APA News

The Economist extends print contract with Wyndeham

Mon, 20 May 2013 01:39:52 -0700

Wyndeham Group has continued to strengthen its market position by extending the print contract with The Economist for an additional three years and means that the title will continue to be produced by Wyndeham Peterborough until at least April 2017.

Gold Key Media secures access to the most powerful people on the planet

Fri, 17 May 2013 04:21:15 -0700

Gold Key Media are offering a unique opportunity to target the 39th G8 Summit via copy placement into the Lough Erne Resort in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland on 17 - 18 June 2013.

Virgin goes old school

Fri, 17 May 2013 02:31:54 -0700

John Brown has developed a new internal communications magazine for the Virgin Group. The Roger Collective is packed with Virgin employees from all over the globe telling stories to create a spirit of togetherness.

New ContentPlus infographic: Content Strategy Pick 'n' Mix

Fri, 17 May 2013 02:25:49 -0700

Content Strategy Pick 'n' Mix is a new infographic that has just been published by CMA partner ContentPlus.

the fabl does marketing in the modern age

Thu, 16 May 2013 08:38:57 -0700

Yesterday afternoon, the fabl, Yorkshire's pre-eminent content marketing agency, held a highly successful ‘Content, Conversation and Copywright Event' at the stunning Eden venue at Broughton Hall.

Week in content marketing: 15th May

Wed, 15 May 2013 09:01:53 -0700

A new key relationship for CMA partner Outbrain, new opportunities in mobile publishing and some excellent advice on developing a video strategy for your brand.

New case study: Algeta Annual Report 2012 by August

Wed, 15 May 2013 06:49:59 -0700

Algeta is a Norwegian pharmaceutical company working to extend and improve the lives of cancer patients by developing novel, targeted medicines. Recent expansion has seen it build a commercial operation in the US and begin development of a wider range of oncology products. To reflect this growth, Algeta required a suite of on-brand comms materials, with assets that could be used across a range of print and digital media.

Some basic rules for using Twitter to promote your project or brand

Wed, 15 May 2013 06:36:31 -0700

If you have an online magazine or website to promote then one of the best ways of increasing awareness and traffic to your site is by using Twitter. The micro-blogging format has become completely embedded in our culture now and shows no signs of losing its popularity.

So how can you harness Twitter to create a buzz around your project? Here are ten top tips.

CMA adopts Wavecasts to extend reach of digital breakfasts

Wed, 15 May 2013 06:13:07 -0700

The CMA has announced that we will be using Wavecast® Pro to enable our membership outside London to access our Digital Breakfast events.

Members of the CMA were able to access the Innovating through digital media event which was held on Wednesday 8^th May via a Wavecast® for the first time.

Street fashion brand WeSC takes its stories to iPad and iPhone with new Mag+ apps

Wed, 15 May 2013 06:06:20 -0700

Global street fashion brand WeAretheSuperlativeConspiracy (WeSC) today launches iPad and iPhone editions of its quarterly print magazine - The Superlative Conspiracy Magazine, which WeSC creates in-house.

CMA Digital Breakfast - User Centred Design and Content - Weds 5 June

Wed, 15 May 2013 05:45:22 -0700

Creating high quality cross-platform content throws up new creative challenges for publishers. How do you ensure that the user experience is consistent across multiple touch points? And what can you do to optimize content for brand and audience, whatever the channel?

How content marketing and SEO are seen by Google

Wed, 15 May 2013 02:10:16 -0700

One of the hottest topics for web marketers at the moment is whether SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is still important or if it has been superseded by content marketing.

Jonathan Piggins, head of search at search & social media agency DBD Media, unpacks this issue in The Guardian.

UK Adspend rebounds to pre-recession levels

Tue, 14 May 2013 08:41:55 -0700

Brands spent £17.17bn on advertising last year despite the still flat UK economy, the first time ad spend has topped the £17bn since pre-recession 2007, according to the latest Advertising Association/Warc report.

Think sweeps the board at MemCom 2013

Tue, 14 May 2013 06:11:58 -0700

Think was thrilled to be shortlisted for eight awards at this year's annual MemCom conference: Growing and sustaining memberships - learning from the commercial sector, and even more delighted to win four of the awards and be highly commended for the other four.

Five ways to keep your consumer hooked

Mon, 13 May 2013 04:24:30 -0700

Compared with most other forms of marketing, content marketing is a slow burner. For it to work effectively, raising brand awareness, increasing loyalty and boosting sales, it needs investment of time and money. But creating fantastic content is one thing – keeping your customers hooked day after day, week after week, month after month is another.

Guardian News & Media partners with content discovery platform Outbrain

Thu, 09 May 2013 04:48:32 -0700

Guardian News & Media has partnered with leading content discovery platform Outbrain to increase user engagement across its site, via smart personalised recommendations on editorial content.

Invite: Outbrain Content Conversations Meet-up - Tues 14 May

Thu, 09 May 2013 04:25:17 -0700

The interactive landscape is constantly shifting, and the number and variety of different devices that connect it all is growing every year. With no sign of a slow-down and new products with different systems and technology arriving almost on a monthly basis, the need to creatively adapt becomes an ongoing challenge for content creators.

In this month's 'Content Conversations' Outbrain brings together some of the leading lights in mobile and digital to share some of their most recent executions, insights, expert tips on content creation and address the kaleidoscope of challenges that we face as brands and marketers.

Nikon and Tesco Technology deliver new interactive tablet magazines

Thu, 09 May 2013 03:58:04 -0700

April has been a very busy month for CMA members with a large number of wins, launches and magazine and website revamps. The month has also seen a growing move towards brands producing digital editions of magazines with Android versions now being produced alongside iPad ones. Also in April several of the industry's leading players have been recognised by receiving nominations for prestigious awards.

The latest research news

Wed, 08 May 2013 02:28:42 -0700

This month, we reveal how tablets and mobiles are used in different ways, the explosion of online business, and who the ‘digital elite' are.

Social media - why engagement matters

Tue, 07 May 2013 06:17:59 -0700

Posted by Stephanie Himoff, Managing Director, Outbrain UK

There is no denying that social media is a great communication channel, but it needs to be used as part of an overarching content marketing strategy if brands are to get real value from it...

Golden rules for responding to customer feedback both on and offline

Tue, 07 May 2013 05:01:56 -0700

The growth of social media, and specifically, Facebook and Twitter, has provided some interesting opportunities for brands' customer service teams, several of which are outlined in this Guardian article. It has also delivered them some very tricky challenges too.

Training: Developing your business communication skills - 22 May

Tue, 07 May 2013 04:11:56 -0700

Exciting new course from the CMA for those moving into a client-facing role for the first time, or those who would like a refresher in how to control and manage communication with clients and colleagues.

Why does branded new media still use old media terms?

Tue, 07 May 2013 03:40:35 -0700

Posted by: Paul Keers, London Bureau Chief, White Light Media

As new ways of communicating open up, why do we cling to old and increasingly inappropriate terms, like ‘TV', ‘radio' and ‘magazine', for our branded media? Perhaps it's the clients, or the public, who are comforted by the use of old descriptions, rather than excited by new ones.

Three truths of pitch teams

Tue, 07 May 2013 03:37:18 -0700

Posted by: Martin MacConnol, CEO, Wardour

‘We want to meet the team - the people we will be working with day to day....' Such a short phrase. Such a seemingly good idea. Such a problem for an agency to deal with. When a client utters this phrase it is typically linked to the words: ‘You see, our last agency brought in all the top brass for the pitch who then left us high and dry.'

Tablet publishing is being turned upside down

Tue, 07 May 2013 03:34:44 -0700

Posted by: Mark Rosselli, Chairman, CPL

Just when you thought you'd got the hang of tablet publishing, everything changes...

Things had seemed to be settling down quite nicely after the iPad burst onto the publishing scene in 2010. Publishing to tablets meant creating a nice native app for iPads, which were typically owned by well-off and older ABC1s eager to spend money on content; most tablets never left the home; and the tablet was a platform optimised for 'lean-back', relaxed sessions of content consumption.

Look who's talking: understanding social influence online

Tue, 07 May 2013 03:30:38 -0700

Posted by: Karen Canty, Head of News, Future Foundation

Do influencers really exist? Way back in 2000, when Facebook was but a twinkle in Mark Zuckerberg's eye, Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point introduced the concept of "mavens", the so-called super-consumers brands hungrily pursue as the Holy Grail of engagement. We all knew then that word of mouth was a powerful tool - but really, how influential could an individual be?

Marketing strategy - the long and the short of it

Tue, 07 May 2013 03:27:50 -0700

Posted by: Julia Hutchison, Head of Content, Group FMG

Marketing activity has always traditionally centred around campaign cycles, with activity peaking and troughing throughout the year. But thanks to the digital age in which we now live, consumers are demanding a constant and consistent 24-hour, seven-day a week engagement with brands.

A quick intro to social media in China

Tue, 07 May 2013 03:23:02 -0700

Posted by: Emily Chu, Editor, Tesco Lifestyle, Cedar Shanghai

Nihao! Hello from Shanghai. Things move fast around here. And by that, I mean in terms of communication. Everyone is connected at almost all times of the day, and brand messages surround you wherever you go. Internationally, we are probably all avid users of Whatsapp, Skype, Twitter and Facebook. Unfortunately, the latter two of these are blocked by what we affectionately call the Great Firewall of China.

Week in content marketing: 7th May

Tue, 07 May 2013 03:14:59 -0700

Think wins deal to produce British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy's (BACP) website, CPL launches new title Inspire for Arthritis Care and the fabl give more details of its relaunch of The Bulletin, the members' magazine of the British Frozen Food Federation. Plus how brands are using Tumblr and Vine.

Editorial integrity on the dark side

Tue, 07 May 2013 03:05:38 -0700

Posted by: Dan Fielder, Managing Editor, Sticky Content

Last month, Paul Keers' blog post, Are our ‘supermarket titles' part of the press?, drew attention to the invidious status accorded custom magazines - and by extension, much of content marketing - by the Government's proposed new press regulator. The remit of the post-Leveson legislation is likely to extend to websites such as the Huffington Post and Holy Moly, as well as to ‘gossip and lifestyle magazines such as Heat and Marie Claire', according to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) - but not to ‘bloggers, news aggregators and Twitter users'... or ‘supermarket titles such as Waitrose magazine'.