#wearestarcom

1. Lego Recreates British Heart Foundation, Confused.com, Premier Inn and BT ads

As part the launch campaign for The Lego-Movie, Warner Bros took over a centre break of Dancing on Ice on ITV last night. In partnership with The British heart foundation, Confused.com, BT and Premier Inn, each advertiser created Lego versions of their ads to run before the trailer for The Lego-Movie itself. 

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSbYBzUEQlc

http://www.thedrum.com/news/2014/02/09/lego-recreates-british-heart-foundation-confusedcom-premier-inn-and-bt-ads `

2.Google’s Olympic doodle posted in protest of Russia’s anti-gay law

The day before the 2014 Winter Olympic Games officially kick off in Sochi, Google revamped its home page with a Winter Olympic-themed doodle in the colours of the gay pride flag. Below the image the company posted a couple anti-discrimination lines from the Olympic Charter.

http://www.digitaltrends.com/web/latest-google-doodle-posted-defiance-russias-anti-gay-law/#ixzz2svG0LBnW

3. Twitter User Growth Slows in Q4, Stock Plummets 18%

Twitter has reported its slowest pace of user growth during the fourth quarter. The news dimmed hopes that the social media phenomenon can sustain its fast pace of expansion.

http://mashable.com/2014/02/05/twitter-q4-earnings/ 

4. Communicorp is to buy eight UK stations

Denis O'Brien's Communicorp Group has proposed the purchase of eight regional radio stations from Global Radio in the UK. The eight stations have a total of 2.8 million listeners. The deal will bring Communicorp’s total number of radio stations to 27. 

http://www.independent.ie/business/media/communicorp-is-to-buy-eight-uk-stations-29987335.html 

5. PML Launches New OOH Planning Tool 

Out of home media specialist PML Group has launched Select planning tool which indicates OOH campaigns frequency. The launch follows 18 months of testing and bench-marking with over 1,000 campaigns measured for recall through PML’s Poster Impact research and the JNOR industry audience measurement.

Apple plans to target users' adverts based on their mood

Apple has just been granted a patent that will allow them to monitor users moods and target them with a specific ad. This user-focused advertising is big business nowadays and Apple has decided it’s not going to be left behind when it comes to creating technology that potentially infringes on your personal space.

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/item/35499-apple-plans-to-target-users  

Sky launches Youtube channel to encourage trial of new shows

Sky is launching a new Youtube channel that will broadcast full episodes of upcoming drama and comedy shows for the first time. The aim of this is to encourage trial and acquire new TV subcribers. Sky First Episodes launches on the 1st of Feb and will give both customers and non-customers the chance to get the first look at new episodes and programmes.

http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/sectors/media/news/sky-launches-youtube-channel-to-encourage-trial-of-new-shows/4009264.article

Global internet advertising spend surges 32%

According to Nielsen's quarterly Global Adview Pulse report, display internet has surged 32% worldwide in the first three quarters of 2013. Both outdoor and TV saw an increase with outdoor up 5.1% year on year

http://www.thedrum.com/news/2014/01/27/global-internet-advertising-spend-surges-32-0

VW tops most shared Super Bowl ads chart

According to data released by marketing tech platform Unruly, VW has been named as the most shared Super Bowl brand of all time. The auto manufacturer's ads have attracted more online shares across the social web than any other Super Bowl advertiser

As everyone now restarts work and we get ready to kick off 2014 - we look back at 2013 and what a year it was! This video from Google was just too good not to share!

1. Xbox One Release and What it Means for Brands

The new Xbox one is new and improved. The new 8core 86x processor allows users to switch inputs, games and entertainment with ease. They have also improved their Kinect and Voice software to facilitate your gaming/ entertainment experience. This new drastically improved model allows you to control your gaming system with your mobile phone or tablet

http://wearestarcom.tumblr.com/post/67747392735/xbox-one-release-and-what-it-means-for-brands

  2. Starcom on the Bench

Part 1 - We host the ever entertaining Niall McGarry #onthebench as he fills us in on why he started Joe.ie and Her.ie and what has helped contribute to their success in the Irish Market.

Part 2 - Niall McGarry from  Joe.ie and Her.ie fame answering your twitter questions. Some really interesting stuff from Job Schemes to Jaffa cakes it’s worth a watch! 

http://wearestarcom.tumblr.com/tagged/On-the-Bench

  3. Shopping Apps Aim To Help Consumers Avoid Christmas Buying Hassles

A series of new shopping apps are shifting the holiday shopping experience.  “Shop It to Me” , “Hukkster”, “ShopAdvisor” and Sift are apps are providing consumers with new tools:  they allow users to track sales, buy instantly, and sort promotion emails. Shoppers can be more efficient and more cost effective with their shopping and avoid the Christmas rush.

http://www.independent.ie/business/shopping-apps-aim-to-help-consumers-avoid-christmas-buying-hassles-29782245.html

  4. Little Luxuries You Don’t Have To Feel Guilty About

It’s the little touches in your day that make all the difference. Every so often, we all need a little luxury to cheer ourselves up. But the good news is that luxuries don’t always have to break the bank. This article highlights a few of those moments that it’s alright to indulge in simple and straightforward pickups for the everyday.

http://thedailyedge.thejournal.ie/volvo-luxury-low-cost-1182806-Nov2013/

  5. Subway to create 400 jobs with opening of 40 shops across country

With a €5m investment in Ireland, it is estimated that Subway restaurants will open 40 shops across the country, consequently creating 400 jobs.  Despite the recession, Subway has seen significant growth. One owner said that his team has grown to 26 members (over the estimated amount per store). Subway has opened 1,700 across the UK and Ireland and we will only continue to see that number grow.

The promise of data driven consumer insights via online channels has, so far, been a tantalising yet ultimately fickle promise to keep. Yes, people regularly compare the likes of Facebook and Google to 1984-esque omnipresent watchdogs, and yes there is some truth to the idea that all your data is monitored, stored, sorted, and used for advertising and revenue. What a lot of people tend to ignore is the fact that companies often use this data to try and connect with people in a meaningful way. Yes, we know that ultimately the end product is to get you to consume, but we can’t begrudge a company that employs thousands worldwide for trying to make some money. And if we must be served media, why not have it be media that means something to us and connects with some of our genuine interests?

With that in mind, Facebook launched a new API that allows broadcasters to pull out trending data from Facebook, in real time, about their brand. If you’re the creators of Love/Hate, this API will allow you to rapidly search all Facebook posts for Love/Hate, as the show is airing, and gain some topline information about the people posting (gender, age, etc…). In theory this could allow for brands to instantly join or leverage the conversations happening about them at any stage. This is of course all building on the introduction hashtags into Facebook (#Twitterdiditfirst). Granted the change in tact only happened recently but certainly it seems hashtags haven’t taken off in the way many at Facebook would have hoped. If searching for trending hashtags is the ‘organic’ way to gather chatter insight, are these news API’s a more direct, and intrusive method?

To us at Starcom it feels a little bit like Facebook got frustrated with waiting for hashtags to bear fruit, and decided they’d create a tool that allows them to check in on certain conversation topics, with or without the user inviting them to via a hashtag. The initiative is seeing success as broadcasters such as BSkyB and Channel 4 in the UK have already signed up – but to what end? The real gold dust here lies not in the ability to peek in on conversations, but to create it.

By its very nature, Twitter is a more public forum, where people want to discuss things for everyone to see. That’s not always the case on Facebook. Also a major difference between the two networks is that Twitter is all about instant, real time updates. That’s why it’s so important news companies, and similar organisations that thrive off bringing you the latest news and info, be present on Twitter. The fundamental concept of the hashtag is to allow the user (or advertiser) to instantaneously tap into any topic in discussion, across the entire network. Facebook is slower, more about socialising at it’s most relaxed, and ongoing discussion at its heaviest – but real time conversation is less of a major factor. Using Kantar TGI analysis, we estimate nearly 550,000 Irish adults use both Twitter and Facebook.

As media planners, it is our responsibility to be sceptical about the figures media owners present to us, to take the promises and potential results from proposals with a pinch of salt. We do all of this to ensure that when we commit our clients money to the placement of an ad or the development of a partnership that it will perform well and build the trust between:

1)       Agencies and clients: and,

2)       The brands we represent and the consumers of the media that our brands feature on.

In Starcom we put the huge emphasis on the experiences we ad by consumer in their interactions with the brands we represent.  We recognise that as Gerd Leohard said, ‘Our (advertisers) job is to build trust that leads to sales’. In the second half of Monday’s event we saw how popular Ad Blocker is becoming. The collection and processing of user data online is approaching the point where people now feel violated by the amount of information companies online know about them. Colin Strong of GfK said that “69% of people consider it creepy the way brands use their data online”.

In order for us to be able to sell to people online, they have to trust us and our brands. That starts with us; we can no longer view people as algorithms or their purchases as ROI on our activities. Yes, it allows us to target effectively but we need people to be comfortable giving data to us. We both need and want them to understand that by them affording us the opportunity to use their data, they will resultantly be benefitting themselves. To build this trust we must be aware that consumers are just as sceptical as we are. They do question why they are still being targeted with holidays to Florida two weeks after they have returned from Miami. They don’t mind personalised targeted advertising so long as it feels human and not machine driven.

This is where branded content and real time advertising step in. They allow brands the opportunity to build trust and to develop a relationship based on value exchanges. The content around which a brand sits or has even helped to create exists because the data collected (whether from Twitter, Facebook or otherwise) has fed into the insights that this is what your consumer is interested in.

The example we saw from Bonin Bough of Trident Gum & Fuse TVcombining to produce Trending 10 categorically showed that consumers appreciate being listened to and having their voices heard. They want to contribute to brand story telling. It’s very rare that people live brands, but it is very common for people to love what brands can do for them. In Trident’s case it made people feel listened to , it gave them content to watch in various formats that best suit their lifestyles and it allowed them feel informed and up to speed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfhnCjSMUyg

In the case of Oreo, their 100 day campaign allowed people to be entertained on topics that were relevant to them and the day in question. It also gave people social credibility because people could share, like, or retweet the brilliant creative that they were enjoying. It seemed for all the world that this real time marketing campaign was off the cuff and human but in reality, months of planning had gone into this.Oreo capitalised on the consumer data and the insights that people want to be entertained and want to be informed of obscure facts because it arms them with a story to tell in that moment on twitter or later that day with friends.