The Huffington Post UK has teamed with O2, to support new app, TU Go, in a digital campaign created by Engage, AOL’s in-house creative team, and brokered and implemented by Newcast.

The app allows customers to make and receive calls and messages using their O2 number on any device that runs iOS 5+, Android 4.0.3+ or Windows 7 for PC.

Set to go live on a new sponsored channel called “Connectivity” on HuffPost UK Tech, the campaign will include a host of original content from the HuffPost team, as well as a series of three films featuring TV presenters Matt Edmondson and Zoe Salmon, who will take on a number of different challenges to test the TU Go service to the max.

Katrina Ward-Smith, head of brand campaigns and experience at O2 said: “We wanted to demonstrate the innovation and technological capabilities behind TU Go. We chose The Huffington Post UK for this digital campaign for its engaged tech-savvy audiences. The approach we’ve taken with the Engage team taps into this to deliver inspiring content which challenges traditional approaches to online advertising.”

The campaign, which will run until 25 September will also fully use AOL Networks with video distribution from Be On and rich media adverts via Advertising.com, as well as sponsored posts from O2 and a bespoke Devil Ad placement on the pages of editorial.

Noel Penzer, managing director, AOL Europe O&O said: “This campaign is a great example of an exciting and strategic new phase in AOL’s creative offering. Our multiple platforms and user-driven channels have enabled us to build a fully interactive campaign where the brand sits at the heart of the content. We have combined an editorially ‘of the moment’ theme with original and fun video content which will really bring both the brand and product to life so they become a part of the HuffPost conversation in an authentic way.”

The first film as part of the campaign will premiere on 5 September, with the presenters having to fulfill tasks such as building a music studio and write and record a new track with no phone reception, redesigning a garden without a handset at all, and putting on a gig underground.

Over nine million adults in the UK have had their accounts hacked, with almost a fifth (18.3 per cent) of those questioned saying they have experienced attempts to break into one or more of their online accounts.

The research from the University of Kent found 27.3 per cent of those aged between 18 and 24 has suffered a hacking attack.

Dr Julio Hernandez-Castro, from the Centre for Cyber Security, said: “These up-to-date survey results on how cybercrime is affecting British citizens will undermine some misconceptions and make it easier to understand where to best focus our research efforts for designing new solutions to combat cybercrime.”

It was found that overall, 92 per cent lost no money "due to any kind of computer criminal activity," in the past year, although 2.3 per cent reported that they had lost over £10,000 due to fraud.

Dr Eerke Boiten, sirector of the centre, added: “Our results highlight that there is significant scope for the UK population and the online services they use to adopt stronger security practices. Cybercrime may not yet have hit a large proportion of the British public, but successful attacks do tend to lead to substantive financial damage.”

In homage to TV reviews The Drum has employed the traditional 'star rating' to the speakers and sessions at this year's Edinburgh TV Festival.

Taking place last week the festival included appearances from the likes of Hollywood A-lister Kevin Spacey, Breaking Bad genius Vince Gilligan, retail expert turned TV personality Mary Portas, and an unplanned visit from BBC director general Tony Hall.

Quintessential Finance Group has announced the appointment of Aberfield Communications to handle its PR.

The Cheshire-based business, which operates in personal loans, short term loans, insurance, debt consolidation, financial claims, credit reporting and data services as well as price comparison, has appointed Aberfield to create a PR campaign to reposition it as a leading provider of financial technology.

Mike Ransom, managing director at Quintessential Finance Group, said: “The way in which people purchase financial services and products, including how they borrow and save, has changed. New technology is driving choice, and with it increasing competition. Aberfield will help raise the profile of our cutting-edge products and services, and raise awareness of our success story.

“Initially, the focus will be on the financial, intermediary and business press, with the potential for consumer campaigns as products are developed.”

Asda has launched an online employee recognition system for its 165,000 retail and distribution staff to acknowledge “particularly positive or exceptional work”.

“Asda Stars” was created by performance improvement specialist River and designed to place less emphasis on reward and more focus on public recognition.

The system allows members of staff to nominate colleagues – either manager-to-subordinate or peer-to-peer – like nominations and add comments. There are more than 40 e-card options to choose from to show recognition to employees and more than 15,000 nominations were made in the first four weeks after it went live.

Alan Robertson, recognition team leader at Asda, said: “After all the months of planning and hard work that has gone into the new programme, I am blown away by the final result! The feedback from all our stores has been incredible, particularly relating to the huge leap in usability of the system, which was our main goal for a simplified user experience.”

The online system has been designed with smartphone and tablet compatibility.

One Direction have revealed the TV ad accompanying the launch of their debut fragrance ‘Our Moment’.

Fellow X Factor alum Diana Vickers provides the soundtrack to the ad, with a cover of the Sound of Music classic ‘My Favourite Things’.

The ad features the boy band sniffing influences of the scent - wild berries, pink grapefruit, jasmine petals and freesias.

Despite only being released at the weekend, pre-orders have seen a waiting list set up for fans looking to get their hands on the latest piece of One Direction merchandise.

The latest launch from 1D comes ahead of their 3D movie debut which is set to hit screens at the end of the month.

Heinz has today announced the launch of a premium soup range, featuring black label packaging in order to add stand out.

The new flavours are: Heinz Cream of Tomato with Fiery Mexican Spices; Heinz Cream of Tomato with a Kick of Chilli; Heinz Cream of Chicken with Aromatic Thai Spices; and Heinz Cream of Mushroom with Wild Porcini Mushrooms.

Jack Wallace, Heinz Classics marketing manager, said:“We wanted to create a range of soups that would really appeal to upmarket and younger consumers, who want the soup they know and love, but with an exciting twist – something a bit special.

“These new and exciting flavours cater to consumer demand, providing a wider variety of interesting and delicious flavours, as our consumers’ tastes continue to evolve.”

The £1.4m campaign launch will be supported by PR, TV advertising, in-store sampling and in store support.

Nike has unveiled a map designed to inspire people to get off the London Tube and walk.

The map is supporting the Nike + FuelBand, a sports watch which tracks the activity of its wearer and rewards them with points. It shows how many NikeFuel points they could earn by walking between subway stations or just around the scenic parts of London.

Researcher, and keen walker, John Bingham-Hall walked the routes - adding diversions to encourage Londoners to see more of their city on foot.

Bingham-Hall's routes were then transcribed into a map format by the Centre for Advanced Spacial Analysis, part of University College London.

The results were then handed to designer and 'visualizer' David Luepschen to turn into a graphically impactful map.

A pocket-sized version of the map is also available to download and pick-up from selected Nike stores in London.

Twinings has engaged BrandOpus to create Signature Blends, a super-premium range of fourteen teas, handpicked by the team of Twinings Master Blenders to be sold in luxury retail outlets worldwide.

As the blends represent the pinnacle of teas and infusions, BrandOpus was tasked with creating a series of presentation cases that reflect the opulence of the range. Reminiscent of layered jewellery boxes, each case within the Signature range features an intricately fashioned illustrative style across pack.

The illustration on the front of each pack depicts the inspiration behind each blend or infusion, with the Twinings brand-marque updated for the super-premium space.

“The beautiful designs that BrandOpus has created for Signature Blends communicates to the consumer the expertise and experience that Twinings’ Master Blenders put into each blend. This range will reinforce Twinings’ reputation as purveyors of the very best teas and infusions. Sales and consumer praise have exceeded expectations in just a few days following launch,” remarked Twinings market development manager, David Spencer.

Mondelez International has approached Taxi Studio to create the packaging design for new launch Cadbury Dairy Milk Pebbles.

Once the brand’s positioning was agreed, Taxi Studio was tasked with providing packaging ideas for the new product to be submitted to research. The initial design resonated with consumers, and remains largely unchanged from the final round of research.

Brand manager for Cadbury Bitesize, Sally Barton, said: “We’re over the moon with the Pebbles design – the concept lends itself to remarkable activation potential, which Taxi brought to life in abundance for our internal launch to our sales teams. We’re extremely excited and proud to add this new product to our portfolio."

Ryan Wills, creative director at Taxi, added: “Given the timescales, the team quickly came together and generated lots of great ideas. Being inspired by the ‘joy of togetherness’, we quickly brought the ideas to life in compelling ways - we really relished the challenge.”

Asda has today announced the appointment of VCCP Blue to handle its creative account, a week after it was revealed that incumbent Saatchi & Saatchi had not made it to the final two.

Stephen Smith, chief marketing officer, Asda, said: “I am very pleased with the review process. A number of excellent agencies showed us their best thinking and creativity and we were inspired by all of them. When it came to final round, one agency stepped beyond all others with their strategic thinking, endless creativity, and knowledge of our customer – and this agency was VCCP Blue from London. They understood us and most importantly, we were impressed with how they were able to capture our brand personality and voice to communicate our assets with a clarity and simplicity.

“VCCP Blue will be working closely with myself and my team; Chris McDonough, Sarah Fothergill and Amy Hinsley who led the pitch process.

“We’ve had years of excellent service and creativity from Saatchi and so I’d take this opportunity to thank them for everything they have done for our brand. Naturally, we’re thrilled to welcome VCCP Blue to the Asda marketing team and although they have a tough act to follow, they’re more than definitely the team for the job.”

Last week, it was revealed that the pitch for the £100m account was down to VCCP and JWT London.

The pitch began following the appointment of Chris McDonough as marketing director.

The Drum has contacted VCCP for reaction to the appointment.

The Observer will launch a monthly technology supplement next month, the Observer Tech Monthly.

The title said the supplement would bring together news and views on science and technology and build on existing tech coverage. As well as a free inclusion in The Observer, the supplement will feature in the Guardian and Observer iPad edition and be available online and on mobile.

John Mulholland, editor of The Observer and Tech Monthly, said: “From fashion to finance and from media to medicine, science and technology is changing all our professional and personal lives. That's why it is such an incredibly rich area for journalism to explore and we are thrilled to be developing this further.”

The supplement will feature a gaming column by playwright Lucy Prebble; a ‘geek calendar’ listing upcoming tech talks, launches and hackathons; a tech column by the Guardian’s head of technology Jemima Kiss; and a ‘bright sparks’ feature, focusing on new ideas from teenagers.

The Sun’s deputy political editor, Graeme Wilson, is to become Downing Street’s press secretary, according to reports.

In a blog in The Spectator, writer James Forsyth said Number 10’s director of communications, Craig Oliver, had hired Wilson and his appointment was one of a number as the government attempted to “move onto an election footing”.

“The high regard in which Wilson is held will boost relations between Number 10 and the political print press,” wrote Forsyth. “Thought I suspect there’ll be some bleating about Cameron hiring another journalist from a Murdoch paper.”

David Cameron’s previous encounter with a former News International journalist, Andy Coulson, ended in turmoil after the phone hacking scandal emerged. Coulson is currently awaiting trial.

The Drum is awaiting a response from The Sun.

CIPR has today announced the appointment of Alastair McCapra as chief executive, effective from 4 November 2013.

McCapra, who takes over the role from Jane Wilson, is currently chief executive of the Landscape Institute.

He said: “I am delighted to be taking on the role of chief executive of the CIPR.

“All professions, and the bodies which represent them, are under incredible pressure in the modern world and I will be bringing to the CIPR my experience of how others are rising to these challenges.

“I want to ensure that the PR profession is well equipped to respond positively to changes in technology, client expectations and regulation. I also want to ensure that it is highly regarded both by its clients and by society more widely. I look forward to working with the Board and Council, and to meeting members around the country in the coming months, as well as taking part in exciting events such as the Public Relations Show.”

He was recruited through an open process by a panel including CIPR president Sue Wolstenholme and other members of the CIPR Executive Board.

Discussing the appointment, Wolstenholme said: “I am pleased to announce that the CIPR has recruited Alastair. He has considerable experience of leading professional bodies and can take us to the next level of our development and maybe even further.

“Alastair will take over from Jane Wilson and I know that the Board would like to take this opportunity to thank her for her leadership over the last three years and wish her the very best for the future.”

Wilson revealed in February that she would step down from the role in September.

Topman is the top retailer on Pinterest, with more followers that Asos, Topshop and Boden combined, with over 100,000 brand fans in June 2013, according to research from Emarketer.

In terms of followers Net-A-Porter ranked second with over 41,000, while online retailer Asos came in third with only 35,000.

Topman’s sister store, Topshop, had only 30,000 followers in June. At the time of writing this had increased to 36,500.

Boden completes the top five with just 19,000 followers.

Emarketer also looked at the top brands on Facebook and Twitter.

Amazon dominated on Facebook with 3.8 million followers in June thanks to an increase in its use of Sponsored Stories and promoted links.

Topshop, previously the No.1 UK retailer in terms of Facebook followers, actually lost fans in the previous three months and now has 3.4 million.

However, on Twitter, Topshop comes out on top, with more than 600,000 followers while Amazon UK has only 78,000. Globally Amazon has just over 570,000 followers.

ASOS and Net-A-Porter ranked second and third, respectively.

This beautifully crafted ad makes the prospect of looking up your ancestors pleasantly appealing. And easy, too. After all, no one wants to take it upon themselves to slog up and down the country on behalf of other uninterested family members, only to find they issue from a long line of drunks, nutters and serial killers.

Agency: VCCP
Creative Director(s): Colin Byrne
Creative Team: Bella Cabral / Fred Aramis TV Producer: Carly Parris Film Prod Co: Mustard
Director: Sam Miller
Producer: Nick Papworth
Executive Producer: Matt Hichens
Dir of Photography: Ben Smithard
Post-Prod House: Coffee & TV
Editing House: tenthree
Editor: Quin Williams

Typhoo has announced the appointment of Jeremy Coals as the new marketing director for the brand.

Coles, who previously held the role of marketing director at John West for five years before joining Dairy Crest as interim head of marketing for butters and spreads.

The appointment comes before the Typhoo ads, featuring Ben Fogle and his wife Marina, are set to launch again next month.

The Sunday Times has settled out of court with Lance Armstrong after pursuing the cyclist for more than £1m in damages.

The action was launched after the US Anti-Doping Agency declared in 2012 that Armstrong had been part of “the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that the sport has ever seen”.

Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and given a lifetime ban from the sport.

Prior to the revelations, the paper settled a libel case with Armstrong in 2004 for £300,000 after a piece by chief sports writer David Walsh indicated Armstrong had cheated.

After the cheating scandal unravelled, the Sunday Times launched the action to reclaim the money plus £720,000 in costs.

The paper said it had “reached a mutually acceptable final resolution” but the terms of the agreement remain confidential.

Former InMobi director of partner management EMEA Nick Welch has joined SpotXchange as director of publisher development.

Prior to working with InMobi Welch held the role of digital commercial director for Turner Broadcasting and held a similar role at Microsoft before that. Welch brings experience in the media and entertainment industry to the role having spent time with French Telecom as head of Orange Ad Market in the UK where he was involved in programmatic buying and selling.

Andrew Moore, European managing director of SpotXchange, said: “This appointment will help bolster our work with premium publishers in the UK as they make the transition to an automated model. There is a real shift in the market from manual transactions to programmatic media buying and we look forward to leveraging Nick’s expertise to get more publishers onboard as the programmatic revolution continues in digital video advertising.”

Of his new role Welch added: “Having been involved with programmatic selling and buying at various points in my career, I have seen how the digital video ad market has grown and evolved. The opportunity to play a key role in the evolution of programmatic video for a business built on trust and industry-leading transparency is extremely exciting.”

McCain Foods is set to unveil its new Happy Days campaign on 2 September, featuring outdoor, press, TV, cinema and in-store activity, along with a 3.7 million household door drop.

As well as including a 60 second ad promoting ‘chips for tea’, the campaign will include scented displays being installed in hundreds of Asda and Tesco supermarkets, which will allow customers to smell a jacket potato by pressing the front of the unit.

Mark Hodge, McCain Foods head of brand, said: “McCain will be unmissable over the next 12 months. It’s a big year for the brand and we have big plans to grow the brand and the category by changing the way we talk to the consumer.

“We are a nation of potato lovers and the Happy Days campaign places the enjoyment of our products at the very heart of all of our activity, whether it be Chips, Jackets, Wedges or for Kids. We have a portfolio of great tasting, convenient and high quality potato products that we are very proud of which bring little moments of joy to mealtimes across the country.

“As a result, we’re expecting to significantly grow the brand and the frozen potato category. We have never placed so much support behind our brand and we wouldn’t be doing that if we weren’t confident that we were going to be able to have a major impact.”

This follows McCain Food running a campaign in 2012 which saw the smell of baked potatoes being wafted at various bus stops throughout the UK to promote its Ready Baked Jackets.

In October, McCain followed this with a campaign which saw consumers asked to high-five a giant moulded hand in order to receive a money-off voucher for chips.