MediaCommunications

MediaCom View: The new idents will focus on words, including play, free, love and dare as Five look to a bold rebranding in order to take the channel forward. Jane Scott, Director of Marketing, pointed out that, Out of all the terrestrial channels we are unique in having a word (in our channel identity) as well as a number and we are going to make use of that to differentiate.

MediaCom View: The biggest change to the Sky EPG since digital launched in 1998 was revealed recently. The categories have been revamped and channel positioning updated to reflect a cleaner and more modern reflection on content. Those with Sky+ will also have an easier navigation route to their planner as will the Sky A-Z offering, as both will get a straight colour button link underneath the EPG list.

MediaCom View: Google is the number one search engine in the UK, and has been the default search engine on new T-Mobile handsets since June last year. This really is the tip of the iceberg for mobile internet, with 6% of UK adults accessing via their mobile phones (compared to 65% via a PC - TGI.Net Wave 10). But, when you consider that online adspend is growing by around 60% y-o-y, and that Search comfortably clawed 40% spend in a few short years, combine the power of the web search engine with the portability of the mobile phone and you have clear opportunity. (If you add in satellite navigation or location-based targeting it gets even more interesting/complicated). However, it is still the case that the consumer will decide - the experience of the mobile internet can be patchy at times, even on larger screened phones.

MediaCom View : The much anticipated launch of News Internationals first consumer magazine is to be backed by a 8.5m marketing campaign. Love It! hits the newsstands on 7th February with an initial print run of 1.3m and a target first ABC of 400,000. It will be normally sold at 60p; however the first two issues will have the promotional price of 30p to drive trialling. In addition to the cover price promotion the launch will also be heavily promoted in the Sun and News of the World and 3 million samples will be distributed in the Saturday edition of the Sun and News of the World the weekend before the first issue appears. Karl Marsden, the Commercial Director of News Magazines, the newly creative NI magazine division, has been quoted as saying that as many as five other titles could launch this year, whilst others within NI have said that up to eight titles could appear within two years. Targeting C1C2D women aged 18-35 it is aimed a slightly younger audience than its competitors in the growing real life magazine market that has recently seen Real People launch.

MediaCom View : Google continued its expansion into traditional media with the purchase of dMarc Broadcasting, a privately-held US company behind a digital platform for selling radio advertising airtime. DMarc operates an automated digital platform for selling, scheduling, delivering and tracking radio advertising airtime. The system directly connects advertisers and radio broadcasters although it's unclear how this can replace the specialised media planning expertise that radio planning and buying departments offer.