Most read: Eurostar seeks agency for media business
, which has been handled by Arena since June 2011.
Arif Durrani of ±±¾©Èü³µpk10 magazine said as the high-speed railway service seeks to expand its presence across Europe, it is looking to appoint an agency to oversee media requirements and advise on media strategy.
The five-year contract will include activity in France and Belgium, as well as work in the UK worth £6m. Lionel Benbassat, head of marketing and brand at Eurostar, will be leading the review.
On social: Brands and #GE2015
Today we have scoured social media to track the General Election conversation online. And after clicking various hashtags - including #GE2015, #IVoted, #votingmatters, #election and many more - we’ve created .
A few brands that rose to the occasion included Innocent, which got trending on Twitter.
— innocent drinks (@innocent)
Lastminute.com also took the General Election social media challenge in its stride with a series of election-themed posts, including a game of #MusicalOrManifesto and its own tongue-in-cheek manifesto.
Election day is here. We're playing all day! Here's your starter for 10...
— lastminute.com (@lastminute_com)
If you spot anymore that are worth a mention, tweet us on and we will add in the ones that get our vote into the article.
Data politics: Seat wars
On , REaD Group’s managing director . So much so that the communications company has analysed its own data to see whether the battle to dominate 10 Downing Street is really as close as how it has been previously reported.
The results predict that while Labour has held strong with a predicted 270 seats, the Conservatives seem to be winning the battle with a total of 307.
So where does this leave us? Scott says:
Hopefully it gives us a reason to pause and think about how we use data to understand and predict human behaviour; depending on how it is measured one can get many different results. Irrespective of the outcome of the election, it would be wise for pollsters turn to our big data model of behavioural analytics to inform their tactics.
Scott Logie, managing director, REaD Group
Viral: Save The Children’s Den Day
Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud has teamed up with Save The Children as part of a new video from the charity emulating the home renovating show on miniature proportions.
To mark the launch of Save The Children’s ‘Den Day’ family fundraiser, the spoof film hosted by McCloud’s "protege" goes behind the scenes of an epic den-building project with a team of ‘mini self-builders’.
The result? See for yourself, but McCloud’s response is:
I have seen a lot of amazing structures in my time and can happily confirm the dens built by these kids are some of the most creative I’ve ever seen! Den Day is a fantastic way for children to release their inner architect and create their own grand design for a great cause.
Kevin McCloud
Social gaffs: General Election
It’s been dubbed the ‘social media’ election, and so we would have thought that as a nation we’d have this nailed, right? Wrong. Obviously the early risers were keen to share news of them heading to polling stations - but we're not sure they'd had enough caffeine by that point.
This morning #GE0215 was trending on Twitter, and many brands were quick to step in and report the epic fail:
Should we be worried that trends the day the nation is asked to do something simple like pick a name & put a cross next to it?
— William Hill Betting (@WillHillBet)
The future of a country is in the hands of the people. The people who can't get a hashtag right. not
— Paddy Power (@paddypower)
shoutout to everyone who started their day with a bit of time travelling to vote in , they got up extra early
— Election 2015 (@GdnPolitics)
. It’s the first time it’s been used in a UK General Election, but it has made appearances before in past US and European elections, as well as last year’s Scottish referendum.
While the website initially ranted about the button's overuse, it was quick to praise the social media brand for its analytics behind the tool. Online users have been able to see the peaks and troughs in voter numbers throughout the day, as well as voter demographics.
Does that mean social media managers like myself could soon be out of a job?
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