insider
Newsletter Spring 2013
Introduction from The Chairman
It’s been a busy start to the year, with many exciting activities progressing well. In January, we purchased the market-leading magazine Scottish Wedding Directory. The magazine has a comprehensive directory of venues and services and is a great addition to our portfolio. I’m sure you’ll join me in welcoming the SWD team, who will relocate to Kingsway later this year. In March, we launched Ruby Loves craft magazine for girls. This brilliant new product is our first ‘own brand’ title for many years and is the first product to materialise from our drive for innovation in magazines. I’d like to congratulate everyone who helped to produce this wonderful new title and wish Ruby Loves every success.
It’s also been a busy time for The Scots Magazine, which re-launched with a striking new look in April. This historic magazine has stayed true to its traditional values, but incorporated four new editorial categories to help attract a younger, more urban audience. The redesign has been well received. The Beano team has a very busy year ahead with many activities organised to celebrate the 75th anniversary. The title will feature in the Festival of Neighbourhood at the Southbank Centre in London, and at the Vintage Festival in Glasgow. In this edition of the Insider, we also celebrate the success of our Newspaper titles. The Sunday Post was crowned Newspaper of the Year at this year’s Scottish Press Awards. This is a fantastic achievement and one I’m sure our other titles will strive to replicate. Our titles have been short-listed for several awards at the upcoming UK Regional Newspaper Awards, and I wish everyone the very best of luck. Our Newspapers have seen many developments in recent months;
The Courier has unveiled a new website, the Evening Telegraph is developing its website and our Newspaper Group functions including Dating, Cars, Family, Announcements and Public Notices are all being updated. As always, we welcome some of the new faces to our company and shine the spotlight on an integral member of our team, ‘In the Chair’. We also celebrate the success of some of our Group companies, with stories about Parragon’s success at the recent Stationery Awards and new product launches for Puzzler Media Ltd.
Our Fife-based reporters have now moved in to The Courier’s newly refurbished Kirkcaldy office at 14 Hunter Street. The interior has been completely refurbished, including the installation of a new telephone system. Meanwhile, the exterior of the building has been repainted and features the new Local Matters branding. As part of our district office refurbishment project, a new property is being acquired in Perth and Arbroath office is being upgraded. Properties in Cupar, Dunfermline, Montrose and Forfar will all close.
Finally, I’d like to congratulate all staff members who helped to raise funds for our Charity of the Year 2012 / 2013 – Alzheimer Scotland. I’m sure you’ll read with interest about the fundraising efforts of Danny Walsh, Angie Merrilees and Alison Stewart. To date, DC Thomson staff members have raised an incredible £8400 for this very worthwhile charity.
Welcome To... Marketing Production Executive Morna Young has joined the Enterprise team at an interesting time. Morna, who is originally from Perth, said, “Starting work at this time in Enterprise is very motivating. The department is going through so many exciting changes and I feel privileged to be part of the transition.
Kingdom FM. I then moved to Real Radio where I reported on the Jolanta Bledaite murder in Arbroath, the 008 UEFA Cup Final riots in Manchester, the Tommy Sheridan perjury trial verdict and the arrival of the Edinburgh Zoo pandas – which I won a Sky News Radio award for.”
Digital Content Producer David McCann is originally from Springfield in Fife. He went to Bell Baxter High School, before studying History and Politics at Dundee University and graduating with an MA in Broadcast Journalism from University College Falmouth. He said, “I started my career as a Broadcast Journalist at
David went on to work as a video journalist at MacMillan Media, providing video content for Daybreak and the Daily Record website, before moving to DC Thomson. David will upload content to The Courier’s new fully responsive website. He said, “I grew up with the DC Thomson titles – from The Courier to The Broons – and have always wanted to work for the company. I also hoped to work in online journalism because of the many opportunities to be creative and work with different content – from text to video.”
“There’s a real buzz in the office at the moment, as people are excited to be part of the developments that will enhance the success of the Enterprise strategies, supported by online platforms. I’ll be right in the middle of one particular change – developing appealing creative and promotional material for a range of new e-Commerce websites. It feels great to be thinking creatively and doing work I love.” Immediately prior to securing her job at DC Thomson, Morna worked in Liberia (West Africa). She said, “I worked for four months for a new Liberian business called Good JuJu to develop work I had begun the year before on a summer placement. “I helped to develop the company’s brand identity and communication strategy. My time there was incredible and threw up a lot of challenges which I believe gave me valuable experience that I bought home to Scotland.”
Duncan Chisholm is Advertising’s new Category Manager based in Highlands and Moray. Duncan is originally from Muir of Ord, a village located 5 miles north of Inverness. He studied Art, Design and Illustration before working as a Studio Junior with Jim Thomson Graphic Design. He said, “After being made redundant, I applied to work in the Case Room of Scottish Provincial Press. The job went to an internal candidate, but they said they thought I’d be good at sales. I guess I must be because I’m still in sales 4 years later.”
After Scottish Provincial Press, Duncan moved to The Press and Journal and then onto Moray Firth Radio (Bauer Group). After a short stay as Commercial Director at Ross County FC, Duncan returned to The Press and Journal. He said, “It was never going to be a difficult decision. And when the opportunity presented, having worked in media all my working life, I was able to hit the ground running. It’s been great so far and I’ve been welcomed by my colleagues and customers.” Duncan aims to engage as many customers as possible, helping to create revenue and hit team targets.
Graphic Artist Andrew Brebner has joined The Press and Journal. Born and raised in Aberdeen, Andrew graduated with an MA (Hons) English from Aberdeen University before he completed his PGCert Publishing at RGU and an HND at Aberdeen College. He said, “I’d been struggling on as a freelance designer for several years and a regular job with a very well-respected local media title had a definite appeal. My mother has been a loyal Press and Journal reader for 0 years. Now she can look at what I design every day, and see that I have a proper job! “It has been enjoyable so far. There’s been a good variety of work, with something new every day. Alongside daily news graphic work, I’ll become more involved with page make-up tasks and also graphics for investigations and series, once I get to grips with the internal Fred / Ted system.” Outside work, Andrew is a member of Aberdeen comedy troupe Flying Pigs and can be found in AmDram on the local stage. He said, “There are an alarmingly large number of articles in the archive, which provides a worrying perspective on how I have aged.”
Driving Newspapers Forward In recent months we’ve invested time and money in our Direct Sales team. We’ve introduced a hand-held tablet ordering system, automated payment methods, and better administrative processes. The company has also made a significant spend in new technology to allow the team more time to get out there and actually sell our products. The Direct Sales team now has a clear and exciting sales offering for our customers and, to add to this, our sales representatives will begin to sell digital packages in the near future. Under Group Head of Direct Sales Lesley Grossett they are aiming to draw 500 – 000 new sales a month; this is a big ask for a big return.
There have been a number of recent digital developments for our newspaper titles. The Courier’s stylish, new-look website was officially launched in April. The website has a number of technical features including enhanced searches, polls and a preference centre for personalised email communication. The online audience has grown steadily since the site went live, with around 387,000 monthly unique visitors. The Evening Telegraph’s new website soft-launched in April. Also designed by digital agency Clock, the fully responsive website will go hand-in-hand with the daily printed edition. In Aberdeen, both The Press and Journal and Evening Express are to get new websites. The new sites have been signed off and Digital Awareness and Social Media training sessions will take place shortly. Meanwhile, The Sunday Post’s new website is expected to launch this month. Newspaper Group functions including Dating, Cars, Family Announcements and Public Notices are all being updated as part of the digital strategy. Energy Voice is also being redeveloped and re-launched as an industry leading energy news website.
Menzies Distribution has handled our Dundee titles since last July and our Aberdeen newspapers since September. However we are continuing to use our own teams in some cases. There are Distribution Assistants who carry out all The Press and Journal, Evening Express and The Sunday Post deliveries to Inverness and Aberdeen on top of reel store duties. The company has reinvested in five vehicles for deliveries; three of these are new and two are from our original fleet. Our vehicles will be liveried soon with the winning design inspired by a design from Graphic Designer Jonathan Brunton, who works in Art Services in Dundee. Look out for the lorries on the road soon!
In other news, The Press and Journal’s ABC figure for July to December 2012 of 66,679 copies made it the best performing regional title (above 25,000) in the UK for this period. When ranked in volume The Press and Journal is the 4th largest seller in the UK. According to the latest NIS research figures (March 2013), the Evening Telegraph’s average issue readership increased by 6% from 32,000 (2010) to 34,000 (2012) and weekly readership up 2% from 63,000 (2010) to 64,000 (2012). Work has now started on using the latest research findings to help us shape the future direction of the title, both in print and online. The Courier’s new branding – Local Matters – was officially rolled out in April. Editor Richard Neville said, “At the core of The Courier is our connection with local communities. Every day our readers will find local news written by local journalists. Local Matters is both powerful and humble; it carries great resonance and at the same time positions the paper as a listener and a local champion.” The Courier has also launched two new editions – West Fife and Central (which covers the Stirlingshire area).
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Innovations
In March, we launched Ruby Loves, our first Intellectual Property title for many years. This brilliant product, comprising a magazine, gift and online package, is the first to materialise from our drive for innovation in magazines. Ruby Loves is a highly interactive magazine and the ontrend nostalgic feel is designed to target mums and girls equally, allowing for quality, creative time spent together. The Beano turns 75 this year, and the team is celebrating in style with a host of events and activities. The flagship event is the Festival of Neighbourhood at the Southbank Centre in London. An area near Queen Elizabeth Hall will be transformed into Beanotown, with a museum, comic drawing sessions and a stage to act out pranks on friends and family. The Beano Social Club will host fun and games including ‘Table Dennis’ (table tennis) and themed food, including ‘The Beano Breville Bar’ where you can make your own toasted sandwiches. The festival runs from Saturday st June until Sunday 8th September. Head of Brand Tim Collins said, “The Southbank Centre is the UK’s largest arts centre, occupying a -acre site in the midst of London’s most vibrant cultural quarter on the South Bank. The site has an extraordinary creative and
architectural history. It’s the perfect opportunity to showcase The Beano and celebrate the past 75 years.” Other summertime activities include our involvement in the Vintage Festival in Glasgow during July. The festival, which is being incorporated into the annual Merchant City Festival, celebrates the best of British music, fashion, film, art and design from the 9 0s through to the 980s. Editor-in-Chief Mike Stirling and The Broons and Oor Wullie Editor Morris Heggie will review the past 75 years of The Beano at the Edinburgh International Book Festival in August, before travelling to Kendal in Cumbria for the inaugural Lakes International Comic Arts Festival in October. Earlier this year, the Ultimate April Fool’s Prank and The Beano iPrank App were launched as
part of Menacing Monday. Our readers decided that Funny Money – where people try (and fail!) to pick up a coin that Menaces have glued to the ground – was the ultimate prank. It will appear in an upcoming edition of the comic. The iPrank is billed as the ultimate App for Menaces, and is available free via the App Store and Google Play for Android and Apple tablets and smartphones. At the time of going to press, the App had over 7,000 downloads. Over a quarter of a million individual pranks have now been played. Feedback includes; “Seriously silly. And when you’ve been reading The Beano for 50 years it has to be good to get a chuckle.” “The kids are massive comic book fans and this is probably one of the best supporting Apps on the market.” “Gnawesome! Best App ever.” “I love this App, it has changed my life! Get it!”
Editor-in-Chief Maria T. Welch said, “It’s an excellent addition to our stable of children’s titles, and it taps into current trends. The response has been really positive – both from customers and retailers. We’re cultivating a unique direct relationship with Hobbycraft and there are many exciting opportunities in the pipeline.” The launch was supported with a huge ‘in house’ ad campaign as well as a significant marketing, Point of Sale, digital, social media and PR. First issue sales are encouraging at ,000 copies. Our last “own brand” launch was Shout around 0 years ago. We’re now set to deliver further launches which are crucial to our growth – and even long term survival. If you’ve an idea, email innovation@dcthomson.co.uk.
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In the News
The Evening Express teamed up with Aberdeen-based AVC Media to launch a pioneering augmented reality (AR) campaign in March. As part of the title’s #wheredoyoudoit campaign, the Evening Express’ in-paper adverts aimed to engage in a new way, inviting readers to say where they read their copy of the newspaper. By holding a smartphone device over trigger adverts, users could interact with AR content ranging from images to animations or videos. Group Marketing Manager Kirsty Matthews said, “Our product was featured in the top 500 Business Apps on the App Store and peaked at number 99.”
Mark Hopkins, David Bloomfield and John Craig
The Courier Business Awards recognises the most successful businesses in The Courier’s circulation area. In association with Henderson Loggie, the awards will celebrate business innovation and success across categories. The awards are open to businesses that are headquartered or have significant business and employment interests in the Dundee, Perthshire, Fife, Angus and The Mearns, Stirlingshire and Clackmannanshire areas. All entries must be submitted by Friday st June 0 via the online form available at www.thecourierbusinessawards.com. The awards take place at the Fairmont Hotel in St Andrews in November.
DC Thomson is a one-stop-shop for advertisers after the installation of a new inserting function on our state-of-the-art press at Kingsway. The all-in-one mailroom solution allows us to trim, fold and stitch inserts of commercial quality. Head of Commercial Mark Hopkins said, “Our incredible new printing facility in Dundee allows us to provide more for our customers in the shape of stitched or loose supplements and inserts. Our dedicated in-house inserts team can plan an insert from design, through production, to delivery within our clients’ campaign timescales. It means our customers
only have to speak to one person to coordinate their insert activity across the DC Thomson portfolio – we really are a one-stop-shop for advertisers.” Inserts Sales Manager David Bloomfield said, “Customers respond more favourably to advertising inserts, often viewing them in the same positive way as newspaper supplements. They are more likely to read inserts when they are relaxed and have time to browse, and invariably keep them for extended periods.” Newspaper Inserts Group Manager John Craig said, “Newspaper inserts are more likely to
induce purchase intent than unaddressed catalogues. The newspaper reader generally has a financial investment in buying the paper and views the insert as a welcome part of the newspaper package. In addition, advertising alongside relevant editorial boosts the impact of a campaign.” DC Thomson publishes eight titles with a total print run of over 700,000, giving our advertisers the opportunity to reach a large audience in an effective way. John added, “DC Thomson is a trusted brand and, with this new service, we are able to offer our customers an incredibly attractive advertising model.”
In the
Chair
Name: Job title: Location: Start date:
Jamie Donald
Jamie Donald Chief Sub Editor, Evening Express Aberdeen October 2006
>Question
>Question
>Question
What attracted you to the company / the role?
Tell us an interesting fact about you or your role?
How do you see your role evolving?
>Answer
>Answer
I’d never really given journalism much of a thought before I applied, but while searching for jobs in the Evening Express, the advert for a Trainee Sub Editor caught my eye. I’d never even heard of subediting before, but it sounded up my street.
Believe it or not (and most of you won’t) I’m a national Ultimate Frisbee Champion.
>Question What do you like most about your job / what are the greatest challenges?
>Answer Deadlines! They’re the things I love most about my job – whether it’s a late breaking story that we’re trying to get in five minutes before the paper goes to press, or trying to pull together a big pull-out or series in a limited time frame. Having the tight deadlines we do certainly keeps things interesting.
>Question What keeps you interested / makes you stay?
>Answer No two days are ever the same. I love the look of the paper as well and the fact we can be as creative as we want (within reason).
>Question Who do you aspire to be like and why?
>Answer
>Answer I think, as with the business in general, my team and I have to move with technological advancements and be savvy about using the web, social media etc.
>Question What’s the best bit of advice you’ve ever had?
>Answer Before I left home my dad told me to always look somewhere square in the eye and shake their hand firmly when meeting them. I was hoping for some better words of wisdom than that but they’ve stuck with me ever since. It’s true as well – no one likes a shoe-gazer with a handshake like a limp lettuce.
I don’t really have a role model as such, but I’ve picked up tips from some managers along the way. My boss also used to do my job, which can be both a blessing and a curse! 7
Celebrating our Success
Steve Finan
The Sunday Post Production Editor Steve Finan has had a short story accepted for publication by an international literary magazine. Limited And Unlimited, about an ordinary man who is uncomfortable having superpowers visited on him, was published in The Linnet’s Wings. Produced by a team of editors in the UK, Republic of Ireland, USA and Canada, The Linnet’s Wings aims to showcase work that stimulates and challenges the sensibility and imagination.
Alasdair Gill
The Sunday Post was crowned Newspaper of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards, which were held in Glasgow during April. Announcing the win, the judges said, “The standard of this year’s entries has been particularly high and, as judges, we’ve had to make some difficult decisions. However, we felt The Sunday Post, in particular, should be recognised for courageous decisions that have transformed one of Scotland’s best-loved and strongest brands, while maintaining its position in the Scottish media landscape.” The Sunday Post’s former Political Editor Campbell Gunn was acknowledged with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Campbell Gunn retired recently after 4 years at The Sunday Post, with the last 4 years as Political Editor.
Editor-in-Chief Donald Martin said, “I am so proud of my brilliant team and appreciate all that they have done. The team has embraced the changes we’ve made and risen to the even higher standards we have set. We’re finally starting to put this great newspaper back on the map and being crowned Newspaper of the Year is recognition of the brave but fantastic transformation of our traditional brand.” All titles did well in nominations, but the Evening Express and the Evening Telegraph got three runner-up distinctions between them. The final clutch of gongs was: Newspaper of the Year – The Sunday Post, Lifetime Achievement Award – Campbell Gunn (recently retired Political Editor, The Sunday Post), Young Journalist of the Year – Runner-
up: Alasdair Gill, Evening Telegraph, Front Page of the Year – Runner-up: Evening Express, Dear Barney, Campaign of the Year – Runner-up: Evening Telegraph, Dundee Born and Read. Chief Executive Publishing (Newspapers and Magazines) Ellis Watson said, “It’s true to say that we are in better shape commercially as a result of the changes we’ve all made in the past few years, but this can only come if the beating heart of the company comes from fabulous publications; to have recognition from our industry peers is a credit to those that make our newspapers.” He added, “I can’t wait for news of how we fare at the UK Regional Newspaper Awards.”
Steve said, “I’m not sure about stimulating anyone’s sensibilities, I just enjoy writing. It’s great to have a story published. I’ve written a few short stories that have been carried on the writers and critics’ website Fictionaut.” The Linnet’s Wings is available from online booksellers. Steve’s short story, The Alpha Male, has been shortlisted for the Fish Publishing Short Story competition, which carries a 000 euro first prize. His first novel, Adventures In Misogyny, under the pen name Destry, is available from the Amazon Kindle store and iBookstore as a digital download in all formats.
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New Look The Scots Magazine unveiled a striking new look in April. In one of the biggest changes in its 274 year history, the magazine increased in size by 50%, from A5 to B5. It also benefited from a sympathetic redesign, bringing class and simplicity to its stunning photographs and quality editorial.
Our Group company Parragon collected three awards at the UK Stationery Awards recently. The Bath-based book company’s premier stationery imprint, Life Canvas, won Best Notebooks and Paper Products, Best Children’s Stationery Product and the Special Judges Award. The UK Stationery Awards were held at the London Stationery Show in April and were judged by a panel of leading independent and multiple retailers including Sainsbury’s, Colemans, National Trust and Bureau Direct. Competition was fierce, with more than 160 companies and brands from over 20 countries showcasing new products. Parragon’s Emily Wallis said, “We’re delighted that Life Canvas won three out of a possible seven awards at this year’s prestigious Stationery Awards. The Stationery Awards are always an excellent indicator of what will be popular in stationery and gift stores across the UK and therefore, we are absolutely delighted to have won these three awards.” Launched earlier this year, Life Canvas is Parragon’s new stationery and gift range. It allows people to organise day-to-day activities, important documents or treasured memories in their own way. For more information about Life Canvas, visit: www.parragon.com/lifecanvas.
The Scots Magazine is staying true to its traditional values, with regular features about wildlife, nature and scenery, and authoritative insights into Scotland’s rich heritage from the nation’s leading commentators. Four clear editorial themes highlight The Scots Magazine’s key role in celebrating today’s Scotland. Editor-in-Chief Sally Hampton said, “Close collaboration between editorial and design teams, led by Editor Phil Smith, has produced a magazine that’s both clean and classic, and allows us to showcase the best that Scotland has to offer. Our core audience is increasingly city-based and The Scots Magazine will surprise and delight them by uncovering urban cultural gems and revitalizing country trips on their doorstep.” To celebrate the re-launch, all staff members were given a free copy of the new-look magazine that featured exclusive interviews with actor Brian Cox and musician Ricky Ross. The re-launch was supported by a comprehensive advertising, marketing and PR campaign that included a prime-time sponsorship deal with STV. The Scots Magazine appeared during commercial breaks for top TV shows including Broadchurch, Coronation Street and Off Their Rockers. Meanwhile, The People’s Friend has featured prominently on TV screens recently, after becoming the new sponsor of ITV3 Afternoons. ITV3 is the second-largest multichannel in the UK, and the home of ITV’s crafted drama collections including programmes such as Poirot, A Touch of Frost and Rising Damp. The broadcast sponsorship began in February 2013. The People’s Friend has been shortlisted in the Best 50+ Magazine category at this year’s 50+ Awards. Now in their second year, the awards showcase the best that life has to offer those over 50. To vote for The People’s Friend go to http://www.50plusshow.com/50plusAwards/. Voting closes at the start of June, when the top three companies in each category go through a final round of voting. The winners will be announced at the 50+ Awards Gala Awards Reception in London on 11th July.
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New Endeavours
In January, DC Thomson purchased Scottish Wedding Directory (SWD). SWD is the longest established, market-leading wedding magazine in Scotland. The quarterly magazine has a great potential to grow online and our Digital team has been working closely with SWD colleagues on a revamp of the title’s website over recent months.
Claire MacDonald
The magazine has a comprehensive directory of venues, services, events and fairs, and so we’re also exploring the expansion possibilities that exist in exhibitions and events with the business’ founder and previous owner Lorna Leckie. By buying the business, DC Thomson has an exciting opportunity to grow our revenues and we hope to make a real improvement to the title’s performance within 18 months.
In April, we announced the launch of a pioneering innovation centre designed to support start-ups in the digital, technology and creative media sectors. IDEAScotland will support up to 10 fledgling firms to develop into successful and sustainable businesses in its first year. IDEAScotland is a collaboration of DC Thomson, our Group company brightsolid and Abertay and Dundee universities.
Our SWD colleagues will relocate to our Kingsway offices over the next few months, to work more closely with our Consumer Entertainment team members and to develop the product within the DC Thomson publishing business.
Based in the city centre, at the University of Abertay, IDEAScotland will provide successful applicants with virtual networking, equipment, mentoring on business techniques, introductions to potential customers, business partners and investors, as well as free workspace. It is being
funded by an initial investment of £250,000. IDEAScotland will work closely with the IDEALondon start-up centre at Tech City in Shoreditch, which we established with Cisco and UCL. IDEALondon was announced by Prime Minister David Cameron in December 2012. The two centres will share investor links, business opportunities and customer testing. IDEAScotland innovation manager Claire MacDonald said, “This is the very first accelerator for the digital, creative and technological economy, which Dundee already has a world-class reputation in. It’s really difficult to take an idea and actually make it work, but this is a way to take something and to make it investor-ready.”
DC Thomson Director Richard Hall added, “We have a long and successful history of supporting small businesses in reaching their potential.” The programme will help start-ups develop their teams and customer base, work on prototypes and participate in roadshows. It will also link with an Abertay University scheme that offers up to £25,000 to help small and new businesses create prototypes of games and other interactive digital content. Applications are now open and the selection process takes place during May. If you have a business idea you think could be developed, visit www.idea-scotland.co.uk for more information.
0
Group Companies
In April, our Group company Puzzler Media Ltd launched Puzzler Brain Games. The fastpaced action game tests players’ intellect with 20 different quick-fire puzzles designed to be fun and exciting while helping players to improve their cognitive ability. Players will never be presented with the same puzzle content twice..Puzzler Brain Games is available on the Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS and PC. Lorraine Kelly
Lorraine Kelly is fronting a Genes Reunited campaign urging Britain’s youngsters to spend more time with their grandparents. Genes Reunited, our Group company, carried out a survey that found 15M people see their grandparents less than once a year – risking losing their identity and heritage. Lorraine said, “Everyone’s family has a story to tell. I really regret that I didn’t sit down with my grandfather and talk to him about his war experiences because I’ve not got the chance to do that now. It’s so important to get these stories while we still can.” The Genes Reunited survey found that Wales has the most devoted grandchildren with 52% visiting their grandparents every week
compared to 39% in Scotland and 34% in the south of England. A total of 61% of people enjoy listening to their grandparents’ stories, disproving the widespread theory that the younger generation are disinterested in their grandparent’s tales. Head of Genes Reunited Rhoda Breakell said, “We were shocked at how many people regret rarely seeing their grandparents. We feel it is so important that people listen to the older generations in their families before their stories are lost forever.” The campaign continues via the Genes Reunited dedicated YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/genesreunited.
It has also been a busy time for Friends Reunited, which has created a new range of limited edition perfumes designed to reflect the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. The fragrances have been inspired by the different memories that users have contributed to the site. Friends Reunited hopes the perfumes, Night Fever (70s), Vice (80s) and Take Spice (90s), will help to evoke strong memories. Head of Friends Reunited Matt Bushby said, “Friends Reunited now helps you remember all of your most cherished moments so we thought it would be really fun to see if we could evoke a sense of nostalgia among the British public by attempting to bottle the nation’s memories of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.”
Also in April, Puzzler ran a successful promotion with Starbucks coffee chain. Over 180,000 till cards were distributed as part of the promotion. Each card contained a unique Apple download code, which customers used to download a crossword App free. Digital Media Manager Tony Ablewhite said, “Early indications from Apple and Starbucks are that the promotion secured a conversion rate of over 10% – one of their best initiatives yet. Once results are fully concluded, we are confident of being able to secure another slot later in the year for another Puzzler App.” In other developments, Puzzler World 2013 was launched on Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS and PC. The DS version hit the DS charts at number seven. Puzzler has also released a branded iOS Science Museum Wordsearch App.
Charity Update With his 40th birthday rapidly approaching, IT Helpdesk Manager Danny Walsh decided it was time to run the London Marathon. He said, “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do but hadn’t got around to. I think I started to panic about turning 40 and when one of my friends signed up to run the London Marathon, I decided I should too.” Danny chose to fundraise for DC Thomson’s Charity of the Year – Alzheimer Scotland – after witnessing the debilitating disease first hand. He said, “A family member had Alzheimer’s so it made sense to go down that route. I wanted to help raise awareness of the illness – which isn’t often talked about – and help raise money for the charity – which does such amazing work. Alzheimers is one of the few illnesses that we know so little about and I think it needs greater awareness.” Danny’s training started well, but after sustained bad weather and a series of serious leg injuries he was forced to walk the 26.2 mile course around London. He said, “I went through a lot for it. On the day itself, my leg started hurting after a couple of miles – probably because of all the sightseeing I’d done the day before. I decided to walk and soak up the atmosphere. It was an amazing experience and totally different from if I’d been running. I took in so much, had great banter with people and didn’t worry at all about my time.” A record 700,000 spectators lined the streets of London to cheer on the 36,000 runners taking part. Danny – who was forced to wait for 15 minutes to pass the starting point because of the number of participants – completed the marathon in six hours and 13 minutes. Danny met Olympian Denise Lewis at the marathon. He said, “It was one of the best experiences of my life – up there with getting married and having kids. I still smile thinking about it and I think it will stick with me forever. I’ve already applied to run in next year’s race – that’s me got the bug.” To date, Danny has raised more than £2500 for Alzheimer Scotland. If you would like to donate, please go to www.justgiving.com/danny-walsh.
Danny Walsh
In other fundraising efforts, comedian Harry Hill guest edited a special ‘bald’ edition of The Beano for Comic Relief. Harry co-wrote the main storyline for the Dennis the Menace strip, and also penned some of his own strips. The TV Burp star, who previously appeared in his own strip in The Dandy, is only the second celebrity to guest edit The Beano. He follows in the footsteps of Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park.
Meanwhile, One Direction have also been immortalised in a DC Thomson comic. The chart-topping stars appeared in BeanoMAX for Comic Relief. Other big names to guest appear in the comic are Jessie J, Olly Murs and former Doctor Who star David Tennant. Editor-in-Chief Mike Stirling said, “It was brilliant fun imagining how Jessie, Olly, David and 1D would interact with our mischievous characters.”
Elsewhere, Angie Merrilees and Alison Stewart ran the Edinburgh Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon in April, raising a fantastic £360 for our Charity of the Year – Alzheimer Scotland. Angie and Alison braved strong winds and horizontal rain to complete the race. Alison said, “We’d like to thank all those who supported us – particularly our colleagues as there have been so many fundraising activities for Alzheimer Scotland during the past year. Everyone remains so generous.” Alison, Angie and members of the HR team are now in training for the Race for Life in June.