Social Media and Television complimentary, not competitive

A recent poll completed by 4,000 UK residents has revealed that 54% simultaneously watch television whilst browsing social networking sites.

Internet shopping is the nation's second favourite past time whilst watching television (45%), closely followed by instant messaging and catching up on e-mails (40%).

The results - conducted by think tank Deloitte - also show that the average Briton spends 188 hours a month (almost 8 days) watching television, compared to just 3.3 hours on social networks. In the report, Deloitte write "television should embrace, rather than fear, social networks".

James Bates, Deloitte media partner, said: “Some television executives worry about competition for eyeballs, yet for others the concern is whether their programmes are generating sufficient social buzz. In reality, social networks complement the television viewing experience rather than compete with it. A significant amount of social network activity occurs concurrently with television consumption and television programmes provide important topics of conversation for social networks.”

Founding partner of creative company 101, Laurence Green, told the Telegraph: “Sharper alignment of a brand's TV laydown with its website – for example, by a clothes retailer making sure an advertised item is only one click away in real time – might therefore be a better allocation of limited resource than trying to win friends on Facebook.”

Creator of hit television shows Father Ted, and The IT Crowd, Graham Linehan, has recently commented on the positive relationship between Twitter and television, saying the micro-blogging site has "put television back in the crowd".

German officials claim 'Like' button violates EU law

Thilo Weichert, the data protection commissioner in Schleswig Holstein, has claimed the Facebook 'like' button is in violation of European Law. Citing technical analysis from his offices Weichert states that user data is collected without consent through use of the 'like' button.

"Whoever visits facebook.com or uses a plug-in must expect that he or she will be tracked by the company for two years," he said, urging Internet users to 'keep their fingers from clicking on social plug-ins' and 'not set up a Facebook account' to avoid being profiled.

The commissioner has since ordered the shutdown of fan pages in Schleswig Holstein, threatening legal action if website owners fail to comply. Those with fan pages must 'immediately stop the passing on of user data to Facebook in the USA by deactivating the respective services'.

A Facebook spokesman admitted to social networking site allows companies to access 'information such as the IP address' of users who visit a page via the 'like' button but insisted the company is in full compliance with European law.

"We delete this technical data within 90 days...That is in keeping with normal industry standards."

This report follows a recent Facebook controversy in which Germany stated the newly introduced facial-recognition software featured on the social networking site also violates privacy law. You can read about that on the BD Eye blog here.

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Manchester launches 'I Love MCR' campaign following riots

Manchester Arndale and Marketing Manchester have joined forces for an 'I Love Manchester' campaign in the wake of the recent riots. The campaign urges locals to show pride in their city and stand up to the anti-social behaviour displayed throughout the week.

The campaign has been embraced by social networking sites, with a weloveMCR page created for Facebook users and Twibbons available to those on Twitter.

Chiefs said the logo – similar in style to the infamous "I Heart NY" brand – has become a symbol of the city’s resilience over the past two days.




Glen Barkworth, general manager at Manchester Arndale, said: "The manner in which staff, retailers and the people on the streets of Manchester have responded to the atrocities of this week is exemplary of the true Mancunian spirit. This campaign embodies that and galvanises people in a common good cause which will put Manchester back on the map for all the right reasons."

Andrew Stokes, chief executive of Marketing Manchester, added: "Mancunians are incredibly proud of their city. We have seen this in the extraordinary outpouring of emotion from the people of Greater Manchester.

"We saw it in their response to the mindless violence on Tuesday and we have seen it in the way they took to the streets to clear-up the mess that was made."

A 'We Love Manchester Day' is due to take place on Friday 26 August which is being organised by Marketing Manchester.

British Airways recruits pilots through YouTube

BA has used YouTube to recruit potential employees for the first time. The video, promoting the 'Future Pilot Programme', features British Airways pilots describing their roles and the benefits of being able to travel the globe with BA.

The recruitment is British Airways biggest in a decade and aims to take on over 800 pilots by 2016 and will help people to secure funding for private training costs.

There will also be a joint initiative with the UK Armed Forces to provide military pilots with a planned career path into commercial aviation.

You can view the video below:



BA has recently appointed content marketing agency Wardour to create a number of campaigns through video, posters, social media and e-mail, which aim to "inspire pride" in the company.

Amanda Poole, deputy head of internal communications at British Airways says: “We are moving in to an exciting time at British Airways and we wanted an agency that could bring to life our sponsorship of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, our support of Comic Relief through our Flying Start programme and really engage our staff in the brand.”

Direct photo uploads now available on Twitter

Micro-blogging site Twitter has introduced an in-built photo upload tool for the first time, meaning upload sites such as Twitpic could be made obsolete.

Twitter users now have the option of selecting a camera icon when entering tweets, allowing them to directly upload images from their computer and give their followers a more visual experience. The images are hosted by Twitter partner Photobucket.

Third party upload sites are still available to use though the roll out of this new service may deem them unnecessary. No date has yet been given for a mobile app version of the upload tool, though it is surely inevitable.

Over the coming weeks Twitter aims to introduce "user media galleries" which will display all the images a user has shared on Twitter, including third party services such as Twitpic and Instagram.

Levi's and VisitBritain pull advertisements in wake of riots

Levi's and VisitBritain have suspended their marketing campaigns due to the continuing riots in London, Birmingham, Manchester, and other areas.

The 'Go Forth' campaign was launched by jeans brand Levi's in July to express the brand's "youthful optimism and energy", and was due to air throughout August in a global advertising campaign. However, the TV and cinema ads feature scenes that resemble riots, and have since been pulled in the UK.

Global chief marketing officer, Rebecca Van Dyck spoke to AdAge: "Rebecca Van Dyck, global chief marketing officer of Levi’s told AdAge in the US: “We’re in touch with all corners of the world and want to be sensitive about what’s going on in the U.K. and, specifically, London."

“While ’Go Forth’ is about embodying the energy and events of our time, it is not about any specific movement or political theme; rather, it’s about pioneering spirit.”

You can view the video below:



VisitBritain have postponed their overseas campaign which features a number of British celebrities 'inviting' viewers to visit the UK. The pre-roll video aired on BBC.com prior to BBC World News.

Joss Croft, head of marketing at VisitBritain, stated it was not appropriate to run the campaign ahead of the news on BBC.com at this time, but was reviewing the situation "hour by hour".

“We need to recognise that people’s perceptions of Britain are formed over many decades, if not centuries, and these incidents are not likely to have a long-lasting effect. We think this will all blow over quite quickly.”

You can watch the advertisement here:

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The effect of social networking on the London Riots

A number of politicians, media commentators and members of the police force have suggested that Twitter and BlackBerry Messenger had a negative role to play in the London Riots.

Twitter users publicly announced their involvement in the riots, urging their followers to join them. @DanielNothing announced: "Heading to Tottenham to join the riot! who's with me? #ANARCHY", though this was quickly followed by "Hang on, that last tweet should've read 'Curling up on the sofa with an Avengers DVD and my missus, who's with me?' What a klutz I am!”

A number were less keen to cover their tracks, with one individual uploading a photograph of himself posing with a bag of stolen Tesco Value rice.

A senior lecturer in sociology and criminology at London's City University, Chris Greer, commented that though smartphones will have aided those involved, it is unlikely to have persuaded reluctant recruits to join the rioting.

"I don't think it is having any impact on the motivation to protest in the first place," he said, "But once people have mobilised themselves and decided to take to the streets it is certainly much easier to communicate with each other… Their methods of communicating with each other or pointing out where the police were at any given time and therefore where the protesters shouldn't be, and basically organising themselves was so much more sophisticated than the police."

It appears the majority of communication happened through private messaging, particularly BlackBerry Messenger. One message spread widely throughout London read:

“Everyone from all sides of London meet up at the heart of London (central) OXFORD CIRCUS!!, Bare SHOPS are gonna get smashed up so come get some (free stuff!!!)” The announcement ended with “If you see a brother… SALUT! If you see a fed… SHOOT!”

The maker of Blackberry, Research in Motion, stated they will fully co-operate with a police investigation looking into these claims.

It is worth noting that social networking was predominantly used to assist those in need, with many users providing up-to-the-minute information about local riots. Twitter user @Steeevenb wrote: “Got my first BBM broadcast warning of riots in east London tonight… So upsetting, people need some sanity.

User @Jamescridland went as far to set up a new map on Google Maps detailing the locations of ‘riot danger zones’ and is updated using eye witness accounts, police reports, and media coverage.

Facebook's face-recognition software causes a stir

Social networking giant Facebook has controversially enrolled its 750 million members to use its facial-recognition software without asking for prior consent. The revolutionary software, partially funded by the US Army, uses biometrics to identify users and automatically tag them in photos.

A number of researchers presented their findings at the Black Hat Technical Security Conference in Las Vegas on Friday. Using the photographs of volunteers at the conference, the researchers cross-referenced the images with a database of 25,000 Facebook profile photos and successfully identified 31% by name.

Another test compared 277,978 Facebook profiles against nearly 6,000 profiles extracted from an unnamed dating website. 10% of users -- almost all of whom use pseudonyms -- were correctly identified.

Carnegie Mellon University researcher Alessandro Acquisti also presented an app for the iPhone that can "take a photograph of someone, pipe it through facial-recognition software, and then display on-screen that person's name and vital statistics." In his report Acquisti stated: "Facial visual searches may become as common as today's text-based searches" and that has "ominous risks for privacy."

This new technology has drawn a number of critics from privacy groups and lawmakers. Facebook has recently been threatened with legal action in Germany after it claimed the facial-recognition software violates privacy laws. If Facebook wants to keep the feature in place it must change it, German officials told the Guardian, saying the social network "must ensure that only data from persons who have declared consent to the storage of their biometric facial profiles be stored in the database."

However, in its early stages the software is far from perfect. Here at BD we have experienced varied results from the facial-recognition software, with one female friend  incorrectly tagged as a drag queen. Despite this, the software has been fully introduced to Facebook and further developed by Google, Apple, and the US Government. 

58% of digital marketers not 'on trend' with keywords

A study conducted by software-as-a-service marketing technology provider Hydra has found that only 42% of digital marketers feel they are 'on trend' with keyword trends. Over half (55%) of the 300 digital marketing companies surveyed admitted they are unaware of new words or expressions used in the market, and do not know which are worth investing in.

Keyword research – identifying the potential words and phrase combinations consumers could potentially type into the search box when they go online to find products and services – is vital to the success of digital marketing campaigns.

However, Hydra states that digital marketing teams do not have the resources to conduct thorough keyword research, and keeping up to date with the latest trends is almost impossible.

“Keyword research makes the difference between the vendor’s goods and services being immediately visible to the searcher or their being swallowed up and lost in the myriad of returned search results,” says Ruth Zohrer, solutions consultant at Hydra. “Ultimately, the lack of thorough keyword research can prove costly as it leads to vendors failing to maximise on the online opportunity both in terms of directing potential sales leads/traffic to their site and garnering revenues from the online channel.”

Hydra claim the first stage of keyword research should begin with a 'discovery phase' to discover what the customers will use to find the service when they go online. Next, keyword-page mapping can be used to see how the site and keywords relate, and any gaps can be addressed. These keywords can then be prioritised based on the size of the opportunity they offer.

Randi Zuckerberg leaves Facebook

Randi Zuckerberg, director of marketing at Facebook, has announced her resignation to the social networking company.

Zuckerberg, sister of co-founder and CEO Mark, is leaving to start up her own business RtoZ Media. The firm will assist businesses in becoming more social.

In her resignation letter, Zuckerberg wrote:

"I have spent my years at Facebook pouring my heart and soul into innovating and pushing the media industry forward by introducing new concepts around live, social, participatory viewing that the media industry has since adopted. We have made incredible progress, but there is still much to be done and other ways I can affect change. Now is the perfect time for me to move outside of Facebook to build a company focused on the exciting trends underway in the media industry."

Notably absent is a mention of her brother, and there was no direct statement from Mark Zuckerberg in the official Facebook company statement:

"We can confirm Randi has decided to leave Facebook to start her own company. We are all grateful for her important service. "

TheDrum claims this impersonal approach may suggest a "major disagreement" between the pair, while CNET writes Zuckerberg "had [been] given her time to reflect on what she wants to do next" following the birth of her first child.

"The move is likely to be much noticed...[Randi is] a high-profile and charismatic personality both inside the social-networking company and in Silicon Valley."

McAfee uncovers 'biggest cyber attack in history'

Security company McAfee have uncovered the largest cyber attack in history, affecting 72 organisations across the world. The series of attacks targeting the United States, Taiwan, India, South Korea, and the International Olympic Committee to name but a few - are thought to have taken place as far back as 2006 by a lone "state actor".

McAfee uncovered the hacking campaign in March 2010, when researchers discovered logs of the attacks while reviewing the contents of a "command and control" server that they had discovered in 2009 as part of an investigation into security breaches at defense companies.

McAfee Vice President of Threat Research Dmitri Alperovitch said the attacker sought data that would give it military, diplomatic and economic advantage.

"If you look at an industry and think about what is most valuable in terms of intellectual property, that is what they were going after," Alperovitch stated, listing email archives, negotiation documents and schematics for electronics as examples.

"What is happening to all this data ... is still largely an open question. However, if even a fraction of it is used to build better competing products or beat a competitor at a key negotiation (due to having stolen the other team's playbook), the loss represents a massive economic threat."

Though Alperovitch declined to identify the suspected state, Jim Lewis, a cyber expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, claims China is most likely responsible for the online raids due to the specific targets uncovered in the report. For example, the attack on the Olympic Committee of an undisclosed Asian nation lasted 28 months in the run-up to the 2008 Olympics and the information acquired would be of particular interest to Beijing.

William Maclean, in an analysis of the attacks, writes that "stigma-conscious companies" are still unlikely to report cyber raids due to fear of 'reputational implications', and calls for "tougher digital defences".

Speaking to Reuters, Alperovitch said "Companies and government agencies are getting raped and pillaged every day. They are losing economic advantage and national secrets to unscrupulous competitors."

"This is the biggest transfer of wealth in terms of intellectual property in history. The scale at which this is occurring is really, really frightening."

Can Google+ build on it's 25 million first-month visitors?

Google+ managed to attract over 25 million visitors since it opened its digital doors on 24th June, according to research from Comscore. Thtis is much quicker than the early growth of Facebook, but Andrew Lipsman, ComScore's vice president for industry analysis, told the LA Times that speedy uptake does not necessarily mean stable and sustained growth. He said that Facebook's growth was much more steady and stable than that projected for Google+.

Here at BD, we've been checking Google+ out and although the 'Circles' functionality certainly improves on the Facebook privacy settings, it seems that this is the only major improvement over Facebook. Otherwise the layout is strikingly similar, aside from slight cosmetic changes, such as being able to use italics in status updates. We've also noticed that they may be a severe flaw in Google+ in terms of spamming. It is currently possible to import up to approx 5,000 email addresses, click "select all", drag them into a circle and start spam messaging. This is similar to how spamming works on Twitter, but in this case the spammer can have thousands of contacts from the get-go. You cannot do this currently on Facebook, and Google may have some sort of impenetrable spam filter in the offing, but it doesn't seem to be operating now.

Thomas Cook under pressure over debt levels and poor performance

Holiday giant Thomas Cook has posted £25m losses in the three months up to 30th June, blaming their debt and poor performance on the unrest in Northern Africa and the Middle East. Countries such as Tunisia, Egypt and key for the company, and the company said in its interim management statement: "This impact is a result of low volumes and margins in the affected areas where we have been operating at approximately 60% of normal levels."

They have also announced a complete review of their services, with an intention to strengthen the Thomas Cook brand, review its in-house airline and to improve its pricing and product differentiation: "The board have begun to review these plans and we will update the market on the strategic direction of the UK business in due course."

The company have also been hit by the departure of group chief executive Manny Fontenla-Novoa 'with immediate effect' after the Thomas Cook share price plummeted from more than 150p in early June, to just 60p recently. The current deputy to the group CEO, Sam Weihagen will take over on an interim basis.

Social Media Plays Key Role in US Debt Crisis

As the USA works through it's debt crisis, Facebook and Twitter have become central tools as Congressman, Senators and journalists look for a digital platform to air their views and debate in real time. CNN have reported that politicians have been increasingly using Facebook to get feedback from constituents, run opinion polls and to reach new constituents. Andrew Noyes, manager of public policy communications for Facebook, said: "Over the past week, our team has seen a marked increase in the number of members of Congress speaking directly to constituents through their official Facebook pages."

Social media has become a battleground in the debate, with Democrats pushing strong Facebook and Twitter campaigns against John Boehner's Debt Ceiling Bill, whilst Beohner himself has been using his personal Facebook page to air his views, with one of his posts getting over 15,000 comments last week. Personal Democracy Forum founder Andrew Rasiej told CBS that voters find political statements made through Twitter and Facebook more authentic, and it gives the politicians a chance to bypass the agendas of big media corporations: "Imagine polling from years ago being instantaneous...That's what social media, Twitter and Facebook, allows candidates or congressmen and citizens to do with each other." Rasiej continued: "Obama is trying to use social media to create a 21st century fireside chat -- the difference is, when we were sitting at home in the Great Depression we couldn't talk back to the radio. Now, everybody gets to talk back." As of today, the USA is now poised to approve a deal to avoid defaulting on its debt.