22° December | Intel | EA Games | BBC | ASOS | Super Bowl | ‘Let It Snow’

23 December 2011

New Initiatives 

eHarmony, the online dating site, has launched its first UK produced marketing campaign which will start on Boxing Day. This comes as Intel break into the mobile market with the first Intel-powered smartphone. It looks impressive with Blu-ray quality videos and fast & smooth web browsing.

Selfridges has introduced a mobile-optimised site and SOS shopping services in the lead up to Christmas with 44% of last-minute gift searches being done on mobile devices this year. Skype is feeling the festive spirit by offering free WiFi at 50 airports in the USA over the Christmas period.

Twitter has gained an investor this week, Saudi Price Alwaleed bin Talal. The billionaire investor paid $300million for a stake in the company. He also owns a 7% stake in New Corp and with is feet firmly in the media industry, planning a cable news channel.

EA Games is attempting to grab a share of the online gaming market with the launch of Star Wars: The Old Republic. They are hoping that it will eventually overtake World Of Warcraft, the biggest online role-playing game. There was $25.1bn spent on games last year, in the US alone (compared with £10.5bn at the box office).

Company Structure

LoveFilm signs a streaming deal with Sony Pictures as Netflix’s UK launch looms. Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, Netflix signs a deal with BBC Worldwide for major series to be streamed in the UK & Ireland. BBC has also signed a deal with Virgin Media to create apps and red button experiences for TiVo.

Nuance the mobile voice-recognition company has acquried Vlingo a voice-to-text service similar to Siri, in a bid to help handset manufacturers compete with Apple.

Microsoft has sold Ciao, the online shopping portal, to LeGuide.com, a european digital shopping guide publisher. Microsoft acquireed it in August 2008 for half a billion dollars.

This weeks industry moves:

Main Street Connect has hired John Londono, previously at GreenLink Networks, as COO/CTO and Karin Annus as Chief Content Officer.

Rick Robinson is the new SVP of interactive product and content at National Geographic Digital Media. He will lead strategic development of multiplatform and interactive products.

Euro RSCG has hired Michael Olaye as their new Technical Director. He was previously the Director of The Creative Partnership.

Tony Hall has been appointed deputy chairman of Channel 4, replacing Lord Puttnam. He was the boss of the Royal Opera House.

Sarah Gavin has left AOL Europe where she was VP of marketing and communications. There is currently no news of her next role or if she will be replaced.

Social Media

New statistics from ComScore show that 1 in every 5 minutes online is spent social networking, making it the most popular activity online globally. It also revealed that social networking reaches 82% of the global population (1.2bn users).

ASOS has won the social media battle gaining more new followers than any other retailer over the year. Whilst Topshop still came top of Facebook, ASOS was the winner across the social media space.

Digital Product

Apple‘s market share in the UK has grown 10%, however this is against the grain as in the Eurozone more people are buying cheaper android devices amid the financial problems.

The American Super Bowl will be streamed online and on mobile phones. Going digital will boost the shows ratings, which is already the most watched program across the world (111 million viewers last year).

The Rest

Nick Jones, the Number 10 Digital Guru, has been announced as the chair of the judging panel for the Revolution Awards 2012.

In a spout of Christmas spirit, Google has created a nice little surprise for those who type in ‘Let it snow‘ to the search bar.

And finally here is a festive cartoon to end the year on.

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all of us at Bearing Partnership.