Martech Social - News

Cotswold Outdoor Goes Viral

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 17:27:00 GMT

To coincide with their annual Christmas campaign, Cotswold Outdoor has launched the Merry Mix Up competition on their online community and their official Facebook page. Just three days in and the game has generated over 2,500 new fans on the official Facebook fan page, over 2,000 Facebook conversation streams and hundreds of new members on the community.

The game asks first time visitors to the community or Facebook page to sign up or “like” the page to be able to play the game. The game requires the user to match a puzzle to a picture of a Cotswold Outdoor product and record how long it takes them to complete the puzzle. Every day a user has the chance to win a £20 voucher. After 50 days an overall winner will be drawn who will win £1,000 worth of vouchers.

Simon Larcey, Managing Director of Martech Social said “Its great Cotswold Outdoor has let us develop the strategy and create the game. It is amazing how popular the game has become and we are expecting to substantially increase numbers over the next few weeks. My aim is to make Cotswold Outdoor the biggest UK retailer on Facebook within their sector as well build up their community”

Cotswold Outdoor is a UK retailer that specialises in clothing and equipment for outdoor enthusiasts. They currently have over 70 stores around the UK. The Merry Mix Up competition can be found on the community at: http://bit.ly/sTtPdA or alternatively at www.facebook.com/cotswoldoutdoor

Parseeker.com

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 16:00:00 GMT

Martech is happy to announce the launch of Parseeker.com, an online community for golfing enthusiasts. Built in association with Nevada Bobs, one of the UK’s largest golfing retailers, Parseeker is an online destination for golfers wanting to share their experiences, offer tips, seek advice and meet like-minded people.

The new site is built on version five of the M.Social platform and incorporates a variety of new functionality and social tools that encourages deeper engagement and sharing content. Version five is the most integrated platform developed by Martech and enables users to share content across a selection of the most popular social networks as well as plug in a variety of widgets and social tools.

Nicholas Watts – Technical Director of Martech Said “Our platform has had a number of evolutions in the past three years. We continue to look for new opportunities within the social space and with this version have focused on a variety of new tools to simplify integration with all the main stream social networks.”

The new golfing community will look to utilise Facebook, Linkedin and Youtube as a recruitment tool to raise awareness and drive signups. The new site can be found at www.parseeker.com

Rookie Clothing

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:21:00 GMT

Martech is proud to announce a new client Rookie Clothing. Rookie is a new, high end fashion label that is building its name through an association with motorsport. Martech’s brief is to develop a complete social media strategy and build it's presence across the leading social media sites.

Rookie currently sponsor some of the most promising young drivers within the lower formulae and through its association is already building a reputation for itself. Martech assisted in the design and build of their website and now takes on the responsibility of driving traffic and generating sales through the use of social media.

Stephen Uprichard, Account Director at Martech said “We are very happy to be working with Rookie. We hope we can help across a number of areas. With a number of motor sport and motoring clients, we feel we are in a strong position to spread the word and build up their profile within the social media space.”

To find out more about Rookie Clothing visit www.rookie-clothing.com.
Alternatively follow Rookie on Twitter @rookie1clothing or "like" Rookie on facebook.

Socially enabled learning

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 11:53:00 GMT

Martech, the social media specialist has recently launched a socially enabled learning platform. Developed from its core social networking system, M.Social, the new Edu version enables educational institutions the ability to create secure, private networks and encourage engagement and communication between students and teachers.

Each private network is added to the institutions existing website. Students are given a user name and pass word and can login, create a profile and start engaging. Built around a very simple concept and a familiar interface, students have the ability to “follow” their classes and interact with other students and teachers. By following their class pages, they will be able to share information, comment on status updates and receive regular class updates to their own newsfeed.

Simon Larcey, Managing Director of Martech said “There are a number of VLE’s (Virtual Learning Environments) currently on the market place. Most of these are based around file repository. Our new system utilises the latest social media technology and creates a unique system where students really get the opportunity to engage and interact with their classes. We were approached by an exclusive private school to work with them on this project and have now delivered. We are now talking with a number of other schools and look to roll out a selection of pilot programs when the schools return after their summer break”

Monaco Grand Prix

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 15:09:00 GMT

Last weekend we were invited to join our clients Red Bull Racing at the Monaco Grand Prix. Being huge Formula 1 fans this is one experience that could not be missed.

When arriving in Monaco we were given the VIP treatment and taken to the Red Bull Energy Station on the Monaco harbour. Sitting by the pool, we watched the qualifying and enjoyed the sunshine. Qualifying put World Champion Sebastian Vettel on pole. Saturday night saw the VIP party on the Energy Station where we met international rugby player Jamie Roberts and a host of great people.

Sunday a little worst for wear, we returned back to the Energy Station for the Grand Prix. As one would expect, from beginning to end Sebastian Vettel lead the race and made it his fourth victory out of five. The man is on fire. Following the celebrations on the Energy station we were lucky enough to be invited to the team party. Here we met the world champion himself, Christian Horner and design legend Adrian Newey.

A Big thank you to everyone at Red Bull Racing for the best experience any Formula 1 fan could ever ask for. Here is to a second world title!!!

Martech launches Facebook Application

Tue, 03 May 2011 13:28:00 GMT

Martech Social has launched its M.Social Facebook application. Martech is constantly looking at ways to integrate with the main stream social media sites and has utilised Facebook Connect and Twitter for the past 18 months.

The development of the M.Social Facebook application enables companies to push content from their official community on to their Facebook fan pages within a separate section (tab). The idea is to raise awareness of official communities, drive traffic and generate sign ups.

Creating your own community ensures the brand or organisation own all members, data and content. The M.Social Facebook application enables these companies to benefit from Facebook traffic but own the data as opposed to just building up a Facebook fan base which has limited usable marketing data.

Simon Larcey, Managing Director of Martech said “We are starting to notice more people are asking how they can use Facebook fans. The fact is unless you own them it is limited. Facebook, Twitter and Youtube are all massive sites and should be a part of any social media strategy but official communities are becoming increasingly popular and can really help with understanding customers, engagement and targeted communication”

The M.Social Facebook application is being rolled out across the Martech client portfolio. The application will first go live on the Red Bull Racing Facebook fan page in the coming weeks. For further information about Martech products and services please Contact Us.

Martech Land Rover Magazine

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 13:23:00 GMT

Martech Social has launched another site for Dennis Publishing and created a community based website for Land Rover Monthly magazine. The new website features the latest news and features but incorporates a variety of community functionality.

Since the acquisition of Land Rover Monthly magazine Dennis Publishing has been working very closely with the popular Land Rover forum – Land Rover Addict. Together they have launched the new community site utilising Martech’s M.Social platform.

All forums have been migrated onto the M.Social platform. In addition to forums the site features a variety of new community functionality including status updates, the ability to upload photos and videos, create events and groups, send messages, vote on polls, receive special offers and ask expert advice.

Nicholas Watts, Technical Director of Martech said “We’ve had great success with Dennis. Its Evo community has seen huge growth since utilising the M.Social platform. After the initial migration of the Land Rover Addict forums and subscribers, the site has instantly become a very active community with a substantial member base. Traffic is already growing and we expect to see the same success as we have had with Evo” The site can be found at www.landroveraddict.com

Martech New Office

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 16:48:00 GMT

Martech Social is happy to announce it has moved offices to allow for further expansion. The new offices are based on the river right next door to Wandsworth Bridge and a short walk from ever popular Ship pub.

Martech has always been based in West London. Its first office was based in Shepherds Bush. We then moved to an old artist's studio off the Kings Road in Chelsea. Our latest office is in a new building in the modern Battersea Reach development.

The new address is:
Martech Social
Commodore House
Juniper Drive
Battersea Reach
London SW18 1TW

The new phone is 0845 5197786. Please feel free to come down and check out our new home. We'll be happy to give you a Red Bull or take you for a coffee or beer!

A smart application for Mercedes Benz

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 16:52:00 GMT

Martech Social has launched an iPhone application for Smart Car UK. The Smart MPG application enables users to add their car and monitor their fuel efficiency.

Once a user submits a car to the application they have the ability to add individual fill ups. Once multiple fill ups have been submitted, users are able to view their fill up history and get an overview of their MPG. The application also integrates with the official Smart Car community www.destinationsmart.co.uk

Smart Car customers that do not have an iPhone can login to the official community and add fill ups via the web application. Through web services those that have both can sync their iPhone with the official community.

Martech Social in now developing an Android version of this application. This is due to launch in the coming months. For further information about Martech's mobile solutions, please contact Stephen Uprichard at Martech Social @ suprichard@martechsocial.com.

Martech to offer social media strategy

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 16:53:00 GMT

Martech Social is to offer social media strategy as a new service to its clients and interested organisations. Through a number of recently formed partnerships, Martech will now provide social media strategies to help companies capitalise from Martech products and social media in general.

Simon Larcey, Managing Director or Martech said "The past six months have seen clients asking for assistance when building their social media presence. Our expertise is in developing and supporting our products but with the high demand for social media strategy and guidance we have affiliated ourselves with some great talent who can help in this area".

The new service will see Martech provide strategic planning on a project by project basis through one of its selected partners. Once a strategy has been approved, Martech will be available to implement and manage the strategy or assist the organisation in doing so.

For further information about creating a social media strategy please contact Simon Larcey atslarcey@martechsocial.com or telephone 020 7351 9628.

Banzai Magazine

Mon, 06 Dec 2010 16:54:00 GMT

Martech launches its second site for Unity Media www.banzaimagazine.com

Banszai Magazine in the leading magazine for Japanese car enthusiasts. The new site is built on Martech's M.Social platform with a view of creating an online community. The new site integrates with Facebook, YouTube and Twitter and enables members to interact, organise events, talk on forums and share their interests.

In addition to the social functionality, it enables the editorial team to keep members up to date with the latest news, create polls, offer giveaways and develop relationships with its readers. Emma Grigg, Unity Medias Digital manager said "The new website provides us with a variety of the new tools that will encourage interaction and help us to grow our web presence"

Banzai Magazine is the second site launched for Unity Media on the M.Social platform. Further Unity Media sites are planned for 2011. Check out the site atwww.banzaimagazine.com

Red Bull World Champions

Sun, 14 Nov 2010 12:55:00 GMT

Martech would like to congratulate the new Formula 1 World Champions Red Bull Racing. Martech has been working with Red Bull Racing now for the past two seasons and have developed and help grow their online community.

The RBR community accessed via the official site has seen substantial growth in the last season and now has thousands and thousands of fans. Martech also provides Red Bull Racing with their email marketing system which they use to communicate with their fans.

On winning the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, Team Manager Christian Horner said

"It's just an amazing feeling to be double world champions; it's the icing on the cake with the drivers' [title]. This team is the best team in the world."

Simon Larcey, Managing Director of Martech said “ As a massive F1 fan, I’ve been following the team all season and watched every second of the last race on the edge of my seat. We’re very proud to be working with the best Formula 1 team in the world and look forward to extending our relationship in 2011.”

The Red Bull Racing community can be accessed at http://community.redbullracing.com

Cotswold Outdoor

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 12:56:00 GMT

Martech Social is happy to announce the launch of the upgraded Cotswold Outdoor community. Phase one has integrated the community seamlessly with its new ecommerce site and incorporates a single sign on solution. Cotswold Outdoor are also using the M.Social fan pages to create its store pages on the site, enabling store managers to update their status, link content to their stores, upload photos and blogs and provide members the opportunity to interact with their local store.

Martech Social is currently working on phase two and will soon be launching an API that pulls through user generated content onto product pages of the ecommerce site. This will provide useful insight to products and help influence purchasing decisions.

Michael Austin, Online Marketing Manager of Cotswold Outdoor said “We are very happy with the launch of the new site and how the community will play an important part when engaging our customers” Nicholas Watts, Technical Director of Martech Social said “Social media technology is providing brands new ways to drive business. We are constantly looking at new opportunities and have a number of new products in the pipeline”

Cotswold’s community can be found at http://community.cotswoldoutdoor.com

Martech Social and Red Bull UK

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 16:55:00 GMT

Through its successful relationship with the Red Bull Formula 1 team, Martech Social has confirmed a relationship with Red Bull UK.

Red Bull UK have chosen Martech Social’s M.Direct communications platform to help develop relationships with its customers. By adding a variety of newsletters, events and competitions across its sites, Red Bull UK can build its customer base and send targeted messages through the M.Direct system.

Martech Social plan to work with Red Bull UK to further develop the M.Direct communications platform and provide an advanced solution that can be utilised by other brands wanting to understand its customers and develop relationships.

Martech Social and Unity Media

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 16:55:00 GMT

Martech Social has teamed up with Unity Media and today launched a new website for one of its motoring titles, BMW Car Magazine.

BMW Car is the leading independent BMW magazine. BMW Car covers the latest road tests as well as delves into the history behind the classics including the M3s and M1.

The new site is built using Martech’s M.Social platform and features all the latest social networking functionality in addition to a variety of content provided by the publisher. It also incorporates the very popular forums that up until now have run as a separate section to the website. By creating one new site, Unity Media plan to increase traffic, build its subscriber base and create new revenue opportunities.

The site integrates with Facebook Connect making it easier for visitors to sign up and enable them to share content with their friends on Facebook.

The new site can be found atwww.bmwcarmagazine.com

Martech Social Goes Walkabout

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 16:56:00 GMT

Martech Social launches the new Walkabout website for entertainment and leisure group Intertain. Walkabout’s are the biggest Australian bar chain in the United Kingdom with 36 venues around the country. The new site has been built on the latest version of the M.Social platform and will feature a selection of new functionality and features.

In order to capitalise from the latest developments in social media, it was decided a fully interactive site was required to benefit from the thousands of customers the Walkabout receive each week. Visitors to the site will be able to sign up and create a profile and then interact with other customers and receive a variety of benefits.

Key to the development of the new site was the launch of the Walkabout’s new loyalty card: The Boomerang Card. Martech Social worked with loyalty program experts the Logic Group to develop a system accessed via the new Walkabout site. Members of the new site will be able to manage their Boomerang Card account from the new site in addition to utilising the latest social networking functionality.

Members will automatically become “Friends” of their local Walkabout and be able to interact with the bar manager and staff. Regular updates from staff will keep members in the loop regarding upcoming events and special offers.

The site will integrate with Facebook Connect making it easier for visitors to sign up and enable them to share the experiences at the Walkabout with their friends on Facebook.

To check out the new site visitwww.walkaboutbars.com

Red Bull Racing Community wins Award

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 16:57:00 GMT

Red Bull Racing’s online community has been awarded the best “Sports Community” in the Ultimate Sports Websites Awards organised by Sports Business International Magazine.

The online community built by Martech Social was launched in March 2010 has attracted thousands of members in its first few months and is regularly being used as a voice for Red Bull Racing fans.

Members of the community can create a profile, upload photos and videos, participate on forums and meet fellow fans. Website Manager at Red Bull Racing David Granger said “We’re incredibly happy we’ve won this award and happy that our fans have a place where they can communicate with each other and the team”

For further details about the awards visit the Sport Business website at http://www.sportbusiness.com/ or to check out the Red Bull Racing community go tohttp://community.redbullracing.com

Martech Social launches a new Twitter application

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 16:57:00 GMT

Martech Social, the social media specialist is delighted to announce the launch of mytownlive.co.uk. The site, built for Information Britain, aggregates tweets on different towns and enables visitors to the site, to see what is happening in their town – live. It is currently in beta and will be closely monitored over the next few months.

The site is built using Martech Social's twitter application M.Tweet. M.Tweet is a twitter indexing application that allows site administrators to select a variety of key words and terms and index all tweets associated with those terms and words. Site administrators can also utilise the administration module to select featured tweeters whose tweets can be highlighted.

Visitors to the site login using their twitter login details, add new tweets and reply to other tweeters. Nicholas Watts, Technical Director of Martech Social said "M.Tweet is a great addition to our product range. The technology is easily adaptable and can be modified to suit most sectors."

Simon Larcey, Managing Director of Martech Social said "This is another product we can offer a variety of clients. We continue to develop technologies that can help organisations increase their audience and customers by social media. Twitter is proving a very effective marketing tool and our latest solution will help brands and organisation capitalise from Twitter."

Cotswold Outdoor

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 16:58:00 GMT

Martech Social is increasing its relationship with Cotswold Outdoor and is adding new functionality to its online community.

The upgraded community will integrate seamlessly with its new ecommerce site and incorporate a single sign on solution. The new community will also include new functionality and a variety of social commerce tools. Each store will have there own “fan” page and members can follow their local store. Members of the community will receive store updates via their newsfeed and be able to ask questions and interact with staff. Content from the community will be tagged and utilising Martech Social’s new social commerce solution will associate content with products.

The new social commerce technology created by Martech aims to help influence purchasing decisions and provide a new social media tool for e-tailers. The social commerce tools will launch in stage two of the project in the coming months

Cotswold’s community can be found athttp://community.cotswoldoutdoor.com

Toro Rosso follows Red Bull Racing

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:59:00 GMT

Following on from the success of the Red Bull Racing (RBR) online community, Martech Social has launched a new community for sister Formula One team Toro Rosso.

Toro Rosso was originally the Minardi team and has been in Formula One for many years. Following on from the success of the RBR community, new owners Red Bull decided to launch a dedicated community for fans of Toro Rosso.

The site features all the standard social networking functionality that one would expect as well as a regular newsletter created by the team. David Granger of RBR said "We've had a great pick up with the RBR community which we are hoping to replicate now on the Toro Rosso site"

The Toro Rosso Community can be found via the "Community" link on the official Toro Rosso website or at community.tororosso.com