Universities spent an average of £579,035 on marketing in 2012 compared with £498,549 in 2009, research from specialist marketing recruiter EMR has found.

The research found that marketing spend per applicant has risen to £25, up from £19 in 2009.

Simon Bassett, managing director of EMR, said: “University fees almost trebled with the new £9,000 cap on tuition, so the importance of marketing has increased hugely. The value that higher education offers is now firmly under the microscope and it is down to marketers to make the universities’ case. However, simply increasing marketing spend isn’t the answer. How universities spend their money is arguably more important.

“The challenge for those that do need to market themselves is to be creative and use their heritage while reaching new people through alternative channels. For example, social media has been used effectively by a number of private education providers for a while now to engage with prospective students, and it can present a new face to an established institution, targeting their audience’s communication sweet-spot.”

A quarter of marketers polled said that existing reputation is more important than proactive marketing for universities, with Oxford and Cambridge both having no advertising budget.

This comes on the same day as it was announced that Paula Barrow, previously Levi Strauss Europe marketing manager, has taken the role of director of marketing at the University of Salford.

The Football Association has turned to Man+Hatchet to produce an online campaign promoting its Respect Programme.

The campaign looks at what might happen if the FA introduced radical behaviour correction technology to grassroots football games, battling pushy parents and mouthy players.

“The application of technology is an ongoing discussion in football – this film takes a light hearted look at how it can be applied to improving behaviour in the Grassroots Game but ultimately the solution is in our own hands. We all have a part to play,” explained Dermot Collins, FA respect manager at The Football Association.

Supported by an outreach programme to engage grassroots clubs and parenting blogs across England, the online film is part of the next Gold campaign for The FA and will feature on matchday programmes and on the front page of thefa.com as well as being shown around Wembley Stadium.

MiAwards, the annual awards scheme organised by MiNetwork to recognise and reward the best marketing agencies and individuals in the UK, is this week launching the first stage of its Public Vote section and is now seeking nominations for the category of Agency Supplier if the Year.

The Agency Supplier category gives staff of agencies across the UK the opportunity to nominate any supplier that they work with that has given them outstanding service or delivered outstanding products during the last year.

This category covers any supplier to an agency – from recruitment agencies to printers and from project management systems to legal advice. MiAwards wants to hear from the industry just who the great suppliers to agencies are and why they are so good at what they do.

Last year Public Vote winners included MD of the Year Gellan Watt of Thinking Juice, Marketing Personality of the Year Rob Morrice of Stein IAS, Creative Director of the Year Vince McSweeny of McCann Birmingham, Marketing Director of the Year Andrew Garrihy of Samsung and Emerging Marketer of the Year Fiona Gandy of 7thingsmedia.

Once all the nominations are in, the public will be able to vote on the eventual winners from mid-September up until the end of October, around two weeks before the MiAwards take place in Manchester on Thursday 14th November. For more MiAwards categories click here.

Richard Draycott, managing director of MiNetwork, said: “The Public Vote categories Always prove popular and give everyone in the industry the opportunity to have their say or even win an awards for themselves. Every great agency business relies on a wide range of service and product suppliers to help them to deliver great results for their clients. It might be a great recruitment consultant who genuinely understands their business and gets the right person first time every time or it might be a brilliant project management system that enables them to be as efficient and profitable as possible.

If you would like to nominate one or more of the suppliers that you and/or your agency works with then please email your nomination, along with up to 100 words outlining why you are nominating them to Nikki Gillies who is organising the MiAwards 2013.

More MiAwards Public Vote categories will be officially launched next week.

As part of The Drum’s social media supplement, we asked a cross-section of people working in the industry their views on a number of relevant topics.

Here, we asked: how can brands use social engagement to create the same level of impact or brand awareness as traditional advertising?

Pete Durant, social media director, Manning Gottlieb OMD

Does traditional advertising exist anymore? TV ads are integrating with Twitter, press ads are mobile enabled, outdoor fuelled by social actions. It is key to see social engagement (commenting and sharing of content) as a behaviour that people enact as instinct. Whether it is a TV ad, press spot or social campaign, you need to drive this to take your message further. I would look at using social engagement in three ways: amplifying and extending your ATL advertising through things like second screening; a social by design campaign that is driven on social; or one-offs like video content. If done correctly with the right investment, the latter for example, can provide you with millions of views and wider awareness: our recent Renault Clio va va voom video is a great example.

Steve Cater, head of digital, whynot!

“Impact” by its very definition is qualified by its effect. It’s all well and good to see something. Seeing something that makes you act is far more valuable. Yet, impact is worthless without reasonable scale. Reaching people in an impactful way in through social requires value and relevance. Impactful engagement trades entertainment, knowledge and/or opportunity for awareness and ultimately action. Without valuable and relevant engagement brands are unable to compete alone through social media. Content strategies built on brand relevance and a good knowledge of the consumer are of the utmost importance to ensure results. Tread carefully or “Condescending Corporate Brand Page” will strike you down!

Kristin Brewe, director of marketing and communications, IAB

It would be foolish to say that I can grow mass audience brand awareness as quickly in social as I can in broadcast TV. Television remains an extraordinary medium for building brand awareness in mass audiences quickly. The one exception I can think of is social video where some content has achieved awareness on a rapid and massive scale globally: Gangnam Style as one example (catchy content, but also a carefully orchestrated social seeding campaign from Psy’s record label).

However, if I want to reach high awareness levels and create an emotional connection with my brand among a specific audience, I’d focus a lot of effort on social media. Social achieves strong awareness and establishes that really authentic emotional connection which is more challenging for traditional mass media formats to achieve.

For example, if I were a baby clothes brand, I’d work diligently to have a presence on new mum community sites and across the social channels where mums are really active. Or, if I had a new line of gourmet bacon, I’d spend a lot of time on foodie blogs and social channels where foodies spend a great deal of time. Of course, it never hurts to have traditional media, whether that’s TV, outdoor or radio, alongside social media, but for some communities, especially those where digital natives are the norm, social media and other digital channels may be more effective in meaningfully reaching those audiences.

Wayne St Amand, executive VP of global marketing, Crimson Hexagon

Whilst traditional advertising is creative, attractive and delivers a certain level of control, the overall marketing impact is dwindling. Consumers no longer believe everything they see in advertorial because it’s known that brands have paid for the space. By using social sites through earned media instead, brands can nurture and encourage users to relay their experiences – whether that be sharing an in-store experience or praising customer service – via these channels. While there is less control over social media than traditional forms of advertising, social engagement offers a far more powerful element in terms of consumer perception and thus, the overall impact is greater.

Take Yelp for example – the outlet proves word of mouth endorsements are far more reliable and trustworthy than a paid endorsement. The wave of the future for brand awareness lies in influenced and earned media, and although it’s not as controlled, the ability to guide consumer conversations, understand customer preferences, promote positive feedback and inspire the sharing of experiences is there, and arguably the most powerful and persuasive form of advertising today.

Daniel Stern, account manager, Essence

Social engagement can be used to extend the accessibility and global reach of a campaign. While traditional advertising is by no means redundant, social has a much higher engagement rate with smaller associated costs. By using incentives a brand can create two-way relationships with customers, talking to them directly to cement their loyalty by making them feel a part of the brand.

Jim Dowling, managing partner, Cake

They do different jobs.

Advertising interrupts what you're doing – tells you something – and gives you no right of reply. You can skip forward on Sky+, or close your eyes and not look at the bus stop you're waiting at, but ultimately, you didn't consent to seeing it.

Social is more powerful. People step forward towards a brand. They want to talk to it. They want to hear what it's got to say. The IAB says that four out of five would be more inclined to buy a product if they've been exposed to its social presence.

Can advertising create the same level of impact as social?

Jan Rezub, CEO, Socialbakers

Social marketing holds an ever growing audience, time spent in social media now matches or sometimes even exceeds that of traditional ad channels, and impact can be maximized by targeting not masses of people, but targeting the right people. This is what advertising on social networks and particularly Facebook does perfectly well! If companies take social media as a "free and viral" channel, they will be proven wrong. Today, unless you are extremely lucky to achieve good viral reach, it’s really about building the right balance between growth, engagement & reach (paid, organic, and viral), and a great relationship with customers via social network.

Iona St Joseph, social media account manager, A social media agency

Social media is all about creating conversation, so if you do this well, it can be far more effective in terms of awareness than traditional advertising. It could be argued that, as with social media, it can be difficult to prove the ROI with traditional advertising as well. Timing is key in terms of social engagement, it gives you a lot more opportunity to push out reactive content, which has a great effect on the impact of brand awareness.

Previously, they were asked that they thought the biggest change has been in social so far in 2013.

This interview is part of our social media supplement, out on 2 August.

“Next year Scotland will probably have more events of stature than anywhere else, the eyes of the world will be on us from Hogmanay at the start of the year right the way through to Hogmanay at the end of 2014,” remarked Paul Bush, chief operating officer of EventScotland ahead of an event-packed year for Scotland.

Speaking to The Drum, Bush described the upcoming Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup as “a catalyst that you can draw upon for the future” and that despite the honour of hosting these events next year Scotland’s event industry “shouldn’t underestimate what it achieves on an on-going basis annually” as “most countries would probably give their right arm to have the Edinburgh Festivals, T in the Park and Hogmanay, to name but a few.”

The “cream on the cake” of the Scottish events calendar next year is without a doubt the Commonwealth Games which recently kicked off its ‘One year to go’ campaign. Following in the aftermath of a successful Olympic Games in London over 50,000 people applied for volunteer spots at next year’s Games, something which Bush calls “amazing” and explains that his vision is to “ensure all of these people are not one-off volunteers and that they are enticed to participate in major events or community events post-2014,” adding that the main thing the Games can do for Scotland’s events sector is to “build capacity, capability and expertise within Scotland, leaving the country in a better position and better condition to take things forward.”

Of the boost both the Ryder Cup and the Commonwealth Games will bring for the country Bush explains that “event tourism is one of the most sustainable economic drivers for any country, both events have very different demographic markets.

“For the Commonwealth Games the 71 Commonwealth countries will be targeted by the organising committee…whereas for the Ryder Cup there will be more focus on Europe and North America.”

On top of both of these major events and Scotland’s usual roster, the country is also gearing up for its second Homecoming year, dedicated to celebrating Scottish heritage and encouraging ex-pats to return. Deemed a success in 2009, five years on another round of “signature events” will mark the second Homecoming year with a number of which due to be “announced throughout the next few weeks and months.”

As London celebrates its one-year anniversary of hosting the Olympic Games much focus is placed on how the country can sustain the legacy of the competition. Asked how Scotland can ensure the Commonwealth Games lives on post-2014, Bush comments: “I don’t use the word legacy personally, I use the word sustainability. Simply because I think it’s very important, and legacy is an overused word in my book, it’s really all about ensuring we can provide sustainability to events and we bring in long-term economic developments which benefit the country.”

Looking ahead Bush reflects upon the last 10-15 years of Scottish events: “We’ve seen a huge growth in Scotland as a nation in terms of its delivery, and if you look forward past 2014, we have five major sporting events in the calendar after 2014/2015 – if you’d have thought that 10 years ago you’d have said ‘don’t be daft’, but now we have scalable events coming in to Scotland and throughout the length and breadth of the country.

“We’re getting slicker, we’ve always had a great track record and EventScotland is just part of the jigsaw…we’re in the process of reviewing our ‘Scotland: The perfect stage’ strategy which will give us an insight into how things will go post-2014. We’ll be consulting widely across the nation as to how that should look and in times of austerity that make take a different shape but I still feel really confident that Scotland will continue to punch above its weight in 2015-2025.”

EventScotland will be sponsor of the Scottish Event Awards for the second year running. The event takes place on 26 September 2013 The Crowne Plaza Hotel in Glasgow.

Also sponsoring the event will be Freshwater and Bauer Media Scotland.

British Gas has today announced the launch of an out of home campaign with Posterscope and Carat, which will look to promote its smart meter offering.

The two-week, 6-sheet campaign is running across key cities to show how energy is being used in homes, transforming the image of an ordinary toaster into a blue wireframe mesh, revealing the energy travelling through the electrical appliance.

The printing technique, developed and produced by lenticular specialists Hive Associates, produces a visual transformation on an otherwise static poster by interlacing two images together, flipping between each other as passersby view the poster from different angles.

Amy Holland, advertising manager for British Gas, said: “This campaign is designed to drive awareness of the benefits to our customers of upgrading to smart meters. Using lenticulars in this way is the perfect creative illustration of the hidden nature of energy consumption and is a clever way to transform the way customers view it, bringing to life the benefits of smart meters in a very powerful way.”

MediaCom’s data and technology director Robert Webster has joined ad tech firm Crimtan as chief product officer.

Webster, who joins today, will focus on driving new products that specifically address current marketing challenges, along with unlocking the “higher value end” of programmatic buying – brand response.

This will include developing methods around ensuring the right quality of sites are plugging into exchanges, content verification and visibility, ensuring ads are appearing above the fold where possible.

The real-time bidding (RTB) environment has drawn criticism from experts, with many frustrated that the over-reliance on retargeting for the purposes of driving volume, has meant the market has failed to capialise on its full potential.

Webster agrees, adding that retargeting has become “commoditised”, with the result that not enough focus is on exploring the full capabilities of programmatic trading.

“The tricks around retargeting and how to do it well are now well-known. When you plan media from now on it’s not just about picking a media owner it’s about tactics, and exploring what there is beyond retargeting. So let’s look at buying in more behavioural data to improve prospecting, or geo.

“At Crimtan we can look at the challenges, develop products around those challenges and then take them to market. That’s why we can fit in well with the space – we can provide that specialised layer. For example you might want a tablet campaign that only targets certain audience behaviours and in specific areas, and which you couldn’t get from the mainstream demand-side platforms (DSPs),” he said.

Webster believes the RTB sector has matured but still has a way to go before all unnecessary complexity is weeded out, for the benefit of advertisers.

Crimtan counts British Airways, BSkyB and Land Rover among its clients.

The CEO of the company which installed monitoring equipment into recycling bins on London streets tracking the phones of passers-by to allow advertisers to target messages at people, has defended the installation of the devices.

CEO of Renew, Kaveh Memari, said in a blog post that media reports on the issue had emphasised “style over substance that makes our technology trial slightly more interesting than it is.”

Newspaper reports stated that Renew had installed 100 internet-connected recycling bins with digital screens twelve of which had been fitted with technology that tracked smartphones.

“The idea is to bring internet tracking cookies to the real world. The bins record a unique identification number, known as a MAC address, for any nearby phones and other devices that have Wi-Fi turned on,” Atlantic Cities reported.

It said that Renew could identify people walking by.

Today, Memari said that the experiment had been discontinued, and the bins did not gather personal details.

"During our initial trials, which we are no longer conducting, a limited number of pods had been testing and collecting annonymised and aggregated MAC addresses from the street and sending one report every three minutes concerning total footfall data from the sites."

He added: "A lot of what had been extrapolated is capabilities that could be developed and none of which are workable right now. For now, we no longer continue to count devices and are able to distinguish uniques versus repeats. However, the process is very much like a website, you can tell how many hits you have had and how many repeat visitors, but we cannot tell who, or anything personal about any of the visitors on the website. So we couldn’t tell, for example, whether we had seen devices or not as we never gathered any personal details.

He added: “At this stage, we were merely running a pilot with extremely limited, encrypted, anonymous/aggregated data.”

Memari acknowledged that there was a legal lacuna in this area.

In the EU websites now must inform users if cookies are being used, and to offer a warning allowing them to opt out before proceeding. Similar provisions are not yet in place for Wi-fi networks and devices such as smartphones or iPads.

He said “Come the time we discuss creating the future levels of protection, we can move to an improved service where we can bring better content to people. In doing so, we may find that the law has not yet fully developed and it is our firm intention to discuss any such progressions publicly first and especially collaborate with privacy groups such as EFF to make sure we lead the charge on this as we are with the implementation of the technology.”

Former director of the Press Complaints Commission Stephen Abell has been appointed managing editor of the Sun.

The 33-year old was a director for two of his 10 years at the PCC and left the organisation in February last year.

Commenting on the appointment, the Sun’s new editor, David Dinsmore, said: “Press regulation has never been a hotter topic and it is of huge benefit to have someone of Stig’s knowledge and experience on board as we chart a course through choppy waters.”

Abell added: “As someone who cares deeply about good journalism – and the future of the newspaper industry – this is an opportunity I could not refuse. I cannot wait to get started.”

Abell, also known by his nickname ‘Stig’, will begin the role in September.

Delighted to announce that I will be new Managing Editor of @TheSunNewspaper. Great paper, great challenge. Excited about getting started.

— Stig Abell (@StigAbell) August 12, 2013

Steve Davis has been appointed head of exhibition at Digital Cinema Media (DCM) to drive commercial digital opportunities.

The newly-created role will see Davis work with the commercial, finance and marketing teams to identify new marketing streams to grow the cinema’s share of the media market.

Davis will report to CEO Simon Rees, who said: “As DCM focuses on developing its cross-platform portfolio, Steve will be critical in spearheading our partnerships with exhibitors to create valuable opportunities for brands.”

Davis added: “New initiatives such as alternative content and introduction of bars are helping transform cinema into an experience, a destination and a venue. I’m really excited about how this can help grow the medium even further.”

Prior to the new role, Davis spent nine years in in business development and transformation at Clear Channel and had sales stints at Haymarket Media Group and Incisive Media.

A document revealing salary details for Guardian staff has been leaked, revealing the lowest starting salary for a full time staffer sits at £30,000.

Editorial positions begin at £30,000 for a reporter and reach up to £55,000 for a news editor, according to the Guido Fawkes blog. Feature writers, senior reporters and specialist reporters can all expect salaries of £40,000 while photographers are looking at £40,000.

Guido said: “Given the interest the paper takes in how much other people are paid, it’s only fair that this document sees the light of day.

“Guido has been leaked the pay structures of junior staff, and it makes an intriguing read in these austere times.”

The Guardian came under criticism recently in Private Eye for allegedly employing staff on zero-hour contracts while claiming publicly that it didn’t.

Last month, Guardian Media Group announced losses of over £30m for the financial year ending 31 March 2013, although the figure was a reduction on the previous year’s losses of £44.2m.

The Drum is awaiting a response from the Guardian at time of publication.

To promote its Premier League clips offering on mobile and online The Times has replaced its masthead crest with symbolic imagery from all 20 Premier League clubs.

Running outdoor on 48-sheets nationwide and on the London Underground as cross-tracks and tube cards throughout August and September, the images will resonate with fans of each club, with some more cryptic than others to challenge even the most ardent of football fans.

Created by The Team News Box, part of CHI Partners’ in-house team at News UK, executions include a cannon for Arsenal, a lion for Aston Villa, a tiger for Hull, and hammers for West Ham.

“The Times already provides subscribers with the best in football coverage and analysis throughout the week, and the addition of Premier League clips makes the offer even better. Fans will be able to see every single goal in England’s top flight this season, as well as all the latest news and views from the game’s leading experts,” commented Suzi Watford, marketing director, The Times and The Sunday Times.

PR for the campaign is handled by tpf – The Publicity Factory.

News UK and Telegraph Media Group (TMG) have revealed plans for a joint distribution deal with Ceva Logistics.

Commencing in September 2013, the five-year contract sees Ceva distributing the two companies’ newspapers through England and Wales. The appointment comes follows a competitive pitch between three companies.

News UK currently has distribution contracts with DHL and Downtown, with Ceva the incumbent distributors for TMG. Publisher of The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times, News UK, has been printing the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph for TMG since 2008.

Chris Taylor, COO at News UK, commented: “We are very excited about this new venture and very pleased to be working in partnership with TMG on what we believe will be a platform to promote and expand our distribution services.”

Newspaper sales director at TMG, David Greene, added: “We are extremely pleased to extend our positive working relationships with both News UK and Ceva Logistics. This is an excellent opportunity to maximise supply chain efficiencies in an increasingly changing media environment.”

BP, Cineworld and Tesco are among the first brands to join a new debit-card loyalty scheme from Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and NatWest.

The reward scheme, called Cashback Plus, lets customers earn at least one per cent of their spend back on groceries bought from a select number of retailers, starting with Tesco, BP, Cineworld and Caffe Nero.

The state-backed banks have been working with data monetisation and loyalty programme specialist Reward, to trial the scheme over the last 18 months.

Today the service has been rolled out to RBS and NatWest’s existing UK customers, which total more than 12m.

The move forms part of RBS Group’s strategy to drive increased debit card use, spend and retention, while attracting new customers.

BP UK’s marketing director Alex Windle said being part of the scheme will help it “harness” the power of the banks’ transactional data and in doing so “drive profitable incremental sales to our forecourts”.

Allan Hardie, head of NatWest and RBS Current Accounts said: “We want to reward our loyal customers for banking with NatWest and RBS, but we also want to give our new customers an offer that won’t fizzle out just after signing up. This simple reward scheme requires no separate loyalty card and it’s completely free. Customers will get value back on something they do every day – using their debit card.”

Once users activate their debit car online the will start receiving the offers automatically loaded onto the Cashback Plus account. Participating retailers will ensure their offers are targeted based on individual customers’ shopping habits.

Cashback earned will be transferred back into the customer’s current account, or can be accumulated for greater value rewards, or changed in to cash and donated to UK charities, including the NSPCC.

Retailers that were part of the trail have claimed that the scheme drove incremental sales to their stores and online, while helping identify new customers which of their competitors they currently shop with.

Other retailers to join the scheme include Ernest Hones, H Samuel, and American Golf.

MiNetwork has joined forces with the founder of One Day Code School, Dave Birss, to run digital coding courses for non-coders in the North West and Midlands in September and October.

One Day Code School gives non-coders working in the marketing industry the opportunity to understand how websites are built, what makes them function and ultimately what makes them breakdown. In just eight hours One Day Code School attendees will learn how to read, interpret and create the languages of the internet - HTML, JavaScript and CSS – and by the end of the course they will be able to create and build their own webpages and websites and have a broader understanding of how the web works.

Speaking of One Day Code School, Dave Birss said: “If you've got anything to do with the internet, you should really understand a bit of the language. At least enough to order a coffee and ask directions to the nearest toilet. That's what One Day Code School is about. In just eight hours, you'll learn the basics of HTML, CSS and JavaScript. And by the end of the day you'll have built your very own website you can show off to your friends and colleagues."

"You don't need to have any knowledge of code to do the course. We'll take you from total ignorance to confident coding in just one day. The youngest we've had on the course was a 12 year old schoolgirl - and the oldest was a 63 year old managing director. Neither had any problems."

"We've built our very own online tools to help you get to grips with HTML and CSS. And you get a 150-page book to remind you of everything you learned during the day - along with a couple of extra projects you can do in your own time."

"At the end of the day, you'll have a much better understanding of what's possible with the web, how you go about building it, how to speak to techies and how to spot bullshit. And the extra confidence that gives you has the power to transform how you work with technology for the rest of your life."

One Day Code School will be happening in Birmingham on Thursday 19th September and in Manchester on Tuesday 1st October. Both courses start at 9am and finish at 5pm, with lunch included

For more details and to sign up for One Day Code School in Birmingham click here.

For more details and to sign up for One Day Code School in Manchester click here.

After the first England vs Scotland game in 14 years attracted viewers of more than nine million to ITV’s coverage, fans and sports stars alike have called for the fixture to return on an annual basis.

The friendly match at Wembley ended in a 3-2 victory for England after the Scots twice went ahead, and the captivated public gave ITV a 31.4 per cent audience share between 7.30pm and 10.25pm. More than 80,000 people attended the game.

Brands including, Vauxhall, Irn Bru, Tennent’s, Paddy Power and STV made the most of the game ahead of kick off with a range of videos and adverts.

Fans and pundits took to Twitter to praise the fixture and call for its regular return.

We think it’s all over… Time to kick back and crack open a BRU. #ClassicFitba if ever we saw it. Thanks for watching. pic.twitter.com/0pr0kfsEPg

— New From IRN-BRU (@NewFromIRNBRU) August 14, 2013

Won't be long before the name of Scotland's favourite ever player reverberates around Wembley.... Diego Maradona

— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) August 14, 2013

To all of those who say this fixture has no place in the 21st century for what ever reason. Give your head a wobble.

— Stan Collymore (@StanCollymore) August 14, 2013

We'd rather have a panda than a prince! Who ever started this deserves a medal!! #engsco #TartanArmy pic.twitter.com/4I9FrGZWHV

— Grant Ferguson (@07fergie) August 14, 2013

What a great atmosphere from the Scottish fans too!! #scotland #Football #engsco #class

— Laura Davidson (@lauradavo_x) August 14, 2013

I enjoyed cheering the two goals. Marvellous joy. Always good for you. #engsco #optimistslivelonger

— Carolyn Leckie (@carolynleckie) August 14, 2013

The best International friendly I've ever watched! Superb 3-2 victory for England over rivals Scotland, thoroughally entertaining #engsco

— Chris Buckle (@MrChrisBuckle) August 14, 2013

Great 'friendly' match! Both teams gave it their all, Scotland were superb, hopefully this is a fixture we can see annually! #engsco

— Andy Mckay (@andymckaayy) August 14, 2013

Well, if its any consolation, Scotland invented the telly, and you all watched that on a telly. #tartanarmy #engsco #engvsco

— Andy Young (@AndyYoungDesign) August 14, 2013

That game greatly exceeded my expectations of it. This should be made an annual thing, switching between Hampden and Wembley. #ENGSCO

— William AF Cahill (@WilliamCahill91) August 14, 2013

More than one in ten (16 per cent) consumers would be more likely to update social networks when wearing Google Glass with the retail products they like, research from Venda has found, while 28 per cent would use the wearable technology to access in-store promotions.

The “Wearable Technology: The High Street’s Secret Weapon?” report asked over 2000 UK adults their views, and discovered that over a quarter (27 per cent) would use the technology to search for available stock and product ideas to purchase while in-store – rising to 45 per cent for 18-24 year olds.

Eric Abensur, group CEO of Venda, said: “Wearable technology has the potential to help both consumers and retailers. Consumers will be able to make informed purchase decisions and redeem offers, while Glass will help retailers promote the visibility of products on social networks in a novel and engaging way. However this and other in-store technology innovations that retailers choose to implement need to be intuitive, approachable and accessible to truly take off.

“Wearable technology has been identified as a potential driving force for the high street’s renaissance. With this technology, margins can be preserved and conversion optimised by offering the right offer to the right customer at the right time in a personalised way. Consumers will choose to adopt the technology if and when retailers clearly articulate the benefits for them.”

It was suggested that Google Glass could lead to the revival of the high street, with almost a third of consumers (28 per cent) suggesting retailers should not be allowed to ban the use of Google Glass when shopping and over half of these respondents (52 per cent) felt that retailers would have something to hide, such as negative product reviews, if they were not allowed to use Google Glass in store.

See what The Drum thought of Google Glass in our review.

The Youth 100 shortlist has today been revealed by founders The Beans Group and youth communications agency Thinkhouse, featuring brands such as Adidas, Nike and Facebook.

In 2012, YouTube gained the top spot, with Jägermeister UK, Cadbury’s, H&M and Apple all making the list.

Luke Mitchell, head of insight at The Beans Group, said: “The world of youth marketing is fast-paced and running the second annual Youth 100 gives us the chance to monitor the performance of brands from year-to-year and discover who the new brands to watch are. We’re delighted to have Thinkhouse on board – their expertise will add energy and a new dimension to this year’s event.”

Emily Cramp, managing director of Thinkhouse UK, added: “As youth communications partner on the Youth 100 we want to add a new dimension that helps provide a state-of-the-nation perspective on Britain’s youth and brands. Our track record of working with brands who want to connect with a youth audience places us in perfect position to do just that and we hope to offer some valuable insights for brands to take away.”

The top 100 brands will be unveiled at an ‘Edible Info’ event at the Barbican in London on 10 October.

ESPN is giving sports fans control of their mobile sports news and information experience with the launch of a new app that allows users to personalise their news service.

The app will bring together ESPN content from across its range of digital brands including ESPN.co.uk, ESPNcricinfo, ESPNFC and ESPN.com. Key features of the app include MyESPN personalisation allowing the user simple, one-touch management and filtering of content.

A single swipe allows sports fans to move in real-time across all sports with the user able to narrow down the type of content from each sport featured to their own preference e.g. live scores, news, analysis, video, and Twitter and Facebook posts.

Key sporting events will be highlighted with a curated feed throughout the year, and personalised updates and alerts can also be set up for particular teams and leagues.

Charly Classen, senior director commercial, digital and marketing, ESPN, commented: “The new ESPN app builds on the personal nature of sports and how fans use their mobiles and tablets…The app combines ESPN’s unmatched collection of digital sports content and empowers the fan to consume the sports and teams they are interested in – and the type of content they prefer, whether that is scores, a traditional story, video or Twitter.”

Ads will be integrated into the app’s news feed in a bid to appeal to brands looking for a more targeted and connective way to connect with sports fans. The ads can be sold by sport, league or team leading to closer targeting. Fans will also be able to share app content via social media.

Designed and developed by ESPN in conjunction with LBi and NETCO Sports, the app is currently available on the App Store and Google Play with a tablet version in development and due for release later in the year.

Former Radio One DJ Dave Lee Travis has been charged with 12 sexual offences, the Crown Prosecution Service has confirmed.

The 68-year-old – real name David Patrick Griffin - has been charged with 11 counts of indecent assault and one count of sexual assault against women aged between 15 and 29 between 1977 and 2007.

A spokeswoman for the CPS said there was sufficient evidence to pursue the charges and it was in the public interest.

Travis was arrested in November last year and quickly dropped from his radio show spot on Magic AM. He is one of a number of high profile figures to be arrested under Operation Yewtree, the police investigation set up in the wake of the Jimmy Savile child abuse revelations.