John Lewis and Argos Christmas adverts 2015: Sentimental or rational? The Christmas campaign conundrum November 8, 2015 Brands have long used sentimentality to draw custom at Christmas. John Lewis has been a standard-bearer for emotional Christmas placements, and this year's offering, which encourages donations to Age UK, is no different. Last year's "Monty the Penguin" spot has received 24m YouTube views, and the retailer's like for like sales grew by 4.8 per [...]
Watch: The best parodies of John Lewis’s Man on the Moon Christmas advert 2015 November 7, 2015 If you're one of the 6.4m people who have already watched John Lewis's new Christmas advert, Man on the Moon, you might enjoy some of the parodies that have cropped up across the web over the last 24 hours. 1. Star Wars How much more fun would everything be with bit of Star Wars excitement [...]
The Voice UK: BBC loses popular TV show to rival broadcaster November 7, 2015 Hit TV show The Voice UK will no longer be hosted by the BBC, the broadcasting company has confirmed. After the fifth series is aired next year, the programme will fall into the hands of one of the BBC's major rivals. The BBC has not confirmed the organisation taking over, but reports suggest it is [...]
John Lewis’s “Man on the Moon” Christmas advert 2015 has smashed the 6m view mark on YouTube November 7, 2015 This year's John Lewis Christmas Advert has now had more than 6m views on YouTube. The “Man on The Moon” features a little girl looking through a telescope and spotting an old man living all alone on the moon, at which point she decides to send him his own telescope as a Christmas present, so [...]
Time Warner shares drop eight per cent despite shows such as Game of Thrones pushing revenues up November 4, 2015 Shares in media business Time Warner have fallen by over eight per cent, after the company slashed its outlook for 2016. Investors signalled their unhappiness with the forecast, despite the company reporting revenue of $6.6bn (£4.3bn) for the three months to 30 September, a five per cent jump from the same period of last year. [...]
Making the most of mobile: Fetch’s James Connelly talks the death of Crazy Frog and the land of opportunity November 1, 2015 It is only after lengthy tenures that most marketing entrepreneurs feel ready to start their own agency. Fetch founder James Connelly took the plunge when he was just 23 in 2009. His mobile first agency was sold to Dentsu Aegis Network last year. Connelly’s success is a testament to the indefatigable rise of mobile [...]
Pinpointing the potential of geolocation strategies November 1, 2015 Location-based targeting has become a real asset for mobile marketers. Unlike on desktop, cookies have never been a reliable way of tracking and optimising mobile campaigns. Dependent on the device itself, the environment and how the user splits their usage between the mobile web and apps, marketers have relied on log-ins, app software development kits [...]
ITV’s Jekyll and Hyde could be too scary for Ofcom, after watchdog receives 459 complaints November 1, 2015 Tonight’s episode of ITV show Jekyll and Hyde is bound to be filled with frights, but things have become scary off-screen too. On Thursday, TV watchdog Ofcom announced it would be launching an investigation into the show, after receiving 459 complaints. Viewers complained that the content of the first episode of the show, which aired [...]
UK media powerlist: These are the most influential people in media, advertising and communications on social media October 29, 2015 The creative industries of media, advertising and communications contribute billions to the UK economy and employ more than half a million people. But who’s making all that happen? We’ve put together a list of the leaders, the influencers, the movers and shakers, and the people creating a world-leading industry who have most clout on social [...]
Small TV companies offer potential hits for angel investors October 26, 2015 The tables have turned in the UK television sector. Small TV companies and new start-up entrants are growing their share of commissions from the major broadcasters, whilst the industry’s big players have seen revenues slow or even decline. This is creating interesting – and so far overlooked – opportunities for investors. Whilst the so-called ‘super-indies’ [...]