Amazon has launched the Amazon Art marketplace, an extension of its marketplace partner offerings, selling fine art from the likes of Warhol, Rockwell and Monet in a bid to ‘demystify the world of art’.

With more than 40,000 pieces of fine art from over 150 dealers and galleries, the online fine art store is one of the largest online art collections, representing in excess of 4,500 artists.

Included in the marketplace are paintings, photos, prints and more, with high-end galleries Paddle8 and Holden Luntz represented, Amazon has also partnered with galleries from the US, UK, the Netherlands and Canada.

Available pieces range from a Clifton Ross photo priced at $200, to a $200,000 Warhol, and a $2.5m Monet.

In addition to high quality and detailed information about each piece, users will also be able to learn about the artist, provenance and exhibition history, providing the full “gallery experience” according to Amazon.

The new storefront consolidates and makes searchable a collection that was previous fractured and spread over a number of stores. Search results can be narrowed to specific subjects such as size, colours, price and gallery.

“We are excited to bring one of the largest selections of fine art direct from galleries to our customers. Amazon Art gives galleries a way to bring their passion and expertise about the artists they represent to our millions of customers,” said Peter Faricy, vice president for the Amazon Marketplace. “We’re thrilled to bring the excitement and emotional connection of art to our customers.”

Coca-Cola and Visit Peak District have both released statements in response to being featured in Channel 4’s Dispatches Investigation – Celebs, Brands and Fake Fans.

The investigation, which looked at how some agencies were employing strategies to unnaturally grow their client’s social media presence, featured both of the organisations, with Coca-Cola used as an example of a company who had, apparently unknowingly, hired an agency to employ people to increase campaign views.

Coca-Cola has denied hiring the agency to work on the featured Coca-Cola, called Shareyt.com.

The company’s statement in full read: “The Coca-Cola Company is committed to marketing honestly, transparently and with integrity across the globe and through all media.

“As part of that approach, we do not condone any use of ‘fake fans’ by our Company or our partner agencies. We have a strong policy of complying, and requiring our fans to comply, with Facebook policies and principles, and Facebook is actively policing fake users and accounts.

“We take these allegations very seriously and have investigated them.

“We have found no record of working with Shareyt.com. If we were to find any improprieties, we would work to end such practices immediately.

“We will continue to act with honesty, authenticity and transparency, as reflected in our Social Media Principles and Code of Business Conduct, across all media. “

Meanwhile, tourism body Visit Peak District and Debryshire, which was also featured for a similar reason, working alongside Sheffield-based social media company SM4B, has said that it did so “in good faith.”

The organisation’s CEO David James, continued by explaining the recruitment process for the agency: “As a matter of course, we undertook a reasonable due diligence exercise as far as our resources allowed, and did not find anything to suggest that the company was engaging in unlawful or inappropriate practices.

“We commissioned SM4B in early 2013 to promote an online competition on a trial basis on our behalf. The results were unsatisfactory, raising only ten per cent of the Facebook entries we received, and as a result the brief contact between ourselves and the company was terminated.

“As soon as we were presented with evidence that alleged SM4B was breaching legislation and operating in a fraudulent and dishonest manner, we formally severed all ties with the company and sent written confirmation to this effect,” he added.

“Visit Peak District & Derbyshire’s policy is to grow its social media activity ethically and legally, and we would never knowingly use dishonest and unlawful means to boost the popularity and reach of our online campaigns,” continued James.

“We welcome the programme makers’ confirmation that ‘there is no suggestion that Visit Peak District has behaved improperly in any way’, and would like to reassure the media, the public, all our stakeholders, commercial partners and members that we will make every possible effort to ensure that such an apparently serious breach of the ethical and legal standards we expect from our sub-contractors does not happen again.”

The programme also investigated alleged breaches of social media promotion rules by actors from Coronation Street.

Further reaction to the programme has been provided by agencies such as Blue Rubicon, SapientNitro, DigitasLBi, Weber Shandwick and We Are Social.

There's a wonderful piece of hyperbole at the centre of this film reminding us to spare a thought for the charities we support when we're writing our wills. A man's quiet contemplation is brought to a harrowing end when he realises how it's been misinterpreted by the woman tormenting him with dull chat.

Agency: Atomic
Creative Director: Guy Bradbury
Creative: Samantha Laub / Tim Kitell
TV Producer: Kelly Noble
Production Co: Mustard
Director: Ben Liam Jones
Editing House: Marshall Street Editors
Editor: Elena de Palma
Audio: Grand Central
Sound Designer: Tom Pugh

BullionByPost has revealed its first ever ad campaign, airing across nine satellite television channels from this week.

The £100,000 three-week campaign features a full 60” ad as well as a shortened 30” version. There are two versions of each – one with a male voiceover and another with a female voiceover - both will air throughout the initial campaign run in order for the marketing team and BullionByPost to analyse which ad engages best with the target audience.

Rob Halliday-Stein, founder of the Birmingham-based company which specialises in delivering gold and silver bars and coins directly to customers, commented: “Currently the majority of our customers are male, but we're keen to grow our female customer base too, and we hope this may reach out to those who may not have previously considered investing in gold coins or bars.

“We like both versions of the adverts so it'll be interesting to see whether the male or female voice-over proves more popular. Once we know, we may then look to run that advert over a longer period of time.”

Produced by London ad agency, Space City Productions, BullionByPost has also worked with media buying company Guerillascope on the advertising activity.

The Drum teamed with One Minute Brief today to issue its followers with a creative brief - to design adverts that would promote the genetically grown beef burger that was displayed to the world's media yesterday. There is time to vote for your favourites still, but The Drum chose a few of its own favourites, and here they are to give you a chuckle.

Tweet your votes to @OneMinuteBriefs

Samsung is aiming to showcase the lens capabilities of its Galaxy S4 and Galaxy NX devices in a novel way, by handing the gadgets to 16 adventurers and then casting them adrift on a desert island.

The unconventional stunt will see contestants plucked from around the world to take part in a range of tasks and challenges designed to put them (and their cameras) through their paces.

Participants will share images from the events to the brands Facebook page in a competition for votes with the snapper of the most popular pics coming home with a $100k cash prize.

Taking the form of a reality TV show the island goings on will be overseen by ‘Survivorman’ star and survival expert Les Stroud in a live broadcast simultaneously on YouTube and Facebook from 30 September.

Budding volunteers are invited to SOS-Island.com until 2 Sept to claim a spot on the getaway.

A Latvian social networking site which allows users to post anonymously on people’s pages has apologised following the suicide of one of its members who had been a target of abuse.

Hannah Smith from Leicestershire was found hanged on Friday after receiving a number of messages telling her to die, prompting an angry response from her father and commentators.

In a statement the social networking site said: "Hannah Smith's death is a tragedy; we would like to convey our deepest condolences to her family and friends.

"We have reached out to Leicestershire police and would be happy to co-operate with their investigation into the circumstances.

"Ask.fm actively encourages our users and their parents to report any incidences of bullying, either by using the in-site reporting button, or via our contact page.

"All reports are read by our team of moderators to ensure that genuine concerns are heard and acted upon immediately - and we always remove content reported to us that violates our terms of service."

It is just the latest instance of so called ‘cyber bullying’ to hit the headlines and has prompted 10,000 people to sign an e-petition calling for new safeguards to be introduced for sites used by children.

Twitter has moved to bolster its app security with the introduction of a new log-in system designed to safeguard its iOS and Android apps.

This allows members of the micro-blogging service to approve log in requests direct from their phone but users must first enroll.

The new system means users no longer have to provide their phone number by using push messaging and in-application approvals instead. This means that log-in verification by SMS, only available in some countries, is no longer required, allowing people to log in with just an internet connection and supported app.

In addition back-up codes will now be generated to allow people access to their accounts when their phone goes missing and users will also benefit from more context such as browser details and approximate location when a log-in request is made.

Other changes introduced by Twitter include search suggestions that offer social context and a new photo gallery search option.

Bristows Chewy Bonbons has unveiled new packaging, created by Aesop, hot on the heels of its traditional bonbon packaging being refreshed earlier this year.

Each flavour has been created as a different character, with the ‘mouth’ doubling as a pack window,

Martin Grimer, executive creative director at Aesop, said: “We had great fun with this campaign – it’s not every day that you get your new business director gurning for a living! The Chewy Bonbons are aimed at a younger audience so the design needed to be colourful and fun and engaging. It was also vital that both the design and the campaign communicate the chewy experience and flavour hit.”

The work for Chewy Bonbons is part of an ongoing integrated campaign by Aesop for Bristows and includes packaging, POS and print.

Disney has reported a modest uptick in profits for the third quarter following a strong showing by its ABC and ESPN media networks and theme parks, offsetting a calamitous loss of up to $190m incurred by The Lone Ranger film.

The Jonny Depp vehicle saw operating income at Disney’s movie studio collapse by 36 per cent after its box office takings failed to recoup a vast marketing spend, although these losses are likely to be felt most keenly in fourth quarter results.

Overall the entertainment giant recorded net income of $1.85bn for the three months to July, up one per cent from a year earlier, with revenue rising four per cent to hit $11.58bn.

Robert A. Iger, Disney's chairman and chief executive, said in a statement: "We are pleased with the results we delivered in the third quarter. We are confident that our strategy of creating high-quality branded content positions us well for the future."

Socialbakers has announced the appointment of Buddy Media’s Luca Benini as the as vice president of sales for the EMEA region.

Having held responsibility of establishing Buddy Media's presence and operations in the region, when Salesforce acquired Buddy Media in August 2012, he joined the Salesforce Marketing Cloud EMEA executive team as MD.

Benini said: “It’s great to be coming on board to lead a team with such energy. I believe that Socialbakers has the best technology, and as experts in both marketing and social analytics, we are ideally positioned to help our clients take social marketing to the next level.”

CEO Jan Rezab added: “Luca has a proven track record having helped a number of software and analytics businesses to become regional and global leaders. His dedication to clients and know-how is a welcome help in keeping Socialbakers ahead of the game.”

Socialbakers has recently made a number of new senior hires including Helen Crowley as VP of global client services, Rob Schatzel as head of US sales and James Bohda as CFO.

As part of a series looking at trends in paper and print and what the medium offers marketers, including a look at the role of print in a digital world and a feature on the rebirth of classic design techniques, The Drum caught up with those operating across the paper and print spectrum to get their views on what paper and print offers over digital.

Jonathan Mitchell, managing director, Arjowiggins Creative Papers
In my mind the question is not about print or digital but it’s about the rightful place of creativity. Louis Armstrong said: “There’s two kinds of music; the good and the bad. I play the good kind”.

It’s the same with brand communication; there’s good and bad print and good and bad digital. Creativity needs to be used to deliver great design in brand communication. Print needs to be used in combination with digital. Print brings a physical and emotional connection to a brand and can make a recipient feel special and valued. Research has shown that direct mail with strong creative achieves twice the average response rate. Whereas digital offers immediacy, speed and efficiency and is well suited for brief, follow up messages to existing customers.

Tom Priestley, head of print, Liaison Print Management
What does paper and print offer over digital?
 
It can create real cut through and standout as a communication channel, whether it’s a cleverly created, targeted and well-timed piece of direct mail or a brochure that is picked up in-store. Because print lives in the physical world it isn’t consumed in the same way or quite often at the same time as its competing digital platforms. How often do people at work still print out that presentation or email so they can read through it at their desk and make amends with a pen? In order to get the most out of print we have to understand the consumer and how and why they are going to respond to print over digital communications.

Marian Thomasson, marketing manager, Antalis UK
Paper and print is a very tactile and eye-catching medium, which opens up an incredible range of opportunities for designers and marketers that wish to create beautiful, multi-sensory pieces of work. Digital devices, however sophisticated, cannot replicate the look, feel and individual characteristics of paper and other substrates.

Pari Blackbeard, head of marketing and promotion, Fedrigoni
Printed paper will always carry a sense of prestige; it has qualities you just can’t replicate on screen. The way a printed sheet smells and its tactile nature will always make digital mediums less appealing. We are so bombarded by the digital world that when you’re given a printed piece it makes you want to cherish it even more.

Graham Congreve, director, Evolutionprint
Paper and print offers a physicality that can be experienced and felt – it lives and breathes. It’s tactile, sensory and offers added value. Audiences appreciate good print even more in a digitised world.

Andrew Harris, European & UK Graphic Arts Customer Marketing, Professional Print Solutions, Canon Europe
Print is an effective communications tool that adds value to any marketing campaign. It is tangible and engages multiple senses, something that the end-user can hold, feel and sometimes even smell. It is tactile and has longevity, which enables it to grab attention, capture the imagination and ‘stick’ in the memory of the recipient. A high quality piece of print has authority and conveys importance, and is an ideal tool for both building brands and delivering corporate messages. In an email-saturated market, print is still the most effective way to reach consumers – research from the Direct Marketing Association in the UK found that 91 per cent of printed direct mail sent to prospects is opened.

This article is published as part of The Drum's Paper and Print supplement.

The UK government has announced that it is to ban premium rate customer service telephone lines after unveiling draft proposals which would force firms to offer normal landline rates for consumers.

This would affect companies such as PC World, Argos and the Royal Mail but call centres operated by banks, train operators and Whitehall departments would be exempt.

The crackdown on 084 and 087 numbers has been led by consumer minister Jo Swinson in order to prevent situations whereby customers phoning up to complain are forced to pay over the odds.

It is estimates that such practices cost UK consumers up to £2bn a year and accounted for 12 per cent of total call traffic volume and ten per cent of total revenues.

Commenting on the measure Richard Lloyd, executive director of Which?, said: “It’s unbelievable that companies would add insult to injury by charging their customers a premium to make a complaint. The proposals to end this practice are long overdue, so it’s encouraging to see the Government tackling this issue."

Barclays are set to capitalise on the media frenzy around Prince George after being commissioned by London mayor Boris Johnson to deliver a custom built tricycle to ‘acculturate him to the joy of cycling’.

The unique present would be modelled on the famous hire bikes sponsored by the bank which populate the streets of the capital, affectionately known as ‘Boris Bikes’.

It is likely to prove an even more generous gift for Barclays themselves however as the bankers revel in their Royal seal of approval.

Announcing his gift during a slot on LBC Radio, Johnson said: “I’m glad it has been confirmed we are sending Prince George a beautiful, bouncing blue tricycle to get him on the bike at the earliest possible opportunity and to acculturate him to the joy of cycling.”

Amongst the gifts already received by the young prince are a collection of Roald Dahl books from David Cameron, a cot blanket from Nick Clegg and a baby apple tree from Ed Milliband.

Kia has launched a multichannel advertising campaign featuring press and digital for its pro_cee’d GT high performance car model.

Adverts ‘skip through the boring bits’ of an office worker’s day to get to finishing time and drive the pro_cee’d GT. The campaign was created by e3.

Kim Wiggins, digital marketing manager at Kia Motors (UK) Limited, said: “With our target audience heavily digitally focused, e3 has worked with us to create an immersive experience that truly reflects the excitement this new car brings.”

The campaign will drive users towards the brand’s established iBrochures platform and the Kia website.

MiAwards, the annual awards scheme organised by MiNetwork which aim to identify the very best independent marketing services agencies in the UK, are now officially open for entry and the judging panel has today been bolstered by the appointment of AMV BBDO chief executive Ian Perman and commercial director of Odeon Cinemas Andy Edge.

Now in its fifth year, MiAwards is open to both MiNetwork member and non-member agencies and award categories cover both Business and Strategic Marketing giving independent agencies of all sizes the opportunity to show that not only are they highly successful businesses in their own right, but the work they do for clients is also highly effective.

All MiNetwork members receive two complimentary entries to MiAwards as part of their membership package and this year MiAwards is being sponsored by a range of leading suppliers of services and products to agencies including Little Black Book, Wild Heather Digital Research, Boutique Media, The Wow Company and Evolution Print.

Along with Perman and Edge, the judging panel also consists of Barry Dudley, a parter at corporate finance and advisory practice Greensquare, former Vice President of DDB Worldwide and founder of agency advisory service Juniper2 Advisory Noel Penrose and Steve Antoniewicz of the Recommended Agency Register, with more clientside marketers and agency experts to be added in the weeks leading up to the entry deadline of Friday 13th September.

Richard Draycott, managing director of MiNetwork and associate editor of The Drum, said: “I’m delighted to have some real agency experts on the judging panel who really know what it takes to build a successful agency business. I’m also delighted to have a brand like Odeon on board to focus on the marketing categories and look forward to seeing the entries. MiAwards has certainly grown over the last five years as MiNetwork has grown and for agencies to win one of our awards is a real demonstration that they are a marketing business that is heading in the right direction.”

The MiAwards also include a number of Public Vote categories, which aim to reward some of the individuals in the industry who have performed well during the year. These categories will be launched in the coming days, giving the industry the opportunity to nominate who they think deserves recognition. More details of these will be announced on The Drum website in the coming days.
Last year more than 300 agency owners, directors and clients attended the MiAwards dinner, which this year will take place on Thursday 14th November in Manchester.

For more information on the Categories and how to enter this year’s MiAwards please visit the website.

For further information please contact MiAwards organiser Nikki Gillies on 0141 559 6076 or by email.

If you are a supplier to marketing services agencies and are interested in joining our other sponsors in supporting these awards then please email Chris Morton.

Silver Spoon, part of Associated British Foods, has appointed independent digital agency Zone to manage a six-figure digital brief following a three-way pitch against two undisclosed agencies.

The deal will see Zone manage the sugar brand’s online baking community BakingMad.com, which claims 325,000 monthly visitors and spans all its baking products including Billington’s unrefined cane sugars, Allinson flours and Nielsen-Massey vanillas and flavours.

The site will be overhauled to feature responsive design to capitalise on the “disproportionately high” level of mobile traffic, according to Silver Spoon’s head of home backing and desserts Matt Smith.

It currently sees nearly half of all traffic come via mobiles, while a further 20 per cent comes via tablet, taking the total to 64 per cent.

“It is critical we have responsive design because tablets have completely changed people’s behaviour, and they are no longer cooking with paper recipe books, but using their tablets while they cook instead,” he told The Drum.

The sugar brand currently has separate mobile and desktop sites, which are different in design and user experience, but Smith believes people are increasingly seeking a consistent experience across all devices, making responsive sites a priority for the brand.

“I don’t think people want different experiences these days – they are rapidly switching between devices all the time and seeing content in a different way on each is unhelpful. Responsive sites are critical,” he added.

The deal marks part of Silver Spoon’s overall strategy to build engagement for its visitors and provide additional value for its 200,000-strong member base to encourage repeat visits.

This will potentially include providing members with exclusive content, early access to new recipes, competitions and offers, according to Smith.

“We have now reached a level of scale where the next most important thing has become the level of engagement we have with our visitors – a significant proportion come once to the site and don’t return, so we want to ensure our content really sustains people.

“We have a broad range of levels of bakers, from eager starters right through to almost semi-professional bakers. All have different needs and desires and we want to ensure the site has the content to match their needs, and help them develop their skills and become better bakers,” he told The Drum.

Building and sustaining its online baking community is a major part of Silver Spoon’s overall marketing strategy, given it doesn’t have the budget to invest in heavyweight TV campaigns, according to Smith.

“Digital is a really important medium for us. People are increasingly looking online for inspiration and advice so being there is important.

“There is a massive consumer desire to bake in the UK, fuelled by TV shows like the Great British Bake Off, and there is no sign of it abating. Baking Mad is there to tap into and help fuel that passion point for people,” he said.

Zone’s remit will also include developing an e-customer relationship management (eCRM) programme, alongside the relaunch of the site.

Sainbury’s is dipping its toes into the online viral video market as part of its ‘Back Tu School’ campaign, showcasing some of the unique ways children put their school uniforms to the test.

The campaign features three new 20” TV ads, created by AMV BBDO, that will launch today (Wednesday 7 August), in addition to the online viral which was created by Exposure, across primetime slots including ITV1’s This Morning and Coronation Street, and Channel 5’s Big Brother. The campaign will end with a slot in the first episode of The X Factor on Saturday 31 August.

The tongue-in-cheek TV ads see children stress test the clothing range against quality proof points, in ways inspired by the real life rigours the clothes might go through.

The online viral campaign features a dance-off where a selection of pupils with a passion for dancing – including internet sensation six-year-old breakdancer B Girl Teera - put the clothing through its paces, showcasing their most impressive moves to test the uniform’s durability and quality.

“Our uniform is rigorously lab-tested so this year we wanted children to get involved, have some fun, and put the uniforms through their paces. We’re glad to say that after all the action – the uniforms definitely passed the test,” remarked James Brown, director of Tu Clothing at Sainsbury’s.

High Street bakery chain Greggs has announced plans for a radical revamp of its stores in a bid to meet the growing competition presented by supermarkets and the likes of sandwich chain Pret A Manger.

This will see the pie and pasty specialist overhaul its stores to a ‘bakery food on the go’ format by offering in store seating and a new range of pizzas and cakes.

Opening hours will also be extended to cater for people seeking fresh sandwiches before lunch and those after a late afternoon snack.

The move comes as Greggs winds down a voracious programme of store openings to consolidate its existing position and focus upon locations close to offices and transport hubs.

Eighty per cent of sales are now drawn from sandwiches, savouries and drinks, up from just 10 per cent 40 years ago, prompting the firm to ditch its bread and roll lines.

Britain’s burgeoning food-on-the-go market is valued at £6bn but Greggs has been failing to capitalise on this bounty, registering a 2.9 per cent decline in like-for-like sales in the 26 weeks to 29 June.

A 46-year-old health care trust worker has become the 71st person arrested under Operation Elveden on suspicion of conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office.

The man was taken to a police station in Liverpool after his arrest at 6am this morning at his home in Merseyside.

Scotland Yard confirmed the arrest in a statement and said police were conducting a search of the man’s property.