Posts made in April, 2014

on Apr 26, 2014

By Natalie Mortimer Nike has released a new ad ahead of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, which features a shiny line-up of footballing greats including Ronaldo, Neymar Jr., Wayne Rooney and David Luiz, as well as unexpected goalie appearance from the Incredible Hulk. The ad continues on from the sponsors’ first instalment of the “Risk Everything” campaign, and shows a group of kids imagining themselves as footballers during a game, before magically transforming into incarnations of the stars as the real players look on. Creative agency: Wieden+Kennedy Read full story › Source: The Drum...

on Apr 26, 2014

By Natalie Mortimer BBC drama Jamaica Inn hit the headlines earlier this week when the broadcaster received over 1000 complaints from viewers who couldn’t make out its “mumbled” dialogue. Now fresh gripes have arisen after viewers reported a string of historical inaccuracies. Audience members picked up on a host of blunders, including hymns that had yet to be written and weapons being used inaccurately, The Telegraph has reported. Several viewers criticised the way a flintlock gun was used in the last episode, while others noted that in the programme’s second episode, characters sang ‘The King of Love my Shepherd Is’ despite the Read full story › Source: The Drum...

on Apr 26, 2014

By Natalie Mortimer Amazon UK’s managing director Christopher North has defended the on-line retailer’s controversial tax arrangements, which saw the company pay just £3.15m UK tax in 2012, despite pulling in £4.3bn of sales from UK shoppers in 2013. North said that having a single business, based in low-tax Luxembourg, is “the right structure for the business”, according to reports from The Guardian. He added that if Amazon was to re-structure its current tax arrangements, “millions” of products would have to been withdrawn from the UK website. “I would defy anybody to find a way to have 120m products available to UK customers if Read full story › Source: The Drum...

on Apr 26, 2014

By Natalie Mortimer Digital media buying platform MediaMath has acquired Tactads, provider of cookie-less and cross-device targeting technologies. The French company will be integrated into MediaMath’s demand-side platform TerminalOne and allow advertisers to communicate more effectively across multiple devices. The software technology developed by Tactads uses algorithms to identify and associate devices using statistical techniques. The technology does not rely on cookies or use personally identifiable information about consumers. “The usage of multiple web-enabled devices has reached a critical mass and so has the challenge of targeting hyper-connected users across screens,” said Joe Zawadzki, chief executive officer, MediaMath. “Our acquisition of Tactads is just Read full story › Source: The Drum...

on Apr 26, 2014

By Natalie Mortimer A study into viral videos has found that emotional engagement and effective distribution are equally important when it comes to achieving viral video success. The study, by online video technology company Ebuzzing and Massachusetts Institute of Technology spin off group, Affectiva, examined the top 40 UK and US YouTube videos of 2013 and ranked them by emotional response using Affectiva’s Affdex Engagement Score. The tool, which considers the range of facial emotions elicited by a video, their intensity, duration and variability, also takes into account visual cues such as smiles, disgust, concentration and surprise. It found that viral successes such as Evian’s Baby Read full story › Source: The Drum...