The News International-owned redtop, The Sun is to publish a 3D edition of the paper the week before the World Cup kicks off in South Africa. The full colour 3D edition will contain 3D colour ads and editorial, including its own 3D “Page 3. “Readers will also be supplied with 3D glasses. An advertising campaign promoting this novel one-off publication will kick off in May and the paper will be substantially increasing its print run to support the anticipated demand. The growing 3D trend within the media and entertainment industries will also see the World Cup being filmed in 3D for the first time. According to FIFA, up to 25 of the games will be captured using 3D cameras.
Along with announcing a whole host of new iPhone operating system features Apple have announced that it plans to rollout interactive in-application advertising. To date, any in-application advertising has been limited to text and also an image in some cases. What that means is that we’re going to start seeing a lot more ads inside of apps and interactive and video content ads are going to be served up without leaving the app. You can also return to your app enjoyment at any time by closing out of the ad. Apple has reported its best non-holiday quarter on record after nearly doubling its profit on what it called ‘staggering’ sales of iPhones. Revenue for the three months to March 27 rocketed to $13.5 billion, nearly 50% up compared with a year earlier. Apple said its net profit in the most recent quarter rose to $3.07 billion from $1.62 billion a year ago. These figures do not include the I Pad which launched in April so these will be accounted for in the next quarterly update.
Finally in Apple news, iTunes now sells and rent movies to Irish customers. This was a service which was previously unavailable through the store but now renters have 30 days to watch the film before it removes itself from their iTunes account.
Pop fans will be in with a chance to meet Rihanna thanks to Nokia and Meteor’s new promotion for the new Nokia X6 or Nokia 5230. Customers can download a free, exclusive version of Rihanna’s album ‘Rated R’ from the Nokia Music Store with purchases of either the new Nokia X6 or Nokia 5230 music phone only on the Meteor network. This new offer includes an exclusive bonus track, ‘Hole in my Head’. To celebrate the new promotion, Nokia and Meteor are offering customers the prize of the chance to meet Rihanna face-to-face at her concert in Belfast on 24 May 2010.
Internet company AOL has announced plans to sell or shut down the social networking site Bebo. The company said it was unable to provide the “significant investment” Bebo needed to compete with its social networking rivals. The news comes just two years after AOL bought the site for $850m (£417m at the time). A strategic evaluation of the company is expected to be completed by the end of May. Buyers will be sought for the company, but analysts expect the selling price to be significantly lower than the price paid by AOL. Bebo has been struggling against more popular rivals such as Facebook, AOL said.
“Bebo, unfortunately, is a business that has been declining and, as a result, would require significant investment in order to compete in the competitive social networking space,” Jon Brod of AOL Ventures told employees in an e-mail. “AOL is committed to working quickly to determine if there are any interested parties for Bebo.”
Quarter 1 cinema admissions for 2010 reveal a year on year increase of 1.2%.
More than 1.5 million Irish movie-goers went to their local cinema last month, an impressive 14.7% increase on March admissions for 2009.
Blockbusters, such as Tim Burton’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and Martin Scorsese’s latest thriller. ‘Shutter Island’, were responsible for drawing in the big crowds, each grossing €3.5 and €1.5 million respectively at the box office so far this year. This growth trend looks likely to continue over the upcoming summer months with blockbusters to suit the taste of every demographic due for release throughout May, June and July. Guaranteed hits such as ‘Sex and the City 2’ and the third instalment of the hugely successful Twilight franchise ‘The Twilight Saga’s Eclipse’ promise to be the must-see female movies of the year.
Adrenaline junkies will be satisfied with action and adventure blockbusters such as Ridley Scott’s “Robin Hood”, “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” starring Jake Gyllenhaal, and the much-anticipated remake of the cult classic ‘The A-Team’ featuring Liam Neeson and Bradley Cooper.
Over one third of 15-34 year olds say they go to the cinema every month (ROI Film Monitor 2008) and all younger demographics list it as their first choice leisure activity ahead of playing computer games and watching TV.
As part of the 9 Countries, 9 Men, 1 Winner competition, Calvin Klein used a Digiadvan which toured London offering members of the public the chance to vote for the person they would like to be the next Calvin Klein model. Utilising the touch screen technology encased in the Digiadvan, the target audience was able to interact with the screen and place their vote right there on the street. Over 1,000 votes were accumulated in two days.
RTE 2fm has launched a new marketing campaign as part of the on-going repositioning work around the station. The campaign, which went live at the end of March was overseen by new station head John McMahon. Cawley Nea delivered the creative to market with media-buyer Vizeum. The campaign which is the first 360 degree marketing push by 2fm, will see executions air across Irish television and on RTE Radio 1 and 2fm, with a strong outdoor, transport and 48-sheet push. An online campaign will focus on the website RTE.ie as well as other popular social media sites.
At just over €7m the annual cycle 3-4 increase is +€89,198 or +1%
The largest increases by category YOY in Feb were seen across food retail and finance. The largest decreases YOY were in Telecoms, Motors, Entertainment and the Media.
In mid April Newstalk announced the return of Eamon Dunphy with a new current affairs programme for Sunday mornings – The Dunphy Show which started on Sunday 18th April and will run every Sunday from 11am – 1pm
Eamon Dunphy commented “I’m looking forward to returning to Newstalk, at a time of important national debate. We’re going to get quality guests to provide us with informed and rigorous analysis. There will be no time for spinners or spoofers.”
A week and half after the Newstalk announcement Today FM sent out a press release that they will be shaking up its Sunday mornings with the Sunday Business Show running from 10am – 11am each week . with show anchors Ted Harding and Conall O’Morain, presenting on alternate weeks, discussing all the latest news, policies and market movements, and how they affect your pocket. The airwaves are then handed over to Sam Smyth at 11am who will bring us through the morning with Sam Smyth on Sunday (formerly Sunday Supplement). Featuring the usual wide-ranging guest panel gathered around the table to discuss the morning papers and review the big stories of the week.
Watch this space to see who comes out on top in the next JNLR!
Out of respect for the late Gerry Ryan, the JNLR release date has been pushed back to next Thursday, May 13th.
