Shearings is set to launch a ‘Keep Making Memories’ campaign with TV spots scheduled on ITV3 and Challenge TV.

The campaign was created by BJL and focuses on the adventurous aspect of holiday making and aims to drive brochure requests, bookings online and bookings via travel agents. The TV ad is the first from BJL for Shearings although the agency has worked with the brand previously on brand image and messaging.

Chris Barker, head of marketing at Shearings, said: “We’re delighted with the results of BJL’s first DRTV ad for us and all the hard work and creative effort that went into carving out a territory that perfectly portrays our offering and ambition for our target market.”

The ad will launch today (9 September) and run for three weeks.

MEC was responsible for the campaign’s media strategy.

This Shazam-enabled campaign for the phone network provider is excellent. Using 'truthy' situations it points out that you can borrow enough money from them to make a few emergency phone calls if your credit runs out. A clever marketing move, and well-aimed at the likely target audience.

Category: Mobile Phone Networks
Country: Ireland
Agency: Grey London
Creative Director: Simon Brotherson
Creative: Erik Weidenhielm / John Gibson
TV Producer: Mandy Saunders
Production Co: Hungryman
Director: Ric Cantor
Producer: Martin Box
Photography: Ross McLennan
Post Production: Work / Hogarth
Editor: Mark Edinoff
Audio: Hogarth

LivingSocial has today named Steven Marritt as its new head of sales and operations for the UK and Ireland.

Marritt will oversee the sales, production, editorial, sales operations and project management functions for the UK and Ireland business.

Discussing his appointment, Marritt said: “With a series of exciting developments in the pipeline, there has never been a more exciting time to be at LivingSocial. I am excited to take on the remit of overseeing the great work carried out by both our sales and operations divisions at this crucial stage of LivingSocial’s evolution.”

Peter Briffett, managing director at LivingSocial UK and Ireland, added: “As LivingSocial continues to grow and evolve, we are delighted to announce Steve Marritt, our director of sales operations, will be stepping into a newly created leadership role, where he will continue to drive LivingSocial on to even greater heights. With significant experience in both sales management and business consultancy roles, Steve is in a great position to help us make huge strides towards our future vision.”

This comes as it is announced that Nigel Clarkson, who previously held the role, has joined Weve as commercial director.

MC2 has announced the appointments of Lindsay Gregory and Mags Houston to its integrated creative team.

Former CheethamBellJWT director Gregory has been appointed as client services director, and will lead the team which has been fully integrated to bring together all digital, video and design services.

Houston joins MC2 from CheethamBellJWT, where she worked on accounts including Dr Oetker, Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank and Nobia Kitchen Specialists.

MC2 managing director Claire Tennant said: “Lindsay and Mags bring vast experience and entrepreneurialism to our integrated creative team. They will work closely with all our creative clients to ensure the experience they receive from MC2 consistently surpasses expectations.

“Crucial to their roles will be challenging all teams in the business to be bold in the solutions we bring to clients. Our goal remains being the agency of choice for industry-leading businesses looking for creative and strategic direction to help them achieve their ambitions.”

MC2 clients include Krispy Kreme UK, Deloitte, Mondelez International and NCC Group.

CanCreator, the world’s first free online drinks can design app, has been launched by UK Can Makers, the trade body representing drinks can manufacturers in the UK.

The free to download app allows users to design can brands in different styles, sizes and finishes.

Geoff Courtney, chairman of the UK Can Makers, said: “Packaging plays such a vital role in making products stand out on shelf, and drinks cans offer so many possibilities. We wanted to make exploring and showcasing drinks can designs easy, so we worked closely with designers to create an app that would let them see for themselves without any hassle.

“Initial feedback has been very positive and we hope everyone finds it a useful tool for creating impactful drinks can designs.”

Templates are available to download for Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, so designers can focus on their creations. Additional functions include screenshots to make sharing easy, whether within a presentation or via email.

Isaac Sodipo, designer at JKR Global said: “It took seconds to understand the app and I was amazed at how simple it was to see designs in 3D - it’s usually a complicated process.

“It’s so handy for creating and showing designs to other people and will make a lot of people’s lives easier.”

M&C Saatchi has launched a collaborative campaign between publishers, bookshops, authors, and agents aimed at booklovers across the UK and Ireland.

The national movement – ‘Books Are My Bag’ – has aimed to celebrate the cultural importance of books and bookshops with a wave of promotional activity around the release of a branded canvas bag.

More than 1,800 chain and independent bookshops will distribute a quarter of a million bags from 14 September until Christmas Day 2013. Additionally, more than 100 high profile UK and international authors, broadcasters, models, sports stars, actors, politicians, chefs, journalists and comedians have pledged their support to the campaign. Among the celebrity backers are Jamie Oliver, Chirs O'Dowd, Damian Lewis, Delia Smith and Mariella Frostrup who have all been pictured with the bag.

Through events, PR and social media, the campaign is also calling on the British and Irish public to visit and purchase a book from their favourite bookshop on Saturday 14 September.

“We all know that the high street bookshop – which is such an important part of our culture to so many people – is in danger. This campaign and its iconic bag give people that care about books the opportunity to show their support and affection for bookshops on the street ... in effect be walking posters for bookshops,” said James Lowther, founding partner, at M&C Saatchi. “We have been overwhelmed by the amount of support we have already received from across and beyond the industry. It proves that people really do care about bookshops.”

Gail Rebuck, chair and CEO of Random House, added: “Bookshops are of great cultural importance to the country at large and the communities they serve. In these challenging times for the UK High Street, it is terrific that a world renowned advertising company – M&C Saatchi – has devised such a positive campaign for all booksellers. This initiative focuses on the art of the possible and will celebrate the simple joy of browsing – and, of course, buying and reading books.”

The campaign is using the hashtag #booksaremybag to drive awareness and engagement across social media, with a dedicated Twitter account having already gathered nearly 2,500 followers.

Cube3 founder Karl Barker has been announced as CEO, while Phil Ogden, director of Cube3 since 2005, will move into the role of managing director.

The move from Barker will see him stepping away from the day-to-day management of the business and moving into a ‘bigger picture’ strategic role, supporting plans for growth.

Ogden will be responsible for the commercial management of the business with a focus on overseeing project delivery for clients and direction of the agency’s senior team.

Barker said: “Reviewing and adjusting the roles at the top of the agency allows us to focus on where we want to get to in the next five and 10 years. It feels like a very exciting time for Cube3 and we are confident that this restructure leaves us in a strong position to grow and influence the digital offering of the north west.”

The moves come following client wins for Cube3, including Inventive Leisure (Revolution bars) and Four Financial.

Cube 3 is a member of MiNetwork - the organisation that helps growing agencies raise their profile. Find out how MiNetwork can help you get links directly to your website by visiting the MiNetwork website.

BlueKai has announced the opening of a new London office along with the appointment of Zuzanna Gierlinska, as managing director, UK.

BlueKai’s extension overseas is a key objective heading into 2014 as the data management company looks to expand its core ‘big data for marketing’ solutions to better serve brands and marketers in Europe.

With the expansion comes the appointment of Gierlinska, which is effective immediately. In this new role, Gierlinska will be responsible for all strategic partnerships and Data Management Platform (DMP) business development efforts in Europe as well as overall management of all UK operations.

One of the first tasks she faces is to open a London office and hire an account and sales team.

“BlueKai is vitally engaged in growing our overall business and we’ve seen revenue grow by more than 9,000 per cent over the past four years,” said Omar Tawakol, CEO of BlueKai. “Our expansion into the international markets represents and reflects this momentum as we look to build on our US growth and tap into other marketers around the world with our industry leading data activation technology offerings.”

He added: “Zuzanna’s expertise in driving strategic partnerships with key partners will be instrumental as we accelerate our growth and break into new markets. I am confident that she will rapidly expand our first International office.”

Gierlinska most recently served as global agency director at Microsoft, having held roles at aQuantive, Yahoo, and Aol.

Jeremy Male has been appointed to the position of chief executive officer of CBS Outdoor Americas.

Male has joined CBS Outdoor from JCDecaux, where he most recently served as the chief executive officer of UK, Northern Europe and Australia. Prior to joining JCDecaux, Male was director of European Operations for TDI, then a subsidiary of Viacom.

Male also held numerous management positions in consumer goods companies such as Jacobs Suchard and Tchibo

“We are very pleased that Jeremy is joining us at this crucial time for our outdoor business,” said Leslie Moonves, president and CEO of CBS Corporation. “Having previously announced a separate agreement to divest our international outdoor business, we are now in the process of creating a new and independent entity that will be comprised of our out-of-home assets in North and South America. Jeremy is the perfect executive to maximise shareholder value in this portion of our operations as we prepare to split off those assets into a new public company. Having a seasoned and dynamic executive like Jeremy at the helm can only add to the strength and direction of this new, independent company, and we very much look forward to the contributions he will make in that regard.”

At the same time, CBS announced Wally Kelly as president and chief operating officer. Kelly has been with CBS Outdoor since 1996.

A group of linguists charting the evolution of accents have picked up a surprising trend in Glasgow, observing that city residents exposed to the influence of EastEnders are beginning to speak like Cockneys.

The distinctive dialect has hitherto been defined by its limited usage to those within earshot of Bow Bells Church but now appears to have leapfrogged 500 miles north, piggy backing on BBC transmissions.

The study, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, found that two specific pronunciation styles associated with London accents amongst Glaswegian viewers.

This included supplanting ‘th’ with ‘f’ in words such as “think” (fink) and “tooth” (toof) as well as adopting a vowel sound like that in ‘good’ in place of the letter ‘l’ in words such as ‘people’.

Jane Stuart-Smith, professor of phonetics at Glasgow University, said: “Our study shows the programmes we watch on TV can help to accelerate changes in aspects of language, which are also well below the level of conscious awareness.

“In particular this study was investigating why certain linguistic factors normally found within the Cockney dialect in London were gradually entering into Glaswegian.

“Although this trend was apparent in people who had contact with friends or family living in London there was a stronger effect for people who had strong psychological engagement with characters in EastEnders."

Virgin Media has today announced that it has signed an exclusive deal with Netflix, which will bring Breaking Bad, House of Cards and Arrested Development onto Virgin Media TiVo.

The deal, which will include other shows such as Orange is the New Black, will be available on demand following a pilot launch this week, with around 40,000 Virgin Media TiVo households already selected to use the Netflix app.

Netflix will be rolled out to all Virgin Media TiVo customers following the successful completion of the pilot later this year.

Dana Strong, Virgin Media’s chief operating officer, said: “We’re delighted to be bringing yet another groundbreaking service onto TV screens in millions of Virgin Media homes. Netflix is a fabulous addition to Virgin Media TiVo, enabling our customers to enjoy even more of their favourite shows and movies simply and easily – all through their TV set-top box and at outstanding value.

“Virgin Media TiVo offers different ways to watch, either subscription or pay per view, all seamlessly integrated for simple, intuitive viewing so there’s a world of great entertainment at your fingertips and everyone can be sure of the perfect TV moment.”

Bill Holmes, global head of business development, Netflix, added: “The UK has given Netflix a fantastic welcome and we’re excited to be partnering with Virgin Media to bring an amazing Netflix experience to Virgin Media customers.”

This comes shortly after Virgin Media signed a deal allowing TiVo users to watch BT Sport for free.

Shredded Wheat has unveiled a new advertising campaign focussing on the legacy of the cereal brand.

Created by McCann London, the new creative is part of a multi-million pound brand re-launch, supported by TV, print, digital and PR.

Natalie Forkin, marketing controller for Shredded Wheat, said: “Shredded Wheat has a long tradition of positioning itself as the cereal that can help keep your heart healthy. This new ‘perky’ direction breathes fresh life into this promise by showing that Shredded Wheat has been a heart healthy breakfast since its inception in 1893.

“The brand has remained true to the original recipe as conceived by Henry D Perky, proud inventor of Shredded Wheat. In today’s day and age when people are going back to basics, the appeal of the heart healthy cereal is as relevant now as ever. Shredded Wheat contains just one simple ingredient – 100 per cent whole grain wheat with no added sugar, no added salt and is low in saturated fat.”

The brand’s inventor, Henry D Perky, will now be made the face of the brand.

Arcade Fire are set to make waves with the launch of the lead single from their latest album, Reflektor - not so much from the quality of the music but from the unique interactive properties of its accompanying video.

For the group’s latest effort the band have conceived a fully interactive clip which can be controlled in real-time by waving a synced smartphone through the air, enabling effects to be painted on screen as the music plays.

This hi-tech wizardry has been conceived in collaboration with director Vincent Morisset and Aaron Koblin of Google Creative Lab who devised ‘Just a Reflektor’ to transform listeners from passive observers to active participants.

The set up works by syncing your smartphone gyroscope and accelerometer data to Google Chrome so that the position of the phone can be tracked directly from the computer’s webcam.
In practice this means that each scene of the video can be individually manipulated.

Commenting on the process Morisset said: “The match came kind of perfectly–the song, the band, the original ideas. The song itself dovetails nicely with the interactivity, alluding to some other world that could be death or dream–or, sure, the digital world we spend so much of our time in every day. It couldn’t have been better.”

Newsnight’s newly ensconced editor, Ian Katz, has been forced to make a grovelling apology after inadvertently tweeting a disparaging private message critical of MP Rachel Reeves.

The faux pas arose when Katz took to the social media channel in order to criticise the ‘boring snoring’ performance of Rachel Reeves MP during an interview on the BBC news programme.

Realising his mistake Katz moved to swiftly delete the missive… but not before Reeves had replied with a curt ‘thanks’.

Accidentally sent v ill-judged tweet referring to @RachelReevesMP's appearance on NN. Thought was DM but in any circs wrong. Have apologised

— Ian Katz (@iankatz1000) September 9, 2013

Holding his hands up after the incident the former deputy editor of the guardian tweeted: “Accidentally sent v ill-judged tweet referring to @RachelReevesMP's appearance on NN. Thought was DM but in any circs wrong. Have apologised.”

Over two fifths (41 per cent) of UK agencies expect to allocate half or more of their video ad spending to programmatic channels in 2013, research from Brightroll has found.

The research from the independent video advertising platform has found an increase in digital video ad spend – including a surge in mobile video – buoyed by UK ad buyers’ keen understanding of how digital video works in conjunction with TV to reach multi-screen audiences at scale.

The report found that 64 per cent of UK mobile users have smartphones - with Twitter clearly also noticing this trend, having acquired a programmatic buying company last night.

Tod Sacerdoti, CEO and founder of BrightRoll, explained: “The UK ad industry is known for developing creative and cutting-edge content, and this year’s survey confirms an increased confidence in video, underscoring the sophistication of UK advertisers.

“British consumers are well-connected and at ease watching digital content on the web, mobile, and connected TV; UK marketers have responded by investing in video ads to reach these multi-screen consumers however and whenever they tune in.”

The company’s research of 150 agencies found that 79 per cent of UK survey respondents are likely or very likely to devote a portion of their video ad budget to mobile video in 2013, while 89 per cent are likely or very likely to spend on online video ads.

When it comes to digital video advertising, 27 per cent cite brand engagement as the most important success metric, while 23 per cent say conversations is the most important metric.

The full report will be released at ad:tech tomorrow.

Fox’s Biscuits has appointed London-based Bloom as its strategic design agency.

The agency will develop creative packaging designs across the Fox’s range aimed at maintaining strong brand presence in-store.

Letty Edwards, Fox’s marketing director, said: “Bloom has excelled both strategically and creatively in a chemistry period which has confirmed them to us as the right partner for the next phase of Fox's growth.

“This exciting partnership will see Bloom continue to support the brand and its leading portfolio in the biscuit aisle.”

Bloom will update some of the current Fox’s range while new designs will be on show from January.

Bed brand Silentnight has announced the appointment of Smoking Gun PR to handle its publicity following a competitive pitch.

The appointment will see Smoking Gun tasked with managing the Rest Assured and Layezee brands in addition to Silvernight, outlining clear brand positioning and communicating new product innovation.

Nick Booth, marketing director for Silentnight brands, commented: “We ran a competitive pitch process to find a new PR partner to help manage our reputation across all channels. Smoking Gun demonstrated a deep understanding of the sector and our needs, as well as providing clear evidence of relevant past successes and highly creative thinking.

“The team will work closely with our existing roster of agencies to provide a seamless communications programme which is now under way.”

Rick Guttridge, managing director of Smoking Gun PR, added: “Homes and interiors remains a strong area for the business and our specialist team is focused on providing a top notch consultancy service and achieving great results for Silentnight.

“The bed market has undergone massive changes in recent years with much consolidation in both manufacturing and retail. We’re proud to add another British heritage brand to our roster.”

Care for the Wild has unveiled a campaign with JWT London to help save elephants that are being hunted for their ivory by poachers.

The Tooth Fairy campaign will aim to persuade children to donate their money from the tooth fairy to Care for the Wild.

As well as an animated video, the campaign features a dedicated microsite that creates personalised thank you letters from the Tooth Fairy for children who donate their tooth money and experiential activity in the form of tiny tooth bags magically appearing in selected independent retailers and cinemas across the country.

David Masterman, creative director JWT London, explained: “It’s a sad irony that while elephants are being killed by poachers to make money from their tusks, in Britain we give our children money when their baby teeth fall out. We found that at that young children value animals more than money.”

The campaign features the tagline; ‘little teeth save big tusks’.

Philip Mansbridge, CEO, Care for the Wild International, added: “By concentrating on delivering a thought-provoking online experience, building the campaign around a much loved character and focusing on such a simple act of kindness, hopefully we can not only raise funds, but educate children of the issues at an earlier age, and inspire the next generation of supporters to safeguard our sustained efforts.”

The campaign will keep audience up to date on the latest news from the campaign and the wider poaching issue.

News UK Commercial has today announced the appointment of four new senior positions, including head of digital.

The changes will see Oliver Lewis, previously group sales manager for News UK, become head of digital, where he will be responsible for working alongside advertising strategy and the broader sales teams to ensure that News UK Commercial extracts the maximum commercial value form their total cross-platform audiences.

Tammy Willson joins News UK after previously working at Grazia Magazine as head of advertising; and will become head of lifestyle, where she will lead the team which will sell advertising space across all lifestyle content.

Chris Turner will take the role of head of title management, having previously held the position of trading manager. Turner will look to maximise the profitability of the portfolio of products sold by the News UK sales and trading teams.

Graeme Symon has been appointed to the newly created role of head of trading, where he will be responsible for implementing the News UK strategy and for engaging the agency community with the company’s future trading model.

All four will report to Brendan Judge, sales director for News UK Commercial, who commented: “These new appointments consolidate the latest phase in restructuring the News UK Commercial sales teams. Our aim is to continue to drive change with the close integration of digital platforms, whilst ensuring that reforming the trading process is still high on the agenda. Our new strategy has therefore focused on a platform agnostic approach which will help us deliver better targeted campaigns for our clients – offering them edition-led audience opportunities rather than advertising spaces dictated by our title portfolio.”

The changes come as part of the organisation’s recent changes to its trading model.

Google+ has announced two updates to its system making posts embeddable and integrating Google+ sign-in with Google’s Authorship program.

The embeddable post announcement comes two months after Facebook announced that it was rolling out the same system.

Google+ has rolled out the product with media outlets such as Business Insider, Financial Times, TechCrunch and Elle.

Seth Sternberg, director of product management at Google+, explained in a blog: “With embedded posts, site owners can now add your public Google+ posts to their web pages — as a primary source, for example, or to highlight your point of view. Text, photo and media posts are all supported, and the embeds are fully interactive, so visitors can +1, comment and follow you online.”

As well as this, Google+ announced that those who sign in to WordPress with Google will see the articles they publish automatically associated with their Google+ profile.