Global Radio’s Xfm has inked an eight-month partnership deal with Ford in the UK which will see the Ford Sync in-car entertainment system sponsor the radio station’s Xfm Presents series of live-music events. The deal covers all Xfm’s live-music activity including the Xfm Presents gigs which have recently seen performances from Suede at Barfly in London’s Camden and Biffy Clyro at the Borderline in Soho. Exclusive video content and audio from a selection of the sessions will be available for playback on a brand-new hub at xfm.co.uk, with music content specialists LoveLive producing all the content.
Latest FeaturesFeed
Ford in SYNC with Xfm
Cars in the Tweet
The more Tweets prospective UK car buyers see, the higher the likelihood that they will search for car brands and pursue offline activities such as signing up for a test drive or looking for a car dealership, according to the Tweets in Action: Auto study from Twitter and Compete.
Seeking youth brands
The Beans Group is about to begin researching young people’s top brands for 2013. As we did last summer, the aim is to find the most-loved brands right now among 18-24s from a list of over 400 names, and create the Youth 100. Last year, YouTube, Google, Cadbury, Amazon and the BBC were among the top ten brands overall. How will they fare this time? Now is the opportunity to submit new entries to be included on our short-list.
The rise of mobile advertising
At M&C Saatchi, the ‘Brutal Simplicity of Thought’ is our guiding philosophy, says Maurice Saatchi*. We believe that no matter what the medium, it is the thought process that should apply to all forms of advertising – including mobile, which is becoming increasingly important to brands as a means to engage and target relevant consumers. And yet the incredible rise of mobiles and tablets presents new challenges and concerns to advertisers, perhaps making mobile advertising appear more complicated than it should be.
Look out brands, here comes code
We’re in the middle of a second creative revolution, driven by technology, says Google. You see, code is being added to the creative process, and that’s enabling new forms of brand expression and engagement. “Art, copy and code is the creative team for the connected world,” says the search giant on its Think Insights platform.
The Peruvian H20 billboard
The first billboard to grab drinking water from thin air has produced 15,000 litres of the wet, potable stuff in six months. And since the billboard’s arrival at the end of 2012 in Bujama, a small village community just south of Peru’s capital city, Lima, residents now have access to an average of 96 litres of drinking water a day. The $32,600 billboard works by using a panel with a condenser and filter to trap humidity in the air. The water is stored in tanks at the top of the structure before flowing down a pipe to a tap accessible to everyone walking by.
Facebook boosts brands on Instagram
Two-thirds of leading brands are using Instagram, reaching more than 100 million active monthly users on Facebook, a 500 percent increase in users since the social network acquired the company one year ago, according to Simply Measured.
The research firm says more than 2 million likes, comments and shares of Instagram photos have occurred on Facebook since the acquisition.
Brand athlete Neymar
Brazilian footballer Neymar is the most valuable athlete brand on the planet, topping SportsPro/Eurosport’s annual 50 Most Marketable Athletes ranking for a second successive year. Barcelona’s Lionel Messi is second, with golfer Rory McIlroy in third spot. The list ranks athletes according to their marketing potential over the next three years, with judging criteria including age, home market, charisma, willingness to be marketed and crossover appeal.


