Monthly Archive for September, 2011

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New push for 4FM

Published by CiaraM on September 6, 2011 in Radio News. 0 Comments Tags: .

Multi-city broadcaster Classic Hits 4FM has launched a new marketing campaign to drive brand awareness and listenership.

The campaign runs on TV, cinema, outdoor and press. The station says it “represents a significant new development” for it, with an investment of more than €500,000 in the new campaign. The campaign will have a strong TV component, with the station becoming the sponsor of ‘Saturday Night Movies’ on TV3 for a period of 14 weeks and a TV3/3e station ‘takeover’, which will see it sponsoring the entire output on both stations over given weekends.

The campaign will also include extensive cinema screen and foyer advertising in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Clare as well as national and local press and extensive outdoor including 48 sheets, six sheets and transport throughout the station’s franchise area.

ASAI Urges Industry to Defend Self Regulation

Published by CiaraM on September 6, 2011 in General News. 0 Comments Tags: , .

With two separate reviews of the codes covering the advertising of food and alcoholproducts underway, the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland (ASAI) has written to the various industry stakeholders calling on them to support and defend the concept of selfregulation in the industry.

A letter from the ASAI’s chairman, Ed McCumiskey, which was sent to agencies and media suppliers this week says that “selfregulation is a vital resource for the industry in defending the right of advertisers to operate without unnecessary statutory regulation. It will only be effective in this regard when it is seen to work and all sections of the industry accept their individual responsibilities to fully operate the system.”

McCumiskey’s letter goes on to state that “the effectiveness of advertising self-regulation is constantly under scrutiny and, at present, Government departments and agencies are considering both the extent of regulation required and the appropriate operating models in areas involving alcohol and diet/nutrition for children. The functions of the Authority are growing and we now regulate the expanding area of digital media. We will shortly take on responsibility for an independent complaints system related to online behavioural advertising and we are the sole regulators for the Code (approved by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland) for commercial communications associated with on-demand services.”

The letter was sent to industry stakeholders following the decision by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland earlier this week to embark on a public consultation on how food and drink should be commercially promoted to children on broadcast media. The public consultation is part of a review by the Authority on the diet and nutrition rules contained in its Children’s Commercial Communications Code. Under the existing rules, commercial communications that are of particular interest to children or those broadcast during children’s programmes are required to be responsible in their messaging and portrayal of food and drink to those aged under 18.

Later this month, it is also expected that the National Substance Misuse Strategy will also publish its interim report on the advertising of alcohol with some sources saying that it could propose a statutory near blanket ban on all alcohol advertising, a move that is likely to enrage both the advertising and media industries as well as the drinks manufacturers

How QR is raising the barcode in marketing

Published by CiaraM on September 6, 2011 in Online News. 0 Comments Tags: .

Ireland is the 10th biggest user of the electronic communication codes scanned by mobiles. Big in Japan. Not so big elsewhere. For several years, that has been the general take on QR (quick response) codes – highdensity, two dimensional barcodes that can be quickly scanned with a mobile phone.

Extensively used in Japan since 1994, where they are ubiquitous on ads and business cards, the codes are little monotone images made up of an abstract collage of squares and oblongs, though there are other variations – several vendors offer a multiple colour format, for example. QR codes most often appear in advertisements, and usually link directly to a webpage with more information on a product, service or event.

Market trends worldwide are shifting rapidly. In an international survey of QR code use, Ireland scanned its way into 10th place internationally in January, according to ScanLife, a QR code company that analyses scan use and traffic for its own codes and those from other companies.

QR code traffic has jumped by in excess of 800 per cent this year over last. The US is now the largest user of QR codes, with more than 14 million people scanning away in June alone, according to the most recent ScanLife report. Over 6 per cent of smartphone users are scanning the codes, found everywhere from products to supermarket displays to magazines to ads on public transport. Some 12 per cent of users even scan them off television, where they appear in ads and on shopping channels.

As usage has accelerated, countries such as China and South Korea have fallen off ScanLife’s top-10 user list while Europe and North and South American nations move upward, helped by booming sales of smartphones. In other words, QR codes aren’t just about Asia anymore, even if it is not clear whether ScanLife’s data reflects the full QR usage picture in Asia.

Internationally, a major take-up barrier has been that users have to chase down scanning applications themselves and download them to their phones, whereas such software is standard in Asian mobiles. However, dozens are available for free online and from app stores. Many companies online, including Google, let anyone create a QR code linking to any URL for free.

Part of the attraction is their versatility. They can offer further product details, link to a coupon, a music download, a game or a competition, or provide contact information. They can bring someone directly to a video, a Twitter or Facebook page, download a business card or even auto-dial a contact number.

In Ireland, the codes are becoming more commonplace in advertisements. They are popping up in newspapers and magazines, on print ad inserts, on billboards, on posters in bus shelters and Dart stations, and on television and webpages.

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