Do You Social Network?

The number of ads on Facebook has rocketed by a third in the last year as marketers increasingly look to harness the world’s largest social networking site.

According to ComScore data, Facebook served 19.7bn ads in the UK during May 2010, up from 11.8bn a year before. Traditional brand advertising is driving growth, led by the likes of Virgin Group, Telefonica Europe and Quick Credit Score.

The figures cement Facebook’s position as the biggest online advertising platform in the country, serving almost four times more ads than second-placed Microsoft Sites (4.7bn). Google Sites, eBay and Yahoo Sites complete the top five, with 2.68bn, 2.71bn and 2.4bn ads in the month respectively.

The findings come as the world’s largest advertisers, including Procter & Gamble and Unilever, commit to increasing digital spend in general and on social media in particular. Facebook is preparing to launch a location-based app that will enable users to receive personalised information and advertising based on their current surroundings.

Speaking at the Cannes Ad Festival last month, Mark Zuckerberg, founder and chief executive of Facebook, said: “It’s a really important area, but it’s also a very sensitive one, so we want to make sure we get it right. We’re working on it. We’re pretty close, we’re happy with what we’re getting to.”

Personalised Phone Gadgets

More than a billion mobile phone connections have been added to the global tally in just 18 months, according to Wireless Intelligence; bringing the world wide total to more than five billion connections.

In many regions, penetration exceeds 100%, where there is more than one connection per person in the country. Ben Wood, mobile phone analyst at CCS Insight said the mobile phone may be “the most prolific consumer device on the planet”.

“If you just take the UK in 1987, when the first mobile companies launched, an industry insider predicted a maximum of 10,000 phones…Now almost every adult, child and domestic pet seems to have one, given that 30 million phones are sold every year in the UK,” he said.

With so many of the things, using promotional mobile phone accessories as upmarket marketing tools may not be a bad idea. Gift Selection in conjunction with Gadgets2order can supply practically any personalised phone accessory you can think off.

In their new brochure you will find a branded iPhone case, this plastic hard case can have a full colour print, with a great print area to maximise your design. Another new product is the ‘G Dock’, which is manufactured from recycled cardboard and combines the functionality of a multi-purpose docking station or phone stand with a large 4 colour process for advertising space.

My favourite ‘up market’ gadget is a ‘grippy’ phone holder which is suitable for al mobiles; it has an integral card reader/USB hub and charging adapters for iPhone, Blackberry, Nokia and Sony Erikson phones.

Contact their friendly team for more information!

Personalised Coins

Are you one of those characters who get’s up at the crack of dawn, scouring beaches with their metal detectors, only to find loose change and a ring pull?

Well Dave Crisp, from Devizes in Wiltshire has found one of the largest ever finds of Roman coins in Britain has been made by a man using a metal detector. The hoard of more than 52,000 coins dating from the 3rd Century AD was found buried in a field near Frome in Somerset.

The coins were found in a huge jar just over a foot (30cm) below the surface by “I have made many finds over the years, but this is my first major coin hoard,” he said. After his metal detector gave a “funny signal”, Mr Crisp says he dug down 14in before he found what had caused it. “I put my hand in, pulled out a bit of clay and there was a little Radial, a little bronze Roman coin. Very, very small, about the size of my fingernail.”

Somerset County Council Heritage Service now hope the coroner will declare the find as treasure. That would allow the Museum of Somerset to acquire the coins at market value with the reward shared by Mr Crisp and the land owner.

If you feel a bit cheesed of because you haven’t found a hoard of treasure, you may appreciate some branded chocolate coins. Branded chocolate coins are a fun promotional idea, which can either be fully bespoke, or can be selected from a wide range of existing coin shapes.

Let the friendly team know over at Gift Selection and Sweets2order if you want more fun promotional confectionery ideas.

Top Slogans

We see a lot of slogans and catchphrases branded onto products, some great, others not so great. It was interesting to see this year’s Adslogan’s annual shortlist:

The full list of this year’s contenders:

• The last place you want to go - Dixons, M&C Saatchi
• Let’s colour - Dulux, Euro RSCG London
• Bursting with berryness - Ribena, M&C Saatchi
• Why Britain loves curry - Patak’s, JWT London
• Motion & Emotion - Peugeot, Euro RSCG Paris
• For ladies that crunch - Ryvita, Grey London
• I’d go Directgov - Directgov, MCBD
• The game is just the start - Sony PlayStation 3, TBWA London
• Every dessert deserves a squirt - Anchor, CHI & Partners
• Write the future - Nike, Wieden & Kennedy Amsterdam
• Find the strength - Victim Support, MWO
• There’s method in the Magners - Magners, The Red Brick Road
• Be Stupid - Diesel, Anomaly
• We care because our name’s on it - Warburtons, RKCR/Y&R
• Power to you - Vodafone, Santos Argentina
• It’s great in the middle - Clover, Grey London
• Here for good - Standard Chartered, TBWA Singapore
• Let’s go - Shell, JWT London
• Smell like a man, man - Old Spice, Wieden & Kennedy Portland
• Quality you’d expect at prices you wouldn’t - Waitrose Essential, MCBD

The nominated slogans have to have appeared for the first time since 1 May 2009, and a panel of judges will determine the top three. The panel is made up of representatives from advertising and creative agencies throughout the UK.

Last year’s AdSlogan winner was VCCP’s catchphrase ‘Simples’ for Comparethemarket.com, followed by Lynx Bullett’s ‘Pocket pulling power’ by Bartle Bogle Hegarty New York. In third place was Wall’s ‘We only select the best bits’ by Beattie McGuinness Bungay.

Facebook Fans

If you think your online marketing is going well, you could probably still learn a thing or two from Lady Gaga, who has become the first living person to have more than 10 million fans on Facebook with her tally standing at 10,673,476 (5 July).

According to new research by online site Famecount, the star recently overtook Barack Obama (9,824,885) to claim the number one spot. Despite setting the new record, she’s still only in sixth place overall. Above her are Texas Hold ‘em Poker, Michael Jackson, Mafia Wars, Facebook and the US TV show Family Guy.

Surprisingly I don’t even make the top ten. Daniel Dearlove from Famecount said: “Lady Gaga has seen her fan base across Facebook more than double this year and is currently the fastest growing star; “Achieving 10 million fans is a remarkable testament both to her stardom and to Facebook’s extraordinary reach.”