The Marketing Advertising Design Agency

The home of creative thinking

 

in our news:

One Mad House is Never Enough: New Mad offices for the Mad Agency.
To cope with the overflow of creative ingenuity that’s running rife throughout the premises, the MAD agency have expanded their offices in Wimborne, Dorset, to help house it all.

Leaving the photography and design studio behind in the old barn, the directors, PR department, production and accounts have moved across the tennis court into the newly renovated site. The new offices have been decked out from head to toe in custom designed wallpaper, advanced technology and bespoke furniture; including a floating table for out of this world board meetings.

The barn has made the successful transformation from 17th century calf sheds into an ideas superstore. The new MAD house is the ideal environment to accomplish amazing things. Arrange a visit to discuss your creative needs and be inspired by these surroundings yourself.

 

in the news:

Recycling falling short
The recycling agreement struck between the London Lite, thelondonpaper and Westminster council is falling short of targets set by the local authority. In January, Westminster Council said that it expected the recycling scheme to ensure the emptying and recycling of nearly 400 tonnes of free newspapers a year. According to a report on MediaGuardian.co.uk, council figures have revealed that in the six months since the recycling scheme launched, bins placed at key points in central London have collected 120 tonnes of paper, the equivalent of 1,920 trees. During the six-month period the council collected 465 tonnes of waste paper from its 153 on-street recycling bins. A Westminster council spokeswoman told MediaGuardian.co.uk: "The 400 [tonnes target] was always a maximum figure based on all bins being out at all times. "We are very proud of what we have achieved so far but still we want to do more."
The publishers of the two titles, News International and Associated Newspapers, installed 70 new recycling bins in central London in January after Westminster Council had threatened to cut distribution points by 30%, with distributors also threatened with having to sweep up within a 100 metre radius at the end of each shift. The two companies each installed 35 bins in the West End and Victoria at a cost of £500 each. SOURCE MediaTel NewsLine.

Daily Mail Revenues up
Daily Mail and General Trust, owner of the Daily Mail newspaper, has reported a 5% year-on-year rise in its third-quarter revenues, as its national newspapers offset ad revenue declines with circulation gains and its business divisions continued to grow. Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mail, Evening Standard and Metro newspapers, registered a marginal 0.4% rise in total revenues to £243m. Circulation revenues, which make up nearly half of Associated's print revenues, were 4% higher than the same period last year, reflecting the increase in the Daily Mail's cover price in April from 45p to 50p. Total advertising revenues in the period dropped by 3%, with strong growth in digital ad revenues offsetting a fall in print revenues. Northcliffe Media, the company's regional newspaper division, was worst hit. Its total revenues for the quarter were down 7% compared to the same period last year. Excluding acquisitions and disposals made in the prior year, underlying revenues were down 5% to £102m. This fall came on the back of weakening ad revenues, which were 11% lower than the same period last year. All major ad categories fell, particularly in property, which dropped 25%. However, DMGT's overall revenues increased due to continued growth in its business-to-business divisions. DMG Information, which invests in and manages business-to-business information companies, reported a 6% rise in third quarter revenues to £78m. The division continues to experience strong trading except in its two principal property information companies, Landmark (UK) and EDR (US), which are affected by the current market conditions. DMG World Media, the company's events division, grew its revenues by 43% in the period to £49m. SOURCE BrandRepublic.e

Best direct marketing media
Customer magazines are the most relevant and informative form of direct marketing, according to a new report. The Participation Media report by the DMA and APA found that customer magazines generate the highest level of positive response from consumers. Over 50% of consumers read customer magazines and view them positively. The survey also reveals customer magazines to be the most passed on media, with 5% of consumers passing magazines on to friends and colleagues, while 37% file away magazines to read at a later date. Customer magazines were also found to be the second most successful channel at driving retail traffic, behind TV and radio advertising. Julia Hutchison, APA chief operating officer, said: "I am thrilled that customer magazines have once again topped the survey. "It reinforces what we in the customer publishing sector have known for a long time - that customer magazines are both welcomed by consumers and deliver fantastic return on investment for brands and organisations." SOURCE MediaTel NewsLine.

Google is Britains Top Superbrand
Google has been named as Britain's top Superbrand, beating Microsoft and Mercedes Benz, according to a new report published today. The search engine giant came top in a list of 500 brands available in the UK, ahead of Apple, the BBC and Sony. Microsoft fell to second place in this year's survey, although it is still ahead of rival Apple, which despite the rent launch of the iPod and iPhone, just missed out on a place in the top 10. The survey was compiled by the Centre for Brand Analysis and reflects the opinions of 2,200 members of the British public. Sony took 10th place, beaten by BMW at seven, Bosch at eight, and Nike at nine. SOURCE MediaTel NewsLine.

Design will see us through the downturn, says Sorrell
Sir John Sorrell is promoting design as a force for good that will see the UK through the economic downturn it currently faces. ‘I believe that the greatest creativity happens in adversity,’ he says. ‘And I believe creativity in adversity is the key to success. I believe in the power of design to solve problems and [foster] innovation.’

He continues, ‘Design for me is the powerhouse of the creative industries. It is the catalyst that restarts the economic engines of nations.’ As chairman of the London Design Festival, Sorrell was speaking in London last week to an audience of LDF partners and media. He said the sixth festival, scheduled for September, will ‘take place in a very different context to the past five’. ‘The past ten years have seen a pretty good time – and the past five years a boom time – for design,’ he said. ‘This time, there is doom and gloom around, but when the going gets tough, design gets going.’ SOURCE Design Week

Sun Online named most popular newspaper site
The Sun Online has been named the most popular online newspaper brand in the UK today, in a contentious report by ComScore that significantly differs from the official ABCe rankings topped by Guardian.co.uk.

According to ComScore’s panel-based measuring system of UK users, News International’s online offering, which incorporates content from The Sun and News of the World tabloids, and microsites Page 3.com, Dream Team, Sun Bingo and F1 Dream Team, attracted 4.3 million visitors in March.
This equates to nearly 30 per cent of all pages viewed in the newspaper sector and places it ahead of Guardian.co.uk with 3.6 million visitors, the Telegraph Group’s 2.8 million and Times Online’s 2.6 million. SOURCE Mad.co.uk

Google to strengthen relationship with Yahoo!
Google has said it will strengthen its relationship with Yahoo!, fuelling recent speculation the two companies will develop an on-going ad-share deal. The two internet giants recently underwent a two-week trial that saw Google ads served on Yahoo.com.

Ahead of a shareholders meeting, Google co-founder Sergey Brin confirmed the success of the trial and that two companies were looking at other possibilities. SOURCE Mad.co.uk