Microsoft is launching a campaign which will take the nation's airports to promote its new Surface Pro tablet device.

Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham and Stansted airports will host activities over a period of two months starting from the end of June, featuring travel-related demo videos and apps to guide consumers through Windows 8, while London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports will hold demonstrations from mid June.

The campaign was created by Momentum UK. Managing director Allan Cobb said: "We're thrilled to be spearheading the Microsoft Windows 8 summer activation, especially one aimed at driving engagement with such a diverse audience.

"We believe our presence in departure lounges across UK airports this summer will provide the perfect platform to engage travellers with the latest devices."

Product marketing manager at Windows Product Group, Mark Klein, added: "Our airport experiential activity will showcase devices from our OEM partners as well as the newly released Surface Pro."

Jaywing has announced the appointment of Jamie Riddell to the newly created role of director of social.

Riddell, who re-joins the company following a four year hiatus, will be responsible for strategic planning, targeted advertising and creating social content across the agency’s portfolio of clients.

He said: “'Social’ is no longer trapped in a marketing silo, rather it’s a thread that impacts every business. Social at Jaywing is about understanding that thread and harnessing it for every discipline, from customer segmentation to social outreach, media buying and SEO. I am delighted to be working alongside such a talented cross-section of individuals and I can’t wait to see what remarkable things our collaboration can spark.”

Riddell was one of the co-founders of media planning and buying agency Cheeze in 1999 before selling the business to Digital Marketing Group - now Jaywing plc - in 2007.

Martin Boddy, CEO at Jaywing said: “We’re delighted to welcome Jamie back to Jaywing. His exceptional industry experience, enthusiasm and flair will help drive even further outstanding work for our clients across social media. Jamie’s CV speaks for itself, and we’re excited to see how he will contribute to our great culture of innovation.”

There are more chromosomes dedicated to flavour detection than to reproduction, making the psychology of flavour one of the most complex areas of the human body, according to celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal.

Speaking at Sapient Nitro’s Ideas Exchange (iEX) In London today Blumenthal said we are only just “scratching the surface” of the multi-sensory world, in which food and technology can be combined to create new experiences and evoke emotional responses from people.

“The whole purpose of art is to elicit an emotional response and food has the ability to do that as it involves all the senses, of which memory is core,” he said.

The parts of the brain dedicated to memory and smell are closely located, and often smell and sound can trigger nostalgia when combined with certain flavours of dishes, according to Blumenthal.

This has led him to develop dishes designed specifically to combine multiple senses including sound, with the view to sparking an emotional response from customers.

One such dish he created called The Sounds of the Sea, incorporated complex layers of flavours designed to look, taste and feel like the seaside. This dish is served with a seashell which holds an iPod within it playing sea sounds.

The dish has “evoked tears” for some diners, according to Blumenthal because of the personal memories it triggers. “The brain doesn’t need all the bits of the jigsaw to paint the picture,” he said, adding that the sensory triggers can at times be "even more powerful" than the food itself.

Blumenthal told delegates he has spent years using new technologies to adapt and re-imagine some of the dishes which put Britain on the map in past centuries including the Victorians’ Mock Turtle Soup.

For this he drew inspiration from Louis Carroll's book Alice in Wonderful, in which her character has to apply logic to a very surreal world. The result was a food experience called the Mad Hatter's Fob Watch based on the Victorian recipe for Mock turtle soup (see video).

The Financial Times launched its new fastFT online service on Wednesday, which aims to provide breaking marketing news across desktop, laptop, tablet and smartphone.

The 24-hour service will be operated by eight staff based across London, New York and Hong Kong and will stick to the FT's metered model, allowing users to access eight free updates before a requirement to subscribe to the service.

The service will more Twitter-like, with "short, sharp and informed dispatches" and a rolling format which displays the most recent update at the top.

Chief correspondent for fastFT, Megan Murphy, said: "In an increasingly crowded news marketplace, fastFT will help FT readers sift out the noise, giving them the news they need, when they need it most.

"It goes beyond the headlines, providing context and commentary in quick, authoritative reports."

Co-founder of FT Labs, which led the product development, Andrew Betts, added: "The ever increasing diversity in the way that our readers want to consume our content has created a demand for short, highly portable content that can be rapidly published in virtually any media channel or platform in its full original form.

"fastFT is the visible tip of a new real time, platform agnostic publishing system that represents a step forward in creating an environment optimised for all news consumers, whichever device they choose to read us on, and wherever they happen to be."

Amazon Studios has revealed that Alpha House, a comedy starring John Goodman as one of four misfit senators sharing a house in Washington DC, is the one of its original pilots to be picked up as a series.

In April Amazon streaming service LOVEFiLM hosted 14 Amazon Studios pilots with five now being made into full series based on customer feedback.

Roy Price, director of Amazon Studios, said there had been an “enthusiastic response” to the pilots and that the studio would be trailing more original pilots soon commenting: “The success of this first set of pilots has given us the push to try this approach with even more shows. This is just the beginning.”

Joining Alpha House in production are Silicon Valley sitcom Betas and children’s series Annebots, Creative Galaxy and Tumbleaf. High profile pilot Zombieland, an adaptation of the 2009 film of the same name, is not continuing to series. Writer Rhett Rheese blamed “vehement hate” from fans of the film for its lack of success.

Today's jobs round-up brings roles for PR, marketing and communications managers, digital experts and designers.

Insights is looking for a "superhero" UK marketing manager with a proven track record in campaign management. Candidates should bring experience of email, web, social media and mobile and have the ability to lead a project from concept to conclusion. Responsibilities will involve daring deeds and changing the world. A cape will be provided. The closing date for applications is 7 June and the company is inviting applications from the US as well as the UK.

A PR, sponsorship and events marketing manager is required by Bennetts in the east of England to develop and deliver strategy which will help maintain the brand's position within the motorcycle industry. Candidates should have a solid background in PR, ideally from the motorcycle industry, or experience as a journalist with extensive industry contacts. The role will involve delivery of a full season's events plan. Applications should be submitted by 26 June.

Zen Web Solutions is seeking a head of digital to take up a role in the north-west of England, offering a salary of £45,000 plus benefits. The successful candidate will lead strategic and operational decisions within the digital marketing team while closely managing existing projects and campaigns. Previous senior agency experience is required alongside extensive and up-to-date knowledge of digital marketing services, including SEO, social media, content marketing, PPC and email marketing.

A digital designer position is available with Stonor in the south-east of England for a salary of £25,000-£30,000. Applicants should be skilled using Adobe Creative Suite, HTML, CSS and Javascript and be able to work to tight deadlines. Experience with designing for mobile is essential and applicants should have a brilliant portfolio packed with design work. Knowledge of rich media and motion experience, such as After Effect, 3D and Flash, is also required. The closing date for applications is 28 June.

Pitch is looking for a communications manager for a global automotive brand based in the East Midlands. Offering a salary of £40,000-£49,950, responsibilities will involve developing strategy and delivering high profile campaigns across the full spectrum of marketing activity. Candidates should have excellent project management skills and a proven track record of developing and delivering integrated marketing campaigns. Applications should be submitted by 10 June.

To view the latest roles in advertising, design, digital media and marketing, visit The Drum's job section

A platypus with a voice supplied by comedian Tom Wrigglesworth - unless we're much mistaken - explains how he likes to do things a bit differently in this offbeat ad for the online bank. The point of difference being highlighted here is the bank's famously friendly call centre staff.

Agency: JWT London
Creative Director: Jason Berry
Creative: Kevin Masters / Miles Bingham
TV Producer: Sian Parker
Production Co: Outsider
Director: Dom & Nic
Producer: John Madsen
Post Production: MPC
Grading: MPC

Unibet has unveiled its first campaign since appointing Albion in September of last year - ‘Armchair Experts’.

The campaign, starring sporting legends Sir Ian Botham, Gavin Hastings and Goran Ivanisevic, aims to position the brand as a more intelligent alternative to football-focussed bookmakers, and a champion of fans of rugby, cricket and tennis, whose sports are often overlooked.

“Sports betting is a terrifically busy market, but few players have a genuinely distinctive positioning. We appointed Albion because we wanted to disrupt the category and deliver a better betting experience for customers across more than just football,” commented Phillipp Manzi, country manager of Unibet UK.

To accommodate the ebbs and flows of different events Albion developed a flexible campaign platform that could run throughout the year and include live odds and dynamic updates to reflect changing circumstances. The integrated campaign will run across TV, press, online and mobile.

Albion executive creative director, Nick Darken, added: “We saw the opportunity for Unibet to stand apart from other sports betting sites. We wanted to hero real fans and see their passion and insight about their sport. We deliberately avoided the loud, laddish football-obsessed stereotypes the category’s advertising so often resorts to.”

Social technology firm Betapond is building on its three years’ worth of experience working with global brands on Facebook having raised €2m in a new funding round led by The Ulster Bank Diageo Venture Fund, managed by Investec Ventures.

Betapond will now use the funds to accelerate development of its social commerce offering, powering product recommendations from other Facebook users the consumers trust and aiming to increase brand affinity and loyalty.

The funding will enable Betapond to launch a set of solutions for retailers making it quick and easy for them to personalise the consumer shopping experience, leveraging the social data represented by Facebook’s 1.1 billion users and what they’re interested in.

“We are thrilled to secure this new round of investment...This funding enables the company to accelerate its development and go-to-market plan to be a global leader in social commerce solutions,” said Betapond CEO and co-founder Declan Kennedy.

Leo Hamill, partner, Investec Ventures, added: “We are delighted to complete this investment in Betapond and look forward to supporting them as they continue growing and developing the business. The company has already established itself as a Facebook Preferred Marketing Developer and has a proven ability to build relationships with some of the world’s best brands.”

Delta Partners and Irrus Investments also participated in the funding round, with Delta participating from its expansion stage fund, Delta Equity Fund III Ltd Partnership.

John Kenny of Delta Partners commented: “Over the past 18 months, Betapond has laid the foundation for its social recommendation product offering. We are pleased to welcome Investec Ventures to the table at this pivotal time in the Company’s development.”

A total of 81 BBC employees, half of whom are current staff or contributors, have now been identified as possible perpetrators of more than 152 allegations of sexual abuse since 3 Oct 2012.

Most of these relate to people who no longer work for the corporation and 48 involve Jimmy Savile but thirty allege physical sexual abuse by 23 current members of staff.

The figures were divulged as part of a Freedom of Information request by the Telegraph which found that of the 40 former employees, 10 cases remain under active investigation by either the police or the broadcaster.

In relation to 41 current employees, a quarter of these were taken to the police with the majority resulting in no further action being taken, although three are undergoing further scrutiny by the BBC and five cases are still outstanding.

Of the remainder 15 were judged not to be criminal in nature and were dealt with internally, this saw one individual receive an informal warning whilst two colleagues lost their jobs. A further two employees remain under investigation.

The BBC has been rocked by revelations surrounding its former presenter, Jimmy Savile, who was later unmasked as a sexual predator. More recently veteran presenter Stuart Hall has also recently conceded guilt in sexually abusing 13 girls as young as nine.

BBC presenter Clare Balding has spoken out against on-going sexism on the broadcast industry, alleging that women are still judged by their looks whilst men are judged by their voices.

The 42 year-old broadcaster highlighted the examples of John Humphrys and Andrew Neil, neither known for their film star aesthetic, saying that both were “definitely not judged on their looks, they are judged because they know what they are talking about”

Balding added: “…women are still judged very much more on how they look than what they say. That’s in every walk of life not just the media. And it has a pervasively negative effect, seeping through everything.

“We look at women and we judge, whereas we listen to men and we judge. Their voice, as in what they say, is stronger than their look."

A recent recipient of a Bafta Balding revealed that she had to block people on social networking site Twitter over abusive comments relating to her personal appearance and sexuality saying ‘It’s demoralising but it shouldn’t be destructive.’

A survey of 481 presenters across the BBC, Channel 5, ITN and Sky found that just 26 were women over the age of 50.

Netflix content chief Ted Sarandos has accused the BBC of restricting UK licenses for its shows by as much as five years (for children’s content), forcing the streaming provider to look abroad for content.

The US based service says the corporation is effectively strangling home grown children’s shows at birth by holding them back for so long, forcing the video-on-demand provider to look to America instead to pad out its UK service.

This has seen Netflix switch its $2bn a year content budget to the likes of Turbo, a cartoon about a super-fast snail as well as homegrown content such as a remake of House of Cards and a new series of Arrested Development.

Sarandos said: "We could pay a lot of money to license that programming, and they could make more programming and make the BBC a better public service product. What is amazing is we have the ability to give an even larger global footprint to BBC content but I don't want to sit behind that big blackout window."

“The money I [would] be spending in the UK on homegrown product I have to spend on US imports because they are not making that content, the more attractive programming, available in the current windows.”

"It is a huge mistake – kids' brands are very short life cycles and I'm not willing to pay anything for those things five years later. The best commercial decision possible is to license content while it has a shelf life."

A BBC spokesperson responded: “… while the BBC's windowing policy means that most children's programming remains available to UK licence fee payers through the CBeebies and CBBC channels ahead of any commercial video-on-demand services, we have provided Netflix with such popular series as Charlie & Lola, MI High and The Sarah Jane Adventures."

Expedia is inviting the public to ‘Travel Yourself Interesting’ in a new campaign, set to launch on 3 June.

The campaign will run throughout June and July across TV, press, online and social, with the TV ads featuring underdog characters who find themselves the centre of attention because they recently ‘travelled themselves interesting’.

Gerry Human, chief creative officer for Ogilvy & Mather London, said: “I think it’s brave and smart of Expedia to avoid clichéd travel advertising in favour of a campaign that’s more about what you get out of travel than where you go. Not only that, the world might even be a better place if everyone was a bit more interesting!”

Print ads will look to promote the quirky and interesting things we learn when we travel, while social media will invite travellers to tell their own stories.

Andrew Warner, senior marketing director EMEA at Expedia, said: “Who hasn’t come back from a trip having learned something new – either about a place or just about themselves? When we return from our travels, we have gained knowledge and experience which shapes our lives and gives us something new to share with our friends and family. We see travel as an investment, rather than a luxury. Just as with any investment, the value rests on making the right choice and this is where Expedia helps.”

The media agency involved was PHD.

How can marketers use cross-channel attribution insights to drive ROI?

Ellie Edwards-Scott, managing director, Quisma UK
We know that looking at one channel in silo gives a skewed view of your marketing channel success, and that the cornerstone of a successful performance campaign is being able to take a holistic view of all marketing channels.

Marketers need an easy way to do this, as there are so many channels to take into account in today’s new marketing environment, including search, social and mobile. Multichannel attribution figures out the respective channel efficiency, the type of interactions (view or click), and the touch point position (introducer, influencer, or closer). Comparing the individual channel’s sales shares, based on these parameters, and compared with sales shares of the last-cookie- wins method is rather insightful for any marketer.

Jo Thomas, assistant head of performance marketing, LBi
Marketers can drive increased ROI by analysing the whole customer journey and the impact of multiple digital channel touch points on a sale conversion path. Historically ‘last click’ has always been the model that digital channels are reported and analysed on. With this cross-channel approach, advertisers can ascertain the true value of their digital marketing activity as a whole, then make decisions on where their budget spend should be allocated. Budget can be therefore assigned intelligently, ensuring that the ROI is optimised for all activity.

Florian Gramshammer, UK country manager, Commission Junction
It’s worth remembering that there is much more to cross-channel attribution than just driving ROI. In fact successful ROI may be created much more effectively if attribution insights are first applied to refine marketing plans, influence consumer journeys and understand promotional dynamics. Many different aspects influence consumer decision making so a considered A/B testing approach over a period of time can help generate the longest lasting results.

Effective cross-channel attribution modelling will allow for measuring these effects over time to increase ROI and any resulting changes in customer behaviour.

Helen Southgate, managing director, affilinet UK
It is only truly possible to understand your ROI and how to maximise your marketing budget if you are looking at all the touch points within the customer journey. Most advertisers work on a last click basis to attribute a sale to a specific digital channel, but there can be many other factors that influence the purchase. Measuring your marketing activity on a last click basis means you’re likely to be missing opportunities but also be less efficient with your spend than if you were to take a higher level view.

Mary Keane-Dawson, digital media lead consultant and board advisor
What a question! When cross-channel attribution insights are robust, believable and have gotten beyond the ghetto/silo mentality and reporting structures we are currently struggling with.  I believe we will get there, but currently, we are going through a massive learning curve about how all these channels, types of media and most importantly how the elements effect consumer behaviour, and thus the end game. I think it's work in progress and marketers need to be prepared to see their ROI models redesigned as we learn more about what influences, rather than just what was clicked on. Let us not forget this is complex.

This feature is published as part of The Drum's quarterly Performance supplement, sponsored by:

Word image courtesy of Shutterstock

Cineworld is launching a UK Unlimited Live road show to promote its unlimited membership scheme, touring major consumer centres in London, Birmingham, Glasgow and Sheffield.

Created by Starcom MediaVest's Liquid Thread division, the campaign will see the arrival of two bespoke industrial containers at each event complete with red carpets and refreshments, in which members of the public can watch clips of the latest films and find out more about the membership scheme from brand ambassadors.

Jack Daniels, experiential business director at Liquid Thread, said: "We're excited to work with Cineworld on its Unlimited Live events, a first for the brand, and a new, exciting experience for film fans nationwide.

"Touring the UK, the road show is a great way to create consumer buzz around Cineworld's Unlimited Card and educate its audience on the brand's offers."

The campaign will also be promoted by geo-targeted SMS and MMS text messages and PPC and YouTube TrueView videos from each location.

People who browse on smartphones are more than twice as likely as tablet users to engage in social networking activity, such as Facebook and LinkedIn, suggests Flash Networks.

Conversely, the study into mobile behaviour found that tablet users are more likely to shop online and browse news sites than smartphone users.

Based on mobile Internet traffic data retrieved from operators in Western Europe and Asia during March of 2013, it was found that people who browse on tablets are twice as likely to go to shopping sites, and three times more likely to browse news sites than people who browse on smartphones.

Overall, the research has suggested that although tablets are also a mobile device, consumers tend to behave more like PC users than smartphone users when they browse shopping and news sites.

Yet, when it comes to checking in and updating social networks, people are more likely to do so on the move, using a smaller device.

"We are continuously evolving our analytics to help operators have a greater understanding of application level trends and subscriber behaviour,” said Merav Bahat, vice president of marketing and business development at Flash Networks.

Bahat explained: “Mobile operators are currently in a position to share valuable information about subscriber preferences that can unlock the key to realising the potential of mobile advertising.”

Carling is championing its ‘refreshingly perfect’ taste with a series of new ads created by the recently appointed Creature.

The TV creative stars two new Carling heroes who attempt amusing and outlandish feats, but fall just shy of achieving perfection, prompting the verdict ‘It’s good…but it’s not quite Carling’.

The £9.6m campaign includes references to the ‘I Bet He Drinks Carling Black Label’ ads of the 80s and 90s, with the first three spots showing the baton passed from the original pairing of Stephen Frost and Mark Arden – who make a cameo appearance – to new Carling heroes Ben Righton and Mark Weinman.

“While obviously inspired by Carling’s great advertising tradition, the new campaign is created for the iPhone generation of drinkers who share their smart phone content as part of bar-room banter…this campaign is all about celebrating the nation’s favourite lager that consumers know and love delivered with classic British wit and humour,” said Carling brand director Jeremy Gibson.

The first TV ad, which is set in a packed pool hall where one half of the new Carling duo attempts a trick shot, will air from this weekend with a preview on Channel 4 this Friday (31 May) at 10.10pm followed by the launch on all channels on Saturday 1 June.

Dan Shute, managing partner, Creature, added: “Carling is one of those great British brands that demands great advertising - it's been an honour to try and make work that stands up next to the fantastic ads they've made in the past.”

Carling fans will be able to see the first TV ad ‘Trickshot’ online from today (Thursday 30 May) with the series of advertisements supported by a wider campaign including outdoor, press and digital advertising.

Cash is losing its dominance of British retail in the face of ever-increasing competition from online shopping – according to a British Retail Consortium Survey.

This found that cash still accounts for 54 per cent of UK transactions in 2012, although this represented a 10 per cent decline on the previous year as its share of total money spent and number of transactions fell for the first time.

It also found that credit card use fell by 3.4 per cent and debit card use rose by 3.2 per cent.

Helen Dickinson, director-general of the BRC, commented: “New ways to pay and new ways to shop are shaping the retail landscape like never before.

“Changing customer preferences are driving the increase in debit card use – they’re helping people to manage their money better and are a natural fit for online shopping and self-service checkouts.”

UK retail sales have been falling at their fastest pace in over a year during the past month according to the Confederation of British Industry, squeezed by anaemic wage growth and high inflation.

Fashion house Chanel has unveiled its latest ad campaign starring Oscar winning actress Tilda Swinton.

Swinton was announced as the face of the brand’s 2012-13 Métiers d'Art Paris-Edinburgh collection in February and follows in the footsteps of Lily Cooper (formerly Allen), Blake Lively and Brad Pitt as brand ambassador.

Appointed due to her Anglo-Scots background, the collection is inspired by Mary Queen of Scots with the campaign boasting a traditional Scottish look, ranging from tartan and Highland overcoats.

Speaking of Swinton’s involvement, Chanel’s lead designer Karl Lagerfeld, commented: “Tilda perfectly embodies the Paris-Edimbourg collection. She is of course Scottish, but more than that she is a modern woman, a timeless icon of elegance.”

A campaign for Häagen-Dazs, featuring Bradley Cooper, is set to air in the UK from 3 June, with a teaser campaign to roll out from Friday.

The campaign, created by Saatchi & Saatchi NY, promotes the ice-cream brand as ‘The House of Häagen-Dazs’, in a similar way to the fashion houses.

The ad sees a woman flirt with Cooper, before locking him in a room to steal his ice-cream.

Cooper was announcer as the face of the brand earlier this month, with the campaign already having launched in America.