Friends Reunited: the rise and fall

LONDON – Sold: one social media website. Slight signs of wear and tear. Clumsy, yet charming design. Last year’s fashion. 85 per cent discount, no returns.

Commercial radio sees audience share rise

LONDON – Commercial radio’s share of total audience rose to 42.7 per cent in the second quarter of this year, a rise from 41.6 per cent on the last quarter, according to the latest set of Rajar figures, released today.

Capital gets a boost as breakfast show hangs on to top slot

LONDON – Global Radio’s 95.8 Capital FM has overtaken sister station Heart to become London’s second most popular radio station, boosted by the strong performance of its breakfast show hosted by Johnny Vaughan and Lisa Snowdon.

Top 10 Goviral for viral videos July 2009

Top 10 viral video campaign by Goviral – June 2009 1. Microsoft – Office 2010: The Movie How to make a product that is as mainstream as MS Office exciting? That must have been the challenge that the makers of this campaign for Office 2010 were facing when brainstorming their ideas. The […]

Official Michael Jackson dolls and toys planned

LONDON – Five weeks after his death, the estate of Michael Jackson has applied to create merchandising deals for products related to the singer such as stuffed toys and clothes.

Microsoft’s new online champion: Bing goes the internet

LONDON – Microsoft has found a new champion for Bing after an online search uncovered a man who has proved adept at singing about search engines.

VoD numbers climb on Virgin Media

LONDON – Virgin Media has continued to grow its video on demand user-base, with over 55% of its digital TV subscribers watching VOD in the three months ended 30 June 2009.

Carphone Warehouse plans social media campaigns

LONDON – The Carphone Warehouse has appointed agency Face to work on a social media strategy for the brand.

Old Spice: ResidueIsEvil.com

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http://residueisevil.com/

Advertising Agency: Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, USA
Executive Creative Directors: Susan Hoffman, Mark Fitzloff
Creative Director: Eric Baldwin, Jason Bagley
Art Director: Eric Kallman
Copywriter: Craig Allen
Developers: Josh Perez, Nick Bauer, Kiem Vu, Josh Pope, Laurie Brown, Colin Black
Digital Director: Sean O’Brien
Executive Interactive Producer: Marcelino Alvarez
Broadcast Producer: Celestina Lucero

Old Spice: Idiot, Stupid Weirdo, Nasty Chump

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Advertising Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, USA
Executive Creative Director: Susan Hoffman
Executive Creative Director:Mark Fitzloff
Creative Director: Eric Baldwin
Creative Director: Jason Bagley
Art Director: Eric Kallman
Copywriter: Craig Allen
Photographer: Chris Buck

Premier Foods gains market share

LONDON – Premier Foods has boosted its focus on innovation and increased its brands’ market share.

ITV loses £105m in six months and offloads Friends Reunited

LONDON – ITV slid to a £105m pre-tax loss in the six months to 30 June, as it suffered a 15% slide in TV ad revenue, although it has disposed of Friends Reunited for £25m.

Younger users drop out of social networking sites

LONDON – The proportion of young adults with a social network profile has fallen while more people from older age groups are joining, according to research published by Ofcom.

Jackson family looks to create official MJ merchandise range

LONDON – The estate of Michael Jackson has applied to create exclusive merchandising deals for a number of products related to the singer including clothing and stuffed toys.

ITV set to sell Friends Reunited at £145m loss

LONDON – ITV is poised to sell Friends Reunited for £25m, four years after buying it for £170m.

Murdoch will charge for online news

LONDON – Rupert Murdoch has said News Corporation will charge users to access its news websites, which include The Sun, The Times and Sky News.

Beano owner buys Friends Reunited for £25m

LONDON – The publishing group DC Thomson said this morning it has agreed to buy ITV’s Friends Reunited social network for a cut price £25m.

Commercial radio gains on the BBC

LONDON – Commercial radio regained audience share from the BBC in Q2 2009, with its overall share rising to 42.7%, from 41.6% in Q1, according to the latest Rajar figures.

Agencies battle for £20m Coors media

LONDON – Molson Coors is reviewing its £20 million UK media planning and buying account.

Universal McCann picks Hytner for Euro role

LONDON – Universal McCann has ended its search for a European chief by appointing Jim Hytner to the role.