BBC director general Mark Thompson has confirmed that the Corporation plans to launch a paid for iTunes-style download service, which will allow viewers to buy programmes just after they have aired.

He told the Guardian that the idea, dubbed Project Barcelona, will allow viewers to “purchase a digital copy of a programme to own and keep [for] a relatively modest charge”. Read More »

You don’t need social media consultants, you need an infographic. Besides those consultants can be pricey, but seriously there are some top tips here that will get you thinking about social media and the issue of training, which is one that many organisations need to, or soon will, have to tackle.

This sets out at the begining of the process the questions that organisations should ask themselves as it walks you through the pros and cons. Read More »

What an amazing print journey this has been for the Encyclopaedia Britannica? But after 244 years of being constantly in print it is to cease publishing.

It does admit that for almost 20 years now it has mainly been an online product while still publishing in print. From now on, however, it will be an an online only product. Read More »

You can not have failed to notice the Starbucks promotion this morning that offered everyone a free latte today before 12 noon (check out Brand Republic’s Pinterest board for pics). With free coffee on offer it isn’t much of a surprise to see it get so much attention, did you get one?

We’ve been hearing of branches packed out around the country as people queued up to try out the new double shot latte, but Starbucks has also been doing a bit of a Snickers and hired some celebrity tweeters to pump the promotion. Comedian Jimmy Carr for one has been enthusiastically tweeting away. Read More »

Initially, early social networks (including Facebook and LinkedIn) revolved around connecting people via their ‘social graphs’. 2011′s winners were platforms and ideas originating from, supporting, and at times enabling, the formation of relationships around shared ‘interests’. This makes perfect sense, for it is less important how you know someone than how relevant this person is to the conversation.

The wide spread conversations on the Japanese earthquake, the Royal Wedding or the protests in Egypt and Occupy Wall Street did not revolve around people ‘knowing’ each other per se, but on the shared ‘interest’ people had in the events. The London riots did not spread via actual relationships between the different groups and individuals but around a (foul) concept. Yes – human interests, just like marketing communications that leverage social media, contain the good, the bad and the ugly. Read More »

Welcome our third examination of the social media performance of UK retailers. Our analysis of the casual outdoor fashion and toy retail sectors generated some interesting results, so we thought we’d take a good look at high street players in the health and beauty space.

With spring now in the air, there’s increasing pressure for UK consumers to get “body beautiful” in the lead up to summer. Plus, of course, the nation continues to be obsessed with celebrity culture and image. But are UK retailers effectively capitalising on social media channels as a way of exploiting these themes? Are they using social media to encourage their target audiences to invest in products that realise their desire to look good? Read More »