Virgin Money has this week partnered with customer loyalty and promotional marketing company Inspire, as part of a campaign set to run until the end of the year.

The Summer Days Out campaign offers the bank’s customers two for one entry into more than 360 attractions all over the UK, including Dudley Zoo, Edinburgh Dungeons and Life Science Centre Newcastle.

Jodi Hamilton, client services director at Inspire, said, “Our mission is to provide unique experiences to our partners' customers. So, we’re honoured to be working with Virgin Money to help their customers create memorable experiences with friends and family, and increasing their attachment to this fantastic brand."

Andrew Morgan, customer marketing manager at Virgin Money, added: “At Virgin Money, we want to help our customers make the most of their time with friends and family. This is why we are excited about the Double the Fun campaign, for which we’ve partnered with inspire. With more than 360 attractions all over the country to choose from, our customers will have plenty of options for enjoying their free time - whatever the weather."

The Summer Days Out campaign can be seen at all of the brand's 75 stores and three lounges, as well as on its home page, in customer emails and statement inserts.

Audi has unveiled a new print campaign for its RS 6 Avant featuring Christopher Reeve.

Created by BBH, the ad sees superman actor Reeve as Clark Kent, and features the tagline ‘Power from a less obvious place’.

The campaign also features a TV ad, which sees boxing champions Steve Cunningham and B.J. Floresand fighting. However, the star of the ad is boxing referee Tony Weeks.

"Ratings, revenue and reputation," are the three words new Channel 5 controller Ben Frow wants to be associated with the channel under his leadership.

During his session at the Edinburgh International TV Festival Frow was the only controller - out of him, Channel 4's Jay Hunt, BBC One's Charlotte Moore, ITV's Peter Fincham and Sky's Stuart Murphy, - to out and out admit that ratings matter to him.

He added: "Share is everything to me. It [Channel 5] might be a declining channel but if I told myself that I wouldn't get out of bed in the morning."

Of Jay Hunt's claims that Channel 5 skewed the figures to make it appear that the channel had beaten Channel 4 in the ratings, Frow said: "Well we all follow the same data. But if we did it was only one week out of 52 and for me it's not about beating Channel 4 it's about making Channel 5 as good as it can be. For me it's all about growing share for Channel 5."

One thing Channel 5 has done in an attempt to grow share is buy the Big Brother format, with the civilian version finishing this week and the celebrity version kicking off on Thursday night.

"I think it was genius of Channel 5 to take it," said Frow, despite admitting even he "didn't know half" of this year's 'celebrity' contestants.

Having a "beast" like Big Brother in the schedule has lead the channel to commission more "fun stuff" according to Frow. Explaining: "I need things that will sit nicely in front of bb at 9pm. What we need are those things that will bring an audience in at the beginning of the night and keep them until 11pm. I want people to look at the schedule and think 'I'm going to have half a bottle of wine and enjoy Channel 5 tonight."

According to Frow when it comes to Channel 5 programming "title is everything". He furthered: "You only have five words to punch through and make people curious to tune into Channel 5, we're too small to expect people to work out what we're offering them."

In discussing titles and the schedule around Big Brother Frow talks of a Kerry Katona show originally entitled 'Kerry Katona: My depression diaries' according to Frow that wasn't right for the schedule but change the name to 'Kerry Katona: How I lost £10m' "Bam, I'm there," he said.

Under his leadership Frow says he has "changed the culture slightly" as he has "clear guidelines of where I want the channel to go".

"I think the old sleazy, grubby interpretation of 5 has gone," he said. "Channel 5 is just an important place as Channel 4 and the BBC. I do get the feeling sometimes people view Channel 5 as an also ran."

In conversation with TV presenter Rick Edwards Frow describes Channel 5 as "for anybody" revealing that he would like to "move away from celebrity based things," despite shows like Celebrity Super Spa in the autumn line up.

He concluded: "We have five big pieces in the schedule Big Brother, Neighbours, Home and Away, the news and The Wright Stuff and we need to build around those.

"The days of being able to do double/triple CSI are at an end because America isn't producing that anymore...[We might be viewed as] blue collar and downmarket but we don't have to stay there."

This beautifully written 90 second spot could make even the most lumpen of couch potatoes want to get up, stare their reflection down, and get out and prove something to themselves. Bradley Cooper's laconic yet goading tone is perfect for putting you in the mindset to achieve above and beyond your own expectations.

Celebrating 25 years of the 'Just Do It' philosophy, the ad commands you to think big, then bigger still - even to the point of being the mentor to your sporting heroes; many of whom make impressive cameos here.

It exudes attitude, grit, and steely self-discipline in a way that makes you think you'd be the one to benefit from a kick up the backside rather than the usually annoying Bradders... and that's saying a lot.

If Nike were hoping to make something that sums up their strapline with consummate style, all that remains to say is: they just did it.

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy (New York)
Creative Director: Alberto Ponte / Ryan O'Rourke
Creative: Edward Harrison / Sezay Altinok
TV Producer: Anna Smith
Production Co: MJZ
Director: Nicolai Fuglsig
Producer: Suza Horvat
Executive Producer: Emma Wilcockson
Photography: Greig Fraser
Post Production: A52 (Los Angeles)
Editing House: Rock Paper Scissors
Editor: Angus Wall

"We are in the middle of a bit of a revamp and from September onwards, we're doing a rebrand. My feeling was on joining Sky Living about a year ago it was a little bit too niche, revealed Sky Living channel director Antonia Hurford-Jones.

Speaking at the Edinburgh International TV Festival Hurford-Jones announced that the typically female-orientated channel is taking steps to move away "from that old fashioned view of women liking girly pink stuff and fashion and dating and weddings".

Adding: "That's not to say there isn't a place for all those things, but women are quite normal and we have lots of broad interests and I think we needed to broaden it out a bit and widen our remit...we kept being told that women like watching television with their partners.

"They don't want to sit alone in their pink fluffy bedroom, wearing their pink fluffy negligee, watching shows on their own. It's all about watching with their partners. So shared viewing is extremely important."

The Living rebrand will see the channels traditional pink branding changed to a sleeker more gender neutral silver and blue palette.

Despite trying to distance itself from anything "too girly" Hurford-Jones said that current Living viewers need not worry that the channel will undergo a radical overhaul, commenting: "I wouldn't do anything that was exclusively male-skewed, but pretty much everything else is fair game."

However she furthered that under her leadership, which began in November last year, the channel would not be commissioning anything "too niche girly" admitting that she was "literally de-pinking the channel".

BBC director general Tony Hall is said to have been inspired by Apple and plans to cut red-tape across the corporation.

Following a two-day, fact-finding mission in Silicon Valley last week, where Lord Hall visited Samsung, Google and Apple executives, the director general has announced plans to cut back on the number of BBC committees and tackle the broadcaster's "meeting culture".

The review of 'red-tape' will examine the role that 30 groups and boards, covering topics such as technology, business and finance, have in the running of the corporation. Reports suggest that Hall is planning the cut the number of committees in half to just 15.

Writing in The Telegraph, Lord Hall said: "The problem is simple: we need to be so much clearer on how we take decisions and who is accountable for them.

"We will start by ensuring that, wherever possible, there is a single, identified person responsible for key issues and major projects. Over the coming months I plan to halve the number of pan-BBC boards and steering groups.

“This 'bonfire of the boards’ should speed up decision-making across the organisation and release some of the resources currently wasted on bureaucracy to be used instead for programmes.”

Lord Hall is also said to be inspired by Silicon Valley's 'fail-fast' culture, killing off bad ideas quickly instead of the constant reviews that surround BBC failures, such as the £100m Digital Media Initiative (DMI) . Scrapped after five years in development by Lord Hall in May, the DMI failure has seen three separate inquiries into it launched.

UK police forces Twitter accounts have faced criticism after a mugging victim complained that officers were using forces' official accounts to follow celebrities, sports teams and brands.

Official police Twitter accounts from across the UK were found to be following celebrities such as Miranda Hart and Rihanna and brands including Victoria's Secret and Christian Louboutin.

The official complaint has prompted the country's biggest force to clean-up its official social media accounts and follows Police Scotland's review of its Twitter use after an offensive message was sent using its official account.

Social media is intended to help forces keep in touch with the public and engage with residents by posting updates about crimes and appeals for information. However, the users forces have chosen to follow appear to no apparent link with police business.

Currently Police Scotland follows Andy Murray and US president Barak Obama and in the West Midlands police in Solihull follow Cricket Australia for 'all the latest breaking Aussie cricket news'. Leicestershire's force follows Wayne Rooney's wife Coleen and comedienne Miranda Hart with Lambeth police following Rihanna, Simon Cowell and Justin Bieber, until the complaint was made.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman has told the press: "Guidance is issued to police and staff authorised to use the MPS social media accounts and this includes following appropriate users on Twitter."

Adding that Lambeth has been asked to "make appropriate changes" to its account.

Gordon Scobbie, the former Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) officer responsible for social media is quoted in The Telegraph saying: "can understand following some politicians, celebrities with a cause, or perhaps local celebrities, but not Rihanna and Justin Bieber.

“I think there needs to be a better understanding of senior managers as to where does this fit into the overall strategy of what we are trying to do.

“Where forces are getting themselves into a bit of trouble is where they just go into it without thinking and letting a few people loose on it.”

Sounding like a market trader, Jamie - offering a typically excellent performance - tells us how to make our food budgets go further as price supers pop up on screen. The unexpected joke comes at the end when, sitting down with the meal he's cooked, more supers appear showing exorbitant purchases he's been able to make; presumably by cost-savvy cooking.

Agency: Grey London
Creative Director(s): Dave Monk
Creative Team: Rasmus Smith Bech / Jonas Roth
TV Producer: Sam Napper
Film Prod Co: Outsider
Director: Chris Balmond
Producer: Paul McPadden
Dir of Photography: Theo Garland
Production Manager: Tim Steele
Editing House: Final Cut

"There has been a shift in the industry where we've moved from having limited shelf space and the BBC and ITV deciding what we watch," said YouTube director of content Ben McOwen Wilson during the 'New Entertainers' session at the Edinburgh International TV Festival.

On a panel with Microsoft Xbox executive producer TV EMEA, Kate Barnes, and Phillip DeBevoise, president and co-founder of Machinima, McOwen Wilson added: "Viewers are no longer limited any more, and that's challenging for consumers to find content they want to watch."

With more than 100 hours of content uploaded to YouTube every minute McOwen Wilson acknowledges the challenges content makers face to get watched: "[On YouTube] there is no 9pm Saturday evening slot we can schedule."

Of the ways around that he explained: "There are two ways people find content online, one is share - Spacey [Kevin Spacey who delivered the Festival's MacTaggart Lecture] was wrong to say the days of watercooler television are gone. People are still talking and sharing, there is a watercooler, it's just not limited. It's worldwide, where you no longer have to remember the punchline you can just show the content.

"The other is search. People need to be able to find your content among the firehose of uploads. Tagging is vital as are titles that hook into events, making your content more relevant is key."

However, celebrity name, according to McOwen Wilson, isn't necessarily a hook for the YouTube audience: "Well known names do help in terms of searching, but YouTube is personality driven and that's one of the biggest lessons established talent learns when moving to YouTube. Take for example Jamie Oliver when he launched his channel it wasn't Jamie's name that was the draw, his channel took off when he began to work with others who were popular on YouTube."

Of how YouTube is changing the television landscape McOwen Wilson said: "I think the model will continue as it is just now but there will be new networks emerging. There is a new wave of new players and an opportunity for those making great content already to step into the space. But the YouTube natives will become some of the most successful content makers."

Discussing its evolution, he adds: "Look at ESPN, over time they've grown. When it started it was just people in big headphones talking about sport it didn't have the rights to show you. But over time you build an audience if you have a clear sense of what you are.

Taking questions from the audience McOwen Wilson addressed the fact that YouTube has made its name on short, snappy pieces of content commenting that uploads on YouTube are now getting longer as the audience becomes more established, explaining: "Now the content makers have found their audience that audience is now just wanting more and more."

When asked why YouTube doesn't step in and editorialise content McOwen Wilson explains that the YouTube experience is a personal one, what people watch and subscribe to generates their home page and "everyone's is different", he commented: "YouTube are not commissioners of content, what we're great at is building a platform that allows anyone to upload video and share it."

"We wouldn't want to schedule content and decide what people should be passionate about, the same person can be passionate about different things, we're not a content owner and we wouldn't limit that experience," he said.

Overall McOwen Wilson and his panel agreed with Spacey's MacTaggart address that spoke of a 'third golden age of television', summed up by the words of DeBevoise, "We've entered the third revolution of video programming. It comes in waves, the first was platform based broadcasting, then came cable satellite, and this third wave is Internet based. We're the new MTVs, CNNs, AMCs and here to stay."

The Scottish Widow is set to make a return to television screens in 2014 following a four-year hiatus.

The character of the insurance and life company of the same name will make a return as part of the brand's relaunch by parent company Lloyds Banking Group.

Hayley Hunt who took over the role from Amanda Lamb in 2005 and was last seen on screens in 2010 will revive the role. However, as part of a refresh the widow will appear in more modern surroundings.

The return was revealed by group director of insurance at Lloyds Banking Group, Toby Strauss, who said: "We need to re-energise the brand. It’s the only insurance brand that has a persona attached to it. We’re not going to do away with the widow, or the black and the red coat, or Hayley actually, but she does need to become a bit more in the modern world.

"We’ve done some research, and she seems quite remote, in terms of people’s perceptions, up on the cliffs or whatever, and we need to bring her back into a more modern context."

The multi-million pound investment in the brand will see the new ads airing next year and backed by investment in the Scottish Widows' website.

Retailing queen Mary Portas has revealed that Absolutely Fabulous, the BBC’s popular early nineties sitcom, was an early pioneer of product placement through her involvement in engineering a link to Harvey Nichols.

This saw Portas strike a deal with comedian Jennifer Saunders to feature the store in the show when it was first broadcast in 1992.

The upmarket department stores previously stuffy brand was energised courtesy of association with Edwina and Patsy but Portas thinks the store has since lost its mojo amidst increased competition from the likes of Selfridges.

Speaking at the Edinburgh International Television Festival Portas said: “I was on a shoot and someone was talking about Jennifer Saunders making this TV show, so I called her.

“We met and I said, ‘Listen, I will work with you and give you access to all the brands and I’ll get you access to the designers if you just name check us as the only shop’. That could have fallen flat on its face if that show hadn’t taken off and been really clever. There’s an element of risk. It’s about all these things coming together.”

“I started to create a brand that was all about the small and the innovative, and new young designers who were just desperate for anything and were actually going to be the future.

“I worked with artists to install art in the windows and they became a talking point.

“It was all about making consumers want to be associated with something, so if I buy into Harvey Nichols therefore I’m pretty cool.

“I think it’s lost that edge. It was the innovator when Selfridges [was behind] and I think now they’ve taken over. I wouldn’t go there [Harvey Nichols] to see who the new designers are.”

A new study conducted into the mobile habits of Britons has found that one in five use their gadgets to check their emails in bed whilst 42 per cent take the devices to the beach on holiday.

Moreover a majority (54 per cent) of the 1,000 people quizzed by OnePoll admitted that they were ‘worried about being ‘out of mobile phone contact’ – a state of mind which now carries its own psychological moniker, nomophobia.

Of the sexes women are 17 per cent more likely to suffer from the affliction than men.

Other nuggets revealed by the survey were that 28 per cent of people look at work emails whilst away from home and a quarter have little understanding of table manners, by reaching for their phone during a dinner date.

Clothing retailer Seraphine, specialists in maternity outfits, is in the midst of a sales boom after the Duchess of Cambridge was snapped wearing one of its £46 dresses in the first official picture of her with Prince George.

Dubbed the ‘Kate effect’ the association led to the retailer selling out of the Jolene dress within 48 hours of the image, taken by her father, going public.

To put that in perspective the retailer said it was the equivalent of two months of normal sales condensed to just two days.

This has translated into bumper profits with turnover expected to climb to £8m for the financial year ending in March, versus £5.2m last year.

Recent Brandwatch research found that 60 per cent of brands are using Twitter for both broadcasting and engagement purposes, although a quarter do still use the channel to broadcast only.

From this research, MyCleverAgency has created an infographic, pulling out key figures from the whitepaper, including the amount of tweets sent a day on average by brands, and the percentage of brands tweeting (97 per cent).

The research comes from 250 leading brands.

Argos has announced the appointment of Razorfish to handle its digital account.

The move comes as the company looks to become more digitally forward, having launched its first digitised and fully interactive paper catalogue with Blippar last month.

The appointment of Razorfish is not set to affect the creative account, which is handled by CHI&Partners.

With over 10 million UK users, LinkedIn is an obvious first port of call for employers researching candidates. But the jostling for prominence is fierce, so how should jobseekers approach social media as part of their job hunt? And in a saturated market, are creative approaches more successful?

Creative applications are only appropriate for creative industries, according to October Recruitment managing director Lucy Simpson. “The viral nature of funny and original CVs makes them really popular but they are best suited to creative industry sectors,” Simpson advises.

“If you’re targeting specific companies or more business orientated sectors, the traditional two-page CV is still a great one-size-fits-all solution. Some employers can be put off by quirky approaches – if this is the case, you should ask yourself if it’s a company culture that suits your personality anyway.

“In our particular niche, we value the punchy, fact-based CV instead of, say, an infographic that needs to be deciphered. That being said, presentation skills are highly sought after, so a video CV can easily be the key to getting you one step closer to the job.”

Quirky examples of jobseeking creativity came this year from Adam Pacitti, who spent his last £500 on hiring a billboard with a poster saying: “I spent my last £500 on this billboard. Please give me a job. employadam.com.”

The gamble paid off for Pacitti, who landed a job as a viral producer at KEO Digital after his stunt captured the attention of that nation’s media. Pacitti’s idea was extravagant and the viral power of social media helped catapult him to attention. For an increasing number of creatives, that battle takes place solely on the screen and Simpson says it’s essential to highlight enthusiasm and up-to-date knowledge of the industry.

“Specifically in the digital media arena, technology is developing so fast that the demand for talent outstrips the number of quality candidates,” she says.

“Specific skills being requested regularly are statistical and analytical capabilities, a genuine and passionate interest in the future of digital and an ability to speak coherently about things such as RTB, DSPs, programmatic buying and mobile advertising.

“If you are passionate about the industry and you are on top of the latest digital news, this should feature prominently on your social profiles and CV. A powerful way to demonstrate this is to use your social profiles to regularly engage with the industry and share relevant news.”

A recent study by UM London revealed one in five 18-34 year-olds are now recruited on social networks, while a quarter of employers admitted checking out potential employees by searching through their social media profiles.

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

To buy the latest issue of The Drum, complete with the full recruitment feature, visit The Drum store

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Batman and Superman were among the most requested usernames submitted to Yahoo after the service announced plans in June to reset dormant accounts and put popular names back up for grabs.

Yahoo began notifying users today whether their username requests were successful or not after inviting people to submit their first-choice IDs to a wishlist in mid-July.

The top three username requests for boys were David, Michael and Alex, while the most popular girls’ names were Maria, Jennifer and Jessica.

Those who didn’t get the name they wanted will now be automatically added to a watchlist by Yahoo which will monitor their top-five requested IDs for three years and hold them for a fortnight if they come up.

For anyone who is particularly desperate for a specific name and hasn’t already applied via the wishlist, they will have to stump up $1.99 to get on the watchlist.

Today’s jobs round-up brings roles for media coordinators, graphic and digital designers, digital planners and deputy creative directors.

ITV is looking for a media logistics coordinator in Leeds on a six-month contract. Repsonsibilities will include supporting the delivery of all content and metadata to ITV’s relevant platforms and coordinating, planning and managing material for transmission. Applicants will require strong technical skills and the vision to anticipate operational issues and the self-motivation to troubleshoot when issues arise.

A junior graphic designer is required at Scottish Rugby in central Scotland to produce online, on-screen and print material for current campaigns. For a salary of £16,000, responsibilities will include supporting the digital media manager and graphic designer to manage websites and maximise visitor retention and online spend. Candidates should possess a design qualification and a willingness to work flexibly. The closing date for applications is 4 September.

The National Trust for Scotland is seeking a digital planner for role in Edinburgh. The position offers a pro-rata salary of £25,412 but the contract is fixed-term for eight months. Responsibilities will include operating systems and processes for managing the development of web assets and online campaigns. Candidates should have Prince 2 Project Management qualifications or equivalent and a demonstrable technical understanding of web design, usability and standards. Applications should be submitted by 6 September.

A deputy creative director position is on offer at Pierce Communications in Belfast. Applicants should have experience in a reputable brand design consultancy and a portfolio showing examples of name generation, branding, art direction, FMCG packaging, marketing and web design. The role will involve creating and producing cutting edge design solutions and assisting account managers with creative pitching and securing new design work. The closing date for applications is 30 August.

Type is looking for a digital designer for an e-learning business based in the Leeds/Bradford area. The position will involve a large amount of illustrative work and candidates should have a good knowledge of HTML and CSS. Knowledge of Flash and Actionscript would be beneficial and strong Adobe Creative Suite skills are essential. Demonstrable typography abilities are also required. Salary for this position is £25,000.

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

With the deadline for the Social Buzz Awards, in association with iomart Group and sponsored by Meltwater, extended to 30 August due to demand, The Drum catches up with judge David Parkinson, general manager EMEA for social and digital engagement at Nissan to talk loyalty, changes in social and what he will be looking for in the judging.

How can brands build loyalty via social communities?

Loyalty isn’t built, its earned and to earn it you have to be out there and engaging in an honest and proactive manner – social is about building that two way relationship with influentials in communities and helping them with what it is they need – be it advice, support, help or just to talk. Then its up to them – but be sure, you need the organisation behind you to achieve that – community managers cannot do it if they don’t have the right support from the right business departments.

How can brands use social engagement to create the same level of impact or brand awareness as traditional advertising?

Lets not kid ourselves – Social DOES NOT create Mass awareness (unless your very lucky/unlucky and hit the news for the right/wrong) – so we keep talking about competing in an uneven playing field that we don’t need to compete in. What social can do is provide advertising to the right person at the right time – and done right produce results from that effective and honest communication – advertising says “Oi - buy our Stuff” – social engagement says “hey, we have what your looking for, can I help?”

What will you be looking for during Social Buzz judging?

I want to see entries that understand the meaning of people and engagement and do it in an honest and authentic way – I don’t want to see advertising turned into social – I want to see social that by its nature supports the person engaging in what they needed (be it services, goods or just some good old fashioned fun…)

What has been the biggest change in social media so far this year?

A: For the UK I can feel the tipping point starting in social for people using it where its no longer new, its ubiquitous to their daily lives, including their consumer lives – I’ve seen in the last 3 month alone many more people coming to social for advice and support then in the months previous. This fits with where we are compared to the US several years back and where we sit on the adoption curve. I see Europe doing the same in the next 12 – 18 months.

Parkinson is set to speak at the Social Buzz Awards panel during Social Media Week, looking at the good, the bad and the ugly of social.

David Blunkett, the MP and former Labour home secretary, has accused TV executives of ‘worshipping the cult of the young’ and failing deaf and blind people through incorrect subtitles and by being reluctant to dub foreign programmes.

Speaking to the Radio Times, Blunkett, who was born blind, said: "Broadcasters talk a good deal about equality, but preaching is not enough. In an ageing population, people with hearing and sight impairments are becoming part of the mainstream.

"It's no longer about a minority: we're a major sector of the viewing public, and we have the same rights as everyone else who pays the licence fee.

"Today, the way TV executives worship the cult of youth seems to be an unstoppable fetish. It is the trendy, the metropolitan and … the under-40s who determine what we view and what we listen to.

"But much of the spending power reflects an older age group. The ageing population wields a very powerful incentive: our financial muscle."

This comes after Ofcom pledged in May that it would introduce new measures to tackle subtitle blunders, including plans for six monthly quality checks.

Blunkett added that there was frustration for blind people when foreign documentaries and dramas were not dubbed.