With its commitment to stay on the leading edge of technology, and so many of its clients wanting the very latest in mobile and tablet applications, Interdirect is working on an innovative idea that enables the real world to collide with the virtual, bringing a little bit of magic to your ordinary logo, product packaging, poster etc. Free applications such as Blippar enable you to view interactive content by using your camera to hover over a static image, bringing your brand to life; and Interdirect is working with technologies that will enable it to embed these facilities within its clients' own applications.

Augmented Reality is emerging technology that will enable Interdirect to take its clients' ideas and turn them into a creative, fun and interactive experience. By holding up your phone or tablet (must have a camera) you will receive an instant response - whether a web link, video, audio, coupon or even a 3D product experience, game, or even a cookery book!

Nicholas Mann, founder and managing director of Interdirect says: “This new technology enables Interdirect to develop interactive experiences like no other, and is a natural successor to the QR code. I am very excited about the scope of augmented reality – the possibilities are endless!"

Inspired by BBC Radio One’s ‘Scottish is’ song for this year’s T in the Park, Interdirect’s PR team has decided to put together its very own version to let you know what PR is, and what it means to your business.

id:pr is... understanding the art of journalism, how to spot a good story, who to target and what to say,

It’s about working with journalists, not harassing them.

id:pr is... working hard to showcase the positives, and even harder to correct the negatives.

It’s press coverage generation, editorial writing, opinion pieces, media research, speaking opportunities, and social media management.

id:pr is... knowing our client’s products and services better than they know them themselves,
It’s about listening to, and understanding that our clients want bang for their buck.

id:pr is... strategically helping the media, our client’s peers, and ultimately their customers to hear what their business has to offer

It’s media relations, event PR, in-house guidance and consultancy.

id:pr is... getting our client’s published in local, regional and national newspapers, magazines, trade press, and online,

Its working with our marketing and digital media teams to offer our clients a fully integrated service.

id:pr is...

We want to know what ‘PR is’ to you - click here and leave your comments on the ID blog now.

With the growth of online shopping at its fastest for three years, should shopping centres be feeling cautious about the future?

With the growth of online shopping at its fastest for three years, and the latest figures from IMRG (Interactive Media in Retail Group) revealing that shoppers spent a whopping £5.1billion online during March 2011, should shopping centres be feeling cautious about the future?

Interdirect says that with good PR, including positive media relations, working with local partners, promoting events, and developing internal communication, and an interactive and innovative online presence, shopping centres have little to worry about.

Whilst it is convenient to shop online, there is no beating the ‘retail therapy’ and social interaction aspect of visiting a shopping centre, where you can spend the day with friends or family trying before you buy and taking the time to enjoy  hundreds of shops under one roof.

Working alongside online retail, shopping centres can offer a ‘real life’ experience that is what ‘a night out with friends’ is to ‘a night on facebook’ - it doesn’t compare!  And if shoppers feel the need to stay digitally connected when in the ‘real world’, now they can, with many shopping centres providing touch screen technology to communicate more effectively with customers, offering interactive services, such as way-finding. 

By driving publicity in both traditional and online media, shopping centres can increase footfall and get more people shopping in store.

Firefox 4 is unveiled as Mozilla attempts to claim back a portion of its market share after the success of Chrome and IE9.

This month saw Mozilla proudly release the latest incarnation of its hugely successful, free and open source Web browser in the form of Firefox 4.

Firefox 4 is the fastest Firefox yet. With dramatic speed and performance advancements across the board, Firefox is between two and six times faster than previous releases. Major enhancements to the JavaScript engine make everything from start up time to page load speed to graphics and JavaScript performance screaming fast in Firefox.

The latest version of Firefox introduces a sleek new look that lets Web content take centre stage. With features like App Tabs and Panorama, Firefox makes it easier and more efficient to navigate the Web. Firefox delivers industry-leading privacy and security features like Do Not Track and Content Security Policy to give users control over their personal data and protect them online.

The launch of the browser saw it beat Internet Explorer 9’s launch tally by more than double, with 6 million downloads in its first day. Microsoft’s new Internet Explorer 9 saw a return to form for the companies’ web browser which for many years has received poor reviews from the tech community. Firefox 4, however, appears to have set the bar even higher, bringing in faster page loading and improved privacy and security. The browser also includes WebM video and WebGL 3D graphics and, unlike Internet Explorer 9,it is compatible with Windows XP. The new WebGL 3D will allow developers to bring more complex gaming and visualizations to the web, all of which will run within the browser.

Interdirect is always eager to help its clients in any way it can. In the interest of this Interdirect wanted to make sure its clients were aware of the new ASA regulations which come into force as of March 2011. The regulations will be extended to cover marketing communications on organisations’ own websites and other non-paid-for space under their control.

The UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing (the CAP Code) will apply in full to marketing messages online, including the rules relating to misleading advertising, social responsibility and the protection of children.

The new remit will cover Advertisers’ own marketing messages on their own websites, regardless of sector, type of businesses or size of organisation. In addition it will cover marketing communications in other non-paid-for space under the advertiser’s control, such as social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

The new ASA ruling as mentioned relates to the content of a website which is generated in house so, if you haven’t had the opportunity already, it may be something worth passing onto to your legal team to check through and verify.

As always though Interdirect is here to offer the best service to its customers so please don’t hesitate to contact a memeber of the team on sales@interdirect.co.uk  if you have any questions.