BT's punt on sport has paid off, according to Brand Finance's annual Brands of British Origins survey. Its brand value has increased by 67 percent in the last year, almost solely down to the launch of BT Sport which Brand Finance claims has "revolutionised" its positioning. It means BT breaks into the top 10 British brands for the first time with a move from 12th to 7th place. Vodafone has regained the top spot from Shell, in second place, with HSBC, Orange and Tesco making up the top five.

Yo! Sushi is seeking to get real-time, actionable customer insight through setting up experience hubs in its seventy British restaurants. Customers will soon be asked to describe their experiences through an online form on their smartphone in exchange for entry in to a prize draw. The insights will be collated and then presented to employees via till displays, mobile devices and desktops. The brand claims this will allow it to make immediate tweaks to the customer experience.

Coca-Cola is to launch its first variant of Coke to the UK in eight years in September. Coca-Cola Life has a third fewer calories than Coca-Cola original and will help consumers lead more balanced lifestyles. It will sit between original Coca-Cola and its Zero and Diet products. The company recently announced a GBP20m commitment to get a million people in Britain active by 2020 and has signed the Government Responsibility Deal, which commits it to reduce calorie content by 5 percent.

Transport for London (TfL) has partnered with ESPN to offer London commuters live World Cup updates. News, results and score updates will be delivered via overhead platform "Dot Matrix Indicators" 140 stations and through 400 screens dotted throughout underground stations.

Facebook has launched a Trending World Cup feed, which collates news that has used the #Worldcup hashtag. It has also produced a map showing where the most popular players come from -- Cristiano Ronaldo is in pole position with 84.3m likes and Lionel Messi is second with 57.8m. The content is presented by a new Facebook character who calls himself "the ref."

Direct marketing from charities -- using mail, telephone and doorstep fundraising -- increased significantly last year. Complaints over direct mail from charities have soared by 36 percent, meaning that charities are now twice as likely to be complained about as any other sector using direct mail. The channel accounted for 59% of complaints made against charities with public collection methods coming second with 29% of complaints, according to figures from the Fundraising Standards Board.

After a successful successful trial in America, Instagram is rolling out advertising to the UK, Canada and Australia. The Web site claims to have 200m users, 165m of whom live outside the U.S. According to eMarketer, a little over one in four British Internet users hold an account -- the second-highest proportion after the U.S. The research company predicts Instagram's share of UK digital ad spend will rise from 0.7 percent in 2013 to 1.3 percent this year.

Adidas is turning to YouTube's video dominance to execute its "own the moment" real-time marketing plan for the World Cup. The brand has been investigating not just paying to boost views but also understanding how length, content, time of day and titles can impact shares. The brand says it aims to be a "nimble content machine." Its World Cup plans include a live Soccer AM style show, which will be broadcast from Rio during the tournament.

Programmatic advertising has been widely well received, particularly in America, but research shows that in Europe one in four marketers have never heard of it. However, research from IAB Europe, AppNexus and WARC has found that four in five companies are actually using programmatic advertising. The report concludes that this ignorance about the channel is the biggest barrier to more widespread adoption in Europe. Its publication coincided with P&G and American Express shifting U.S. spend to programmatic.

Kwik Fit has appointed Cogent Elliott to handle all of its below the line work, following a competitive pitch. The agency will work with Adam & Eve DDB who handle Kwik Fit's above the line activity.