Neoco’s blog - keep up to date with the best digital marketing agency in the world!

As you can see, the countdown is finally over and our new website is now live! This is just the beta version, so there will be a lot more content and some really cool features coming soon!

Have a look at our new portfolio section, which shows you a selection of the projects that we have worked on - we now have client quotes and pulled out stats for all of our case studies. We also have API’s, social bookmarking and much more, so have a look around.

The most important thing for us though is the site’s new visual design and our new neoco branding. It’s very different, but its very ‘us’

Let us know what you think…

Both myself and Benn will be at June’s Facebook Developers Garage, next Wednesday 4th from 18.30. This month it’s going to cover: VOIP apps for Facebook, Facebook desktop apps and Facebook connect - as well as all the regular updates.

So come down and see us for the latest news on the platform and learn about the new apps to watch. Or if you can’t make it, get in touch and we’ll give you a lowdown.

Viacom are suing YouTube’s video sharing service for its inability to keep copyrighted material off its site. They have identified 150,000 unauthorised television and movie clips on the site, including South Park, SpongeBob SquarePants and MTV Unplugged, which have been viewed tens of thousands of times.

YouTube’s owner Google says that the lawsuit threatens Internet freedom and the millions of people that legitimately exchange information over the web. They maintain that they are faithful to the requirements of the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act and they respond properly to all claims of infrigement, claiming that they go “far beyond its legal obligation in assisting content owners to protect their works”.

However, Viacom disagree and believe they do not live up to standards and have done “little or nothing” to stop infringement. They do not believe they should “tolerate any form of piracy by anyone, including YouTube…they cannot get away with stealing our products”.

The battle is set to head to court…

Google Earth has painted a vivid image in stark colours to show how climate change will affect planet Earth over the next century.

They have used world-leading climate science from the UK’s Met Office Hadley Centre to highlight the predicted global temperatures for the next 100 years - using a mid-range projection of greenhouse gas emissions.

The Climate Change in Our World overlay identifies that everwhere in the world will be affected by global warming. Countries darken from cool blues and light greens to warmer emerald, yellows and even angry reds over the decades.The picture above shows Europe and Africa in 2099, where temperatures will increase between 3 and 12 degrees Celsius.

In a statement, Hilary Benn, UK environment secretary, said: “This project shows people the reality of climate change using estimates of both the change in the average temperature where they live, and the impact it will have on people’s lives all over the world, including here in Britain.”

Remember last year? There was some fabulous sun around April to choruses of “going to be a scorcher” and “the best summer ever”.  This was swiftly followed by rain and general misery throughout the whole of summer.

Well I would like to suggest that this summer will be the best on record. My evidence? Some seriously hot weather in May.  See the picture below of us enjoying ourselves on the grass in St James Park.

It’s gonna be a scorcher!

MySpace was up 3% in April compared to April 2007, with a commanding 58.8 million users, according to data from WOMMA member company Nielsen Online. Facebook grew 56% over the same period and now boasts 22.5 million users. LinkedIn’s audience was up an enormous 361%, leaping from 1.9 million to 8.7 million users. Google’s Blogger was once again ranked the top-visited blog site with 38.4 million users, up 40% from last year.

For the full article, visit: http://www.marketingcharts.com/interactive/top-10-us-social-network-and-blog-site-rankings-issued-for-april-4658/

Borders has gone solo, after its 7 year web sales tie in with Amazon. David Runk of the AP announced that Borders has returned to being an independent online bookstore, with a major facelift designed to increase interest in its brand.

I’ve had a look around the site, borders.com, and think its a really cool and easy to use site. The storefront has rich visuals, with ‘The Magic Shelf’ centrepiece - a browser window that users can interact with to view highlighted books, music, and movies. Users can operate this menu several ways. If you choose on option from the lefthand menu, it will take you to your desired shelf. You can then toggle the arrows at the edges of the window to see all new and/or recommended picks. Or you can simply grab the window and drag your way about the shelves. Whichever way, its great to be given the choice of how you want to browse.
Borders claim that it is refreshing its online storefront not just to compete combating with the likes of Amazon and Barnes & Noble, but also to create a more interactive experience for its customers, with author-contributed shortlists, interviews, and other content. Borders also states that, even with the launch of its new website, it remains open to a sale of the business. According to the AP, Borders announced some two months ago that it might put itself up for sale, and that Barnes & Noble very recently “confirmed it put together a team to study the feasibility of a deal.”

Another project this week sees neoco working on a really cool digital showpiece for Puma and the 2010 World Cup. It’s an internal comms projects which brings to life the strategic positioning of their Puma football brand. The animated showpiece is being developed closely with GBH (Puma’s Brand Design Agency) so it reflects their offline work. The project highlights what makes Puma different from the other brands involved in football (or soccer as some people still insist on calling it).
The showpiece will feature in upcoming Puma keynote presentations.

Part 1: fish drying in the sun outside the office fire escape.

The response to Paramount’s “Indiana Jones” Facebook campaign has been enormous — with all of the 250,000 available Indy-branded Fedora free virtual gifts being snapped up and sent to friends in under 12 hours. The virtual Fedoras linked recipients back to the movie’s Facebook page, where reviews and showtimes were posted. More than 62,000 fans signed up to the Facebook page ahead of the movie’s release. Reviews on the page run the gamut between glowing to scathing, but ultimately the site provides a forum for fans to exchange their points of view and chat about the movie.

I haven’t been to see the movie yet. I really want to as Indy was so big when I was a kid but I feel by not going, it’s a kind of protest against Hollywood and their onslaught of remakes and rehashes from yesteryear… do something original! If I was thinking of going to watch the movie, what is your opinion of it? Bother or not?