The British Red Cross has pulled in the support of actor Dougray Scott to launch a new campaign for Refugee Week.

As well as using the Brit actor, the charity is harnessing the power of social networking sites by calling out to for people to pledge their support to help refugees by collectively ‘changing their online status’ across their social networks, instant messenger and email accounts during Refugee Week, which is from 15^th-21^st June.



The charity said that refugees arriving in the UK are commonly labelled as a group, and not regarded as individuals.

In attempt to stress this issue, and get others to empathise with the feeling of loss of identity, the British Red Cross are asking citizens to sacrifice their online identities and change their status to ‘label’.

 The campaign idea was formulated by LBi and opens with a teaser film presented by Desperate Housewives star Dougray Scott.  

The viral film, which will be released on 26^th May, depicts the stories of refugees who have been helped by the British Red Cross.

 The viral will be available for viewing at www.lookbeyondthelabel.org and will run in conjunction with an email marketing campaign calling for everyone to alter their online status. 



The campaign can be located on Facebook, Twitter, MSN, Yahoo and Bebo, enabling users of these sites to get involved.

The British Red Cross will also be making history as the first charity to create an online movement to accrue support and fight prejudice via online profiles.  

 The campaign will be supported with a survey of public attitudes towards refugees, seeking to diminish negative beliefs around those who seek sanctuary in the UK. This will be targeted at newspapers, and Refugee Week events at Red Cross centres across the country.  

Search Engine Optimisation

The statement made by David Hallerman, senior analyst at eMarketer, suggests that SEO is the “best customer acquisition tool in the online space.

Through studies it has been shown that customers dislike paid search advertising and prefer organic search listings which SEO can improve.

“Furthermore search optimisation works across all search engines and an optimised site does not drop off the first results page even when marketer spending slows or stops – as it can with paid search,” Hallerman added.

However, he did point out that it may take time for the full advantages of SEO to take shape, as developing a successful SEO takes time and is often a long process.

Patricio Robles from Econsultancy revealed recently in a blog post that website security should be an important consideration for SEO.

He explained that if websites are hacked into by cyber criminals, the consequences in terms of search engine rankings can be extremely serious.

Another key feature of improving a business success online is linkbaiting, which experts have urged companies to invest in.

Editor of Econsultancy, Chris Lake, recently wrote on his blog explaining that linkbaiting can boost search rankings by attracting inbound links.

“Everyone involved in SEO (and marketing and content creation) should constantly be thinking about new opportunities for linkbait which will work best in their market place,” Lake said.

He added that linkbaits often consists of content that will be useful to the target audience, such as informative articles, free tools and a list of links.

Linkbaits can also come in the form of how to guides, viral marketing, reviews and comparisons and blogs.

A recent survey by Guava and Econsultancy found that 55 per cent of firms plan to increase their SEO spending in 2009.

For more information about SEO and/or linkbaiting visit Custard Media or Linkbaits.

The entertainment giant, Disney has acquired a stake in US online TV platform Hulu, the joint venture between NBC Universal and News Corp.

Today’s reports have revealed that Disney is taking almost a 30% stake in the platform, although financial details have not been disclosed.

This follows Hulu’s deal in March with Digital Rights Group, making it the first Britiah distributor to work with the service.

The deal will see Disney screen full-length episodes of its ABC TV programmes such as Lost, Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty on Hulu.

President and CEO at the Walt Disney Comapny, Robert Iger, president will sit on Hulu’s board of directors, together with Kevin Mayer, executive VP, corporate strategy, business development & technology and Anne Sweeney, co-chair of Disney Media Networks and president, Disney/ABC Television Group.

Iger said, “From our landmark iTunes deal to our pioneering decision to stream ad supported shows on our ABC.com player, Disney has sought to meet the constantly evolving viewing habits of our consumers, and today’s Hulu announcement is the next important step in that ongoing journey.”

Jason Kilar, CEO of Hulu, said, “We continue to aspire to deliver a service that users, advertisers and content owners unabashedly love.”

The Hulu-Disney agreement may have worrying consequences for it’s biggest rivals, YouTube and CBS, who are both involved in a battle with Hulu over online video viewers and revenue from adverts run during the programs.

Industry experts are also predicting that the deal could lumber Apple with some unwanted implications, as their stratergy for selling and renting video content online will be marred by Hulu’s  growing popularity.

However, recent figures show that there is no need for YouTube to start sweating yet.

Despite the site’s flux in popularity, its average time-spent-per-viewer has declined. The site recorded 58 minutes per viewer in March, down from 79 in January, whereas YouTube viewers spent an average of almost two-and-a-half hours on the site in March.

A report led by Guava and Econsultancy found that around 55 per cent of companies have increased their budgets to invest in to Search Engine Optimisation (SEO or natural search) in a bid to attract people to their website and increase business.

The research also found that 45 per cent of responding organisations were to increase their budgets for paid search.

The report is the third annual UK Search Engine Marketing Benchmark Report, and is based on more than 800 company and agency digital marketers. The reports gives a comprehensive overview of the search marketing landscape, and also includes reasearch about the use of social media.

Linus Gregoriadis, Econsultancy’s reseach director, said, “UK search marketers are still getting strong return on investment from paid search marketing despite the recession, increased competition and click cost inflation.

“This research provides more proof that companies are turning to digital channels such as paid seach and search engine optimisation where there is a demonstrable return on investment.”

A large proportion of company respondants said that they are  tracking paid search return on investment effectively has increased from 33 per cent last year to 45 per cent in 2009. For SEO there has been an even bigger increase from 20 to 35 per cent.

Custard Media is an online marketing company who thrive upon providing business solutions to help businesses make it to number one on Google. They offer a wide range of services from search engine optimisation, content writing, pay per click, link building, viral marketing and branding, with 100 per cent flexibility in meeting your exact requirements.

Custard Media have successfully helped companies, such as Shoplaptop, Protouch and Robinsons achieve number one Google results in their field, and are on call to help you target your customers on the World Wide Web.

For further information visit www.custardmedia.co.uk

The new video channel will host Endemol’s digital series, ‘The Gap Year,’ which was produced and featured on social networking site, Bebo.

‘The Gap Year’ is a multiplatform digital series which follows six students around the world on their glob-trotting travel adventures. The series see the six travellers face challenges, experience new cultures and meet local celebrities.

The first series will be broadcast on The Independent’s online student section, despite already being documented on Bebo’s social networking site via video diaries, blogs and photographs.

Complimentary sponsors of the online video site will be organised by The Web TV Enterprise. Through the sponsor, advertisers will receive in-paper promotional branding, on-site exposure, and pre-roll ads around the content.

Bill Swanson, Managing Director of Independent.co.uk, said, “It is key that Independent.co.uk continues to seek content that is relevant to its audiences.

“The brand fit is fantastic, while the content will provide a regular destination for our users.”

The series is due to run from June to August 2009, in the build up to the university clearing process in 2009; the busiest time for the Independent.co.uk student section.

Promotion of the series will be ran through the newspaper, website, allowing the content to be used as a travel guide.

Endemol specifically created and developed the series ‘The Gap Year’ for Bebo to offer a fully interactive online video entertainment experience. The contestants for the series were carefully selected from the Bebo community, from all around the world, including, UK, Ireland, America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. On a weekly basis, viewers are able to vote on decisions about the group’s journey.

Peter Cowley, Managing Director of Digital Media at Endemol, said, “We are delighted that The Independent will be carrying the first series of ‘The Gap Year.’

“We are very proud of the success the show garnered on Bebo and the extensive catalogue of travel content it created that deserves a wider audience.”

James Estrin, MD of The Web TV Enterprise, said, “The Web TV Enterprise has brought ‘The Gap Year’ to a whole new audience due to its partnership with The Independent.

“The Endemol series will complement existing online content on The Independent, which includes guidance and advice for students looking to find accommodation, research courses and plan a gap year.

“In my opinion, ‘The Gap Year’ is one of the best examples of how compelling short-form content works best on the web.

The service, which is expected to launch in the next few months, will feature full-length, high-quality music, artist and user generated videos from Universal.

The two media giants will split  any advertising revenues generated by the service.

Universal is keen to use Google’s video technology to showcase its content and attract ad revenues.

Doug Morris, CEO of Universal Music Group, said Vevo would be well placed to service advertisers, artists and fans.

“We believe that at launch, Vevo will already have more traffic than any other music video site in the US and in the world,” he added. “And this traffic represents the most sought after demographic for advertisers, especially as advertising dollars continue their shift from old media to new.”

The Vevo deal comes despite Universal and its rivals’ content remaining absent from YouTube following a dispute between the music sharing site the Performing Rights Society (PRS).  YouTube blocked music videos from viewers in the UK after PRS demanded artists should be paid more by the site for the privilege of their videos.

The announcement comes as rumours begin to circulate that Sony is in talks with YouTube about posting full length films on the website.

Spokesperson for Sony Pictures Television, Paula Askansas said: ‘We are having conversations with YouTube,’ but refused to comment any further on the matter.

YouTube have already struck a deal with Disney, who have recently added ABC and ESPN clips on the ‘broadcast yourself’ website.

Cadburys has become notorious for their TV ads recently attracting some great publicity from their drum playing Gorilla and airport trucks commercials, the next in line is a TV ad will be launched tonight during the final of Celebrity Big Brother on Channel 4. It features two siblings waiting to get their pictures taken. When the photographer is called away due to a ringing phone the siblings break into choreographed dance with their eyebrows.

This minute long commercial has a background soundtrack of the 1980s classic ‘Don’t stop the rock’ by Freestyle.

A partner at Fallon, the company that created the advertisement said that this campaign will spark the imagination and attract conversation offline as well as online.  The idea behind any creative ideas in todays world is to encourage imitation and connection from the public.

The marketing director of Cadbury, Phil Rumbol added a statement saying that the 3rd instalment of their new ad campaigns will definitely live up to the ‘Gorillas and Airport Trucks’ standards in raising some smiles and hopefully some eyebrows!

He also stated that the theme behind this creative remains exactly the same, it suggests that you should just lose yourself, embrace each moment and be happy.  This time round there is just a little hint of mischievousness thrown in. 

Cadburys will be using this ad throughout February in the attempt to sell branded coffee mugs for just £7.99 to the public, people can also visit www.photobox.com and upload a picture of themselves or a friend and include some comedy eyebrows with relation to their new ad campaign.