The Eurostar Live platform will launch on 23 February with a campaign promoting the international train service’s connection from London to Amsterdam, via Brussels and is also expected to be part of the brand’s Olympic activation activity before and during the London 2012 Games.

Eurostar has developed the campaign to help customers travelling around Europe to share experiences and advice with each other, and make sure the brand is part of the conversation. It will use technology developed by the Cloud & Compass to integrate real time comments about the brand, its services and destinations, into its outdoor ad campaigns running on digital outdoor screens in London.

Eurostar claims to be the first advertiser to integrate real time social media with “large-scale” advertising and believes that there will be around 4,000 unique executions each day, incorporating comments and photos uploaded by customers to platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.

Lionel Benbassat, director of marketing and brand at Eurostar, says that while comments will be moderated to avoid anything damaging or libellous being broadcast, positive and negative experiences will be included.

It hopes to extend the platform to France and Belgium when the technology to do so becomes available.

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This new approach to customer engagement enables customers and prospects to experience more of the C-Class Coupé design, performance and technology.

With all the information of the brochure and the price list combined, the app carries a wealth of content, while making use of the iPad’s capabilities.

David George, marketing director of Mercedes-Benz Cars, said: “We live in a culture that’s almost always on-line, and is used to rich media experiences, and our new iPad Brochure app really brings the C-Class Coupé to life.”

The model lines section shows off the new car in all its glory and, at the same time, allows the reader to compare all engine and trim combinations.

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The general decline of print circulations in the UK has been well-documented, but magazines continue to represent big business, with ZenithOptimedia expecting the print side of the industry to continue to command more than £800,000 in advertising this year.

Sylvia Auton, chairman and CEO said
“I’m delighted by IPC’s performance in this ABC period. Conditions have been challenging but a number of our brands have shown great resilience and posted strong results. I am pleased that we are once again the UK’s leading magazine publisher by both value and volume.”

The repositioning of magazines as multimedia brands has been reflected in the restructuring of sales forces up and down the country, most recently at Bauer Media. The role media agencies can play as brand advocates during this transition period could be crucial, with many press specialists already recognising the increasing dwell times seen on many tablet editions. Whether this can be attributed to tech novelty or better engagement remains to be seen.

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Sales were up 0.9% in January, compared to the previous month, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS) against a 0.3% decline expected by most analysts.

The value of retail sales increased 4.4% year-on-year, while volume sales were up 2%

The positive figures fuel optimism that the economy is turning a corner. Separate research from the IGD today claims that British consumers are starting to feel more positive about their financial situation and “believe that the worst is behind them”.

Meanwhile, the latest figures from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index reveal 16% year-on-year growth as shoppers spent £6bn online during January.

Figures were boosted by the travel sector which reported a 205% increase in sales as consumers booked summer holidays.

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All of the main food retailers will use a common set of posters and shelf-labels to educate consumers about the units in a typical bottle or can of lager, glass of wine and single measure of spirit.

The scheme, backed by the British Retail Consortium (BRC), has been set up in association with the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) and the Department of Health as part of the Public Health Responsibility Deal.

The images are appearing in shops from this month and are also being trialled in pubs and clubs.

They are said to be just the latest in a string of initiatives retailers have adopted to reduce the risk of alcohol-related harm.

The retail sector already provides funding for DrinkAware and introduced unit labelling on own-brand products in 2007.

BRC food director Andrew Opie said: “Our retailers have led the way on responsible drinking.

“They were the first to adopt unit labelling on their own products and pioneered Challenge 25 to prevent under-age sales.

“This latest initiative ensures consumers are being provided with consistent information, similar to that displayed in pubs and bars.

“Retailers are demonstrating once again that they are committed to developing a healthy culture around alcohol because this is the right way to tackle the small minority who drink irresponsibly.”

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Kellogg purchased Pringles after a similar deal between P&G and Diamond Foods fell through because of accounting issues and executive changes at Diamond Foods.

Kellogg’s acquisition of Pringles will help it in its plans to become a global player in snacks, as it is in cereal foods.

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The value-led campaign, created in-house, makes use of Betfair’s new strapline, ‘Don’t Settle for Less’, which is being rolled out across TV, print and online.

The campaign marks the first time that Betfair has made direct price comparisons against its competitors, which include William Hill, Ladbrokes, Bet 365 and Paddy Power.

Peter Marcus, Betfair’s UK managing director, said: “This is a simple campaign delivering the clear fact to both existing and potential customers, that Betfair offers far better value than the other bookmakers.”

Betfair said the campaign was worth seven figures.

In August last year, Betfair radically overhauled its sport sponsorship activities by introducing four brand ambassadors.

The brand signed up former England cricketer Michael Vaughan, retired rugby star Will Greenwood, ex-footballer and now pundit, Lee Dixon, and racehorse trainer Paul Nicholls.

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Reckitt Benckiser (RB) has also disclosed that it is launching a major sales push in emerging markets to compensate for sluggish growth in Europe.

The identification of Powermarkets mirrors RB’s strategy of targeting key Powerbrands, which includes brands such as Vanish, Cillit Bang.

RB has not yet disclosed its 16 new Powermarkets.

The company said its additional £100m investment in brand building would be found by finding cost savings across the business.

Rakesh Kapoor, the company’s new chief executive, who took over in September replacing Bart Becht, said RB will ramp up its focus on growth markets, along with health and hygiene products.

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Speaking at the Social Brands Conference in London today, Ben Carter, head of central online marketing at Betfair, revealed the brand turned to a team of comedy writers to gain traction on its Betfair Poker Twitter feed.

“It is something of a social experiment,” he explained, pointing to the fact that while much of the content doesn’t centre on poker, it has boosted the brand’s social currency.

The @Betfairpoker feed, which has over 15,000 followers, features an array of comedy content, as well as the occasional tweet about poker.

The feed has gained significant traction with influential tweeters including Stephen Fry.

The Twitter experiment is part of a range of social media and viral activity at the brand, which has experienced substantial uplifts in bets via socially seeded odds distributed via Twitter.

Betfair is also investing in proving the social ROI of its marketing activity.

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The FMCG firm is making its first move into the dishwashing category with the launch of Cillit bang All in 1 Dish & Surface cleaner – a washing up liquid product that comes with an automatic dispenser.

The product will only be available via the Cillit Bang page on Facebook initially ahead of a possible rollout in shops.

RB’s UK marketing director Stefan Gaa says the company is going to step up efforts to integrate social commerce with other marketing and sales channels. This could include making limited edition variants exclusively available through social commerce.

Brands such as Veet and Clearasil, which consumers already have high level of online engagement with, are likely to be the next to adopt social commerce, says Gaa.

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