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Michael Phelps criticised for Frosted Flakes sponsorship deal

Michael Phelps, the eight-time Olympic gold medallist, is suffering a backlash from health campaigners after agreeing to appear on boxes of Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes and Corn Flakes instead of the company’s healthier Wheaties cereal brand.

After winning a record-breaking eight gold medals at the Beijing Games, US swimmer Phelps will appear on Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes and Kellogg’s Corn Flakes cereal boxes from mid-September.

However, some nutritionists have hit out at the move, pointing out that Frosted Flakes (the US equivalent of Frosties) contains three times as much sugar as Wheaties and a third of the fibre. Wheaties traditionally features Olympians on its boxes.

They have argued that Phelps, who already has a sponsorship agreement with McDonald’s, is encouraging already overweight American children to eat more.

Douglas Castle, senior advisor to the Children’s International Obesity Foundation (CIOF), said: "Public figures like Michael Phelps exert a major influence over our youngsters.

"CIOF believes that celebrities should think twice before choosing to endorse or encourage the consumption of any product which is inherently unhealthful (sic) to children, especially if that product is correlated to obesity, diabetes and a myriad of dangerous conditions."

Marta Cyhan, vice-president of global promotions at the Kellogg Company, said: "Michael embodies the values behind our Frosted Flakes Earn Your Stripes programme.

"As an official sponsor of the 2008 US Olympic team and a proud sponsor of Phelps, it is only fitting that Kellogg Company feature this world-class athlete on its iconic boxes of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes and Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes cereals."

Phelps is currently appearing in a Visa commercial which celebrates his record-breaking achievement.

The TBWA/Chiat/Day ad is part of Visa’s ’Go World’ campaign. It features footage showing Phelps’ part in the US swimming team’s 4 x 100 freestyle relay victory.Source

Guide Dogs promotes Sponsor a Puppy scheme with DRTV drive

The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association is releasing in a direct response TV campaign to promote its Sponsor a Puppy fundraising programme.

The campaign, created by TDA, aims to inspire people to support the charity with a monthly direct debit which will help fund a puppy’s training to become a qualified guide dog.

The ad shows an everyday journey that a qualified guide dog and its blind or partially sighted owner might make via public transport, including negotiating steep staircases, crowds, roadworks and cyclists. Footage of the fully trained guide dog is interspersed with that of a puppy in training.

Amanda Mitchell-Francombe, head of individual giving at Guide Dogs, said: "Guide dog puppies undergo extensive training before they are ready to provide a truly life-changing level of independence and freedom to a person with sight loss.

"By sponsoring a puppy people can help to fund the puppy’s training from six weeks to around 20 months of age, when the young dog will qualify as a working guide dog with its new blind or partially sighted owner."

The ad will air on satellite and terrestrial channels including Sky and UKTV from September 15. Viewers will be encouraged to call Guide Dogs or go online to pledge £1 a week to become a Sponsor a Puppy supporter.

Guide Dogs promotes Sponsor a Puppy scheme with DRTV drive

The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association is releasing in a direct response TV campaign to promote its Sponsor a Puppy fundraising programme.

The campaign, created by TDA, aims to inspire people to support the charity with a monthly direct debit which will help fund a puppy’s training to become a qualified guide dog.

The ad shows an everyday journey that a qualified guide dog and its blind or partially sighted owner might make via public transport, including negotiating steep staircases, crowds, roadworks and cyclists.

Footage of the fully trained guide dog is interspersed with that of a puppy in training.

Amanda Mitchell-Francombe, head of individual giving at Guide Dogs, said: "Guide dog puppies undergo extensive training before they are ready to provide a truly life-changing level of independence and freedom to a person with sight loss.

"By sponsoring a puppy people can help to fund the puppy’s training from six weeks to around 20 months of age, when the young dog will qualify as a working guide dog with its new blind or partially sighted owner."

The ad will air on satellite and terrestrial channels including Sky and UKTV from September 15. Viewers will be encouraged to call Guide Dogs or go online to pledge £1 a week to become a Sponsor a Puppy supporter. Source

Microsoft acquires Ciao shopping portal in $486m deal

Microsoft is acquiring market research firm Greenfield Online for $486m (£265.8m), but will only keep its European shopping comparison business Ciao and sell off its online surveys business to an undisclosed buyer.

The Seattle-based software giant has muscled in on a previously agreed $426m deal for private equity firm Quadrangle to buy Greenfield. Microsoft said it would integrate Ciao’s technology platform, online community and retailer relationships within its Live Search platform.

Ciao was founded in Munich in 1999 and was acquired by US-based Greenfield in 2005. It operates in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Sweden, and is the most popular shopping portal across Europe with 26.5m users per month according to ComScore.

It competes with Yahoo-owned Kelkoo, eBay’s Shopping.com, Experian’s PriceGrabber and Google Product Search (formerly known as Froogle).

The deal is expected to go through in the fourth quarter, after which Ciao will report to Rajat Taneja, general manager for worldwide search at Microsoft.

John Mangelaars, vice-president of consumer and online at Microsoft Europe, Middle East and Africa, said: "Ciao’s success has been led by a team of talented people who took a unique combination of intuitive technology and the insight that comes out of their passionate consumer community to become one of Europe’s leading shopping comparison sites.

"This makes the company a fantastic asset to the future of our search offer. Integrating Ciao’s capabilities into Live Search will provide a strong launchpad for our commercial search offer in Europe and enhance our e-commerce offering on MSN."

The related sale of Greenfield Online’s survey business is also expected to go through in the fourth quarter. No information as to the identity of the buyer Microsoft has found has been released, apart from the disclosure that it is a financial rather than a trade buyer. Source

AOL UK and Russell Grant launch interactive astrology service

AOL UK is to partner with Russell Grant Astrology to launch a new and enhanced Horoscope channel.

In addition to the traditional star-gazing content, the site includes new features such as the introduction of daily video horoscopes delivered personally by Grant.

Detailed forecasts for any sign are available, with weekly or monthly forecasts to reveal what the stars have in store. Interacting with AOL’s horoscope site, users can "Ask the Psychic" — a new service where readers can email even their most personal questions to the site’s team of psychics for a bespoke answer.

Joanna Bickmore, director of lifestyle & entertainment at AOL Europe, said: "AOL and Russell Grant working together provides a great opportunity to bring exciting content to consumers.

"We strive to offer users a compelling online experience and currently reach more than 17m unique visitors across the UK AOL network.

Kevin J Parker, sales and marketing director of Russell Grant Astrology, said: "With the experience and brand positioning of AOL it was an obvious synergy to partner with such a strong online brand. AOL continues to drive innovation and enhance the user experience and I am privileged that we can provide high quality entertaining content to further engage the users."

The partnership is the latest content deal that AOL has signed this year and follows a partnership with Last.fm that allows AOL Radio users to benefit from Last.fm’s free-on-demand service.

AOL also signed a deal with instyle.co.uk, the online arm of fashion and style bible In Style, owned by IPC Media.

Bickmore said: "Deals such as these represent AOL’s commitment to working with the world’s leading content providers and publishers to provide our users and advertisers with the most compelling offering on the market." Source

MySpace passes Yahoo! to take US display ad lead

SAN FRANCISCO - News Corporation’s Fox Interactive Media and its group of websites, led by MySpace, have overtaken Yahoo! in the US online display market measured by number of ads viewed, according to new research.

Fox Interactive’s sites attracted 56.8bn ad views in June compared to 53.1bn ad views on Yahoo!’s sites, a drop of around 12% from May, according to comScore.

However Yahoo! display ads are reportedly sold at five times the price of ads on MySpace, which has had trouble pulling in the higher rates of rivals Yahoo! and AOL.

The News Corp-owned site said it was closing the gap on its competitors in terms of display ad revenue after the revamp of its home page in June, which has attracted big-name sponsors such as fast-food chain Wendy’s.

Yahoo! raised concerns about comScore’s measurement methodology following the release of the results. In response, comScore said that Yahoo! had experienced an "organic decline" in display ad views, which was unrelated to any changes in the company’s measurement methods.

It is a further blow for Yahoo! and its embattled management led by chief executive Jerry Yang. Source

Yahoo bosses under fresh pressure

Bosses at US internet firm Yahoo are under fresh pressure after it emerged that opposition to them at its recent AGM was far greater than first thought.

The outcome of shareholder votes were revised after technical glitches meant some votes had not been counted.

The revisions show that 33.7% voted against the re-election of chief executive Jerry Yang - much more than the 14.6% figure first published.

Yahoo bosses came under fire for their handling of Microsoft’s recent bid.

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Yahoo rejected Microsoft’s $47.5bn offer, arguing that it undervalued the firm’s assets and future business prospects.

Some investors believe Yahoo was too hasty in spurning the offer and has not come up with an alternative strategy for future growth.

Rebel investor Carl Icahn, a critic of Mr Yang and the current management, negotiated three seats on the board following a long campaign against the firm.

Revised details of the votes cast at the recent annual shareholder meeting will increase the pressure on Mr Yang and his fellow directors.

The voting process was reviewed after a major shareholder, Capital Research Global Investors, complained that its votes weren’t properly reflected in the official outcome.

’Pressure’

Following an audit, it was found that 100 million shares had not been accurately reflected, a situation blamed on a printing mix-up by an intermediary processing firm.

The new figures show that nearly 40% of shares were withheld from the re-election of chairman Roy Bostock, not 20% as originally indicated.

Other directors also faced higher protest votes against re-election than it first seemed although none of the original results will be overturned.

"It is important for Yahoo’s board to understand there is still pressure on them," said hedge fund manager and Yahoo shareholder Eric Jackson.

"I thought Yahoo’s board was kind of let off the hook last week when they didn’t really deserve to be."

In a statement, Yahoo noted there had been what it described as a "tabulation error" in the results but stressed this had not affected the outcome of the election of directors.

Source

Oasis have announced plans to perform a one-off gig for their fans in London.

The band will perform tracks from their new album, Dig Out Your Soul, live to a select audience at a rehearsal studio in the capital.

Fans who have signed up to Oasis’ official website are being offered the chance to enter a draw for the gig by posting their details on the site.

The concert will be the Manchester five-piece’s first before they hit the road for a world tour later this year.

Future broadcast

The gig, which will be held on 14 August, will be filmed and may be broadcast in the future.

The closing date for the draw will be three days prior to the gig.

Oasis’ seventh album, Dig Out Your Soul, will be released on 6 October.

The first single to be lifted from the record will be Shock Of The Lightning, which is due out on 29 September.

The album was recorded with producer Dave Sardy at Abbey Road Studios and mixed in Los Angeles.

Source

Leona Lewis up for US MTV award

Leona Lewis, Duffy and The Ting Tings are amongst the acts nominated for a special British prize at September’s MTV Music Video Awards in the US.

The pop acts go up against Coldplay and Estelle in the Best UK Video category, with the winner decided by public vote.

It has already been announced that comic Russell Brand, who caused a stir when he hosted the 2007 Brit Awards, will present the show.

The ceremony takes place at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles on 7 September.

Nominations for the VMAs are being revealed on a weekly basis in the run-up to the awards.

Britney Spears, who made a shambolic "comeback" performance at last year’s show, stands to win best female video for her hit single Piece Of Me.

She faces competition from Jordin Sparks, Katy Perry, Mariah Carey and R&B star Rihanna.

Among the male artists vying for a coveted moonman statuette are Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, Usher, TI and Flo Rida.

Categories to be announced in the coming weeks include video of the year, best rock video, best new artist and best dancing in a video.

On 6 November, the MTV Europe music awards take place at Liverpool’s Echo Arena.

Source

1st - 3rd Festival of British Eventing, Gatcombe Park, Glos

1st - 23rd Edinburgh Military Tattoo, Edinburgh Castle, Scotland

2nd - 9th Skandia Cowes Week Sailing Regatta

2nd - 9th Royal National Eisteddfod, Powys, Wales

3rd - 23rd Edinburgh Fringe Festival

4th Summer Bank Holiday (Scotland & Ireland)

7th Ballater Highland Games, Ballater, Royal Deeside, Scotland

8th - 31stEdinburgh International Festival

19th - 22nd Tote Ebor Race Meeting, York 

24th - 25th Notting Hill Carnival, London

25th Summer Bank Holiday (UK)

29th -31st Chatsworth Country Fair, Bakewell, Derbyshire  

Communications Director & Senior PR Manager, Abbott

Location: Maidenhead, Berkshire

Sector: Consumer Goods

Salary: Attractive salary & benefits

Looking for a meaningful role where what you say could make a difference to the lives of others?As one of the top global healthcare companies and an award-winning local employer in the UK, we have a lot of good messages to share, and rely on a first-class team of communicators to bring Abbott and its brands to life. In its role as a strategic business partner, our Communications team is renowned for its dynamism and expertise in a range of disciplines from product PR to corporate communications, medical education to public affairs.We’re looking for two skilled communicators to join our expert team. With a fantastic salary package, excellent benefits and a vibrant work environment on offer, why not see if your experience matches one of our roles?Head of Communications on 01628 644582 or visit http://www.abbott.co.uk 

Media Relations Executive – Life Insurance, AXA Location: Bristol Position: Media Relations Executive – Life Insurance

Salary: Up to £36,300

Handling press enquiries, generating media coverage, influencing key decision makers, building relationships with journalists, promoting and defending the external reputation of our organisation, products and services – these are just some of the challenges you’ll face as part of our Media Relations Team. You’ll support and assist in the implementation of our media relations programme, ensuring that it works closely with our wider overall strategy. Confident at building relationships, you’ll have a degree level or a relevant qualification with a solid understanding of the media, ideally alongside financial services industry knowledge. Closing date: Thursday 31 July.Contact: http://jobs.axa.co.uk/ 

Director – Marketing, Communications & Audiences, BBC

Location: London

Position: Director – Marketing, Communications & Audiences

UK and global audiences connect with the BBC’s creative, original and innovative content to be inspired, educated and informed. As a member of the BBC Executive Board this role offers an unrivalled opportunity for a talented, inspirational individual to help shape the future direction of the BBC.You will provide leadership and expertise managing a multi-discipline team operating across the BBC on marketing, internal and external communications, branding and global audience analysis.Contact:  0370 333 1330 or Textphone 02890 328 478    

Head of Media & Public Affairs, Becta Location: Coventry

Position: Head of Media & Public Affairs

Salary: £45,951 to £56,222 Becta leads the national drive to inspire and lead the effective and innovative use of technology throughout learning. It is our ambition to create a more exciting, rewarding and successful experience for learners of all ages and abilities, enabling them to achieve their potential.

Benefits: Final salary pension, 31.5 days holiday plus 8 bank holidays, free car parking & flexible working.Working with the Director of Marketing and Communications, you will establish Becta’s overall media and public affairs strategy, with lead accountability in driving and directing Becta’s profile in the media and amongst key stakeholders, including government.This will involve working closely with senior management to develop and deliver a strategic programme, applying a wide range of creative initiatives, to raise awareness of the role of Becta and its communication campaigns. Acting as the focus for all media enquiries, you will manage the day-to-day operations within the media office, establish a network of reliable media and develop and manage a series of high profile media events in conjunction with external agencies. You should have demonstrable experience of management within a media office, along with an in-depth understanding of media relations and public affairs, including proactive and reactive media handling, crisis communications, and briefings both written and in person. You should also be a strong negotiator with good levels of judgement to take appropriate decisive actions.Closing date for applications: 15/08/08. Interviews to be held: 09/09/08.Contact: www.becta.org.uk/vacancies.  

Public Affairs Events/Office Manager, BSkyB

Location: Osterley, West London Sector: Media - Television

Position: Public Affairs Events/Office Manager

Salary: Competitive salary + benefits

BSkyB - Driven by a passion for entertainment. That’s Sky. Now one of the world’s largest broadcasters with more than eight million subscribers in one in three UK homes, we’re driving ambitious growth plans in our quest to become the nation’s no.1 entertainment choice.The purpose of the Public Affairs Events / Office Manager is to manage the Public Affairs team, acting as first point of contact for internal and external stakeholders. You’ll take lead and manage the organisation of public affairs events and provide administrative support to all members of the team.Key Responsibilities:Public Affairs event management – liaising with suppliers, sponsors and speakers; sourcing venues; managing invitations, logistics, catering etc. Proactively manage relationships with internal and external stakeholders and organisations including political parties, MP’s and other key stakeholders. Manage the finances of the Public Affairs team and work collaboratively with the other areas in Corporate Affairs and across the business. Office management – diary management and travel arrangement; ensuring smooth running of the department through liaison with HR, IT and other site services; holidays/absence; production of PowerPoint presentations for internal and external stakeholders; additional ad hoc duties that may arise.What we are Looking for:An experienced Events/Office Manager with demonstrable interest in politics and public affairs, presenting a credible, professional image as the face of the Public Affairs team at Sky. Project/Events Management qualification or significant compensating experience. Outstanding administrative skills with advanced knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. A strong team player who demonstrates confidence and credibility, excellent communications skills and works hard to deliver results.Based in Osterley, West London. Travel to other sites throughout the UK may be required. As a valued employee of Sky you will benefit from Free Sky + and broadband, pension, private health care and share save schemes with access to a range of discounts including dental, holidays, mobile phones, magazines and DVDs.And being the world’s first carbon neutral entertainment company, we take pride in our efforts to respect the environment, so we also offer discounts on cycles used for travelling to work, and eco-friendly cars.Sky - Believe in better Sky genuinely values the diversity of its people. Because the differences between us make us what we are.Contact: http://jobs.sky.com/