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Metro staff get Chattering - 29th September 2011

A new, work-only, social networking tool has been launched in Metro’s offices, called Chatter.  It combines elements of Facebook and Twitter, where Metro staff can discuss work-related content and ‘follow’ their colleagues.

Chatter enables Metro staff to talk, share ideas and collaborate with each other. It's a social-networking tool for business, connecting Metro staff across geographical boundaries (including opposite ends of the office!) and encouraging real-time communication.

Everyone at Metro is signed up to Chatter.  One of the hot topics being discussed (similar to Twitter’s ‘Twitterati’) is, are Metro staff talking in the ‘Chattersphere’ or ‘Chatterverse’?
 

Metro partners with High Street Fashion Week - 6th July 2011

From 5^th September, Oxford Street in London will play host to High Street Fashion Week. During this week, high street stores will be holding special events, showcasing new collections and giving shoppers great promotional offers – all of which will create a huge shopping frenzy on one of London’s busiest high streets.

This year Metro has signed up as official media partner with a mission to make High Street Fashion Week the go-to event for every fashionable Londoner.  Expect to see a coverwrap plus lots of editorial from your favourite newspaper to support this fantastic fashion event.

 EcoVelocity: THE motor show of 2011 - 13th June 2011

Metro is proud to bring you EcoVelocity, a low-carbon motor festival that runs from Thursday 8th to Sunday 11th September 2011. 

Set in the iconic grounds of Battersea Power Station in London, this outdoor motoring event will bring to life a new world of motoring for prospective buyers that are keen to experience the latest in eco-transport or just a great fun and interactive day out for those that just fancy coming along for the ride.

A memorable day for all ages, festival visitors will be able to...

-Test drive the latest low-carbon cars and motorcycles around a specially designed track

- Get up close and personal with the amazing green supercars of the future

- Let the kids loose with two driving experiences for 6-11 and 11-15 year olds

- Experience the winners of the auspicious What Car? Green Awards in daily track parades

- Relax, unwind and be entertained at an iconic venue in our unique food and entertainment zone

Metro supports aspiring businesses - 11th May 2011

Brought to you by Metro newspaper and now in its second year, Venture Candy supports enterprise and innovation, transforming budding businesses into big brands.

The public gets to call the shots, voting for the people and the products they want to see succeed from a wide selection of entrants for different categories.

Venture Candy then rewards these talented, successful businesses with the exposure and profile they need to get ahead. The winners receive a host of valuable business assets ranging from mentorship, publicity, advertising, contacts and professional services, all of which give them the business foundations they need to grow.

 Check out http://www.venturecandy.co.uk/for more details

Metro cooks up a storm with its annual media industry party - 13th April 2011

It’s common knowledge that Metro is funded by advertising, we simply wouldn’t exist without it.   Each year, to thank all of our clients, partners and peers for their valued contributions and to celebrate another year of the Metro magic, we put on the parties of all parties…

This year we are taking over the arches under London Bridge, at Cable on April 14, with the club being transformed to represent the four natural elements: earth, air, fire and water.  With Zane Lowe and Norman Jay headlining, there will be plenty of other party elements to keep guests entertained throughout the evening too. 

Linda Grant joins Metro as Managing Director - 1st April 2011

Linda Grant replaced Steve Auckland this week as Managing Director of Metro.  Steve remains with DMGT, and now heads up Northcliffe Media (www.northcliffemedia.co.uk)  

Linda worked in the marketing department in the early days at Metro, where she got a real taste for the Metro magic.  More recently Linda worked as Director of Commercial Development across A&N Media, the consumer media division of DMGT plc which has a portfolio of brands and platforms including the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, Metro, Mailonline, Northcliffe, Jobsite, FindaProperty, Motors.co.uk and others, with a combined reach of 41% of the UK population. So Metro is in very good hands!

Metro reaches the grand old age of 12 - 16th March 2011

Today Metro celebrated its 12th birthday.  True to form there were lots of celebratory treats in the office in the form of cakes, balloons and banners. 

Thanks for all your support so far, we’d be no-where without our loyal group of readers.  Here’s to another 12 years…

Metro brightens up people’s morning - 23rd February 2011

Metro is no stranger to waking people up and easing them into the day, it’s something we try to do every single week day.  But a few lucky people’s mornings just got even better…

Metro launched a ‘Make my morning Metro’ competition.  We invited our clients to tell us how we could make their morning extra special and pledged to make their wishes come true.  Here’s one of the  winning entries: 

“Metro can make my morning by whisking me away to Paris for a croissant and champagne by the Eiffel Tower - mmmmm, c'est delicieux!”

 You surf to live not live to surf - 31st January 2011

Metro is more than just a newspaper.  We also have Metro.co.uk and we’ve been furrowing away trying to understand your web related behaviour, so we can ensure that Metro.co.uk fits your needs.  As a starting point  we’ve come up with a name for Urban web users such as yourself – ‘City Clickers’  You can read more about City Clickers here:  www.metrocityclickers.co.uk

Metro is omnipresent  - 31st January 2011 

A common misconception is that Metro is only available in one city, when in fact it is a national phenomenon with 10 editions spread across the country.  It is now distributed in 50 cities around the UK you lucky people, and there’s only 10 cities where Metro doesn’t have a presence.

If you’re planning a city break and don’t want to do without your daily dose of Metro fear not, you can get Metro in all of the following places: 

Metro Staff Give Back – 22^nd December 2010

It’s not just Metro readers we encourage to take part in our Urban Action charity initiatives. We make sure we get stuck in ourselves. In the run up to Christmas, here’s what we’ve been up to for Kids Company:

• - The Big Wrap Party – we wrapped over 300 presents that had been donated to the charity
• - We’ve sent 9 hampers stuffed full edible goodies for families less fortunate
• - We raised £800 from a raffle for two Mulberry handbags
• - The Tree of Wishes – Metro employees fulfilled children’s wishes that were hanging on our office tree
• - Xmas cards designed by the children were on sale in the office
•  
•  For My Generation, we’ve donated £5,000 from Metro.

Metro Expands Its Belt – December 15^th 2010

We’ve added 50,000 extra copies to our London distribution, further cementing our position as the 3^rd largest UK daily newspaper.

The copies have been rolled out through train stations on the commuter belt of London as we continue to target readers at the start of their journeys. ABC, the independent auditing body for newspapers verified Metro’s November distribution at 1,385,437.
 

Metro donates £10,000 to charity, courtesy of Metro readers - 7th December 2010

 Metro readers have raised more than £10,000 to be split between two worthy charities:  My Generation and Kids Company.  The huge wedge of cash was raised just in time for Christmas, by bidding on Metro’s online charity auction.  Auction items ranged from a stay in a luxury hotel to ipads and designer shoes.

The online action is part of a wider campaign by Metro to raise money for the two charities throughout the year.  My Generation’s Shaun Bailey said ‘Metro’s Urban Action campaign is a real boost to small charities struggling to survive in these tough economic times.”  

Metro cements its reputation in online gaming - 30th November

Big pat on the back to our online gaming expert Rory Miller-Cheevers, who helped Metro to win the award for ‘White Label Operator Of The Year‘ at the eGaming Review Awards – the Oscars of the UK gaming industry.  Gaming is an area Metro wants to concentrate on and this achievement reflects the success we’re already having with games such as ‘Fantasy football’.

Congrats to the Metro sales team - 30th November

The Metro sales team was recently commended in the ‘Print sales team of the year’ category of the Campaign media awards.  This is a phenomenal achievement and is testament to the sales team’s hard work and creativity, which has resulted in a record breaking year for advertising revenue.  Innovations such as a 3D coverwrap, an augmented reality ad and new advertising formats have helped in this process. 

He said yes!  Just call us Cupid….- 18th November 2010

Have you been following the messages from the winners of our reader “Win the cover” competition mentioned below?

Yesterday one winner captured the hearts of commuters up and down the country after he proposed to his partner of almost 5 years, on the front cover of Metro.  On the same day that Wills proposed to Kate no less!

Luckily the bold move paid off and we’re happy to announce that Ben said yes. Awwww.  Metro wishes them the very best. 

You can read more here: 

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/847387-its-a-yes-metro-marriage-proposal-ends-in-success

Metro to launch its first ever games app - 18th November 2010

Metro Apps launches its first ever games app - a special edition of the BAFTA nominated Super Yum Yum: Puzzle Adventures.

The game will cost 59p and is now available to buy from the iTunes Apple Store.  It will work on iPhone, iPad and iTouch devices. 

We plan to follow this with a series of new apps in early December, including C-Zones, on European Congestion charging zones, and Cab Finder – an app that allows you to find a free cab based on your location.

http://apps.metro.co.uk/promotions

Our Digital Future - 10th November 2010

Curious about Metro’s take on our digital future, the proliferation of apps and publishers’ experiments with online pay-walls? Listen to our Digital Director Jamie Walters give his views on where we’re heading…

http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/27967.asp

Britney Spears’ fragrance - Competition - 1st November 2010

This week Metro will help launch Britney Spears’ new fragrance, Radiance. We’re excited about this cross-platform campaign because not only are there fantastic prizes to be won (holidays, spa treatments, VIP nights out) but we’re running a series of events for readers across London, Edinburgh and Manchester. 30 readers will have the chance to be pampered by makeup artists and beauticians as part of the promotion. Looking good!

 What’s your vision of the future? - 27th October 2010

On Tuesday 26th October Metro hosted an exciting one-off speaker event.  With the help of futureologists, trendspotters and editors, we predicted what the future of urban living and culture would look like. 

Why did we do this?  Metro is a city-based newspaper so we strive to be at the fore-front of trends around city life.  And with roughly 85% of the world’s population living in cities, our clients want to know what we know!

Rarely going for the fail-safe option, we chose to host the event in an early 19th century restored church in London, creating an incredible juxtaposition between the old and new.

Guest speakers were:
Mark Earls– Strategic consultant and author of ‘Herd’
Josh Spear– trendspotter and founding partner of Undercurrent
Chris Anderson– futureologist
Jess Greenwood– director of Contagious Insider

 To see more about the event visit www.metrourbaneye.co.uk.  Around the middle of November a video and pictures of the event will appear on this website.

What would you say to 3.5 million readers? – 19^th October 2010

Tomorrow sees the launch of our first ever national consumer campaign to market our own brand. We want to build brand loyalty and “give something back”, so tomorrow’s Metro has a cover wrap calling all readers to enter our new competition. It will give you the opportunity to own a page of a Metro coverwrap and share an idea or message with the nation. It could be anything from a work of art to a marriage proposal – whatever the idea, we want to hear it! Following a 2 week registration period, 12 winners will be chosen to have their idea turned into a page on the cover of a special edition of Metro and be made famous for a day.

 A dedicated microsite has been set up for your submissions, which also showcases some ideas to help inspire your entries. From tomorrow visit www.metro.co.uk/winthecover to find out more.

 So go on, why not tell your friends and have some fun with it…

New Metro Feature - TechTalk – 14^th October 2010

Knowing many of our urban readers are early adopters of new technology and gadgets, we’ve introduced a new weekly feature spread called TechTalk.  Kicking off today, it will bring expert opinion and the latest news and reviews of this fast-moving area. First up the best headphones…

Check In And Check Out Metro on Foursquare – 6^th October 2010

Metro has become the first UK newspaper to feature editorial content on the location-based social networking site, Foursquare. Users of Foursquare will now be able to view restaurant and film reviews from us when they ‘check- in’ to relevant places, providing them with up to date trusted reviews, exactly when they need them. Are you the “mayor” of anywhere yet?

Upping The Ante – 30^th September 2010

We’re increasing our print-run by 50,000 copies putting our distribution up to 1.38 million and strengthening our position as the UK’s third largest national daily newspaper. These additional papers are being rolled out through train stations on the commuter belt of London as we continue to target a young, working audience at the start of their journey. 

Apptastic – 22^nd September 2010

Today, Jamie Walters, Metro’s digital director is down at Olympia speaking at Ad Tech’s conference. He is part of a panel presenting about “the explosion of apps” looking at how mobile applications have taken consumers by storm. He will be helping businesses to understand how they can use this opportunity to help build their brands and create customer loyalty.

Andrei’s Addict Analysis – 22^nd September 2010

Metro’s showbiz reporter, Andrei Harmsworth, gave his views on Sky News over the imprisonment of George Michael. See it again here…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utEySwmrieo

Metro Goes Glam – posted 15^th September 2010

Tomorrow Metro will be wrapping 50,000 London copies of the paper in glossy paper to bring a quality, shiny edge to a campaign running for Swarovski. Announcing a new flagship store opening on Oxford street our glossy paper allows Swarovski to get a high-end magazine feel but to disseminate their message with the speed of a daily newspaper. Winner!

  Feel The Love – posted 8th September 2010

Sarah, our Head of Brand Extensions, is extremely excited (and nervous!) at the moment because tomorrow we’re running our first Urban Dating night. It’s Metro’s spin on bringing Urban singles together, where they can take part in a tube match ice-breaker and sample a flirting masterclass. If all else fails in finding a potential date, then there’s still prizes to be won and a free cocktail to steady the nerves. Maybe we’ll be buying a new hat sometime soon…

…And “Action” - posted 2nd September 2010

We’ve just signed a brand new content deal with ITN Productions to supply daily video clips to Metro.co.uk. The agreement sees ITN provide high quality video journalism spanning multiple genres including UK, world, sports, showbiz, music, fashion and video gaming.
 

Mark Browning, Managing Director, ITN Productions, said: “We’re delighted to be working with Metro, one of the best-known consumer newspaper brands in the UK. Our mix of news and entertainment is a fantastic match for Metro’s content and we expect it will be very much enjoyed by their online users.”

Recycle On The Go - posted 25th August 2010

Southwark Council has been working with Metro and Veolia Environmental Services to roll out a new wave of recycling bins across the borough, designed to help pedestrians 'recycle on the go'. A hundred bins are being fitted at the busiest locations such as transport hubs and popular tourist areas, so shoppers, commuters and tourists can recycle newspapers, drink bottles, cans and plastic food trays.

Metro - An established national brand - posted 11th August 2010

Metro has been referred to for quite some time as part of BBC Breakfast's national newspaper review each morning. However, we've recently met with ITV who hadn't realised Metro is a national paper covering 33 different cities and the third most read national daily in the country. We're thrilled that they too are now reviewing Metro stories on their GMTV show.

A great bit of bonding! - posted 4th August 2010

Batak: it's a simple game of reflexes responding to flashing lights but it turned out to be a huge hit at the wrap party we hosted back in April. So next week, Metro and the Batak game will be touring London's creative houses getting their staff to engage with us as part of a fun inter-agency competition. We'll put up some great prizes for those who end up at the top of the leader board and hopefully get a good buzz going about Metro along the way. If you fancy using the game with your clients just visit www.batak.com

2 Years and Counting - posted 22nd July 2010

With a national spread of readers and a strength in London, we think Metro is brilliantly placed to get behind coverage of the 2012 Olympics. Next week we're running a special "2 years to go" supplement to kick off the count down to the Games. Sponsored by Lloyds TSB it will include a spread on the various venues, a letter from Seb Coe to Metro readers, a column from the world champion gymnast Dan Keatings and great interviews with the likes of Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell who are challenging Usain Bolt. Don't miss it next Tuesday....

Metro at your fingertips - posted 7th July 2010

We're really pleased to be ahead of the game in launching our new iPad app which is currently number 1 on the free news app downloads. The app was designed specifically to make the best use of the iPad, with its expanded screen space and multi-touch functionality.  It offers digital news in a paper-like experience, giving readers the chance to swipe between individual headlines with a single finger, whilst moving between the different sections using a dual finger swipe. The app covers News, Showbiz, Sport, Weird, Music, Film, TV and Technology

Everybody loves a freebie - posted 1st July 2010

Metro has been running sampling activities for years now, giving out advertisers' free samples at stations across the country. We call it "Brand to Hand".  Well now we've launched a new initiative taking this service in to offices, getting our clients' products right to the heart of urbanites' workplaces. Last week we ran our first activity for Wrigleys gum which was a great success.
If you work in an office of more than 200 people, then feel free to put it forward as a potential venue and we will run an assessment of it. Just email your office contact details to alison.sugden@ukmetro.co.uk

Everest in a Day - posted 24th June 2010

On 12 June 2010, 10 members of the Metro team dragged themelves out of bed to abseil down the Trellick tower in London - all 322 feet of it!  

The event, named 'Everest in a day' was in support of the charity 'My Generation'  -  one of Metro's chosen charity partners for the year.  My Generation aims to break the cycle of poverty, crime and ill-health in struggling communities.  

We're happy to report the Metro team all made it to the bottom in one piece, raising over £1000 for My Generation in the process.  http://www.everestinaday.com/

Metro wins 'Green Apple' gold award - posted 16th June 2010

This week Metro won a 'Green Apple' gold award at an event at the Tower of London. The Green Apples have been running for 16 years and could be classed as the Oscars for the British environmental industry. There were over 500 entries, only 30 awards, and only a handful of them were gold. The award recognised our efforts at changing reader behaviour to increase recycling of the paper, through projects including the provision of recycling bins, the recent consumer recycling advertising campaign and the annual Recreate competition.

Recreate competition - posted 9th June 2010

Metro recently launched the Recreate competition, which asked budding young British artists to make something magical out of old Metro newspapers. The standard of entries was very impressive and the  winners have now been announced.  Log onto metrorecreate.co.uk to take a look at some of the finallists' work.  Each winner received £750 and their pieces will feature in shops run by competition partner Oxfam.  

Tune in - posted 3rd June 2010

Metro is the official newspaper partner of the 2010 iTunes festival taking place at the Roundhouse in Camden for 31 nights in July. Maybe we'll see some of you there!

Football Fever - posted 26th May 2010

We're launching a World Cup Fantasy Football game with fantastic new game-play features, a new design, increased usability and exclusive competitions. www.metro.co.uk/fantasyfootball
The new game will have enhanced competition within mini-leagues, where gamers set-up their own leagues to play against their friends. As always with Metro’s games, users can play for free. However, this time they can also up the ante by putting money into the mini-league pot at the start of the competition, with the winner taking the lot.
 

Urban Action - posted 19th May 2010

This year we wanted to focus our charitable support a bit more than we've done in the past, so we launched a formal charity project team called Urban Action. Having a particular interest in urban based development, the first two charities we are supporting are Kids Company and My Generation with loads of Metro staff getting involved!
 

Grab some MEtime - posted 13th May 2010

Next week, Metro launches a new consumer campaign to drive traffic to metro.co.uk. Spoof anchormen Donnie Fox and Bill Craze have been created to head up the campaign to fit in with the fun and irreverent tone of the website.  

Consumers will be able to learn about the type of content available on metro.co.uk via in-paper and online ads and through specially scripted videos on Metro.co.uk and on a ‘METime’ YouTube channel.  The campaign will run under the strapline 'Grab Some MEtime' and will be supported by a microsite www.metro.co.uk/metime
 

Venture Candy competition - posted 5th May 2010

We're all glued to the daily entries of our Venture Candy competition this week which is running opposite the business & finance page.
Metro's version of Dragon's Den, Venture Candy has the power to really boost the success of some of these small businesses and we've loved working with the brilliant entrepreneurs who have helped us judge the entries. The choice of winner now lies with our readers and online votes are flooding in. Good luck to our finalists!

 

Advertising First for Metro - posted 29th April 2010

Advertisers are always looking for new and creative things to do in Metro to maximise the stand-out for their messages. We developed a new ad format of 8 folding pages, printed on glossy paper and inserted into 200,000 London copies of Metro to promote ITV1's new HD channel.  
Grant Woodthorpe, Metro's Executive Director of Sales said, “We are delighted to be working with ITV as part of this high profile campaign, particularly as it is a media first for Metro.  It is a great piece of creative and will really grab the attention of our urbanite readers as they spot the many recognisable faces of ITV talent.”

 

Metro Street Party - posted 21st April 2010

Knowing our readers so well from the surveys you answer, we try to align ourselves with events we feel you'd be interested in. In early April, we were Media Partner to Snowbombing 2010 in Mayrhofen, Austria. Pitted as the greatest show on snow, Snowbombing is a week-long festival of fun on the slopes featuring hundreds of DJs and bands such as Fatboy Slim, DJ Yoda, Editors and Friendly Fires playing in fantastic venues such as the Arctic Igloo, Eristoff Forest and The Racket Club.

Metro sponsored the Street Party, which over the years has become one of Snowbombing's major highlights. The main street gets overrun with 4,000 revellers in fancy dress dancing to the likes of Barry Peters and The Cuban Brothers. Never being afraid to get involved, Metro supplied the audience with 4,000 moustaches to add to their outfits. At other venues we gave away thousands of lip balms and fans. Believe us, it gets hot when 3000 'bombers' are jumping up and down to 2manydjs!

It's Party Time! - posted 14th April 2010

Being a free newspaper, we are dependent on our advertisers. As a way of saying thank you to all our clients for their  business, Metro hosts an annual party.  It's become an infamous event in the media calendar, and this year's invitation-only "Metroland" party will see a thousand people celebrating at Fabric.

Faces behind the advertising - posted 8th April 2010

Ever thought about the people behind the advertising? Well there's a whole bunch of very creative people who spend their lives designing what goes into adverts from print to tv to outdoor posters etc.

Metro wants to push the boundaries of our advertising creativity by getting closer to these people. It should be good news for you readers if we can keep things fresh and engaging. To that end, we ran a competition for "creatives" to design a coverwrap for Metro that would engage communters and brighten up their day. The winning entry was printed on Metro's London edition on 6th April to be read by over 2 million readers. If you'd like to see the other short-listed entries go to www.metro.co.uk/advertising

Metro wins 7-year deal with Transport for London (TfL) - posted 8th March 2010

We have won a 7 and a half year contract to continue our distribution of Metro at all London Underground stations and various London bus stations.

This is great news as it means that Londoners can continue to pick up their copy of Metro at Underground and bus stations until at least 2017! The money that TfL make from this contract will go straight back into funding improvements in public transport, as well as helping to fund carbon-cutting projects, including newspaper recycling schemes at its stations. 

2010 sees further recycling initiatives as our campaign to get readers to recycle their copies of Metro gathers momentum.

We have partnered with the UK’s largest train operator, Northern Rail, to encourage readers not to leave their Metro on public transport.  There will be posters on trains across the network from the end of February.

Security and logistics often complicate recycling plans but we are in constant conversations on the subject, and we now have recycling schemes in place with nine train companies as well as five councils, Westminster, Camden, Waltham Forest, Sutton and Newcastle Upon Tyne.

John Leitch, Executive Director of Distribution and Partners, Metro said: ‘We hope this latest step in our campaign will remind readers that they play an important role in getting their free newspapers recycled.’

Show them how it’s done!!

Metro launches iPhone App - posted 23th February 2010

Check out our new iPhone app which allows you to instantly read the latest edition of Metro, get live news, scroll and search content and also access archived editions. Archives and articles can be searched by keywords and readers can download single pages or editions to read offline.

The application is available to download free from the iTunes store for use worldwide.

Metro appoints Head of Brand Extensions - posted 23th February 2010

We have created a new role ‘Head of Brand Extensions’ and Sarah Divan has been appointed to the role.  Sarah will be responsible for expanding the Metro brand beyond the newspaper and website. Sarah said: ‘This year is going to be an extremely fun and exciting time for Metro and I am proud to be involved in the creation of fresh, new and spirited projects which reflect the nature of our readers. Watch this space!’