Sporting success for Arena Media at London Triathlon- Money raised donated to Alzheimer’s’ Society

Budding athletes from Arena Media are celebrating two success stories, following an impressive display of sporting prowess at last weekend’s 2010 Challenger World London Triathlon.

Arena entered five teams into the event which took place on 7^th and 8th August and took home two Media Cup trophies, coming first in class. Cheered on by colleagues, family and friends, Arena Media Team 1 – Comms Planning Business Director, Janine Green; Online Media Manager, Ian Young; and Senior Digital Planner Buyer, Will Bonaddio – overtook all other participating media companies to win the Media Cup in the Olympic relay event, while Arena Media Team 5 – Shaun Aubrey, TV Planner-Buyer; Paul van Barthold, Chief Operating Officer; and Shaina Riley, Traffic Manager – took home the Media Cup for the Sprint team relay.

Arena’s sponsorship money is being donated to the Alzheimer’s Society and so far £1,200 has been raised – and counting.

The London Triathlon is the World’s largest, attracting over 13,000 participants to the Capital. Everyone from Elite athletes to complete novices compete across four distances (Super Sprint, Sprint, Olympic and Olympic Plus) against the backdrop of some of the city’s best known landmarks: the O2 arena, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye.

How can it work?

Firstly, it is important to understand what we still can’t do. The legislation amends the 1972 European Communities Act, but still bans placement of products such as cigarettes, tobacco, alcohol, infant baby milk, over-the-counter medicines, the national lottery, and foods high in fat, salt or sugar. Certain genres of programming will also be exempt from product placements, including any programmes aimed at under 18’s, news, current affairs, consumer and religious programmes.

For those not restricted, product placement could now be implemented in current production and commissioning, provided that the programmes are not screened until after the broadcasting code has been amended.

One of the greatest concerns regarding PP is that advertisers needs / demands will squash artistic and creative control. To address this, the code will suggest that all scripts must be allowed to be written independently, with neither the advertiser nor the broadcaster being allowed any influence on the script.

Producers will have the ultimate say in the placements, with no limit on the number of placements permitted per transmission. Verbal references will not be permitted unless the brand name is part of the English language, so whilst you won’t hear the words “a bar of Cadburys” instead of “a bar of chocolate”, you may hear “doing the hovering”. The primary focus will be on “undue-prominence”, with any challenges referring directly back to the original scripts to check neutrality.

It is felt that credits within a show may be seen as intrusive and therefore OFCOM propose to limit the information in these credits to minimise the negative impact to the viewer.

Sponsorship will be able to evolve under the review. OFCOM are proposing that references to the sponsor in a programme may now be permitted, however it should be noted that these references will be considered as product placement and will have to comply with the same rules.

OFCOM will revise the way sponsorship arrangements are announced to ensure that thereis a clear distinction between the different types of commercial arrangements, be it sponsorship or product placement. In addition, it will be proposed that sponsorship credits will be permitted to be shown within a programme. Any credits must not coincide with any product placements by the same advertiser.

It is felt that credits within a show may be seen as intrusive and therefore OFCOM propose to limit the information in these credits to minimise the negative impact to the viewer. Credits within the programme will be brief neutral visual or verbal statements identifying the sponsorship arrangement. It can only be accompanied by a static graphic of the name, logo, or other distinctive symbol of the sponsor. It must not contain any advertising message, call to action, or indeed any other information about the sponsor, its products or services.

For the moment, product placement will be self regulated by the broadcasters themselves, with viewers being made aware of any programme containing placed products with an onscreen logo.  Intended to be two P’s placed within a circle, the logo will be shown as a 2 second fade in at the start and end of the programme and either side of the centre breaks.

As product placement is meant to be a subtle form of advertising, the logo
will not flash up on screen when placed products appear. There will also be a requirement to acknowledge any product placement arrangements in the credits at the end of the programme. If broadcasters are found to have overstepped the mark, they will be subject to hefty fines from OFCOM, and ultimately Product Placement could be stopped all together.

Quality will be measured by whether the product sits in the background, like a prop, or has one of the lead actors interacting with it.

How will it be priced?

ITV are hoping to take their pricing model to the market sometime in May. Initial thoughts suggest it will be based on the time on screen a placement receives, and the quality of exposure. Quality will be measured by whether the product sits in the background, like a prop, or has one of the lead actors interacting with it. The latter will obviously increase viewer engagement and association and as such will be charged at a higher premium. Any deals made will have to agree a minimum and a maximum minutage and each month a report will be supplied to the advertiser detailing the delivery. To ensure complete transparency, it’s thought that an external company such as Nielsen IEG will be used to independently monitor exposures each month.

Where now?

There’s no doubt that product placement works. Reese’s sales grew 65% after their products were eaten by ET and once Tom Cruise wore a pair of Ray Bans, sales shot up by 55%. The model certainly works well on TV in America.  Brands such as Burger King, Dove, Visa and Playstation all reportedly paid upwards of $2m per episode to feature in the third season of The Apprentice.

The question which remains is where will the budget come from?  Will this be new budget or simply a % taken out of the existing TV budgets?

The belief from Arena Media is that, for the moment, clients will chose to reduce their TV budgets rather than find new money. Careful consideration on the return on investment will no doubt be debated over traditional advertising. And, of course, potential conflicts may arise. For any advertisers who have long term sponsorship deals on programmes, care will have to be taken with placing competitive brands.

Careful execution will be the key to the success of product placement for both advertiser and broadcaster and, with it hitting our screens by the end of the year, we don’t have to wait long to see it in action.

By Sam McCormick
TV Account Director

In just two years at Arena Media, Rossetti has been promoted twice, successfully pitched for the Westfield business, scooped a handful of planning awards and helped found Arena’s press department, which now bills more than £27m. Rossetti manages a team of five, with responsibility for all press, inserts, cross-media, events and creative solutions, as well as managing training and development. She also hired a regional press manager to increase local revenue, and the first four months of the scheme yielded a 20% increase in regional billings. Little wonder, then, that head of press Jo Blake believes Rossetti will be “a future leader in the world of media”.

Who would play you in a film of your life?
“Danny de Vito, because he is about my height.”

What do you want to achieve by 40?
“I would like to exploit my US roots and do something more international – perhaps open a new global department for Arena Media.”

Click here for the full article.

The pizza chain has rolled out its lunchtime menu across its 496 stores in England after soft-launching it in select outlets late last year.

Domino’s is now set for a marketing splurge behind its menu in the second half of the year.

The company has heavily invested in social networks as part of its marketing effort. Earlier this year it  launched a social media campaign on Facebook rewarding users’ brand loyalty with prizes and special offers.

As part of the campaign, produced by BLM Quantum, a superfans app sends users a promotional code linked to an offer.

It has also targeted consumers via the mobile social network game Foursquare.

All Domino Pizza outlets are open during lunch hours serving its new range of  oven-based sandwiches.

Flavours include vegi supreme, cheese steak melt, and spicy nuclear with tandoori chicken and jalapenos.

http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/news/1016161/Dominos-prepares-campaign-promote-new-sandwich-menu/?DCMP=ILC-SEARCH

With European consumers expected to spend €15bn less on their holidays in 2010, UK travel companies are increasingly exploring the potential of performance based online channels.

With the increased focus on driving sales in these difficult times, advertisers are investing in ROI and performance based channels.

For marketers this represents an ideal opportunity to explore the benefits affiliate marketing can offer. Travel remains the number one advertiser sector within the affiliate industry and accounts for 30% of consumer bookings through online travel websites.

According to the European Travel Index Report from the Centre for Economics and Business Research, the internet remains a strategic driver for holiday spending and continues to be the biggest area of growth within the travel industry.

Some 54% of all web users across Europe research and book travel related services through the internet. Online travel spending has climbed from €58.4bn in 2008 to €66.9bn in 2009, and is predicted to reach €74.3bn by the end of 2010.

The report states: “Contrary to the decline experienced by the travel industry as a whole, online bookings will have risen by a recession-busting 27% since 2008 by the end of this year and by 146% since 2005.”

Anneli Ritari, senior travel strategist at bigmouthmedia who manage the affiliate programme for MacDonald Hotels, offers some insight into the focus for hoteliers in 2010.

“There can be little doubt that the travel industry now truly appreciates how effective affiliate marketing can be.

“Our recent travel survey showed that travel companies spend on average 10% of online marketing budgets in 2009 on affiliate marketing, but hotel suppliers spend an even larger proportion – an average of 18%”.

She added that will only increase but this additional focus will bring heightened challenges, “80% of hoteliers are reporting they will increase budgets this year.

“It will therefore become increasingly important that affiliate marketing is integrated with search and other digital channels, so that strategies can be aligned allowing for maximum returns.”

Another agency that has noticed a greater shift towards affiliate marketing is Arena Quantum, formerly BLM Quantum, who manage several travel affiliate programmes including Haven Holidays.

As an agency, it is encouraging that through continued focus on the affiliate channel, we are still finding huge numbers of opportunities within the travel sector including un-monetised niches and new re-numeration models – ones that we expect to provide substantial growth for our clients over the coming year.

Rich Way, Head of Affiliates for Arena Quantum states, “As an agency, it is encouraging that through continued focus on the affiliate channel, we are still finding huge numbers of opportunities within the travel sector including un-monetised niches and new re-numeration models – ones that we expect to provide substantial growth for our clients over the coming year.”

With this increased focus, advertisers are appreciating both the volume and value the full scope of affiliate marketing offers.

As any advertiser fully engaged with the affiliate channel will tell you, however, there’s no getting away from the basic advice that hard work and ongoing optimisation are the keys to success.

Blue Chip Vacations, one of the fastest growing accommodation providers in the UK has fully embraced the benefits of affiliate marketing within their business and acknowledges the investment needed.

Anthony Dodd from Blue Chip said: “We have had to work tirelessly to develop our affiliate programme and establish a highly motivated affiliate base.”

Jodine Milne from Megabus, who launched their affiliate programme in 2009, also recognises affiliate marketing is a long haul strategy that requires constant care.

“We aim to build deep, open relationships with our partners that allow key information to be passed frequently and transparently, so that the two parties can benefit from each other’s promotional activity.”

As an advertiser who has only recently become aware of the full scope of the industry Milne added: “We believe that affiliate marketing will continue to grow and develop as more organisations and individuals become aware of the potential of this channel.

“It provides an excellent value method for merchants to promote and drive sales of their products and services.”
Affiliate marketing has contributed substantially to the significant growth of online travel and continues to expand its market share.

Those merchants who are willing to invest time and resource, and offer a flexible approach to the full range of opportunities affiliate marketing offers them, will be the ones best placed to survive these challenging times.

Digital Window, parent company of affiliate maketing specialist Affiliate Window.

Domino’s Pizza has reported a 29% surge in pre-tax profits to £17.5m, buoyed by a strong performance from e-commerce sales and attributed its link-up with Foursquare as key to its recent performance.

The takeaway company reported a like-for-like sales increase in 553 stores by 13.7% in the 26-week period to the end of 27 June this year.

Domino’s now has 627 stores in the UK after 19 new stores were opened in the period. The company said it was on track for a further 55 store openings this year.

The group – which is celebrating 25 years of business – highlighted its e-commerce business as the stand-out performer.

It said sales in its  e-commerce unit had grown by 61.4% in the period and that online sales now accounted for 32.7% of overall UK delivered sales.

In May this year, Domino’s launched a nationwide promotion on Foursquare that encourages users to check-in at its outlets.

In today’s financial results Domino’s said it had “led the way with social media initiatives such as affiliate marketing, our superfans programmes and the development of a link up with Foursquare, the location-based social media site”.

It added that its web-based activity had afforded it the dual benefit of “driving pizza sales” and “building customer loyalty”.

Chris Moore, chief executive, said: “It is easy to try and attribute our success to one thing – be it the weather, or Britain’s Got Talent, or the World Cup – but the underlying trend shows a more compelling picture.”

The results confirm the theory that takeaway food brands perform well in the economic downturn, as consumers opt for less expensive offerings.

At the start of the year, Robin Auld, the group’s sales and marketing director, announced that he was leaving the pizz delivery company. Auld was replaced by former Papa John’s and Pizza Hut marketer Simon Wallis, who started last month.

Read full article here: http://www.brandrepublic.com/bulletin/brandrepublicnewsbulletin/article/1015431/dominos-pizza-credits-social-media-sales-growth/

Launched in March 2009, Google Suggests has revolutionised how users search. The ‘predictive’ text tool means users need only type one or few letters into the search box before suggestions pop up. Recent developments mean that suggestions appear based on a combination of geographical area, volumes of recent searches entered by other users and a user’s own personal search behaviour.

Arena Quantum’s tool has established that on average, 71% of searches for their clients involve users choosing an answer from Google Suggests (during the period measured this varied between 66 to 78%). Given that in May, Google saw 3.9 billion searches in the UK (Comscore), this means that almost 2.8 billion searches were influenced by this facility.

The tool allows Haven to track what query was originally entered into the search box, which suggestion was finally clicked on, and how far down the list of suggestions the user clicked before being directed to the client’s site. It works by using a bespoke script that sits behind the scenes on the client’s website. This means for each client Arena Quantum can ‘see’ all Google Suggests.

A second ‘early warning’ tool is being developed to enable an analysis of keywords to determine which need to be focused on for SEO and PPC purposes. Emerging keywords can be  spotted earlier and those that are identified as important for traffic driving can then be captured for further analysis.

One of the most interesting developments revealed by this tool is unexpected brand + generic permutations providing a longer tail to client’s brand terms. This has allowed clients to focus on ensuring that they have a strong coverage across both PPC and SEO on this wider range of keywords.

Further analysis of Google Suggests in the travel sector has shown an increase of search queries longer than five words but interestingly, there has also been an increase in users typing a few characters to see it ‘suggest’ when searching for a major brand name.

Matt Lovell, digital performance strategist at Arena Quantum, said: “These tools are a real breakthrough for increasing conversions and spotting emerging keywords. Haven Holiday has already seen a jump in conversions and traffic and is benefiting from keyword expansion.

“Thanks to Google Suggests, we’re seeing a change in search behaviour with people actually searching for longer phrases and keywords. Interestingly, we’re finding that the suggestions users most frequently click on are those which are date or offer led as they see them as more relevant.”

Now viewed as the ‘oscars’ for this dynamic online marketing channel, the a4uAwards recognise the innovation and commitment found within the sector as well as give everyone involved in it the chance to celebrate its ongoing contribution.

The full 2010 winners’ line-up is:

Best 3rd Party Application
Winner: Storm for Affiliates from DC Storm

Highly Commended: Quidco for Instore Cashback

Best Advertiser Incentive
Winner: Red Letter Days

Highly Commended: Maximuscle

Best Agency in Affiliate Marketing
Winner: Existem Affiliate Management

Highly Commended: R.O. Eye

Best Lead Generation Campaign
Winner: VoucherCodes.co.uk

Highly Commended: Azam Marketing for Advent

Best New Entrant in Affiliate Marketing
Winner: Affiliate Window for Sainsbury’s

Highly Commended: FusePump

Best Paid Search Partnership
Winner: Artemis8 with Premier Inn

Highly Commended: Perfect Storm and Seatwave

Best Use of Affiliate Marketing as Part of a Wider Marketing Campaign
Winner: SKY

Highly Commended: LoveFilm

Innovation Award (Advertiser)
Winner: eBay Partner Network

Highly Commended: Red Letter Days

Innovation Award (Network)
Winner: AffiliateFuture for White Label Travel Products

Highly Commended: Affiliate Window for Strengthening Relationships

Innovation Award (Publisher)
Winner: top10.co.uk

Highly Commended: UK Web Media for Recombu

Finance Vertical (Publisher)
Winner: Quidco for NatWest Home Insurance

Highly Commended: Media Ingenuity

Finance Vertical (Advertiser)
Winner: CreditExpert from Experian

Highly Commended: Lloyds TSB Airmiles Suo Credit Card Account

Technology & Telecoms (Publisher)
Winner: top10.co.uk

Highly Commended: UK Web Media for Recombu

Technology & Telecoms (Advertiser)
Winner: Vodafone

Highly Commended: BLM Quantum for T-Mobile

Casino & Gaming (Publisher)
Outright Winner: Loquax

Casino & Gaming (Advertiser)
Winner: Locker Room for Bodog

Highly Commended: Paddy Partners for Paddy Power

Retail (Publisher)
Winner: VoucherCodes.co.uk

Highly Commended: Quidco

Retail (Advertiser)
Winner: Firebox.com

Highly Commended: Argos

Travel & Leisure (Publisher)
Winner: VoucherCodes.co.uk for hotels.com

Highly Commended: Quidco for Expedia & hotels.com

Travel & Leisure (Advertiser)
Winner: BLM Quantum for Haven Holidays

Highly Commended: Commission Junction for Lastminute.com

The a4uAwardsalso include a collection of awards which are driven by and voted for purely by the affiliates4u.com online hub for the Affiliate & Performance Marketing community:

Publishers’ Choice of Affiliate Network
Winner: Affiliate Window

Highly Commended: affilinet and AffiliateFuture

Community Choice Publisher of the Year Award
Winner: eConversions/VoucherCodes.co.uk

Highly Commended: Quidco

Publishers’ Choice of Account Manager at a Network
Winner: Julie Wood (Affiliate Window)

Highly Commended: Helen Collins (affilinet) and James Little (AffiliateFuture)

Publisher’s Choice of Affiliate Manager – Inhouse or at an Agency
Winner: Naomi Brown (Firebox)

Highly Commended: Joshna Patel (Red Letter Days)

Affiliate Marketing Blog of 2010
Winner: Jason Dale (www.onelittleduck.co.uk )

Highly Commended: Kirsty McCubbin (www.affiliatestuff.co.uk)

-ENDS-

June 14, 2010

About the a4uAwards
The a4uAwards (www.a4uawards.com) were launched in 2007 as part of the a4uexpo Affiliate Marketing conference event (www.a4uexpo.com ). The following year, the awards got their own spotlight and became a separate annual black tie ceremony held at a prestigious London venue.

Now viewed as the ‘oscars’ for this dynamic online marketing channel, the a4uAwards recognise the innovation and commitment found within the sector as well as give everyone involved in it the chance to celebrate its ongoing contribution.

The campaign will launch today (11 June) ahead of the World Cup opening ceremony later this afternoon and has been created by Arena Media. It will feature on TV, radio, social media and in-game activity.

A Domino’s TV campaign showing the Pepperoni Passion will break on ITV1 tomorrow (12 June) before England’s clash with the USA with a 30-second spot encouraging viewers to order a pizza before kick off for delivery at half-time.
On radio TalkSport Domino’s will run 30-second spots before, during and after all live matches across the tournament.

The company will also utilise in-game advertising in a bid to target 16 to 34-year old males playing a range of sports and racing titles on the PlayStation 3 (PS3) console including NBA 2K10, Superstar Racing and Mx vs ATV Reflex. Ads will be shown to PS3 gamers who are connected to the internet.
                                                                      
On the day of the World Cup Final (July 11), Domino’s Pizza will also take over all ad and sponsorship spots in football game Pro Evolution Soccer 2010.

Online, Domino’s will target the company’s 31,000 Facebook fans, with an England squad look-a-like competition. Weekly winners will receive a free pizza voucher and after four weeks the public’s favourite look-a-like will win a pizza party worth £100. There will also be an online ’keepie uppie’ game, offering discount codes for use on the Domino’s website as prizes

Facebook fans can also win a free pizza during every England match. When England scores the fan that posts the name of the player who scored on Domino’s Wall first wins a free pizza.

Karen Houghton, marketing executive for Domino’s Pizza, says: “The home is our point of sale, so big TV events that keep people at home are good for our business and a football match is an ideal time for a product, such as pizza, that’s made for sharing. We’re always looking for innovative ways to engage with our customers and these platforms have given us a great way to put a bit more Pepperoni Passion into people’s lives this summer.”

Marketing Week revealed former sales and marketing director Robin Auld was leaving Domino’s Pizza after six and a half years in January. The pizza company has poached Papa John’s UK marketing director Simon Wallis to replace Auld.