brand-e

By Simon Fuller. Web, wirelessly. The European Interactive Advertising Association has taken a good long look at digital mobility across 15 European countries, and found that consumers are increasingly accessing the Net via their mobile phones and wireless laptops.
According to the Mediascope Europe Study 2010, more than 70 million consumers use mobile Internet on at least a weekly basis, passing an average of 6.4 hours a week online. That compares to just 4.8 hours spent with a newspaper.

By Simon Fuller. Movie media. Last week, we took a look at how comms strategy group Naked Comms had set up its own branded entertainment division to roll out engaging pieces like the film The Forest Guard, a documentary following the adventures of a bunch of Californian kids who have invented a device for the quick detection of forest fires
Well, Sony Europe green-lit the film and commissioned it. So we thought it only right to have a chat with Sony about the project, and about why brands in general are beginning to turn to moviemaking to get their messages over to consumers.

By Hugh Jordan. Crowd creative. Crowdsourcing may not sound the death knell for creative agencies, but co-creation could be a catalyst for real change. ‘Adapt or die’ is the message coming from Andrew Needham, who has just launched London’s The Co-Creation Hub, a collaborative resource for brands seeking long-term, meaningful engagement with consumers.
So, what is co-creation and how does it differ from crowdsourcing?

By Steve Mullins. Brand demands. Millward Brown has come up with a new brand metric – the TrustR Score – which sets out to measure how effectively brands meet the more demanding expectations of the post-recession consumer.
More demanding expectations?
Well, Millward Brown believes the world is now populated with more sceptical and less acquisitive consumers and that, for brands to succeed in this environment, they need to understand and respond to consumers in a new ways.

Says Natasha Kizzie*. If I were to suggest that pop-up stores were getting fashionable, you might retort I’d missed the curve on this trend. Indeed, brands as diverse as HMV, Marmite, Nissan and Orange have already indulged in opening temporary mini-me shops with no sign of any slowdown in uptake.
Yet, for me, one fascinating aspect is how designer fashion brands are getting in on the act. This month we’ve seen a plethora of up-and-coming and established fashion brands embrace the pop-up concept – such as those designed to coincide with the biannual media frenzy that is London Fashion Week.

Good doers. Brands seem rather keen to do good right now. Take Virgin Atlantic, for one. The airline recently launched its first iPhone app in the US and, rather than do something tiresome like track flight arrivals and departures, the little gizmo has been developed to help fearful travellers.
The Flying Without Fear app boasts an in-flight explanation video, relaxation and course therapy, breathing exercises and quick tips. There’s also a personal video introduction from Richard Branson – but hey, no one’s perfect.