The Guardian
Tweens and teens watch just half the amount of live TV as adults each day, and choose to "top-up" viewing by watching clips on services such as YouTube, Vimeo and Vine, according to new research by the UK media regulator. Ofcom says children ages 11 to 15 watch about 1 hr and 32 min of live TV per day, compared with the average adult's 2 hr 58 min of viewing. Instead, older children are supplementing TV viewing by turning to sites such as YouTube, Vimeo and Vine, as well as watching clips on Facebook or Twitter.
The Drum
Greene King-owned ale brand Old Speckled Hen has rebranded its packaging to "put the craft back" back into the drink and reach a new generation of beer drinkers. First brewed in 1979, Old Speckled Hen has in recent years widened its reach beyond its core customer base with the launch of new products, including a golden ale and a hoppy pale ale. The new design, created by branding consultancy Ziggurat Brands, aims to represent the fox as a symbol of the quality of the product and can be seen chasing a hen.
Marketing Week
Team Sky is starting to put a commercial value on those potential fans engaging with sponsored content outside its own earned media channels. The attention reflects advertisers' acceptance that sharing on the likes of Facebook and Twitter is just the tip of the social media iceberg. While it is getting easier to monetise core fans on the big networks, marketers are beginning to ask how they can measure that latent interest in their content where the majority of traffic is coming from untraceable channels instead of from earned media.
The Drum
Sony has announced it will not be renewing its sponsorship of football's governing body FIFA as it looks to instead invest the money injecting further life into its TV and mobile divisions. On why it dropped the sponsorship, sources close to Sony told Reuters that it will focus on its restructuring efforts in a bid to turn around the poor financial outlook it announced last week. The latest sponsor blow for FIFA follows Emirates Airlines announcing it will not be renewing its deal either earlier this month.
Campaign
The Post Office has appointed DLKW Lowe to handle its advertising business. The agency beat off competition from Engine, Ogilvy and WCRS following a seven-month process. The Post Office has recently been working with FCB Inferno, which will now retain its digital and direct business. The review had included advertising, digital and direct but DLKW did not pitch for the latter two accounts. The incumbent is Dare, which was not selected for the Government's creative agencies roster.
Campaign
"The Sun," News UK's tabloid, has reported that the number of digital subscribers has more than doubled to almost 250,000, less than 15 months after erecting a paywall around its content. In unaudited figures released by the the publisher of Britain's most read newspaper, the number of people who access digital products of "The Sun" has risen from 117,000 last December to 225,000, with most paying GBP7.99 a month, the equivalent of buying a print copy four times a week.
The Guardian
Mail Online revenues grew by more than 40% to GBP62m in 2014, almost completely offsetting the advertising and sales decline at the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday. They reported a 5% decline in total revenue to GBP536m. Print advertising revenues fell 5%, while circulation revenues dropped 4%. Total ad revenues across the Mail businesses hit GBP252m, a 4% year-on-year increase (GBP9m). Within this, Mail Online grew ad revenues by 46%. The company said the Mail Online's revenue growth of GBP19m year-on-year outstripped the GBP10m decline in print advertising revenues.
Campaign
Cheil Worldwide is buying a stake in Iris as part of a deal giving the South Korean agency group the option to later acquire 100 percent of the business. As part of the initial agreement Cheil Worldwide has taken a "significant initial investment" in Iris, which could potentially rise to 100 percent of the business over the next five years. Iris said that it would remain a separate entity to Cheil but that the deal would give it access to greater resources. Cheil will buy the U.S. publisher Meredith out of its minority stake in Iris.
Campaign
Sainsbury's has started a review of its GBP60 million media planning and buying business, handled by PHD for 19 years. The review is believed to include all the media requirements around Sainsbury's main retail business and its banking business. A Sainsbury's spokesperson said: "We have enjoyed a very successful partnership with PHD and our decision to re-pitch this business is in no way a reflection of their work. We have invited PHD to pitch for the business again and will also be inviting other agencies to participate."
Marketing Week
Amazon is partnering with the Royal Mail to allow shoppers to collect packages from their local Post Office in a move that further expands the online retailer's click and collect locations across the UK to over 16,000. Customers can now select their preferred pickup location from around 10,500 Post Offices at the end of the checkout process. The move builds on Amazon's own click and collect offering, which it has been growing since 2011 in order to offer more convenience and flexibility to shoppers on the go.