Industry News - January, 2010

Online search engine marketing giant Google saw revenues increase by 17% between October and December, as its advertising earnings jumped strongly. 

Google reported revenues of $6.67bn (£4bn) during the quarter, which were up from $5.7bn a year earlier. Net profit also went up to $1.97bn, but making a comparison with last year's performance is hard o... more...

As Bill Gates finally gets a Twitter account, business experts are still scratching their heads over how Twitter intends to make meaningful revenues that live up to its recent reported $1 billion market valuation.

Twitter offers a microblogging service that lets users post updates, called "tweets", up to 140 characters long. Twitter's COO Dick Costolo stated Twitter plans to introduce ads this year and is talking to potential advertisers.

“We have to catch up to our valuation... more...

Insurer Standard Life has been fined £2.45 million by the City regulator after they inappropriately targeted a £2.2 billion pension fund and used misleading financial marketing material.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) found that Standard Life had published misleading marketing material inaccurately stating that a fund was 100 per cent invested in cash.... more...

The success of insurance marketing character Aleksander Orlov is driving a new boost in advertising spend, recent figures suggest.

Aleksander is the popular meerkat at the heart of price comparison site comparethemarket.com's recent television adverts. According to market analysts Mintel, over 24 million people use price comparison sites each month. With no highstreet ... more...

Spending on online marketing is set to grow strongly in 2010 as businesses become increasingly optimistic about the the UK economy's prospects, a new study suggests.

The Bellwether Report, prepared by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) and accountancy firm BDO Stoy Hayward, indicated internet marketing investement grew during the final quarter of 2009.

Mr An... more...

Financial services giant Santander has launched a mobile and social media game as part of an integrated marketing campaign to rebrand Bradford & Bingley and Abbey.

Their bridge-building puzzle game, called Red Brick, can be played via an iPhone app, mobile game and Facebook app. Scores can be shared via Twitter and Facebook.

Developed by ... more...

Effective insurance marketing can be great at delivering new customers, but it's all in vain if customer service does not live up to their expectations. And in the financial services sector, car and home insurance companies drive the most customers away to other providers through bad service according to a recently published survey.
 
The research found that three o... more...

In a bid to raise standards of practice in marketing financial services online, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has published guidelines relating to advertisers’ use of sponsored links. The initiative also aims to ensure that consumers are treated fairly and not misled when they use keywords to search for information on financial products and services.
 
Available ... more...