Myspace launches new interactive music videos

New interactive campaign allows consumers to feature in 10 interactive music videos.

Myspace Music has launched a campaign that gives consumers the chance to appear in ten interactive videos starring musicians such as Florence and the Machine, 50 Cent and Alicia Keys.

The campaign was masterminded by creative advertising agency BBH (where I have worked :)). Myspace users upload their images from Facebook Connect or Myspace ID, and then sit back and watch as they appear in the films.

The example given by Campaign Magazine is the ad starring Florence and the Machine (see image) where a photo is pinned to a wall that will show the user's face.
Following this, anyone who personalises an ad will be entered into a competition to have their pick of the artists, who also include Kasabian, Nelly Furtado and N-Dubz, write a song about them.

The original films will be aired on TV and are also accessible via teaser banners on websites.

I think this is a really nice idea that offers a real incentive for consumers to become involved with Myspace, a social network whos popularity in the UK has deminished recently following the rise of Facebook. The competition is very exciting. It would be an amazing one-off experience for anyone. Having your favorite artist sing a song made specifically for you is something I'm sure millions of fans have dreamt about. This is one of the great things about social media - innovative campaigns that offer high rewards to 'Joe Public' in return for brand participation. This type of offer wasn't being made before the rise of digital media and companies are re-thinking how they can offer something of great value to consumers that often results in positive word of mouth and eventually sales.

YouTube launches its first advertising campaign

The video-sharing site has set out its stall with its first ad push

YouTube is launching its first advertising campaign in 2010, looking to steal a march in the race to bring online content to TV.

The campaign carries the strapline 'YouTube's got TV' and will run on the sides of buses, Tube panels and as full-page print ads. It will precede the introduction in 2010 of next generation internet-enabled TV sets by several manufacturers, including additions to the Sony Bravia range, which will carry expanded web technology.

The YouTube ad campaign follows their recent deal with Channel 4, where popular C4 shows have been made available to stream on the site. Shows like Peep Show, Hollyoaks, The F-Word, The Inbetweeners and Jamie At Home have featured so far.

'78% of people watch online TV to catch up with missed broadcast TV, according to Work Research/Thinkbox'

In 2008, more than 1.6bn views of TV shows took place online. According to Screen Digest, this figure is forecast to rise to 5bn a year by 2013. TV subscription services like Virgin Media and the Playstation 3 games console enable viewers to watch BBC's iPlayer through their television, furthering the transition towards online TV viewing.

'3.6m Virgin Media subscribers can access the BBC's iPlayer via their TV sets'

Advertisers and broadcasters are wising up to this change in behaviour. The BBC have recently announced an Eastenders online spin-off show that will be exclusively available online. Also drinks company InBev have launched a 15-minute show exclusively on YouTube for their beer brand, Stella Artois.

I think that online TV broadcasting will really take off over the next few years. I think that websites like 4od and BBC iPlayer, that allow people to watch their favorite shows at their own convienience have obviously played a major part in online TV's rising popularity. I do believe however that people do (and will) still value certain family nights in. Family shows like The XFactor, I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here and Britains Got Talent will remain popular at traditional TV broadcasting times. More niche programmes and videos that you might watch on YouTube will prove popular, with 'middle of the road' shows perhaps dying out as people will have so much choice available to watch they watch.

Rhys McLachlan, head of broadcast implementation futures at MediaCom, says that although online TV is the future of broadcasting, the transition will take time.

"Most people watch the same six channels on TV and will flick if there is nothing on those channels... putting TV content online won't stop this regular viewing, but it could collapse the long tail. People will not flick, but instead turn to on demand services".

Major brands signing up to CoTweet

Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Microsoft are amongst a host of major brands signing up to 'CoTweet', a new company offering services to manage brands on Twitter.

(image via revolutionmagazine.com)

CoTweet has announced mega brands like Ford, Whole Foods and others has signed up to its CoTweet Enterprise Innovators Programme.

Customers pay $1,500 a month for the programme's service which includes providing analytics of how far Twitter messages are reaching, click-through rates on links and can report on different message types, such as direct messages, replies and mentions, as well as the most active users.

Companies get access to a number of tools as well as an account manager to provide feedback and analysis, product support and training. CoTweet has a partnership with bit.ly, the URL shortening site, to provide analytics to the brands.

Jesse Engle, chief executive of CoTweet, said:

"Companies must monitor their brands, provide customer service and measure the impact of outbound marketing".

CoTweet earlier in the year managed to raise $1.1 million in funding from a number of key investors.

Mobile social networking comes of age

Touchscreen mobile devices like the Apple iPhone will replace PC's as the main way consumers engage with social media, according to new research.

A study by Forrester claims that the latest generation of smartphones will transform the mobile internet experience, giving users access to a range of new social media devices.

The research shows mobile social media consumption is being driven by the youth consumers with up to 40% of UK 16-24 year olds accessing social networks via their mobile phones, compared to 7% of the same age group across the rest of Europe.
The same research also suggests that these consumers are doing much more than just visiting their social networks - they are also reading and updating their own blogs, contributing to forums and joining in with discussing groups.

Mobile social media consumption is still in its infancy. But with handset manufacturers and mobile networks investing so much in developing heavily in product services it is only a matter of time before mobile social networking becomes common place, eventually taking over from PC's.

Forrester senior analyst Thomas Husson says,

"The always-on mobile connected handset frees the social web from the chains of the PC and thrusts it into the real world... Online players, handset makers and mobile operators are jumping on the bandwagon"

Facebook and Sony Playstation to team up?

The Times reported yesterday that the Facebook logo was shown on the new Sony Playstation 3 menu interface sparking rumors that these two giants were to team up to offer a new online experience. It is believed that players can update statuses and may be able to 'poke' friends whilst playing games, encouraging challengers to battle on the console.

This news comes after Microsoft declared Facebook would be available to use through their XBox 360 games console. Whilst Sony have so far declined to comment, a spokesman is expected to make an announcement about Facebook integration "shortly".

Devin Coldewey wrote on technology website TechCrunch

"A Facebook app would be handy, though a constant stream of status updates from heavy players might lead to mutings by less gaming-orientated friends... But it would be ridiculous to think that a all-in-one entertainment device like the PS3 wouldn't have Facebook on it eventually."

Sony is expected to roll-out its film and TV rental service, the PlayStation Network Delivery Service, in the next few weeks. The service will enable PS3 users to stream movies to their console or buy films to watch on their television or transfer to their PSP hand-held gaming device.

Fight to find Madeleine goes viral

The Madeleine McCann story is one that has affected many people in Britain and around the world. Madeleine went missing on May 3, 2007 from her family hotel room in the Portuguese holiday resort of Praia da Luz. She is believed to have been abducted. Her parents launched a global appeal for information, but so far no one has been found guilty of abduction and she, Madeleine is still missing.

The McCann family are now backing a video message released on the internet by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) centre in London.
It was viewed and downloaded by more than 15,000 internet users in one hour, and there has been a huge response on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
Celebrities such as Jonathan Ross, Chris Evans, day time presenters Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield have all posted a link to the video on their Twitter pages.

The message is the first time detectives have used the viral message technique to try to solve an investigation.

The CEOP message has been accompanied by two digitally enhanced pictures showing Madeleine as forensic imaging experts believe she would look at 6 years old (top of story).

Lets hope she is found soon alive and well.

Coca-Cola to send 'Happiness Ambassadors' around the world

Coca-Cola are planning to send three bloggers around the world to find out what makes people happy, as part of their "Open Happiness" campaign.

These bloggers will visit 206 countries, spend just one or two days in each one. The project is being dubbed "Expedition 206". Expedition 206 adds another major-brand to the social media venture. Currently there are 3 teams of 3, battling for the chance to go on this wonderful journey. At the moment it is very close, you can vote who goes on this trip via the Expedition 206 website here.

The travelers will meet with locals, and document their stories on the Expedition 206 website. They will even get a chance to be part of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Adam Brown, director of Coca-Cola's Office of Digital Communications and Social Media explains why they have decided to take on this project.

"It's not about having the Coca-Cola brand first and foremost, center of the screen... It's about telling the story that involves Coca-Cola, that involves the attributes of what Coca-Cola is about, optimism and joy."

The trip begins on the 1st January and begins in Madrid, and finishes on December 31st at the Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta.

I think this is a great idea by Coca-Cola, it is exciting and although the concept of sending bloggers off on their travels is not new, the enormality of sending bloggers around the entire world is new. Coca-Cola is the perfect brand for this type of trip as they have held a global presence for years and years. You will find someone drinking Coca-Cola is any country in the world most likely.

The one problem with this task is whether or not they will be able to keep people interested in the travelers blogs across an entire year. The content that they post will need to be extremely strong. I think pictures will play a huge part. Photographs of different cultures and scenery is always interesting and if the bloggers can add interesting stories to the imagery, Coca-Cola could offer something truely original and appealing, whilst stealthily promoting the brand.

Voting ends November 6th, so start voting!

UK chart stars looking for social networking site sponsors

A new website set up to market girl group, The Saturdays new album seeks fashion retailers to sponsor the individual band members (Una, Mollie, Frankie, Vanessa and Rochelle) pages.
Fans will be able to click through the sponsored pages to fashion retailers with transactional sites where they can find clothing that will help them dress in the style of the band.

The social networking site is the first of its kind for record label Polydor and has been designed by digital creative agency Clusta.

Fans sign up and create their own profiles, following this they will be able to add concerts they plan to attend to their calendar and leave comments and reviews. They can also make friends with other fans and upload related content.

The individual band member pages will hold personal diary entries.

Aaron Bogucki, Senior digital campaign manager for Polydor says:

"The girls were already really proactive in providing content for their site and getting involved in social media.... With the success of the first album we wanted to make sure our digital strategy led the launch of the second so we decided to launch a fan networking site".


The article where I sourced this news in MarketingWeek doesn't say how much interaction there will be between the girls and their fans. I have a feeling that the band will post diary entries and fans will comment and interact with fellow fans on the website. Brands, actors (Verne Troyer) and now Popstars have seen social media as an opportunity to form closer relationships with the public/fans.

I believe if this is going to work then Popstars etc. can't just make a half-arsed attempt by just setting up a site and posting content. The most successful sites will be the ones who interact with the fans and make them feel special and valued in doing so. As I said I do not know if The Saturdays are planning on doing this, but if they do then they are more likely to see a far more positive response.

The new album titled 'Wordshaker' will be released on 12th October.

Internet ad spend grows during recession

In the first half of 2009 internet advertising weathered the recession and grew by 4.6% to £1,752.1m, despite the entire advertising sector contracting by 16.6% during the same period. In doing so, online advertising has overtaken TV for the first time.

The UK remains the world leader in terms of market share for online, with the medium accounting for 23.5% in the first half of 2009. The results signal a significant restructure of marketing budgets as advertisers follow their audiences online and look to the internet for even more measurable and accountable methods (via IABUK.net).



The IABUK outlines a number of key factors for growth: (link)

1. Advertising networks boosting the market - Alongside the major portals, advertisers are increasingly turning to networks to book their online campaigns. According to Econsultancy research, 70% of online advertisers and their agencies work with three online advertising networks or more. Almost half (46%) the say they are working with more ad networks than a year ago, an average of 31% of online display advertising budget is believed to be spent on online advertising networks.

2. Online as a direct response medium - This year has seen marketing budgets being stretched to their very limits, and online has proved its worth. With improved planning and insight tools which mean more advertisers flock to the medium to take advantage of its targeting, accountability and measurability.

3. Growth of new display formats - With the proliferation of video, the internet has become a highly engaging entertainment medium. Alongside tried and tested methods such as rich media, pre and post roll online video advertising is showing strong growth (a 195% increase year-on-year). This indicates advertisers’ willingness to experiment and invest in more engaging and interactive multimedia content.

4. Ecommerce booming - In a time of recession, people buying and shopping are taking to the internet for the best deals, making online the best place to reach bargain-hungry consumers. The continued annual growth in the online retail market is evidence that online is withstanding the challenges of the economic downturn and the retailers that continue to expand and improve their online presence.

5. Faster, cheaper broadband - 92% people now have a broadband speed on over 2MB and 56% of home broadband users now have wireless broadband driving audiences online and allows advertisers to provide consumers with richer branded content (BMRB Internet Monitor May 2009).



This is some great evidence to highlight the benefits for using online marketing and advertising during a recession. The popularity of the internet amongst the public has risen vastly as we all know over the past few years or so.


A possible reason for the internet's growth above TV might be down to the TV advertisments themselves. Commercials have been shown to be the most disliked aspect of watching 'live' TV by consumers. The internet can offer programs to watch at users leisure (BBC iPlayer, 4od etc) and often shows one or two adverts maximum per show.

Mercedes allocates half of its UK marketing budget to digital

Mercedes-Benz has announced that it will allocate 50% of its marketing budget to digital media.

Mercedes VP for brand communications, Anders Sundt Jensen, said the dynamics of the UK market and the advanced consumer behaviour in the UK meant the automotive brand was already allocating half of its budget to digital, way ahead of other European countries where the company was far from allocating anywhere near even 40%.

He said the key to success is due to online specialists already based within the company.

“We don’t have normal marketers just doing online ads, or just putting our TV ads online,” Jensen said. “For example, we have a whole department at our headquarters in Germany just doing digital marketing.”

This is certainly a major step forward for digital media as a preferred medium as it currently take only a small piece of the budgeting pie considered to traditional media within most businesses today. Having said that its (digital media) influence is increasing steadily due to the rise of social media and consumers online presence.

It will certainly be exciting to see what sort of ideas and campaigns Mercedes digital department comes up in the next few months whilst having this large budget to work with.

Reformed Burberry to explore social media

Burberry, the famous British luxury fashion brand has announced their plans for a social network website to be available next month. The reason behind the website named artofthetrench.com, is to offer consumers a stronger brand experience. Artofthetrench.com will feature users sending in pictures of themselves wearing the famous Burberry trenchcoats. Burberry currently has over 660,000 fans on Facebook, more than any other luxury brand, and this is seen as an encouraging sign for CEO, Angela Ahrendts.

"These might not even be customers yet. Or they may be a customer for a bottle of fragrance or for eyewear," she said.

"But these are the customers who need the brand experience, who need to feel the brand. That word-of-mouth spreads through their social networks and continues to be a positive conversation [about Burberry] . . . that is so powerful."

Burberry has been working to overcome an image problem in recent years and have made significant steps to do so. The brand has in the past been associated with football hooliganism and 'chavs'. It was forced to dump Kate Moss in 2005 after after the supermodel was pictured allegedly snorting cocaine. However, now Burberry has generated a buzz of real excitement around it leading up to London Fashion Week.

I believe that the social network will have some fairly minimal levels of success. I think that simply asking people to send in pictures of themselves in Burberry clothing is not a strong enough incentive to become actively involved with the website for a meaningful length of time. Also because Burberry has a large number of fans does not necessarily mean that they all own Burberry products. They could just admire their work.

If Burberry can come up with a stronger mixture of content and added incentives then I'm sure they will have greater success with this approach.

iPhone Spotify and now Flickr!

Flickr has officially come to iPhone.

iPhone is the most popular camera on Flickr and now Flickr have now returned the favor with the new iPhone Flickr app.
The app enables you to easily share the photos you’ve captured with iPhone’s camera, geo-tag them, and add them to sets.

This has come after Spotify's iPhone app coming under mixed reviews. The hype surrounding the release of the Spotify app for Premium users was big to say the least. However with some usability problems arising it has come under some criticism.

Joe Heath's feedback on my time at BBH

"Tom @ BBH

Efficient, bright and ready to work…

Tom very quickly got stuck in to a number of projects at BBH, delivering at every turn across a number key brands. He showed an ability to quickly understand the problem at hand, the tools to get the job done and came through when it was most needed.

A pleasure to work with"

Joe Heath - Engagement Planner

Thanks Joe

Day 9: Internship at BBH

Today was my last day at BBH.
I had my presentation on Parents communities and social networks ready for Joe. Half way going through my findings I received an important phone call from Martin at Apple, I had been for an interview a few days before and they wanted me back for a 2nd interview on Monday!
After the 5 minute phone call I went back and finished going through my work with Joe. Afterwards he explained to me how they were going to use my research within their strategy for the Fruit Shoot website. It was really interesting to see and I think they have a great campaign. Check out the Fruit Shoot website to see the kinds of useful activities there are for kids to learn and enjoy at http://www.fruitshoot.com/

I spent the rest of the day doing the work for Daniele looking at community centres and youth clubs within the selected cities.
I have really enjoyed working at BBH and their young but experienced staff were very welcoming and a pleasure to work with.

Day 8: Internship at BBH

I was asked today to look for social network and online community websites for Parents and Mothers. I already had some knowledge of these websites from an interview I had with i-Level for my dissertation. Using Google Ad Planner I was able to find a large number of websites and narrowed them down to list of 10 for Fruit Shoot.

Daniele had an extra task for me, which was to look at the main targeted cities for Fruit Shoot and research specific areas within theses locations that may take on Fruit Shoot for kids activity projects currently running there.

Day 7: Internship at BBH

So today I went through my list of appropriate websites to Joe and Daniele. They seemed to find the websites themselves really interesting and wanted to know what sort of content and features were displayed on the pages. Following this I went away and was given a new brief that might add a few extra websites to the list, so I did. Moshi Monsters was a good example of one of the interesting social networks out there used by young children.

Daniele later on in the day took me through Google Analytics and showed me how it works and the information BBH has currently on the site. From here I was asked to pick out certain cities that were the most engaging with the Fruit Shoot website, based on Average time on the site and the number of unique visitors.

Day 6: Internship at BBH

Yesterday was a bank holiday so it was a nice long weekend. I was in beginning my 2nd week at BBH after being invited back to work on their Fruit Shoot project.

Today I was asked to do research on Kids Social Networks, ages between 8-12. I looked at how popular they were in the UK, whether they accepted advertising and whether they were suitable for the Fruit Shoot brand.
I managed to find about 12 really good examples, but it took a whole day of research.

Day 5: Internship at BBH

Today was my final day at BBH. I had such a good week there I didn't want it to end, so I promised myself that I would at least ask for another week before the end of the day. If you don't ask you don't get!

I spent the morning finalising and organising my ideas for the Fruit Shoot website. At 11am I met with Joe and began going through my ideas. 5 minutes in he stopped me and invited Danielle over who has also been working with Fruit Shoot.

"Tell her what you've just told me", I went on to explain one of my main ideas.

"I think its a great idea" Joe said! Danielle agreed.

Phew! I thought. I hadn't even gone half way yet I hope he likes the rest!

After the presentation Joe asked me how long they had me for.

"Just today unfortunately" I replied.
"We'll have to see about that" he said.

This was such a great feeling to know that my ideas and work was really being valued so much to the extent that they wanted me back. I immediately said how much I had enjoyed my week and would love to stay another. He promised to speak with Darius about the possibility of staying.

Following this I still had to show Ben my work for Tango looking at rival brands on Facebook, and the work for Darius on Barnardo's. I managed to finish these and they both were very happy with what I had done which was another boost of confidence as well as relief!

At 4.30pm I received a phone call from Darius confirming that I could come back next week! I was really grateful and quite proud that my hard work had paid off with an extra week at a global company like BBH.

Day 4: Internship at BBH

On Thursday morning I wasn't sure where I was supposed to be so I carried on with my work for Barnardo's. I then moved on to researching more drinks brands on Facebook. Following this I went over to Ben and Joe's area within the digital department as I was sure I was supposed to be with them today. Joe greeted me and tolde me he had some work needed doing for the Fruit Shoot website. I was asked come up with new ideas for content within the site as well as new competitions children could become involved with. I looked at what Fruit Shoot competitors were promoting on their sites and looked at the strong and weak aspects of the Fruit Shoot website.

I had a number of ideas floating around for good, engaging content but wanted to wait until tomorrow until I presented them to Joe.

Day 3: Internship at BBH

Day 3 I spent with Darius, an Engagement Planner who was a key person in helping me interview BBH for my dissertation. I was asked to help out with a project he has been working on for the children's charity Barnardo's.
I looked for media articles where children have been 'dehumanised' being called things like 'ferel', 'scum' and 'slime'. To my surprise I was able to find many examples with ease. To be fair most of them had been against teenagers who had done some disgraceful murderous acts. But there were some aimed at children in general which is very wrong.

I spent the day working on this but also managed to continue doing some work for Tango that Ben had asked me to look at the day before.

Day 2: Internship at BBH

Day 2 was spent mostly with Made By Many, a digital consultancy company that is based within BBH and has worked closely with the business. They actually created Metrotwin, the brilliant social platform for British Airways that twins New York with London and treats both cities as a single online community. They have also done work for Amnesty International with Protect The Human, an online community for people with humanitarian interests to congregate and sign petitions.

The first person I met was Tim Malbon, Founder and Executive Director of Made By Many. He was a really nice guy who treated me like I was already an equal member within his team, which was great! He took me through some presentations and latest work he had done with such wonderful enthusiasm. I was then given a task looking into Paid and Earned Media looking at the difference between the two and good examples of Earned Media.

- Paid Media is basically advertising that you buy and have posted on websites to connect with people.
- Earned Media is media coverage that is 'earned' but not purchased.

Earned media is far more valuable in the long-term because companies offer services, allow consumers to interact with brand and they also offer information for free.

Good examples are:
www.mystarbucksidea.com - Starbucks
www.campaignforrealbeauty.com - Dove
www.willitblend.com - Blendtec

Blendtec's will it blend? website has had proven success with its viral video's where they basically... just blend things.

• The iPhone episode has had over 7 million views on YouTube.

• The Top 20 videos have had around 50 million views!

• Blendtec's sales have increased by 700%!

This is just one example of how valuable this earned media can be and there are many many more out there!

End of Day 2

Day 1: Internship at BBH

Today was my first day at BBH, a company I have grown up knowing about as my Dad had worked there for 17 years! I was very excited for my first day as I walked through the giant front doors.

I was greeted by a very smiley and friendly Emma aswell as another 2 Interns, which was interesting having been the only intern at every placement I've ever been at. It was certainly a nice change having people in the same position as me.

After an hours tour around the smart building I was assigned to Ben who put me to work straight away! This was a relief because I wasn't sure whether or not I'd be twiddling my thumbs all day. He gave me a research task for their client, an online subscribed dating service. There is a worry that people these days are meeting dates on social networks like Facebook or Date Pad because they are free to use.

Without giving away confidential details, the free services still have a lot of catching up to do from my analysis as well as from customer reviews and feeback!

I had a really good day and the people there are so helpful and nice, they make you feel appreciated. Roll on day 2!

Facebook Doubles Up

Facebook's executive director and creater Mark Zuckerberg has announced plans to expand the company by 50%. The social networking site aims to capitalise on the surplus of engineers looking for work in the recession. Zuckerberg explains, "“No one else has been hiring,” he said. “It's been a great environment for us because the economy has helped out.”

Facebook currently employs 1000 people around the world including a base in London's Soho Square. With the company personnel gradually growing Zuckerberg goes on to say, “We're way closer to the beginning than the end. A lot of times buildings can be a signal that you've made it. I would prefer that our building feels more like a large garage.”

I think that this is a good move by Zuckerberg, he clearly recognises how Facebook has been benefitting during the recession and with Facebook already valued at $10 billion with a relatively small team (for a global company) hiring another 1000 people could help the business reach even greater heights than it has already!

Day 10 (the last day): Imagination Work Experience, London

21st August 2009

It was my last day at Imagination today and I am really hoping my presentation to Katie goes well. I get in and make the final changes to the PowerPoint document and we go into the meeting room. We sit down and I take her through the presentation and she likes my ideas - relief!
She gives me some useful feedback and I make a few small changes to the presentation. Katie then tells me that she will use my presentations when they present to the clients! So I'm suddenly nervous even though she has told me that I've done a good job.

I prepare to leave for lunch around 12.30 and Katie says that she won't be back in the afternoon so I give her some chocolates and a thank you card and she says its been nice working with me which was good!

When I come back from lunch I spend the rest of the day searching for Ford of Europe blogs again and send Tom all of my updated work before I leave and then see him on the way out luckily. We say our goodbyes which was good because he has also been great working with and has been very helpful.

I leave and feel so tired but the experience has been so worth it. Hopefully I get the chance to work with Imagination again in the future. A great company.

Here is a post about me on Katie's blog (click to enlarge) - http://inoted.wordpress.com/

Day 9: Imagination Work Experience, London

2oth August 2009

Thursday has been a productive day. I have developed my ideas up to the next level and now have a number of possibilities to present tomorrow morning. I briefly ran through my first draft with Tom and he really liked my ideas which has given me a lot of confidence. He gave me a few pointers on the best ways to get across my ideas to Katie and also gave me advice on how they could be further applied to the museum, which was really helpful.

I spent the rest of the day searching blogs for more Ford of Europe campaign targets.

Here is the beautiful front entrance to the museum

Day 8, Imagination Work Experience, London

19th August 2009

Today I still feel miserable due to this illness I've picked up but wasn't about to lose a day of experience with so little time left! It was another day dedicated to the museum project where I came up with some more ideas. I thought about ways that I could drive teenagers to visit the museum as they were the main demographic who I noticed were not in attendance. I also thought about how you might be able to incorporate messages and content through mobile phones into the museum experience. I jotted down all my ideas and began to structure a presentation on PowerPoint. Tomorrow I am going to run through my ideas with Katie and get any feedback that she wants me to look at.

I attended a meeting with Katie, Jeremy and Sarah from the digital team where they discussed ideas about how they are planning to use digital and social media for their prospective L'Oreal campaign. I was then asked to look into Flickr's presence in Germany and the processes you go through to use Flickr to create and manage groups, and how you upload videos and photos.

Usually on a Wednesday the team meets up in the basement for drinks. I was feeling so awful and snotty (nice) I had to leave before, I felt bad leaving and Katie was in a meeting so I sent her an email explaining why and I hope she understood because I really appreciated last weeks drinks!

Day 7: Imagination Work Experience, London

18th August 2009

Woke up today feeling extremely ill. High fever, runny nose, sore throat and a headache. The swine flu bells were ringing until my mum told me to 'man up' and that it was just a summer cold. I chose to believe her and set off.

Today I spent the morning doing more research for the Imperial War Museum by going on Playfish.com and Zynga.com to study the games available to play on and how they work. Katie wanted me to do this as one piece of criteria from the brief was to come up with my own idea of a game for the museum website. So I spent a very enjoyable hour playing Mafia Wars, Bowling and Special Forces! I then thought about the separate sections within the museum and immediately though of 'The Secret War' exhibition which looked at spy's , MI5 (James Bond) and MI6. It had all the gadgets and equipment secret agents have used in past covert operations. A Mafia Wars style game using spy's and secret agents to unlock clues and enemy information came to mind with gadgets exhibited in the museum included within the game.
Also a game involving 'The Battle of Britain' came to mind.

The afternoon involved more research into how museums are using digital methods to engage more with visitors. I also thought about the types of content could be introduced to the website.

Day 6: Imagination Work Experience, London

17th August 2009

My final week at Imagination began today and I had been given the prep for the 2nd project which was looking at a social media strategy for the Imperial War Museum to drive traffic to the website as well as visitors to the museum. I also have to try and come up with interesting content for the website that will spark an interest for visitors to go to the museum.

I spent the morning looking for more blogs for the Ford Europe campaign and managed to find one or two more. I went for lunch and following that set off for the Imperial War Museum for some observational research. After getting lost... three times... I finally found myself at the entrance looking at two massive cannons facing me. I bought a guide and wandered in. The main room is filled with lifesize models of tanks, aeroplane and weaponry. There were children with their families watching them climb on and play inside the models. I spent the day looking at all of the displays, making observations of the people who were there, and the people who were not there and also getting a sense of the brand itself.

I was surprised to find how much I enjoyed the museum as I had a predetermined view of museums as being boring, a place for old people and unappealing. I was clearly wrong, however I feel had I not been alone I would not have learned or observed as much as I did. My grandfathers both fought in the wars and I was surprisingly moved by the stories I heard and the images I saw.

I feel I have a good idea about what the museum needs and will express them over the following week.

Day 5: Imagination Work Experience, London

14th August 2009

Friday was the big day of my presentation for Holcim's social media strategy so naturally there were a few butterflies in my stomach in the morning. The presentation was at 4pm so the morning and early afternoon consisted of touch ups to the PowerPoint document also with final preparations made for how I was going to articulate my ideas to Katie and Tom.

4pm came round and we went to the meeting room. Other than a few technological glitches from some YouTube videos I had posted the presentation went well and Katie and Tom's feedback was very positive. They did make a few recommendations to back up my ideas, showing evidence of where I found my statistics and whether the sources were credible. So I have the weekend to add these final details to the presentation and it is done.
Considering this was my first time presenting on my own I was proud that they were impressed and that they offered positive, constructive feedback that I will take on board.

The first week is now over and I have learnt a great deal. If next week is half as good as this week has been I will be throughly satisfied.

Day 4: Imagination Work Experience, London

Thursday 13th August

Day 4 at Imagination involved a lot of research looking for independent blogs in the UK that are based around 3 categories; Lifestyle, Cars and the Environment. No journalists allowed, sorry. This work is for a new social media activation campaign for Ford of Europe.

After spending a frustrating hour probing around the Internet for websites allowing me to filter out blogs from outside the UK, I finally came across www.blogcatalog.com. If anybody knows of any other that could aid me with this please let me know!

From this website I was able to scroll through and pick out relevant blogs that may be perfect for the campaign. I based their suitability to whether they fitted in well with the 3 characteristics and then if the blogs carried any authority on technorati. I found this to be quite problematic as a lot of the blogs I found carried little to no authority and some authors had been inactive for months.

I managed to come up with around 6 or 7 suitable so far, some way short of the target of 15.
I will continue to try of course but I feel perhaps technorati and co. could perhaps have introduced a search filter that allows filtration based on country to make this a lot easier.

Day 3: Imagination Work Experience, London

Wednesday 12th August

Day 3 has been a very busy and tiring day but I feel like I am learning something new everyday. Today I began structuring my ideas for the Holcim social media project onto PowerPoint and making them presentable for the deadline this Friday.

At different times during the day Katie assigned a few more tasks for me to work on

• Finding key bloggers to target for their new Ford campaign
• Coming up with innovative interactive ideas for a new BBC project 'BBC Canvas'

I think this extra work is certainly helping me build upon my time management skills getting all the projects done on time.

'BBC Canvas' is an exciting new project that will bring together content from some of the UK's biggest channels, including the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Five. Viewers will be able to watch on-demand content through their television via a special set top box, expected to cost between £100-£200. The BBC's director general Mark Thompson called it "potentially the holy grail of future public service broadcasting provision in the UK".

Sitting within the small 'brainstorming' session it was really exciting to learn about how experienced professionals think, and how well they can think 'outside the box'. Ideas were floating around about how the audience can use the IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) and create interactive content becoming more involved within televised programmes and improving the overall experience.

Day 2: Imagination Work Experience, London

Tuesday 11th August 2009

Day 2 at Imagination has just finished and has been another good day. The morning consisted of research and note taking around the Holcim social media recruitment project.
I looked at:

• Competitor Analysis
• Content
• How recruitment agencies & other large businesses are using social media to attract applicants
• Successful case studies
  
• Target Audiences/Demographics
• Aspects of social media that have proven effective in raising interest in brands/businesses
  

In the afternoon, because Holcim isn't a household name I thought about ways Holcim can raise public awareness whilst informing the public about what they do, who they are etc, etc.

I then began coming up with ideas about how Holcim can effectively engage with prospective recruits once they have gained their interest, which social media platforms would be most suitable and how I could make Holcim different, memorable and appealing to potential graduate and professional recruits whilst still staying true to the brands identity.


This is certainly a challenging task but I'm feeling confident about my ideas so far. I'd say I need another few ideas so a later day in the office is on the cards. I have a deadline on Friday that I am on course to see but I have to make sure my work is looking professional and presentable.

Day 1: Imagination Work Experience, London

Monday 10th August 2009

Today was the day I would finally begin my 2 week internship with Imagination (http://www.imagination.com/), an integrated communications agency based in Camden, London. I was lucky enough to gain this opportunity after a brief yet interesting coffee meeting with Katie Streten (Head of Insight and Content within the Digital department) where I expressed my passion for digital marketing and my desire to work within an established agency one day like Imagination.

Day 1, like at most companies was an introductory day where I got tour of the building, the digital team and was given my brief for the projects I would be immersed in for the next 2 weeks.

Project 1 (Week 1) : A Social Media recruitment and activation project for global brand Holcim who supply cement, aggregate (gravel and sand), concrete and construction led services to 70 countries on all continents.
Basically I have to deliver a report and recommendations for Holcim on the best ways to use social media for
- Recruitment of graduates
- Recruitment of professionals
- Promotion of the company in an HR context

I am really excited about this challenge because it is the first piece of work that has required me to use my knowledge of marketing using social media since my dissertation dedicated to the topic.
It would of course be a lot easier if it wasn't about encouraging conversations about a brand that wasn't based around cement and concrete, but that's the challenge!


Project 2 (Week 2) : I haven't been given my official brief on project 2 but the information I have received suggests it will be based around the Imperial War Museum in London and the different content and marketing projects Imagination could do for them. It looks at how the IWM could potentially attract different audiences through these campaigns.




Later on in the day Tom, a member of the digital team, took me through a campaign that Imagination carried out with the NMOLP (National Museums Online Project) called 'Creative Spaces' (http://vna.nmolp.org/creativespaces/).

Creative Spaces is a community that allows the public to view artifacts, statues and other objects situated within the 9 UK museums and galleries. The community allows members to create groups, comment on collections and upload their own content - a place many artistic people might go to seek and share inspiration.
Tom also showed me how they incorporated Twitter into the campaign with daily updates of inspiration that increased traffic and interest to the website. I found this particularly interesting because I always wondered how Twitter could be used effectively within a campaign.


Day 1 has gone very well, the people I have met have been very welcoming, helpful and really down to earth. The building itself is very interesting also, made up of two separate buildings linked with metal staircases and bridges, it looks very cool!
I feel I have settled in quickly and can focus all my efforts on doing the best possible work for Imagination on both projects.

Spotify edges towards U.S launch

Spotify is moving closer towards launching itself in the worlds largest music market, America. A Techcrunch has said that all big four record companies currently own shares in Spotify. Spotify now has a big enough backing to satify copyright holders and open the New York ad sales office it is planning.
With this much financial support founder Daniel Ek believes that a release at the end of this year is on the cards.

According to investors the music streaming service is now worth an estimated $250 million.

Daniel Ek had previously said that he would not sell Spotify for $200 million and with it being valued at $250 million before release in America his stance seems to have been a very smart one.

Spotify to add video content soon

Spotify has taken a major step to adding video to its music content database as it launches a video advertising service. The music streaming company has teamed up with Sony Pictures to launch a video player which will give space on the website dedicated to video advertising.

The Flash player will allow users to play, pause, rewind and adjust volume during adverts. A seperate audio message announces the movie release date and drives users to click on a banner to view the trailer.

For £9.99 a month users can stream music for free with one advert played every half an hour. A free version is also available with more ads played during playlists.

The Swedish founder Daniel Ek believes that eventually movies and television shows could be added in the future.

- Spotify is a peer-to-peer music streaming service that allows instant listening to specific tracks with almost no buffering delay. Spotify is funded by advertisments and paid subscriptions -

Social media misunderstood

Social media websites have been getting a lot of negative critiscm for not doing enough to help youths from cyber-bullying. There have been a number of tragic suicides from bullying, recently in Macclesfield a 15 year old committed suicide over bullying from teenagers on social network site Bebo.

In America negativity around social media is increasing. Novelist Mark Helprin accuses social media of everything from wrecking the physical economy of culture to destroying literacy and human conversation.

I believe that looking at the purpose of social media which is to connect with people, share content and information with others within the community. Social networks (where all the cyber-bullying is taking place) are more designed to connect with 'friends' online. Speaking for myself I only engage with people I know or have met and had good experiences with. People need to be more responsible with the type of content they share and allow people to view. This means not passing on private messages to untrustworthy people or adding and interacting with people you don't know or get along with.

With regards to Mark Helprin I believe that social media is actually improving our culture and is benefiting human interaction and conversation by making us all better connected. That is why it is so popular, people enjoy sharing pictures/stories/videos with others building on and improving existing relationships.

Tragic as it is, these terrible incidents are extremely rare and can be avoided if people seek necessary help whether it be from family or friends to combat bullies online. Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

Bing an instant success

Microsoft's new 'knowledge engine' Bing has attracted nealry 50 million unique US visitors according to figures from compete.com since launching at the beginning of June. This has made Bing more popular than CNN, Twitter and Digg who have had less traffic to their web pages. This is certainly a promising start for Bing however they still have a long way to go to compete with competitors Google and Yahoo.

BING'S FEATURES:

Interface Changes
- There are daily changes to the background image, left side navigation with right side extended preview with related searches and prior searches.

Media Features
- Video thumbnail Preview where, by hovering over a video thumbnail, the video automatically starts playing.
- Video search with adjustable setting for length, screen size, resolution and source.

Instant Answers
- Sports. Bing can directly display scores from a specific day, recent scores from a league or scores and statistics on teams or players.
- Finance. When entering a company name or stock symbol and either stock or quote in the search box Bing will show direct stock information like a stockchart, price, volume, and p/e ratio in a webslice that users can subscribe to.
- Math calculations
- Celebrity news
- Dictionary. When 'define', 'definition' or 'what is' followed by a word is entered in the searchbox Bing will show a direct answer from the Encarta dictionary.
- Health info - Product shopping and Bing cashback

Local Info
- Current traffic info
- Business listing
- People listing
- Collections
- Localized searching for restaurants and services
- Restaurant reviews