The Drum
The Britain Beer Alliance is continuing its wave of food- and beer-related marketing with the launch of a temporary delivery service running via Twitter. To kick off the latest wave of activity, a temporary delivery service will run for nine days with a select number of Londoners who are using #BeerMatch set to receive a goodie bag containing the requested food and a sommelier-paired beer. The #BeerMatch tool dishes up beer and food matches to people tweeting using the hashtag and the @BeerforThat Twitter handle.
Campaign
Lionsgate, the film distributor, has appointed Carat to handle its media planning and buying business, ending its 11-year relationship with MEC. MEC was reappointed by Lionsgate in 2009 after fighting off competition from Initiative. The business was then worth GBP12 million. The agency also retained the account in 2011.
The Drum
Twitter executives have just bought up the company's stock in what is being interpreted as a show of support for the stuttering social media giant. The company's co-founder and interim chief executive Jack Dorsey bought more than 31,000 shares of Twitter stock on Monday, totalling $875,000. Dorsey, who holds nearly 22 million shares in the business, announced over Twitter that he was investing in the company and included a link to a receipt of the purchase.
Marketing Week
Emirates has landed Hollywood actress Jennifer Aniston to front a new major advertising campaign in a deal reportedly worth $5m. Her involvement will translate into a "global digital and television campaign" according to Boutros Boutros, Emirates' divisional SVP for corporate communications, marketing and brand. The move from Emirates comes after fellow UAE-based rival Etihad Airways unveiled a Nicole Kidman-fronted TV campaign back in March as part of a five-year plan to drive global awareness.
The Drum
Digital giants such as Amazon and Google could face stringent security laws requiring them to adopt the highest possible security measures when it comes to protecting their users' data under draft legislation currently being debated by the EU, according to reports. A Reuters report claims that such firms -- broadly classified as "digital service providers" -- are likely to fall within rules laid out by the Network & Information Security Directive, similar to energy and financial firms, which is currently being drafted.
Press Gazette
Front-page exclusives on the Queen's Nazi salute and Lord Sewel helped The Sun newspapers record the best month-on-month circulation performances in July's national newspaper ABCs. The Sunday title, which broke the Lord Coke story on 26 July, was up 5.4 percent on June's average. And the daily was up 2.1 percent month-on-month in July. As well as the Queen and Sewel stories, The Sun also performed well with stories on Ashya King, Louis Tomlinson, Lily Allen and George Michael.
The Mirror UK
Angry Carphone Warehouse customers have vented their frustration after it was revealed the personal details of up to 2.4 million people may have been stolen when a division of the company was hit by a cyber attack. The mobile phone retailer has warned the encrypted credit card information of up to 90,000 people may have been accessed during the attack. An investigation carried out by the company found that names, addresses, dates of birth and bank details of customers could also have been accessed.
Marketing Magazine
Marketers need to come to grips with growing mobile ad fraud if they want to prevent the popularity of ad blockers on desktop spreading to mobile, according to the the chief of operations at Adblock Plus, one of the most popular ad blockers on desktop. At the moment, a relatively small fraction of users block ads on mobile. But Ben Williams believes the growing issue of malicious apps hosted by Google's, Apple's and third-party app stores will drive up use of ad blockers on mobile, as users become concerned about their privacy.
Marketing Week
British Gas is evolving its "Planet Home" marketing campaign to push all the products and services it offers customers to help keep their house warm as part of efforts to tell one story about what the British Gas brand has to offer. Launched last night, a TV spot features countryside animals hunkering down to sleep at night. Created by CHI&Partners, it will focus on the brand's commitment to helping customers look after their homes through features such as boiler servicing, smart meters and cheaper gas and electricity.
The Guardian
Fresh from overtaking Ed Sheeran, the BBC and X Factor in YouTube's all-time video views chart, children's nursery rhymes channel Little Baby Bum is moving into the toys market. Its videos have been watched more than 3.6bn times since it was launched in 2011 by a UK-based couple, and is currently one of the top five channels on Google's online videos service. Now Little Baby Bum has signed a licensing deal to launch a range of plush toys based on its animated characters.