THE ASTROBINGO.CO.UK LIFE PANEL HITS THE TABLOIDS

Over at http://www.astrobingo.co.uk we created and implemented the www.astrobingo.co.uk Life Panel - a weekly survey and discussion board which created a forum for the bingo players to discuss topics online, adding value to the site and doubling as news hook producer.

The Astrobingo Life Panel is a unique resource producing fresh news hooks for PR and is the very essence of Astrobingo. It gives members a voice, gets their view recognised and is now being recognised on regular basis by the tabloids - above in The Daily Star and below in The Metro and The People.

IT ALL ADDS UP THANKS TO NEW DESIGN FOR MATHS TUTORING WEBSITE

Interactive agency Play added the fun to http://www.whizz.com by providing design, strategy and information architecture for the site.
The new website http://www.whizz.com contains dynamic interactive content specially developed for three diverse audiences: parents, teachers and children. The site is part of the company Whizz Education.
The launch includes a new global brand identity, http://www.whizz.com; tailored content and several live interactive demonstrations to bring the brand to life for both home and school use.
Whizz Education worked with interactive agency Play to provide strategic insight for the development of http://www.whizz.com. Ethan Segal, Play said: "Whizz Education's online home tutoring product is unique in that it delivers rigorous lessons personalised to every child's needs and great degree of feedback to parents, whilst being highly visual, interactive and engaging to do.
"The challenge was to translate this proposition in site architecture, design and language to appeal to various parent segments, teachers and children. We believe that the new http://www.whizz.com is consistent with the essence of the product, answers various user needs and enhances their overall experience with Whizz. We are confident that Whizz Education's existing customers and people looking for innovative private tutoring will benefit from visiting the site and find it easy and fun to interact with."
Whizz is already established in 3000 UK schools and in early 2006 won a prestigious BETT award. Its highly personalised approach, confidence building and colourful dynamic design creates a product which is as effective as a private tutor, at only a fraction of the cost. http://www.whizz.com follows the launch of Whizz Education's online home tutoring service.
Oli White, Marketing Manager, Whizz Education, said: "We wanted to create an online experience that would engage with three distinct but very different groups. The challenge was to create a synergy in content that would fully engage with each without alienating the other. Children are engaged by the colourful content and design of the lessons; parents and teachers each have different agendas. We believe we've created a site which offers a personalised experience of the brand for each of these markets."
Whizz Education's interactive software has been invented to act just like a human tutor, offering one-on-one learning that reacts to the child's individual learning needs in guiding them through lessons. Parents get their own private login to access a range of reports showing their child's measurable progress.
The "bedroom" is a secure online environment for children which they can decorate and where they can exchange points saved from completing lessons for games, pets and toys. Maths-Whizz even has a dedicated Children's Programmer who job it is to make every child's visit to Maths-Whizz an enjoyable one.
For further information: http://www.playwithus.com and http://www.whizz.com

MULTI AWARD WINNING PERCOL COFFEE LAUNCHES IN IRELAND

Percol, the pioneering, award-winning ethical ground and instant coffee, pictured here in the Evening Standard on the 3rd January has launched in the Irish Republic. Percol has won a total of 24 awards for quality and taste, more than any other coffee. In 2006 its Fairtrade Organic Guatemala ground coffee won Gold at the Great Taste Awards. At the Soil Association’s Organic Food Awards 2006 Percol won bronze for its Americano ground coffee. Percol was the first company to launch single origin Fairtrade coffee. In 2002 Percol became the first to introduce coffee sourced solely from Nicaragua and won the best Organic Product in the UK at the Organic Food Awards.

Percol’s range of coffees capture the ‘terroir’ of the country from which they originate – the situation of soil, climate and plant variety which the French use in ‘wine-making’. During 2006 the brand had a packaging makeover introducing its instantly recognisable “adventures in coffee” theme. Percol coffee is sourced from a wide range of countries in Latin America including Guatemala, Nicaragua, Mexico, Colombia and Honduras and featured on-pack is a description of country, climatic, cultural information and tasting notes.

Percol is run by owner and Founder Brian Chapman, who says; “I’ve always held a firm belief that coffee was more than just another beverage you kept in the cupboard. Percol as a brand is synonymous with innovation and quality, whether that is for selling first ever single origin coffees or for winning awards. We are passionate about our coffees and are keen to ensure that consumers are being transported through their senses to the very heart of the beautiful countries where our coffees are grown. Coffee farms are as intriguing and individual as vineyards. There are many similarities between fine wine and quality coffee so we have also included tasting notes about the different flavours - many of which are borne from the types of surroundings they originate from.”

Percol supports the Coffee Kids Charity which establishes sustainable projects to improve the lives of those dependent on coffee farming. Projects include education, health-care and developing alternative sources of income. To date Percol has given the equivalent of £193,000 to Coffee Kids.