Already in a state of flux thanks to the developing web, the publishing industry was hit hard by 2008’s global recession. Severe slashing of advertising budgets and spend moving over to new, emergent forms of media resulted in the closure of hundreds of publications over the last five years.

However, despite taking a major hit, magazines and newspapers have been  offered a lifeline by online audiences and, more recently, the mobile web. When you consider the explosion in the use of smartphones and tablets, publications now have more ways to connect with their audience than ever before – an attractive prospect for brands wishing to engage with new customers.  Read more »

With over half of all shoppers reported to be using smartphones as an aid to so-called Robo (Research offline, buy online) shopping, you would expect Britain’s major retail chains to be walking the walk when it comes to digital retail services. But how much of the alleged £222,222 of customer spending that takes place every minute during the UK’s Cyber Monday are the traditional retailers actually getting a share of?

There may be a spike in Christmas spending with department stores such as John Lewis, Debenhams, Marks & Spencer and Argos, but recent research into online spending, shows that 62% of UK consumers don’t rate the top high street brands when they’re shopping online.  Read more »

eBay, one of the most successful Internet brands, recently announced it was changing its logo. Upon making the announcement, it revealed the refreshed logo is designed to reflect eBay’s brand and marketplace today by offering “a cleaner, more contemporary and consistent experience, with innovation that makes buying and selling easier and more enjoyable”.

But can just a logo redesign deliver this? The redesign has centered around a much more mainstream aesthetic delivered by the Univers Extended typeface, used by many brands for its readability and simplicity with the instantly recognisable eBay colours maintained.

Gone is the jaunty lettering of the old logo that was so much a trademark of eBay. Is this an effort to look the part and convey those brand values or is it a technical solution that makes communications simpler to convey across different media platforms? Read more »

The increasing fragmentation of communication platforms has presented brands with both opportunities and challenges when talking to their audiences. If anything, the sheer number of digital channels is causing problems for brands trying to convey their message while maintaining brand identity.

One key area of focus and a choice faced by many businesses is whether or not developing an app is the best option. Mobile is naturally a crucial area of growth, fuelled by the proliferation of smartphones and tablets.

However, with the introduction of HTML5, the web is catching back up.  No one is likely to say there isn’t space for both websites and apps in our lives, but the question of what separates the two of them is being asked with increasing frequency. What things does the web do well that apps can only hope to emulate badly, and vice versa? Read more »