E-consultancy - Entertainment - Internet Marketing News and Blogs

Marketers don�t care about customers

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 07:33:00 UT

With economic slowdown in the news everyday, you could be forgiven for thinking that knowing your customer � the foundation of good marketing � is keeping marketers awake at night.

That doesn�t seem to be the case.�

Does on-demand content lead to on-demand advertising?

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:01:00 UT

For the past 300 years or so, media has been a one-to-many broadcast model. But now we see TV, radio and press all moving towards an on-demand model.

In a world where content is delivered on-demand, would on-demand advertising be a more relevant approach in the future of broadcasting?

YouTube users learn the hard way that online privacy doesn't exist

Mon, 7 Jul 2008 08:00:00 UT

As noted in my last episode of The Web Week in Review, a federal judge has ordered that Google turn over a significant amount of data to Viacom, as part of its $1bn copyright infringement lawsuit over claims of massive copyright infringement on YouTube.

This data details what videos individual users have viewed and includes�their IP addresses.

BBC iPlayer revamp improves usability

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:51:00 UT

It's only around six months since the iPlayer was launched, but the BBC has introduced a new beta version�that aims to be more user-friendly.

How much change does your site really need?

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 07:45:00 UT

In an online retail market expected to double in size to �78 billion by 2010* the potential rewards for e-commerce businesses are huge. Equally, so is the pressure to stay ahead of their competition.�

The desire for online businesses to become bigger and better inevitably affects their approach to redesign. There�s a huge temptation to introduce the latest whiz bang functionality and super cool design which will appeal to a whole new generation of customers.

Brand engagement with Wii

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 08:30:00 UT

It seems that every day we read about the declining effectiveness of advertising. How viewers skip through the adverts, can switch off to the marketing noise, no longer respond to our messages.

Brands are increasingly looking at more diverse ways to engage consumers in their products, and I believe there is currently no better opportunity than the Nintendo Wii.

Site review: Last.fm beta

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 07:30:00 UT

Online music provider Last.fm is currently in the process of revamping its website, with a beta version running alongside the old site.

We've taken a look at to see what improvements (if any) have been made...

Is Bebo really worth eight Virgin Radios?

Mon, 9 Jun 2008 07:45:00 UT

As Drama 2.0 pointed out recently, AOL is starting to think it may have paid too much for Bebo.

The recent sale of Virgin Radio for 'just' �53m seems to confirm that.

Site review: The Filter

Fri, 6 Jun 2008 07:45:00 UT

The Filter, Peter Gabriel's�new�online�music, movies and video recommendation service launched this week.

As with Last.fm, it aims to provide users with recommendations based on their preferences and listening habits, but is it as good?

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Q&A: Livebookings� David Norris on restaurants and e-marketing

Tue, 3 Jun 2008 10:35:00 UT

Livebookings Network is a real-time restaurant booking service whose clients include The Ritz, Gordon Ramsay Holdings, La Tasca, Planet Hollywood and Rainforest Caf�, as well as portals like Time Out London and lastminute.com.

It bagged �6.5m in funding in a round led by Balderton Capital earlier this year and is planning to expand its presence in the UK and Europe.

Here, we speak to COO David Norris about which types of restaurants are making the best use of online marketing and what other opportunities are out there for�its aggregated reservations model.

Mahalo uses GTA 4 content to boost its traffic

Mon, 2 Jun 2008 13:55:00 UT

Grand Theft Auto IV was released recently and, predictably, there has been a spike in the number of searches related to the game.

Jason Calacanis' human edited search engine Mahalo is ranking well on Google for a number of terms related to the GTA IV, having designed a comprehensive guide to the game. It proves that a curated approach to the web can pay dividends, in Google terms...

Of Mice and HIPPOS

Tue, 20 May 2008 08:28:00 UT

I�ve been talking to clients a lot recently about the problem of heavy mice on websites, i.e., the lack of incentives - or cheese trails if you�ll let me extend the metaphor � to motivate customers to click through to the next page and the next page after that.

Something as simple as telling them what they might find on the next page will help click-through tremendously and we all know that increased click-through ultimately means higher conversion and revenue.

A lesson for digital marketers and brands

Mon, 19 May 2008 08:05:00 UT

Last week, I received an email from 360i, an�"independent metrics-driven agency that serves as strategic digital advisors to large brand marketers," on behalf of NBC.

Tesco's iTunes competitor - how does it shape up?

Thu, 15 May 2008 12:40:00 UT

This week sees the launch of Tesco Digital, the supermarket giant's answer to iTunes.

We've taken a look at the new site to see how it compares with Apple's all-conquering download store, which has accounted for�around 70% of worldwide online digital music sales.

ITV improves video player usability

Tue, 13 May 2008 13:00:00 UT

We recently compared ITV's online video player to the BBC's iPlayer, finding that the ITV offering was far less usable than its rival.

ITV has since launched a new and improved version of its online TV service, so we've taken another look at it to see where the improvements have been made...

MySpace lines up music labels to compete with iTunes

Fri, 4 Apr 2008 10:49:00 UT

MySpace has teamed up with three of the four major record�labels,�Sony BMG, Warner Music and Universal, to make their catalogues available via MySpace Music.

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These crazy bloggers still think they understand the music business

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 08:22:00 UT

In an op-ed piece in the New York Times on Saturday, British musician Billy Bragg suggests that social networks like Bebo and MySpace should pay royalties for the music that is made available through their services.

ITV to relaunch its online video player

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 12:30:00 UT

ITV's online catch up TV offering will be revamped in an attempt to compete more effectively with the BBC's iPlayer.

Though ITV launched�the service months earlier than the iPlayer, it has quickly been overhauled by the BBC's offering. Around 11m videos were viewed via the iPlayer in January, compared with just 2m for ITV.com �

Dailymotion targets the UK

Thu, 6 Mar 2008 08:10:00 UT

Video sharing site Dailymotion has launched�in the�UK with former Google�exec Kate Burns at the helm.

The French firm, founded three years ago,�bills itself as the largest "independent"� video sharing site and has so far established itself in its home country�and the US.

And it will be interesting�to see whether Burns, who�has previously helped�Google, DoubleClick and Altavista build up their UK businesses,�can achieve similar success at the expense of her former employers.

Why do some sectors simply not get the web?

Wed, 5 Mar 2008 15:20:00 UT

Barely a day goes past without online commentators complaining about how the music industry is doomed because it doesn't 'get' the web.

Yet recent actions suggest this may be changing, which is more than can be said for the promoters of the national game.