Core Facts

Finding local businesses is now easier thanever and a lot more fun, as Yell adds Augmented Reality to its supremelypopular (and free) iPhone App.

Yell.com is building on the success of itsnumber one business App with the development of an Augmented Reality version,available free on the App Store. The free Augmented Reality iPhone Beta App hasbeen designed by Yell Labs, a group of technicians and strategists dedicated tomaking Yell the best way for local companies to advertise themselves and thebest way for local people to find them. The App allows users to ‘see’ local shops,offices, restaurants and other useful services through the iPhone’s cameraviewer - even if they’re round the corner or in the next street.

Yell’s integrated online, on-phone andin-print services are the natural way to find a local business or service, justlike it used to be when there was only the Yellow Pages.

How it works
As you move the iPhone around, yellow boxes are displayed over the live feed ofthe world directly in front of you.  If you touch one of these boxes,information is displayed about that specific business such as address, phonenumber, opening hours and website. It’s a combination of the iPhone’s GPS andcompass, which combine to pinpoint exactly where you are, and the way you’refacing. Yell then seamlessly overlays the relevant information, taken from itsdatabase of two million businesses.

The App, which requires an iPhone 3GS,features:

• Radar: shown at the top of the screen, indicates which businesses are around you, 360°
• Categories Bar: swish your finger to the right and a display with popular searches appears allowing you to get to the information you want quickly
• Range: swish your finger to the left and you can set the distance that you want to see, therefore allowing you to reduce the amount of information on the screen

Quotes

“Yell’s new Augmented Reality iPhone appmeans that any business can be found easily, even if it’s tucked awayaround a corner or in the next street.   So as people get used tousing this kind of technology, having a prime ‘high street’ location could wellbecome a lot less important.” - Matthew  Bottomley,  director ofnew media product marketing at Yell.

“We’re pleased with the result of our firstexperiment with Augmented Reality and are now working on fully integrating ARwith our mobile service later in the year.” - Matthew Bottomley, director of new media product marketing at Yell. 

March 15, NewYork

Internetresearch and training specialist Econsultancy has recruited Wendy McHale tolead the US expansion of its customized training and membership sales andclient services.

Econsultancy'sfirst US client services director brings extensive digital marketing knowledgeto Econsultancy's global community of 85,000 marketers with a background inboth traditional and digital publishing.

Wendy wasformerly president of Madison Avenue Consultants, (MAC) a digital strategyfirm that provides counsel and guidance to Fortune 500 and digitalstart-up companies.   

She's also theformer publisher of the Madison Avenue Journal, a widely respected trade e-zinewhich focuses on the impact that digital media has on the on the advertisingand digital content business. Prior to founding MadAveCon and theMadAveJournal, she was a senior advertising sales executive with  TimeInc, News Corp  and Condé Nast where she helped launch InStyle, theCondé Nast Bridal Group and created many of the first digital salespromotions for that company. She is guest lecturer at the New School Universityon new media and advertising and is the emcee of the Digital Publishing andAdvertising Conference.  

"Econsultancyis a unique online publishing and training company that I have admired for sometime," says Wendy McHale. "Their vast resources make it a compellingvalue proposition for marketers. The digital business moves so quickly, keepingon top the trends can be challenging.  Econsultancy has proven itself tobe on the cutting edge, providing marketers with information critical to theirbusinesses.   I am excited to be part of such a stellarorganization and look forward to working with the New York and Londonteams."

"Wendy'sdeep experience and skill set encompasses everything we at Econsultancy offer:publishing, writing, training, and most of all, a deep knowledge of onlinemarketing and e-commerce," says Rebecca Lieb, vice president of USoperations for Econsultancy. "It's hard to imagine anyone more qualifiedto help move our year-old US operations forward.

"Over thelast 10 years, our member base has grown globally but the US is the mostexciting market for us" says Ashley Friedlein, CEO and co-founder ofEconsultancy. "We see significant opportunities to grow our business hereby helping companies get the best return on investment on their digitalmarketing and e-commerce activities through our research, guides and bespoketraining. We're also very eager to cross-fertilize the very best ideas andinsights from Europe to the US, vice versa, and, indeed, globally as marketingand commerce become increasingly digital."

Econsultancy,which is headquartered in London, launched in the US last year following thesuccess of its award-winning subscription publishing and events business in theUK.

Bullying a major concern for kids 

New research out today reveals that while most dads(61%) feel comfortable giving advice to their children about bullying only 1 in5 (17%) children trust their dad’s advice on this topic. However 6 out of 10(59%) children would trust their mum’s advice. 

Research conducted by Relate for Parents, a websitededicated to helping parents with their family relationships,  reveals that bullying is a major concern toover half of children (51%) surveyed, with more boys (59%) worried than girls,and this issue is ranked higher than relationships (20%), drugs (17%) and sex(11%).

The survey also reveals that 74% of childrenconsider their mum to be a role model and 58% of children see their dad as arole model.

Lin Griffiths, Family Counsellor at Relate forParents, said: “It’s very encouraging that dads feel comfortable talking totheir children about bullying, and children are willing to seek advice.  However it is a concern that children don’ttrust the advice they are hearing from their dads. Like most parents, dad’s arebound to feel protective of their children. It is possible that the advice that some dads give - “stand up foryourself”; “tell your teacher”; “I’ll sort him/her out”; “give as good as youget”; although well meaning, could be seen as another pressure on their son ordaughter. Despite this lack of trust, 58% of children still look up to theirfather as a role model.”

With children turning to the internet for advice onpersonal issues, less than one in five dads (18%) know if their children areseeking advice online, despite 74% of dads saying that they would rather theirchildren came to them. However, with only half of dads regularly making time totalk to their children, the first step for some fathers may be for them todedicate more time to talking with and listening to their children.

To help parents with their family relationships,Relate for Parents has launched the new Relate for Parents website, www.relateforparents.org.uk, which provides online supportand expert help for parents and families.

www.relateforparents.org.uk’s top five tips on giving adviceto children:

-      Listen to your children. Really listen to their problems and individual concerns. You mightknow that it’s part of teenage life to break-up with friends and have fights,but for your child it is a real experience happening to them and they will wantto know you are taking them seriously.

-      Be consistent in what you say and do. It sounds obvious but say what you mean and meanwhat you say. Children are very good at noticing when you don’t follow throughon your own advice. However that doesn’t mean you have to be perfect. In factit is good for your children to see you admit your mistakes and don’t be afraidto apologise.

-      Make time. Sitting down and talking to your children shouldn’t just be reservedfor the big things, if they feel they can talk to you easily about the smallthings, this might help when they have big concerns.  

-      Don’t make promises you can’t keep. Children remember broken promises and this issomething that can damage their trust in you. It is better to make no promisesat all than ones you think you might break. 

-      Your children will not love you less if you don’thave answers to all their difficulties. They will feel supported just by the fact that you have listened andunderstood their struggle.

Relate for Parents provides support and advice formore than 10,000 parents each month, including step-parents, adoptive parents,aunts, uncles, grandparents and siblings. Free and confidential online support,including live chats and email responses real life stories, videos and podcastsare also available at www.relateforparents.org.uk aswell as the new and unique Family Mapping tool, which helps parents understandtheir situation and how they can make changes for the better.