Top digital stories this week, incl. Social Brands 100, Jubilee & cookies

Gill Ball, Head of Digital Client Servives

This week Twitter announced it will honour requests from users who do not want their online behaviour tracked. This is in contrast with companies such as Google and Facebook whose business models rely heavily on collecting user data.

Online tracking through code embedded in websites known as “cookies” underpins the business models for many online companies. Data is often used to track behaviour and help provide a more personalised experience. Looks like challenging times ahead for many online businesses with the new EU Privacy Directive coming into effect this month.

From 26th May 2012 all UK websites must offer information and obtain consent from visitors for the use of cookies and other tracking technologies.

And how rigorous will companies be? Only time will tell. Having spoken to various legal teams, there seem to be different views and a real mixed-bag of solutions already out there.

Many have spoken out against the new law claiming it’s simply a restraint to trade online at a time when businesses need all the help they can get. Not surprisingly then, 95% of companies have yet to comply, according to a recent KPMG study.

On the surface this might seem like a dull topic but, as usual with the introduction of new legislation, it’s not without its bumps in the road.

As Zack Whittaker at ZDNet points out, despite the law taking effect over the weekend, EU institutions including the European Parliament and the European Commission are not practicing what they preach. On all European Union institution websites, you will be lucky to find a single page that asks the visitor for permission to set cookies. But they’re using them all the same. Whoops.

And you can always rely on The Daily Mash the lighten the mood. The cookies message at the top of each page is my favourite find of the week.

Saving the world, one photo at a time

Paul Mallett, Managing Partner

These guys from the East Africa Primate Diversity and Conservation Program contacted me this week about a photo I took of a patas monkey in Gambia.

They are putting together species photo maps which track the range of different primates across the whole of Africa.  By tracking the biogeography of different species they aim to provide a resource which can be used in a number of ways, from understanding human impact on species through to migration patterns.

Once upon a time the idea of tracking a species across an entire continent would have been pure science fiction, but now, with the advent of Geo-tagged photography and global online communities such as Flickr, it has become a reality.

All the researchers need to do is to find a photo, review its meta-data and pull it straight into a map and hey presto!

https://picasaweb.google.com/110660747834247503493/ErythrocebusPatas#

Mine’s the cute-looking one on the West Coast

Kleenex Facebook game

This story caught my eye this week as I get hay fever just about every year, and the minute I forget to take the antihistamine in the morning my eyes well up, and I look like I’ve been chopping onions all night.

It’s a nice little Facebook game developed by We Are Social, and is claimed to be the first of its kind to be able to be played and shared through a user’s newsfeed. Players have to empty a box of tissues as quickly as possible and are able to share their scores in their newsfeed. Friends can compete by playing the game in their newsfeed, rather than having to visit the Kleenex fanpage. Mixed with a pollen counter by region and simple tips, I thought it was a neat little campaign.

The Facebook activity forms part of a wider campaign which includes experiential activity and radio sponsorship on Capital FM and Heart FM, with media planning handled by Mindshare.

One is not amused

Leah Kayles, Social Media Editor

Even the most ardent Republicans among us can’t have failed to notice that this weekend is a certain monarch’s diamond Jubilee celebrations. Whether you’re a fan of the royals or not, there’s no escaping the mountains of regal marketing that have flooded our high streets, supermarkets, Facebook newsfeeds, mobile phones and emails over the past few days. Some of it more relevant than others.

Of course, you expect to see Jubilee-themed tins of biscuits, Pimms on special offer and bunting at every turn, but you can’t help get the feeling that some brands might be trying to shoehorn the celebrations in where they don’t quite fit.

A mobile phone company (which shall remain nameless), for example, whose ‘Jubilee’ text message to customers urged them to enjoy the celebrations but, if you’re going abroad, don’t forget to sign up for the data roaming package!

Her Royal Highness would be proud.

Top of the pops for misjudged Jubilee marketing has to be this email, however, which was sent to my male boss:

Hey, what man doesn’t need a new floral tunic to celebrate the Jubilee in?

And brace yourself for plenty more of this to come over the next four days. Still, you can console yourself with the fact that it’s free time off work and an excuse to drink shedloads of Pimms and eat your bodyweight in Jubilee buns. It’s what our Lizzie would want.

Happy Jubilee your Madge.