Sidney Taurel named Pearson’s new chairman, succeeding Glen Moreno October 26, 2015 Pearson has named Sidney Taurel as its new chairman, to replace Glen Moreno who is stepping down after a decade at the helm. Taurel is the former chief and chairman of pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, and boasts close ties to American politics. He served as a member of George Bush's Homeland Security Advisory Council, Export Council and Trade Policy and Negotiations Committee [...]
In the market for disruption: SapientNitro chief executive Nigel Vaz on consumer expectations October 25, 2015 Most disruptive companies have certain characteristics in common. They adapt constantly to stay ahead of the curve, they are dedicated to digital and deliver excellent customer service. Nigel Vaz, global chief strategy officer and European chief executive of SapientNitro, likens such businesses to gryphons – mythical hybrids with the wings of an eagle and the [...]
Hello, Adele’s new single has broken Vevo records: Here’s what people (and Lionel Richie) are saying about it October 25, 2015 Adele's latest single Hello was viewed 25m in one day, and since being released on Thursday has racked up an impressive 52.9m views. To put this in context, Taylor Swift's Bad Blood broke Vevo records when it clocked up 20.1m views in 24 hours back in May. Nicki Minaj's Anaconda was the previous record-holder, since August 2014 when [...]
Virgin Media hits out at BT and Sky over Premier League football TV rights deal October 21, 2015 Virgin Media has fired the latest shot in the battle of the broadcasters over the way TV rights for football games are sold. Research commissioned by Virgin showed that just six per cent of football fans said they were able to watch every match they wanted to on TV at home. Media watchdog Ofcom launched an [...]
Tax and ad-spend October 18, 2015 William Railton explores what the OECD’s BEPS proposals mean for marketers THE OECD has released its last pieces of guidance to governments on tackling corporate tax avoidance, and intellectual property is in the firing line. The final Base Erosion and Profit Sharing (BEPS) report calls for multinationals to provide more information about their “intangible” assets, [...]
Forget sex: Nostalgia gives you return on investment October 18, 2015 Arresting though they may be, sex and violence do not sell products. When confronted with graphic material, participants in a study by Ohio State University were likely to become so distracted that it impaired their “memory, attitudes and buying intentions for advertised products,” according to professor Brad Bushman. Nostalgia, on the other hand, fares more [...]
Optimal climate for success: House of Kaizen’s David Shiell talks Australian luddism and CRO October 11, 2015 Over the last few years, conversion rate optimisation (CRO) has been seen as a silver bullet for a company wanting to leverage existing web traffic and increase revenues, at a relatively low price. CRO is about maximising an audience’s engagement with an advert, but the process itself is exceedingly complex, as David Shiell, chief executive [...]
Apple allowing in-app ad-blockers establish worrying precedent October 11, 2015 Apple caused a storm a month ago when it released its iOS 9 software update, and not just because it caused many users’ mobiles to crash. The new operating system permits ad blocking technology, allowing users to screen adverts out of content, and a number of apps which block adverts in Safari have rocketed up [...]
This is the BBC Trust’s response to the government’s green paper on Royal Charter review October 8, 2015 Four out of five people believe the BBC should remain independent from politics according to research by the BBC Trust, which it has submitted to the government as part of its response to the broadcasters' charter renewal. More than 40,000 responses from the public have informed the Trust's formal submission to the government green paper, for [...]
Google AMP, Facebook Instant Articles, Apple News, Medium API: Is this the end of news websites as we know them? October 8, 2015 News publishers could be forgiven for thinking it’s all very end-of-days at the moment. On one side, ad-blockers may be about to strangle a primitive monetisation model and, on the other, Silicon Valley giants seem intent on controlling the distribution of content, arguably calling the very existence of individual news websites into question. Apple upped [...]