Rory Kinnear is the top public choice on social media to play the new Dr Who, research from Crimson Hexagon has found, with a third of those discussing actors choosing him.

The research, based on 979 Twitter and Facebook posts that specifically discussed which actor is most likely to take the spot from Matt Smith, also found that 23 per cent want to see Rupert Grint as the new Doctor, while 21 per cent want to see Merlin’s Colin Morgan take on the role.

Other suggestions for the role included Ricky Gervais, Danny Dyer and Hugh Laurie; while four per cent suggested Benedict Cumberbatch as the replacement.

However, over a tenth (13 per cent) have suggested that the next Doctor should be a woman.

The Oculus Rift virtual reality headset, a device which provides a stereoscopic 3D gaming experience with a huge field of view, is one step closer to an official launch due to a venture capital funding providing $16m in investments.

Oculus VR Inc., in partnership with Spark Capital and Matrix Partners, closed this round of funding with the capital necessary to accelerate the production of the virtual reality hardware, software and servicing costs.

After the prototype of Oculus Rift debuted at E3 2012, developer kits were sent to games developers across the world in order to have games and activities for the tech to run.
Palmer Luckey, founder of Oculus VR and inventor of the Oculus Rift, said: “Oculus began with a single mission: to put players inside the game.

“This investment allows us to deliver immersive and affordable virtual reality to players everywhere.”

Antonio Rodriguez, general partner at Matrix, said: “In this business, there are only a few rare companies that can so perfectly embody the future you read about in science fiction novels.

“What Palmer, Brendan and the team are building at Oculus so closely matches the Metaverse, we had to be part of it. Working with them to get this platform to market at scale will be enormously exciting.”

Santo Politi, founder and general partner at Spark, said: “With the recent console announcements and the advent of stronger mobile technology, we’re watching the video game industry keenly.

“In our estimation, Oculus is one of the only companies in the space with something completely new and disruptive. They have the right team, capital and vision to take virtual reality beyond console gaming and into everyday computing.”

Oculus VR Inc. has had previous fundraising success after it raised over $2.4m through its Kickstarter campaign, more than ten times its fundraising goal.

No date has been set for commercial release.

The Exchange Lab has announced the appointment of Fay Miller to the newly created position of marketing director.

Miller was previously marketing manager at the Adconion Media Group, where she oversaw rebrands and launches, and before this held the role of strategic planning manager at Mirror Group Newspapers.

At The Exchange Lab Miller is responsible for establishing the marketing structure as part of the management team in the UK, with Clare Parker also appointed as marketing executive.

Miller said: “The Exchange Lab has taken a multi-platform approach since its launch, investing in its product, people and technology. It’s an exciting time to join as it takes DataLab, its proprietary analysis engine, to market. This has incidentally coincided with announcements from both Vivaki AOD and Xaxis that they are switching their focus to multi-platform. Digital is an evolving space and The Exchange Lab is an exciting company. It has media veterans James Aitken and Tim Webster at the helm driving forward a strong company vision which I am very much looking forward to being part of.”

Her remit includes an overhaul of the full complement of marketing collateral, the appointment and oversight of a PR agency and setting up a marketing team.

This lovely little ad spoofs an iconic scene from the movie Jaws which has Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfus comparing scars as they boast of their scrapes with sharks. Their one-upmanship is reproduced by a pair of young boys trying to outdo each other as they describe the accidents they've, er, enjoyed.

Agency: The Minimart
Creative Director: Ed Chilcott / Tim Clyde
Creative: Beverley Fortnum
TV Producer: Nikki Chapman
Production Co: The Minimart
Director: Beverley Fortnum
Executive Producer: Nikki Chapman
Photography: Federico Alfonzo
Editing House: The Assembly Rooms
Editor: Nik Hindson
Audio: Grand Central
Sound Designer: Ben Leeves / Steve Lane

Cadbury has created a picnic bench made from 400 Cadbury Picnic bars and 60kg of Cadbury Dairy Milk.

The bench was built to celebrate the fact that this is National Picnic Week.

Prudence Staite, Food Artist at Food Is Art, told the Huffington Post: "What better way to enjoy the great British outdoors than by nibbling on your favourite chocolate! The bobbly nature of the Picnic bar, due to its combination of milk chocolate and peanuts and puffed rice, meant I had to sit on a padded cushion!”

Eco-label brand Rapanui has come out in support of the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) Save the Bees campaign, creating a design made using an exemplary low carbon supply chain.

The campaign follows a decline in the world’s bee population and sees the EJF team up with Pesticide Action Network UK (PAN UK) to demand an end to harmful pesticides which evidence points towards having a role in the decline.

A host of celebrity supporters, including chef Ainsley Harriott and Jason Flemyng, have been seen sporting the Rapanui designs, which are ethically-made and manufactured by renewable green energy.

All sales of the Rapanui t-shirts will go towards the Save the Bees initiative.

Channel 4 is opening up its youth audience insight initiative UK Tribes to media agencies with the extension of its online game Find Your Tribe.

The broadcaster launched Find Your Tribe earlier this year, as part of the UK Tribes project, aimed at determining which tribe or youth sub-culture 16 – 24 year olds in the UK fall into.

The three-minute game, created by Realise Digital, has clocked up more than 22,000 people since its launch in May and covers subjects including music, fashion and mobile phone use. At the end players are presented with their Tribal DNA make-up.

It also invited 16 – 24 year-olds from its 8m-strong registered user base to play the game and share their results on Facebook and Twitter.

Meanwhile they were also encouraged to join the broadcaster’s online insight community Tribes Lives, a forum.

The broadcaster is now inviting media partners to play the game with the view to releasing an exclusive poll to reveal which one of 25 tribes each agency belongs to, with categories including the most ‘hipster’, ‘most townie’ and most ‘rah!’.

The UK Tribes project, created in collaboration with research and strategy agency Crowd DNA, is aimed at segmenting the broadcaster’s most engaged but also most “elusive” demographic, to help provide advertisers with more insight and understanding into the young people in the UK.

Channel 4’s director of audience, technologies and insights Gill Whitehead, said the results of the Find Your Tribe game are being “fused” with its registered viewer database to help improve its understanding of this audience demographic while informing both future commissioning and commercial strategy.

To celebrate its 6th generation range Mazda, inspired by the brand’s tagline Defy Convention, has launched a campaign gamifying the test drive experience and celebrating the world’s most adventurous drives.

The game – available online and in showrooms – encourages participants to think differently about test drive experiences and offers prizes including trips to Italy, the Norwegian Fjords and LA. As the brand’s first foray into digital gaming prizes also include test drive experiences at world class track circuits across the UK.

Drawing inspiration from ‘grabber’ games the campaign centres on high performance driving.

Of the campaign, Mazda UK marketing director, Claire Andrews, said: “Test drives are often in danger of being run of the mill trips, and as this just didn’t fit with Mazda and what our models offer in terms of driving experience, we decided to introduce a fun game into the mix. This is one of our most exciting campaigns to date, and Mazda’s investment in terms of resource and new technologies is testament to the importance it places on engaging with our target community on the platforms they are using.”

Players are able to enter the competition online, via mobile or in showrooms across the UK, selecting coloured balls using the virtual grabber in the hope of winning a test drive experience. The campaign aims to celebrate the handling and performance of the new 6th generation range whilst still in keeping with the sporty and distinctive exterior of the model.

“We wanted to deliver a campaign that matched the passion and enthusiasm that our customers have for the brand, and incentivise those who may not have previously thought of test driving a Mazda,” added Andrews.

In order to help brands choose the right agency for them RAR has produced a guidebook for brand managers full of hints and tips for choosing and managing agencies.

Born out of an audit between a well-known automotive brand and one of its agency relationships, RAR managing director, Steve Antoniewicz, explains the Brand Manager’s Book 2013 was influenced by the fact that during this meeting it became clear that “the senior staff at the agency were far more experienced than many of the client team.”

Antoniewicz added: “When agencies and clients do come together effectively, fantastic things can happen. Great creative, true innovation, technical excellence and of course amazing results. To my mind, the agency’s role as a trusted partner has never been more important.”

Filled with insights from the likes of Microsoft chief marketing officer Phillipa Snare; DFS CMO Helen Normoyle; Joel Christie online marketing controller at BskyB; AOL UK marketing director Isobel Sita-Lumsden; McDonald’s UK head of marketing Jo Webster and Donna Howitt marketing director at Liverpool One, the Brand Manager’s book covers good practice as well as sharing insights into the worlds of technology, retail, B2B and consumer goods.

The book also contains examples of great campaigns and case studies from recommended agencies and can be ordered from The Drum store now.

Shakespeare's most famous sonnet is read aloud by various stars of ITV's flagship soaps in this excellent trail. Some deliver their lines more confidently than others (don't try to persuade us that some of these performers weren't terrified) but it's been stitched together beautifully and it's great to see something a bit different.

Agency: ITV Creative
Creative Director: Tony Pipes
Creative: Tony Pipes
Production Co: ITV Creative
Director: Michael Baldwin
Producer: Katie Carew
Photography: Philipp Blaubach
Production Designer: Adam Zoltowski
Production Manager: Charlotte Trotman
Grading: The Mill
Editing House: Trim
Editor: Tom Grove-Carter
Audio: Arge @ Envy

Nigella Lawson was “perfectly made up and perfectly in view of the pre-arranged camera” when she was assaulted by husband Charles Saatchi on 16 June, self-styled PR guru Richard Hillgrove has claimed.

Hillgrove, who has handled PR for Dragons' Den stars Duncan Bannatyne, Simon Woodroffe and James Caan, said in a blog: “Mr. Saatchi, who signed a pre-nup, was willing to humiliate himself in a global 'domestic abuse' scandal rather than settle any cash payment at the time of divorce.

“The notion that a paparazzi photographer would be allowed to stick a camera lens through the window of Scotts of Mayfair for over 30 minutes and photograph a 'domestic attack' made in full light of day with passing waiters, management and customers is preposterous.”

The blog follows the news from earlier this month which revealed that Saatchi had filed for divorce following the incident.

Hillgrove, who runs the PR firm Hillgrove PR, continued: “Mr. Saatchi was well aware of the camera and also that he needed to stage something akin to Sir Anthony Hopkins in 'Silence of the Lambs' to gain media traction.

“No one, whether a wife abuser or not, would engage is such prolonged, theatrical assault in public unless playing to an audience.

“The result was a 'publicity gift' for Ms. Lawson, who is promoting her TV series in America.

“The scenes of the predatory monster are virtually comical.

“Mr. Saatchi countered the potential reputation damage with juxtaposing messages and statements to limit the damage post PR-sting.

“Ms. Lawson had nothing to say afterwards because she didn't wish to give the game away as opposed to being petrified and in hiding. Far from it.”

The controversial blog also makes reference to how Nigella is set to launch another cooking show on Channel 4 soon.

MyVouherCodes has unveiled a £1m rebrand to enhance its global appeal, featuring a crowdsourced logo design.

The brand's new wallet-shaped logo has been nicknamed Walley and was designed to reflect the simplicity of the MyVoucherCodes site. The rebrand design was crowdsourced and the winning idea was created by designer and illustrator Faiz Fadli, with site development done in-house.

The website has also undergone a refresh and a promotional campaign will stretch across above and below the line activities while new email marketing campaigns will target four million consumers on its newsletter database. The campaign is being driven by head of marketing David Marrinan-Hayes.

Chairman of parent company Marcko Media, Mark Pearson, said: "The £1m rebranding and relaunch represents significant re-investment in the brand from myself at a time when the industry is looking to see how we react to the obvious evolution of the market."

Marrinan-Hayes added: "This has not been as simple as just launching a new logo and site design. We have spent significant amounts on looking at what our consumers really wanted from our site, identifying how we could make the site reflect a more modern design and usability needs as well as better segmenting our customers to make sure that we present relevant and targeted information that they really want."

The relaunched website will include a range of new features, including brand alerts, which will allow people to sign up for discount news on their favourite brands.

Skoda is set to unveil an ad campaign, created by Fallon, promoting its new Octavia vRS on Thursday.

The ad, which will be unveiled on YouTube ahead of its TV launch next month, shows a man driving an Octavia vRS through an idealised neighbourhood, where the muscled residents all appear to be using souped-up, vRS style versions of everyday objects, including a monster-truck ice-cream van and a giant trike.

However, everything grinds to a stop when the residents see the Octavia vRS.

Heidi Cartledge, head of marketing at Skoda UK, said: “The third generation Octavia vRS is the fastest production model to date so we wanted an advert that would bring to life the idea of enhancing the performance of everyday objects. The specially made props give a tongue in cheek taste of what you could experience if you vRS’d your life.”

An early version of the ad was shown at the Goodwood Festival of Speed earlier this month. For the duration of Goodwood, visitors to the Škoda stand were able to star in the commercial themselves by virtually taking the place of the driver featured in the spot.

McDonald's has released an ad for its promotional summer menu, taking a light-hearted swipe at the traditional British summer weather.

'Sun Party', created by Leo Burnett, promotes the summer menu on offer for a limited period much like, it adds, the British summer itself.

With the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge announcing the birth of their son last night, the first round of brands released their ads through Twitter late last night and early this morning. Throughout the day more and more brands have been joining the celebrations, here are some more of the best Royal Baby campaigns to come out of the last 24 hours.

Tesco Clubcard has announced that it is bringing Exchange and Rewards together as Clubcard Boost.

The supermarket has said that the change will begin on Monday 29 July, with customers to be able to exchange £5 of Clubcard vouchers for £10 to spend in selected departments right through until the end of the year as well as having special offers and seasonal events.

To mark the launch of Boost customers can exchange £2.50 worth of Clubcard vouchers for a cinema ticket valid with Cineworld or Odeon until 26 August.

If shopping on Tesco direct, vouchers will be automatically available in the checkout, and customers can choose whether to boost them or not, with customers able to also change vouchers into boost tokens in-store.

Users will also still be able to boost their vouchers with Clubcard partners to spend on treats such as meals and days out.

Banner ads are dead and internet users are becoming increasingly banner blind, according to wallpaper advert enthusiast and co-founder of WeTransfer, Nalden.

Ahead of the banner ad's 19th birthday this year, Nalden spoke out as WeTransfer reached 16 million monthly users, claiming the banner ad had had its day and was lagging behind full screen wallpaper adverts. According to the file sharing service, click through rates for wallpaper ads reach up to two per cent while banner ads achieve an average 0.014 per cent.

"The average internet user is dealt over 1,700 banner ads a month, so it's no wonder they're becoming banner blind," said Nalden. "We are adding relevance, experience and creativity to our advertising."

The company has pushed against banner advertising since its early days in favour of full screen amid what it says is a growing demand for "cutting edge creativity and the highest aesthetic standards".

"The big advantage of WeTransfer over other file transfer services is that we have had a highly effective business model right from the start built around quality, performance and user trust.

"More and more advertisers are understanding the value in this and moving away from the 'spray and pray' approach seen with banner adverts."

WeTransfer includes Red Bull, Samsung, Google, Nike and Heineken among its advertisers and the site offers a 'plus' feature which allows brands to exhibit three rotating wallpaper images which can link to any website.

To celebrate the launch of the Nissan Note later this year, TBWA has created a virtual test drive video using Facebook Connect.

The Facebook API allows a user to customise the video, which tells the story of an unwanted car passenger, using their friend’s profile before sharing it.

Created by TBWA Paris/London and Digital Arts Network, the virtual video will allow users to change their gender, name and status.

The Nissan Note is set to be launched throughout Europe in October.

A YouGov poll has revealed the British public is backing the government's cross party Royal Charter proposals on press regulation ahead of the press industry alternatives.

The figures show 50 per cent of people support the government Royal Charter while just 13 per cent back the industry's proposals.

According to the poll, 68 per cent of people wouldn't have confidence in a press regulation model implemented by newspaper publishers and 43 per cent believe there would be a high risk of unethical and illegal practices throughout industry under such a system.

There is still no clear timetable on when a decision will be made on UK press regulation in the wake of the Leveson Report.

Government failure to move the process along quickly allowed the press industry to submit a proposal to the privy council first. Former deputy prime minister John Prescott resigned amid the wrangling, claiming the approach was so flawed he believed it bordered on a conspiracy to delay regulation.

Impatience has spread among the public, too, poll figures show, with 63 per cent of people saying the new press regulation system is overdue. Just 16 per cent think more time over the summer should be given to allow further negotiations.

The privy council is scheduled to meet again in October, almost a year after the Leveson report was published.

Game has appointed Ailsa McKnight as the company's new marketing director.

McKnight will leave her role as brand and customer director at Ladbrokes to join the retailer.

Game CEO Martyn Gibbs said: "With over 17 years of senior marketing experience and a professional history including Hasbro, Moulinex, Mamas and Papas, Camelot Group and GTECH Corporation, Ailsa will be a hugely valuable addition to our business and will shape our marketing team and the focus of our customer proposition over the coming months."

She will begin the job at the end of August.