interesting to see how Sony develops this application.

There were also some great hidden teasers including software and new games that bore signs of next generation gaming. For example, LucasArt’s Star Wars 1313 showed evidence on both a visual and operational level that it will need to be run on next generation consoles. Even more tantalising, Dominic Robilliard (the game’s director) announced that the game’s footage was controlled by a real player and running in real time.

In conclusion, this year’s E3 was quite flat for many, as the gaming community continues to hold its breath for a much anticipated conference in 2013. However, opinion was split on this year’s applications and accessories. Some felt that Smartglass and Wii U were just cynical ways of breathing life in to existing, ageing machines – they were merely attempts to generate as much profit as possible out of the remaining life cycle of the products.

For others, the idea of connected entertainment and clever accessories for current devices felt truly ground breaking and demonstrated great practical thinking and resourcefulness.  These extension devices showed real signs of what the future will hold and how we will consume and interact with content across multiple platforms and devices.

Products like Smartglass and Wii U speak volumes about the future of entertainment. They show how consoles are becoming a one stop shop for content and show how games are evolving into tailored experiences and interactive entertainment portals that will extend beyond the TV screen. It will also be interesting to see whether the launch of Microsoft's Surface tablet will have an impact on gaming, with its hybrid hardware bridging the gap between desktop, smartphone and tablet technologies.

Ultimately, these super connected devices will change what we will expect from living room entertainment and will challenge all the major players in this space to up their game. They will need to ensure that their devices/services are at the centre of this complex eco-system of digital content and one thing’s for sure; the pace of change will only increase.

By Emma Lodge, Media Planner

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UM London Appointed to £1m TRIA Beauty Media Account

UM London has been appointed by TRIA Beauty to its £1m strategic media planning and buying account.

TRIA Beauty, Inc. creates light-based skincare products that deliver professional beauty results in the home. It is one of the fastest-growing companies in North America and was ranked 88th on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 list in 2011. UM London’s appointment coincides with TRIA’s strategy to grow the business in the UK. UM London is using a combination of precision targeted print advertorials and advertising, digital display and cross media partnerships to create launch momentum for the TRIA brand in 2012. Richard Glover, Vice President & General Manager, Europe for TRIA Beauty commented, “We are very pleased to have UM on board. They have the experience of delivering highly successful campaigns for premium brands, and we look forward to the future relationship in the UK”. Russell Place, Chief Strategy Officer at UM London, said, “It’s great to work with an ambitious, challenger brand like TRIA and help it meet its growth objectives in the UK”. Click here to read the article on today's Media Week.

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UM London Win Eden Project Big Jubilee Lunch Brief

UM London has been appointed by the UK Social Enterprise and Charity, Eden Project, to bolster marketing support for its Big Jubilee Lunch (BJL) project.

A 60-second spot, created by McCann London, will appear on TV and in cinema from Tuesday 22nd May for two weeks. The national digital TV campaign will be seen on E4, More 4, Gold, Dave, Blighty, Good Food, Home, Really and Watch, while the national digital cinema activity with Pearl & Dean will run across cinemas in key conurbations. The ad features celebrities including Barbara Windsor, Phil Vickery and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, intercut with members of the public, all talking about what they will bring to the table for The Big Jubilee Lunch. It was created by McCann Creative Directors Matt Crabtree and Simon Hepton. The Lottery-funded Big Jubilee Lunch is part of the celebrations for The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, as announced by Buckingham Palace, and takes place on Sunday 3rd June. It encourages people to come together to share lunch with neighbours, friends and family – this could be a street party or a gathering in a back garden, park or community hall. Research shows that holding Big Lunches has a lasting and deep impact on community relations. The BJL is run by the Eden Project, a UK Social Enterprise and Charity. Since BJL was established in 2009, thousands of Big Lunches have taken place in all kinds of communities, and in 2011 the number of participants grew to 2 million. Rita Broe, Strategic Marketing Director at the Eden Project, said: “This campaign is designed to promote the Big Jubilee Lunch in an engaging, inclusive andinspiring way, and to really boost participation in the final weeks of our campaign. The message is that it’s never too late to bring something to the table and have a Big Jubilee Lunch. We’re delighted with the way UM and McCann embraced our brief and we know this campaign will help even more people to take the plunge and knock on their neighbours’doors to organise community celebrations.” Kamal Korpal, TV Director at UM London, commented: “We are delighted to be working with the Eden Project to help promote the Big Jubilee Lunch on their first-ever TV andcinema campaign. It is important to celebrate the critical job that bringing communities together can deliver and we are honoured to play our part.”   Several versions of the film will also be shown on the large BBC Big Screens around the UK, many of which will be hosting Big Jubilee Lunches for their local communities on June 3rd. The Big Lunch is led by the Eden Project and is funded by The Big Lottery Fund and partnered by MasterCard, EDF Energy, Kingsmill and Asda. Click here to read the story as reported by Campaign

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Old El Paso Brings Fiesta To Jubilee Weekend

Old El Paso is launching a bold new outdoor and digital campaign this week, celebrating the Jubilee weekend and encouraging consumers to embrace the extra-long weekend with friends and family.

Working with UM London for brand and media strategy and Workclub for creative, the UK’s leading Mexican brand will kick off the new campaign on TV with a brand new rally cry for consumers to, ‘Bring on la Fiesta!’ A London targeted outdoor campaign bought with Posterscope will ramp up the excitement, capitalising on the influx of visitors to the capital over the extended bank holiday.  Activity will run across roadside and underground 48s, T sides on London buses and national Transvision screens.  Messaging will be contextually targeted and will encourage consumers to ‘Bring on the Jubilicious weekend!’ The brand will also have activity on screens at the official Jubilee viewing encouraging the crowd to initiate a celebratory Mexican wave! Alongside broadcast media, the campaign is being supported by a heavyweight Facebook campaign designed to grow and engage the community.  This element of the campaign launched earlier this month and has already enjoyed great success with a 90% engagement rate in the first 2 weeks of activity! Ed Culf, Marketing Director at General Mills says: "The upcoming campaign is the start of a fresh and exciting new communications approach for Old El Paso in 2012. The brand sits at the heart of friend and family occasions, so the Jubilee weekend, as the kick-off event to the ‘Summer of Euphoria’, is the perfect time to engage our consumers." Laura Sweeney, Business Director at UM London, says: "Our brand strategy for 2012 has sociability and conviviality at its core so we've embedded this in the fabric of the plan. We’re using media to position Old El Paso at the centre of the celebrations, both in the heart of London through our outdoor plan and in the buzz of conversation online"

Read the story as reported by Campaign here.

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Decadent Launch For New Häagen-Dazs Secret Sensations

Häagen-Dazs is embarking on a multi-media advertising campaign to support its luxurious new ice cream range, Häagen-Dazs Secret Sensations, which kicked off with an exclusive, top secret London event last week.

The invite-only event, organised by PR agency Beige London, was held at one of London’s most secretive and exclusive venues, The Box, and featured some of Britain’s hottest young musicians, actresses and fashionistas including Tamsin Egerton, Donna Air and Daisy Lowe. Working with UM London, the luxury ice-cream brand will now be ramping up activity with a heavyweight £1m TV and Video on Demand campaign which kicked off on the 14th May. It will be their longest TV ad campaign to date. Patricia Stevens, Business Executive at UM London says: "The TV and VOD campaign will showcase the luxurious new Secret Sensations product and target Häagen-Dazs’ core audience of women 16-34." The new product, launched earlier this year, is an indulgent ice cream with a soft heart of sauce. It comes in two decadent flavours: Chocolat Fondant and Crème Brûlée and is perfect for a truly indulgent treat. The new range has also been widely sampled to at key London fashion events, to media and bloggers and in retail supermarkets across the UK. Kate Sykes Brand Manager at Häagen-Dazs says: "Our initial activity to drive trial of Secret Sensations has already produced some excellent results and we can’t wait to see the reaction of consumers on a larger scale.  Our exclusive launch event helped communicate the luxurious nature of the product, and our ATL support will enable us to drive nationwide awareness." You can watch the new TV ad here.

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Are you happy at work? This TED Talk is all about happiness as a life choice, and the positive effect it has on productivity at work.

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UM London wins £5m Royal Mail account

UM London has won the Royal Mail media planning & buying account after a 6-month pitch process. The appointment of UM London is expected to start immediately and will involve the IPG-agency working on various projects across the Royal Mail business including a special gold medal stamps programme to celebrate Team GB Olympic gold medal wins this summer. UM London will work closely with Beta London who won the creative account for Royal Mail back in June 2011.  Beta is responsible for leading the creative and strategic work to help develop brand communication campaigns for Royal Mail.

Ben Rhodes, Head of Marketing, Royal Mail, said of the appointment,

“UM London delivered a top class pitch presentation full of powerful insights, creative thinking and a real understanding of the challenges that face one of the largest and most trusted brands in the UK during a time of business transformation.  I am delighted to be working with them as we look to meet our commercial objectives with businesses and consumers in 2012 and beyond.” Andy Jones, CEO for UM London, said, “We are thrilled to be working with the prestigious Royal Mail brand. We look forward to contributing to their business results with our best in class people, thinking, product and measurement tools at what is an incredibly exciting time for the company in 2012.”

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Social Media and TV Merge for C4’s Latest Offering

Last week Channel 4 announced the launch of its first new channel since 2005. 4seven is a linear TV channel that will be available this summer across Freeview, Sky and Virgin.

In our latest UM Opinion piece, Broadcast Buyer Cydne Flatter considers what it means for the media marketplace, and whether brands need to be taking note.

The big idea behind 4Seven is to give people the chance to catch up with those programmes that have received the highest presence in social media throughout the previous week. As Channel 4 CEO David Abraham put it, “it will schedule content that is creating noise – amongst commentators, bloggers, Twitter and Facebook and, of course, via contact our viewers are now able to have directly with us”. It will also feature shows that Channel 4 feels did not get the deserved attention due to simultaneous competitive programming or lack of promotion.

Abraham is hoping the channel will give viewers an alternative to current catch up services: “With so much choice out there, viewers are increasingly saying they sometimes just miss the best stuff, despite their PVR and VoD. 4Seven will give viewers more chances to catch the most popular and talked about Channel 4 shows from the last seven days.”

By going down the social media route, Channel 4 is attempting to tap into an ever-increasing phenomenon of consumer commentary and viewing involvement. Formats such as Zeebox, Twitter and Facebook encourage viewers to post their opinions on TV programmes before, during and after airing. Essentially, 4Seven is researching and monitoring these opinions and repeating relevant shows the following week - guaranteeing interest among viewers.

It’s clever. But my question is; will viewers who are already involved in online discussions and who are intrigued by reviews and commentaries really want to wait another week to see a programme they are reading about now? The attention span of social media users is short and hype tends to slow down quickly. In times where even a phone allows you to watch catch-up TV at any given point in time, why wait another seven days?

In a way Channel 4 has attempted this concept before with the show ‘Seven Days’ in 2010. The programme followed real life people in Notting Hill discussing political, sporting and celebrity stories throughout the week and delved into their own personal stories and relationships. It was then shown 7 days later, by which point most people had lost interest in last week’s news. Needless to say, the concept didn’t take off and ended up reaching less than 300,000 viewers per episode.

So, who will 4seven appeal to? The high element of social media, and the fact that the primary shows will be one-off documentaries such as My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding and Dispatches, would suggest a young, upmarket skew - a demographic Channel 4 has built its reputation on targeting and charges advertisers a premium to reach.

Since the loss of Big Brother and a lack of regular high rating programmes to replace this, Channel 4’s impacts have noticeably dropped year on year, especially for this sought after young audience. So, 4seven should help out significantly by offering an increase in advertising inventory across Channel 4’s most popular shows. Forecasts suggest boosts of commercial impacts by about 7% - 10%, however given the current TV market and the first-time concept this might be slightly ambitious and probably only sustainable in novelty start-up period.

Should brands be taking note? I would say it’s definitely worth keeping an eye on. Being a linear TV catch up channel, 4seven will allow advertisers to buy into popular peak programmes at more cost effective rates.

Channel 4, who pride themselves on being young, innovative and experimental are viewing this channel as a new platform for viewer engagement and expect to sell the same programme to the same advertiser across both the main channel and a week later on 4seven, ensuring an incremental reach figure as well as presence in or around a show that has received high publicity. Being built on social media and viewer interaction and participation, 4seven could have the potential to engage viewers on a deeper level than ever before. Assuming that a large proportion of the station’s viewers will already be involved in dual screening, it could open up new and innovative opportunities for any advertiser trying to tap into the cross media market.

In light of the ever increasing overlap between different media, this is clearly a concept worth exploring – especially given that 40% of prime time tweets are now TV related and dual screening is on the rise.  We’ll certainly have it on our radar. Channel 4 might well have hit the jackpot.

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Pinterest is turning millions of heads around the globe. This week UM London’s Head of Digital, Alan King, considers why brands should take note.

I wouldn’t call my wife an early adopter when it comes to digital media. She’s never posted a question on Quora and wouldn’t dream of attending a Google+ hangout; but for 12 months or so she’s been doing the same thing a lot of other non-early adopter types have been doing: pinning pictures of things she likes to an online scrapbook. The online scrapbook in question is called Pinterest and Pinterest is the latest hottest property in social media. In the US it has been cited by Comscore as the fastest site in history to reach 10m unique users. Twitter reduced blogging to 140 characters; Pinterest goes a step further and boils it down to pictures. It’s a visual social network that enables users to curate collections of images from the web under different "boards" or categories; think of a visual Twitter that looks like a glossy catalogue. If another user likes a particular photo they can ‘repin’ it to their own board or if they really like a users’ ‘pins’ they can follow them. The most common board categories are fashion, style, crafts, food & home. That sounds like the content of the stack of magazines my wife leaves down by her side of the bed; no wonder she’s been so interested for so long. Overall site usage has been driven by likeminded women who comprise 81% of its 19m worldwide user-base according to Google Adplanner. User numbers are growing fast. Ten months ago Comscore reported Pinterest to have just over 400k unique users and this rose to 11.7m in January. A quick look at Google Adplanner now estimates it to be 19m. The site looks like an online catalogue and most images link back to the image destination; often this is an ecommerce site. Retailers are already taking note; The Gap and Nordstrom amongst others have already created their own boards and with good reason. According to content sharing firm Shareaholic, Pinterest drove 3.6 percent of all Web traffic referrals to other sites in January, more than Google+, LinkedIn, Reddit and YouTube combined. Pinterest placed just behind Twitter for fourth place on that traffic referral list, with Facebook No. 1 at 26.4 percent. Pinterest already has a category called ‘Gifts’. It groups products you can buy from $1-$20 up to $500+ and directs you to where you can buy them. I have seen photos of 4 bed houses for sale on the site put up by estate agents. It’s easy to see how businesses can take advantage. In other words, brands are missing a trick if they don’t have Pinterest on their radar. By creating a board and ‘Pinning’ onto it, they will essentially be building a new social connection with their customers - supplying small snippets of information, and grabbing people’s attention with a pretty picture. But what about Pinterest? What’s in it for them? The online business model since Google seems to be to build audience first and figure out how to make cash later. Pinterest seems to have a semblance of a strategy in place and commentators are already complaining. Pinterest adds affiliate links to some images; initially ones featuring goods for sale online through Amazon, eBay, Target and thousands of other smaller merchants. Those links generate payments for Pinterest from the retailers if someone clicks through and buys a product featured in the pin. Affiliate links are common practice but Pinterest has been criticised for a lack of transparency by social commentators as most users have no idea this is happening. Pinterest faces a bigger worry; almost all of the images posted by its users were copied from other websites without permission opening the door to serious copyright infringement concerns. I’m yet to find an image that doesn’t link back to the source but neither the user nor Pinterest has the permission to ‘rip’ photos from source and re-host them. Copyright infringement is a big deal but whether ‘pinning’ a photo of a wedding dress or a plate of food is seen in the same light as illegally downloading an album remains to be seen.  It may be overhyped but I think the site will go from strength to strength. People love sharing things on the web and Pinterest enables that in an easy, elegant and monetisable way; the only fly in the ointment is that Pinterest allows people to share things that don’t belong to them and not everyone agrees with that. For more social media insights, please visit www.wave6.co.uk, where you can download a copy of UM’s latest global study into social media.

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UM teams up Microsoft and Global to create industry's first ever technology partnership

Global Radio, the UK’s largest commercial radio group, is partnering with Microsoft in a significant deal orchestrated by UM London, which sees Microsoft products and services integrated across all of Global’s brands.    The partnership is the first of its kind in the country and enables Microsoft’s numerous brands to engage and interact with Global Radio’s 19.5 million* weekly listeners.  It follows a similar deal last year, also set up by UM, which saw Microsoft team with Capital and Heart across a series of activities.   The activity will reflect Microsoft’s complete consumer offering and promotes Microsoft’s search engine Bing – including Bing Maps, exclusive Windows Phone 7 mobile apps and branded SMS bounce-backs, MSN and Window’s Live Messenger integration into online presenter chats and Hotmail messaging across external communication.   Paul Davies, Director of Marketing Communications at Microsoft, said:  “We are delighted to see some of our newest and most exciting products - along with our most well-known and trusted brands - being integrated under the Global umbrella. Microsoft is uniquely equipped to take how Global engages with its audiences across multiple platforms to a new level.  The scale of Global’s combined UK audience and reach is very exciting for us and we look forward to the creative opportunities this collaboration will provide.”   Amanda Burningham, Ideation Director at UM London said: “This is a significant achievement for UM, and we’re really proud to be behind what is likely to become a hugely successful media partnership. It’s another great example of how we can use our excellent relationships with media owners to build broader partnerships well outside the scope of standard media.”   Mike Gordon, Global Radio’s Commercial Director said:  “This is a landmark deal for Global, which sees Microsoft integrated across our entire brand portfolio.  It follows a successful partnership in 2009 and we’re delighted to be working with Microsoft once again.” The story was reported this morning in Marketing Week, as well as on Brand Republic.

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UM Reveals Wave 5 Findings at Exclusive London Event

The latest findings from the fifth instalment of UM’s social media tracker, Wave, were unveiled last night at London Business School in front of a select group of agency clients, media and  UM employees.

The event was also streamed live across the world on www.umww.com with people tweeting their questions for the expert panel from countries including Colombia, Canada and Holland. President, UM EMEA, Jim Hytner kicked off proceedings by welcoming the global audience to the first ever live Wave broadcast and introduced the highly esteemed panel before handing over to Glen Parker, Research Director, UM, EMEA. Glen then talked through the findings from the largest Wave study conducted to date, covering 53 markets and 36,800 active internet users. The results provided various points for debate as Patrick Barwise, Emeritus Professor of Management & Marketing, London Business School led the panel in discussion over social media usage in general and the demands and requirements of consumers and brands alike. Wave 5 highlighted the huge growth in people accessing the internet via mobile with 30% of users now doing so. This statistic was supported by Joanna Shields, VP Sales & Business Development, Facebook who revealed that almost a third of Facebook’s 500 million members logon to their profile from their mobile device. The panel agreed that this demand for frequent access to social media provided great opportunities for brands via highly targeted marketing using new geo tagging apps such as Facebook Places and Foursquare. The Wave research also found that younger demographics still prove to be more deeply engaged, using the social media platforms as one-stop shops for interacting with peers, from direct messaging to pictures and information sharing. Therefore, tapping into that space is increasingly more valuable to brands, with social media communities often proving to be more valuable than traditional brand websites. “It is vital for businesses to understand this new wave of interactive digital branding,” said Jeannette Liendo, Global Campaigns Director, Corporate Marketing Group, Microsoft. “New conversation engines are emerging every day and a company must be able to leverage them by saying something meaningful. Clearly the market’s traditional media spend is continuously shifting to digital. At a minimum, brands need to invest in social listening.” In summary, Glen Parker commented: “There is a huge benefit to brands that engage with consumers in the social space, but the challenge is to identify the type of social experience consumers actually want. Wave 5 demonstrates that a deep understanding of these consumer needs is the key to creating compelling and successful social media programmes.” If you would like to download a PDF of the Wave5 booklet please click here.

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UM Prepares To Unveil Wave 5 Findings

The latest findings from the fifth instalment of UM’s social media tracker, Wave, will be unveiled on the evening of Thursday 14th October at the London Business School and you can watch the event live from 6.30pm.  Just visit www.umww.com on the day and click the “Wave 5” button. Viewers will also be able to interact and put questions live to the panel via Twitter, using the hashtag #wave5.

Since 2006, the Wave surveys have measured the scale and impact of social media across the globe and this year, Wave 5  ‘The Socialisation of Brands’ aims to reveal how brands can capitalise  on the ever changing social web environment.

Now covering 53 markets and 36,800 active internet users, Wave 5 will uncover the impact of consumer social media activity on brands, trends in social media usage and the different demands and requirements of consumers. The panel discussion to be moderated by Patrick Barwise, Emeritus Professor of Management & Marketing, London Business School, will feature the following social media experts and brand leaders: • Joanna Shields, VP Sales & Business Development, Facebook • Jeannette Liendo, Global Campaigns Director, Corporate Marketing Group, Microsoft • Anthony Mooney, Marketing Director, Northern Rock • Stefana Broadbent, Digital Anthropologist • James Harris, Head of Digital, UM, EMEA • Glen Parker, Head of Research, UM, EMEA

Glen Parker, Head of Research, UM, EMEA said: "We’re really excited to be broadcasting the discussion of the Wave5 findings live online. The study illustrates another stage in the evolution of social media usage and how it is essential for brands to embrace this if they are to survive in an increasingly web based world." So if you want to join in the discussion or just watch, tune in to www.umww.com and hit the “Wave 5” button – live from 6.30pm on Thursday 14th October.