Blackwell’s has appointed Jaywing to build a robust CRM warehouse, as the company looks to create a more tailored experience for customers.

The academic, professional book retailer, publisher and library supply specialist has asked Jaywing to analyse customer data in fine detail, prior to building the CRM warehouse, which will create a single view of the customer that can be used to target specific email communications and provide relevant content for Blackwell’s website.

Alan Paterson, technical director at Jaywing, said: “We’re very excited to be developing Blackwell’s new CRM warehouse. This project is an indication of our growing capability for delivering joined-up, integrated marketing for major brands, which fulfil both immediate aims in terms of sales and longer-term ambitions for an enhanced customer experience.”

The system set to be created will allow Blackwell’s to profile customers, providing them with relevant suggestions and offers in real-time.

It will also allow the simple integration and use of new digital platforms and environments that Blackwell’s may roll out in the future.

Matthew Cashmore, digital director for Blackwell’s, said: “Jaywing was the only agency that not only truly understood the vision we had for engaging with our customers, but could also relate it back to the system and turn it into something tangible and real. They demonstrated an immediate appreciation of our business, our positioning and how we could turn our ultimate aim of really knowing our customers into a genuinely integrated proposition.”

The move is the first step towards Blackwell’s long-term goal of a data-driven, omnichannel offering.

Social shopping website Heyo, has revealed deals with retailers Amazon UK, Argos, Rakuten Play.com and eBay to help promote their products through the site.

Established in September by Andy Harrington, the site aims to use product recommendation to help companies drive e-commerce sales.

Speaking to The Drum, Harrington revealed that the agreed contracts with the major retailers will come into place in the coming weeks and will include access to their data feeds of products and any commissions on sales made.

Argos has also agreed to offer a percentage on items collected from its physical stores also.

“Argos' inventory is first ahead of the other big boys,” commented Harrington. “I feel a real fighting spirit from Argos… they leapt on the opportunity we have presented to them which is admirable in a large company and has been a personal vindication for me and investors for the time taken in the last two years to get this right.”

It is understood that Heyo will also gain access to exclusive offers and product deals to aid its marketing activity.

“This is obviously great news for customers, who will find everything they are looking for, at the best price,” concluded Harrington.

Alongside major retailers, Heyo is also open to smaller retailers to join for free, without paying either a commission or percentage.

Ginx TV, the gaming channel, has appointed Media15 to its sales and marketing contract.

The appointment by Ginx TV, the brainchild of former MTV Europe boss Michiel Bakker, is the 20th for independent broadcast sales house Media15, with indie music station Fire Hit TV and ethnic station Emerald TV also recently appointing the company.

Media15 managing director Dominic Matterson said: “Digital television is in rude health in the UK, with credible, well-funded channels opening all the time.

“Ginx TV and Fire hit TV are both potentially big players in this market because their ambition and highly professional approach will create desirable audiences for major advertisers and media agencies.”

Ginx TV will broadcast in 41 countries with a wide range of programmes including news, interviews, reviews, tips and tricks for gaming enthusiasts.

Twitter has announced the acquisition of ad exchange MoPub in a move that will see it integrate real-time buying within its advertising platform, offering a whole new element to brands and advertisers. The Drum sought reaction from some UK media buying houses as to what they felt the acquisition would mean for the micro-blogging site's advertisers.

Digital media agency Boutique Digital has been appointed by Howarths Employment Law to manage their digital marketing activity.

The brief will see Boutique implement digital marketing activity to boost the online presence of the law firm, which was established over a decade ago as an employment law specialist in Yorkshire.

Boutique Digital will now oversee a campaign encompassing SEO and PPC activity, including ensuring their reporting metrics and analytics are robust and are providing the intelligence required to measure success.

Elliot Jones, Partner at Boutique Digital, said: “It’s not often you get the opportunity to work with a business that is very established offline, but currently has limited presence online. This represents a huge opportunity for Howarths Employment Law, and we’re delighted to have been asked to partner with them and help then to realize this opportunity. They have a huge amount of expertise in the industry, and we’re here to help them share that knowledge and experience with a wider audience.”

Gavin Howarth, Director at Howarths Employment Law, added: “We know there’s a requirement for our business to move into the online space, and we believe Elliot and his team at Boutique Digital are best placed to get us there. The employment law and HR outsourcing space is highly competitive, and we know Boutique Digital can rise to the challenge. They also share the same company values, namely transparency and a clear vision – something we think is vital for any partnership. We’re very excited about working together on this.”

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Casio Sheen is to sponsor the ITV reailty TV programme The Only Way is Essex.

The deal, negotiated by Vizeum for Casio Sheen, will include an integrated sponsorship package across broadcast, online and mobile platforms for the tenth season of the show.

Initial activity will give viewers the chance to win a styling session at Minnie’s Boutique shop in Essex, which regularly appears in the series. The unique competition will feature in store at H Samuel, within the upcoming H Samuel Christmas catalogue, as well as being pushed out through all of Casio Sheen’s online channels.

The series, which last year saw an average consolidated audience of 1.4 million viewers and a seven per cent share of the audience, will also showcase Casio Sheen products in contextually relevant places.

Tim Gould, head of marketing at Casio Sheen, said: “We are really excited about this opportunity to partner with The Only Way Is Essex.

“We have some great new timepieces which we can’t wait to show consumers, and with such high viewing figures this is a natural choice for our female collection.”

Bhavit Chandrani, controller of sponsorship sales ITV, said: “The Only Way is Essex has proven appeal and I am delighted we have secured Casio Sheen as our sponsor of the upcoming series as part of this fully integrated partnership, featuring both sponsorship and product placement.

“We look forward to working with them to activate a great cross platform partnership both on and off air.”

The tenth season of the show will feature ten episodes.

DK has appointed Albion, following a non-competitive pitch, to help celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Lego Minifigure.

The publisher of illustrated reference books for adults and children has tasked the agency to launch ‘Lego Minifigures Year by Year A Visual History’ – a new book that features the many thousands of minifigures created since 1978, including some very rare and sought-after examples – in October.

Albion’s work will focus on a digital marketing campaign, which reinforces DK’s wide knowledge of LEGO minifigures and their place in popular culture.

Jason Goodman, CEO of Albion, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to be working with DK, one of the UK’s leading publishers, particularly around the launch of its new Lego book. This has been an absolute gift of a brief and our creative team has relished the opportunity to deliver a digital campaign that will create a real buzz in the Legocommunity and beyond. We’re sure that fans, new and old, will be sitting up to take notice when it comes to the launch.”

Shirley Henry, director of marketing and PR at DK, added: “Lego minifigures capture a special place in many people’s hearts from children to adults...Our brief was to create a campaign that would resonate equally with adult fans and children, drive online engagement and most of all serve as a celebration of our association with Lego– we’re confident that their [Albion's] work will do just that.”

The campaign, set to include shareable video content, online PR, and a blogger outreach programme, looks to reaffirm the publisher’s position as one of the UK’s leading Lego curators.

Michael Le Vell, the Coronation Street star, has today been found not guilty on all charges of rape, sexual and indecent assault.

Le Vell was accused of 12 counts: five counts of rape, three of indecent assault, two counts of sexual activity with a child and two of causing a child to engage in sexual activity.

He has denied all accusations.

Topsy research has found that over 3,500 tweets have been sent about the actor in the past hour (2.30-3.30pm BST)

Michael Le Vell not guilty on all charges. It's bloody ridiculous a mans life & reputation can be so comprehensively trashed in this way

— Phillip Schofield (@Schofe) September 10, 2013

#michaellevell not guilty. Would love to know why CPS pursued this case for so long. Cannot imagine the impact on all involved.

— Sarah Hilton (@SarahHilton2) September 10, 2013

#levell Michael le vell nodded to the jury and mouthed thankyou as verdicts read out

— Sallie George (@salliegeorge) September 10, 2013

It's a delight to hear that Corrie's Michael Le Vell has been cleared on all child sex charges. I look forward to seeing Kev back! #corrie

— Rachel McDermott (@journorach) September 10, 2013

Michael Le Vell not guilty. Compelling case for anonymity of accused in such horrific cases. I hope both parties can rebuild their lives.

— Caroline Farrow (@blondpidge) September 10, 2013

Five of Michael Le Vell's relatives held hands as the verdicts came in. They gasped as the foreman spoke

— Judith Moritz (@JudithMoritz) September 10, 2013

Michael Le Vell cleared of sex charges. I imagine his career has probably been ruined by this regardless.

— Amy Byard (@amyinleeds) September 10, 2013

One Corrie fan was delighted for a very odd reason:

Perhaps now Deidre can have her car back from it's MOT? #MichaelLeVell

— Michael Wilson (@MagichaeI) September 10, 2013

Telegraph Media Group has appointed Jason Seiken as chief content officer and editor-in-chief as it continues with the restructuring of its editorial operations and transition to a fully integrated digital business.

Seiken has joined the Telegraph from Public Broadcasting Service in the United States where he served as SVP and general manager, overseeing all digital content, products, and businesses.

Before that, he was vice president at AOL Europe in London, and editor-in-chief of washingtonpost.com.

Seiken has become responsible for all aspects of the editorial operation and for transforming it into an organization with digital products at its core.

“This appointment is vital to the future of our business and in achieving our ambition to become the foremost English language multimedia news and content provider. There could not be a better person for this crucial role than Jason Seiken,” said Murdoch MacLennan, chief executive of TMG.

“He has a lifetime of experience in the media industry and an extraordinary track record of completing profound business transformations. He is a remarkable leader who is at the cutting edge of global developments in the media, with a pioneering track record of delivering radical, durable change in companies which include some of the world’s leading media brands.”

The editors of The Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, Tony Gallagher and Ian MacGregor respectively, will report directly to Seiken.

Stephen Vowles has been named marketing director at Argos, with the retailer tasking him with leading its marketing and brand strategy.

Effective 30 September, he will report to managing director John Walden. His remit also includes managing the brand’s planning, communication, promotions, consumer insight and analytics, personalised marketing, own brand management and customer experience management across all touch points.

“Stephen is a great addition to a strong leadership team. He will play a pivotal role within the leadership team as the ‘voice of the customer’ within Argos, leading the drive to become a more consumer centric company and the repositioning of the brand and customer experience to be a universally appealing digital retail leader,” said Walden.

Vowles has joined Argos from Ladbrokes, where he served as customer experience director and chief marketer. At Ladbrokes his contribution provided a strong foundation for its recently announced partnership with Playtech.

Prior to Ladbrokes Vowles spent six years in the United States with Stop and Shop/Giant Supermarkets where he was chief marketer. He has also held senior marketing roles at Sainsbury’s Supermarkets, Thomas Cook Retail and various roles within Procter and Gamble. `

Cancer charity Maggie’s has appointed Havas London as its agency of record after a competitive six-way pitch.

The agency will rebrand the Maggie’s website and create the charity’s future campaigns, as well as developing its fundraising communications needs.

Russ Lidstone, CEO of Havas London, said: “Maggie’s does extraordinary work providing practical and emotional support for people affected by cancer. Their decision to bring all communications under a single agency for the first time will provide a real boost to awareness and fundraising for Maggie’s.”

Sarah Matthews, director of marketing at Maggie’s, said: “Maggie’s is at an important stage of its development as it expands its programme of support to reach more people with cancer throughout the UK.

“It was essential to us that we appointed an agency that understands the challenges and opportunities which Maggie’s is expanding to meet - and which would develop communications to connect with our audiences coherently and creatively.”

Maggie’s has six centers across the UK and plans to further expand its service providing emotional support for those affected by cancer.

The release of the Serious Organised Crime Agency's (SOCA) list containing 98 sources who hired rogue investigators has been delayed, despite MPs threatening to publish the report in parliament.

The list was compiled during Operation Milipede, started in 2008 and concluding with the prosecution of four investigators for data blagging last year. The list includes law firms, insurance companies and celebrities who have hired private investigators convicted of data ‘blagging’ offences.

A spokesperson for the Home Office said that the publishing of the list is unlikely to be reconsidered until the Information Commissioner looks at the case again 8 October.

In a letter to Keith Vaz, Soca director general Trevor Pearce, said: “I am clear, as is the Soca chairman, that Soca’s responsibility in ensuring the integrity of an investigative process in the interests of justice has not changed, and that therefore therefore the confidential material as presented to and agreed with you should remain confidential.

"All businesses should take proactive measures to ensure that where they use private investigators they do so in a lawful manner, irrespective of whether they are concerned as to whether or not they are on the list."

Information Commissioner Christopher Graham stated that if published, the list could hinder any investigation into the alleged data protection breaches.

Facebook has moved to standardise its ad formats by moving to larger uniform image sizes and a bigger canvas to enhance visual prominence and engage browsers.

The changes are the latest in a rolling program of updates to the service which aims to harmonise ad specifications across ad placements, negating the need for advertisers to upload multiple image sizes.

This will see all canvas sizes upped with images up to three and a half times larger than existing, giving advertisers more clickable real estate for click through to their own websites.

Commenting on the updates Joe McCormack, CEO of Adquant, said that the changes represented opportunity, and that this change was "a big one."

He continued: "The new formats are amazing, it really seems as if Facebook went directly to the CMO’s of the world and asked, ‘what do you need?’ There is a much stronger emphasis on the news feed which is a great medium for advertisers. The news feed in Facebook is a recommendation engine; people check their news feed to see what their friends like and are doing. Advertising in the news feed drives higher interactions and better results. The new ad formats are very goal oriented from promoting offers to driving mobile app installs. Facebook has made it much easier for advertisers to find the perfect format to meet their needs. We expect these changes to result in increased advertising budgets on Facebook and better results for advertisers.”

A father’s shop window plea to see his daughter again has been answered after his heartfelt note, posted in a local newsagent, was picked up by social media and subsequently went viral.

In a last ditch attempt to track down his daughter Michael Hogben penned the open letter alongside the more prosaic ads for electricians and spare rooms, imploring Mandy Hogben to get in touch.

The task was made all the harder however as his daughter is believed to have since married, acquiring a new surname.

Fortuitously one enterprising shopper was so moved after reading the plaintive plea that they took a photo of the message and posted it to on Facebook, whereupon it was shared more than 95,000 times.
The letter read: “I am sorry Mandy, but I don’t know your married name.

“I have been searching for you for so many years and there is nothing or no one going to stop me finding you, because I have loved you and missed so much every minute of every day for all these years, so much I can feel you with me all of the time, like you used to be.

“I need so much to see and talk to you, as I have missed so much of your life, perhaps it will take the pain away for all these years.

“Please ring your Dad."

BT has been reprimanded by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for producing a television advert which made speed claims of its fibre optic broadband service, BT Infinity, that were based on out of date data.

The embarrassing oversight led BT to claim that its service was ‘eight times faster’ by way of a voiceover and on screen text; further illustrating this speed by way of a man uploading his photograph to a dating site whilst a flatmate seemingly purchased concert tickets near instantaneously.

A parallel website, productsandservices.bt.com, beefed up this claim with a bit more detail, stating: “Infinity 2 has arrived... Eight times faster: speeds based on Infinity Option 2 average customer speed and UK average from Ofcom report, Feb 2012."

One person was quick to point out that this report was now out of date whilst four others contacted the ASA whether the depicted internet activities had exaggerated the performance of BT Infinity.

Ruling that BT had failed to inform consumers that its eight times faster claim was based on out of date data the ASA concluded that the ad thus ‘exaggerated the performance of BT Infinity’.

The ad has been banned from repeat broadcast in its current form.

BBC Radio 1 has apologised over a sexist tweet issued by its Breakfast Show which asked listeners whether or not they thought Hannah Reid of London Grammar was ‘fit’.

The ‘ironic’ message was posted early yesterday morning alongside a photo of the band, drawing an immediate rebuke from outraged tweeters, over its offending nature. It read: "We all think that the girl from @londongrammar is fit. Let us know if you agree on 81199 #ladz".

Following a number of complaints the tweet was deleted and the station issued a follow-up tweet saying:

Our tweet earlier about Hannah from @londongrammar was meant to be ironic, but we got it wrong. We're sorry.

— BBC Radio1 Breakfast (@R1Breakfast) September 10, 2013

This was followed by:

So we've deleted the original tweet from this morning now. We're aware its been RT'ed a lot…

— BBC Radio1 Breakfast (@R1Breakfast) September 10, 2013

This month's winners of the IAB Creative Showcase have been announced with entries from agencies such as Touch Fantastic, AKQA and VCCP winning for work with clients Baby Cow and BBC Worldwide, Nike and O2, respectively.

Entries are accepted for the showcase each month from agencies across the UK, with further information available to view on the IAB website.

IMGLicensing has appointed Frank PR to launch the Playboy ‘Bunny Bootcamp’ workout which aims to offer UK women the chance to achieve the ‘bunny beautiful body’.

Frank PR client, GYMBOX, has developed the workout alongside IMG and will host it exclusively in its gyms this September before it is available for licensing elsewhere.

Frank PR’s brief was to create hype for the workout before its arrival and to aid in the recruitment of other gyms after GYMBOX’s exclusivity period.

Graham Goodkind, Frank PR CEO, said: "IMG is the world's best in licensing and Playboy is one of the world's most iconic brands, so we are very excited to be on this journey with them to launch the Playboy Bunny Bootcamp in the UK."

Matthew Primack, vice president of licensing at IMG, said: "We wanted to appoint an agency we felt understood what we are trying to achieve with the Playboy brand in the UK and specifically with the Playboy Bunny Bootcamp.

“We were impressed by Frank's passion and creative ideas and are thrilled to be working alongside the team for this exciting launch."

Frank PR, a consumer public relations firm with offices in Camden Town, London, Sydney, Australia, and New York, was founded in 2000 by CEO Graham Goodkind and MD Andrew Bloch.

Chinese dissidents are facing a fresh crackdown from the ruling Communist party after the government announced fresh measures to introduce lengthy jail terms for those convicted of spreading online rumours or provoking unrest.

The new laws are targeted against micro-bloggers in an effort to dissuade them from disseminating ‘false information’ or ‘slanderous comments’ by threatening prison terms of up to three years.

Those found guilty of fermenting ‘serious public disorder’ face even more onerous sentences of up to 10 years behind bars, according to the state-run China Daily.

In an effort to quantify such measures China’s Xinhua news agency warned charges would be brought against anyone posting ‘defamatory’ comments viewed by 5,000 people or more or which were re-tweeted at least 500 times.

Samsung products will again be featured in The X Factor, as part of a partnership which includes paid-for-placement.

ITV, FremantleMedia UK, Syco Entertainment and Samsung today announced the renewal of the deal, which will see mobile phones, tablets and cameras from the brand appear throughout The X Factor; as well as within bespoke online video diaries featured on The X Factor website, The X Factor app and the X Factor YouTube site.

Avikar Jolly, head of brand and communications for Samsung Electronics UK and Ireland, said the brand was ‘excited’ to be carrying on the placement: “Last year marked the first product placement agreement for The X Factor, it was great to be part of such a landmark media event that delivered a noticeable increase in brand awareness and preference for the products that featured, proving it is the ideal platform for us to talk to our customers about our industry-leading devices and the Samsung brand.”

As an off-air licensing partner, Samsung will have access to tickets and have ATL rights for digital, in-store, point of sale, experiential and print executions.

The partnership was negotiated by Starcom’s content division Liquid Thread on behalf of Samsung.