Xchangeteam’s Public Affairs Recruiting Services

Xchangeteam, the UK’s pioneering people resourcing company which provides talent across the freelance and permanent spectrum in marketing and creative services.public affairs is now advertising on select MessageSpace sites. They’re taking full advantage of the MessageSpace network’s reach within political Britain, and are promoting their up-and-coming Public Affairs, Policy and Government Relations recruitment services department.

Roger Majerski, an Xchangeteam member (and avid Guido Fawkes’ Blog reader) was enthusiastic about partnering with MessageSpace, and was thrilled at the prospect of utilising the MessageSpace behavioural targeting functionalities. “Xchangeteam is not a typical recruitment company - we use our industry backgrounds to cherry-pick talent rather than have a sales scattergun approach. We pride ourselves on our personal approach, industry knowledge and tough vetting procedures.”

Introducing MessageSpace Lite, and Video Advertising

We’re very pleased to announce the roll-out of MessageSpace Lite, this evening. When we began development on this project, we had one goal in mind - to simplify the process of online advertising. We realised far too many advertisers (and potential advertisers, by extension) were turned off by lengthy processing times for having their banner ads show up on their favourite sites. Additionally, the entire process was deemed “too complicated.”

MessageSpace Lite aims to reverse that trend, as the easy-to-utilise system is aimed at first-time advertisers seeking to reach an active and highly influential political audience in Britain. Most campaigns can be expected to go live within one business day, if not sooner.

A potential MessageSpace advertiser only needs to fill out their details and determine their campaign budget and parameters. They then pay online, and upload their banner graphic.

Our CIO, Jag Singh, is rather enthusiastic about the system (and the fact that he makes a cameo appearance in the ad). “Its beauty lies in its simplicity - it’s so easy to use! It’s quite literally a man-on-the-street lobbying tool.”

To take full advantage of this new service, we thought it best to ramp up our efforts at introducing video ad-serving technology, and we can finally announce that we’ve succeeded! Iain Dale, of 18 Doughty Street fame, was kind enough to lend a head hand. Thanks Iain!

Spectator Magazines Target Political Blogs for Readers and Traffic

Britain’s oldest continuously-published magazine in the English language decided to advertise on the MessageSpace network. The ads, designed to appeal to readers who had not sampled their online offering are updated every week to reflect the front cover headlines from the latest issue.

The Spectator has also launched the Coffee House an online presence with a more realtime blog ambience. The Spectator ran a second campaign to promote the Coffee House and their special supplement about Tony Blair.

Conservatives Abroad Reaches Out to Expat Community

Conservatives Abroad - an organisation within the Conservative Party aimed at the ex-pat community around the world - is now running adverts on MessageSpace sites with a conservative-leaning audience. The campaign aims to assist and enable those living throughout the world to continue participating in British politics.

A young Briton currently working in Prague commented on the ex-pat outreach effort, “The party of government for my home country is of great relevance - and I can’t get a vote here [in the Czech Republic] anyway.”

MessageSpace partner sites like Conservative Home and Iain Dale’s Diary attract a considerable international audience hailing from various parts of the world every day.

Conservatives Abroad’s attempt to reach an audience that is interested in their home country’s political discourse is a natural fit with MessageSpace’s existing online advertising facilities.

Beer Lobby Advertises on Blogs Pre-Budget

Britain’s brewing industry is facing an unprecedented set of challenges - yet is burdened with an unfair tax regime. The industry believes reforming the way beer is taxed needs a fundamental change of approach, to put an end to the unfavourable treatment of beer compared with other drinks.
The Beer and Pub Association chose to advertise on blogs in the run up to the Chancellor’s budget in order to reach readers in the Treasury and Whitehall.

Ulster Unionist Party Reaches Out Via Influential Blog

Ireland’s Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) began running a series of ads today aimed at directing potential supporters to their website, in conjunction with the upcoming Northern Ireland Assembly elections.

The UUP’s decision to effectively and efficiently reach out to voters by advertising on Northern Ireland’s pre-eminent political blog Slugger O’Toole provides a glimpse into the future of political campaigning - and MessageSpace is both excited and proud to play its role. MessageSpace has also provided the UUP with the capability to tweak the blog advertising campaign in real-time according to various criteria.

Whilst there have been numerous complaints with regard to the general public being disenchanted and disenfranchised by the various political parties, the UUP has now become the UK’s first political party to embrace and utilise the concept of advertising to a mainstream audience by harnessing the power of weblogs.

Irish Times Remarks on MessageSpace Advert on Slugger

The leading Northern Irish blog Slugger O’Toole carries MessageSpace adverts. In the run-up to the Northern Irish Assembly elections it has been full to capacity with advertising. One of which was from the leading bookmaker Eastwoods offering bets on the election outcome. From the Irish Times:

…the company has taken out an advertisement on the Slugger O’ Toole website. Those of you who are computer literate can Google Slugger O’Toole and you’ll find the site. And there, on the top right hand corner, you have a picture of Stormont - with shots of Ian Paisley, Gerry Adams, Reg Empey and Mark Durkan, and an enticing invitation to: “Bet the Election”.

Slugger O’Toole is run by blogger Mick Fealty who, as a former Irish Times news editor used to say, is one of those band of “Northern political fetishists” who are still excited by affairs of the Northern Ireland state. Slugger, by the way, was a sailor on the ill-fated Irish Rover. Remember the Pogues and Ronnie singing: “There was Slugger O’Toole, who was drunk as a rule . . .”. It’s a lively site. You get a good mix of analysis, commentary, and observation, and also bytimes venom and insult from its multitude of subscribers, some of it occasionally directed at Irish Times and other journalists whose views are considered ill-informed, or just plain annoying.

Eastwood also approves of Slugger and figure that it provides a captive, target audience of political mugs who will help in swelling even further the coffers of Barney and his family. Now the Eastwoods, like every bookie’s, are a shrewd outfit and try to shape the odds in the company’s rather than the punter’s favour.

Shaun Lynch of Eastwoods reported a surge in business the first day the advert went up.

Respected PoliticalBetting.Com Now Represented by MessageSpace

Mike Smithson is a trusted and respected political analyst. His PoliticalBetting.Com blog is widely read by the cognoscenti , followed by politicians and the media alike. We at MessageSpace are proud to welcome him to the leading blog advertising network in Britain - his site is frequently requested by advertisers.

Bryan Appleyard Joins Our Network

The author and Sunday Times journalist Bryan Appleyard has become the second mainstream journalist after Stephen Pollard to join our network and take advertising on his Thought Experiments blog.

MessageSpace and the Countdown to Northern Ireland’s Elections

Northern Ireland’s first dedicated lobbying and public affairs agency, Strategem, wanted to get the word out on their available services in the run-up to Northern Ireland’s upcoming elections. They came to us, and the MessageSpace team helped craft a campaign within 24 hours, targeted to their preferred audience. How’s that for efficient and effective?