Planet Ink Ltd Shortlisted for Scottish Magazine Awards

Planet Ink Ltd has been shortlisted in the prestigious Scottish Magazine Awards for the second year running.

Our team has been nominated by PPA Scotland for the Customer Magazine of the Year category alongside White Light Media who have two nominations, and Kwik-Fit Insurance.

Planet Ink Ltd's nomination is for its work creating the digital only Switch On magazine for Setanta Sports and transforming it into a Flash based interactive publication.

The category for Staff Magazine of the Year, won by Planet Ink Ltd last year, has been dominated this time around by Redhouse Lane Communications who have three nominations for its banking clients RBS and NatWest - who have been at the centre of the credit crunch storm.

Pulse from Taste Design is the final nominee in that category.

Shaun Milne, founding director of Planet Ink Ltd, said: "As a small, emerging company we are absolutely thrilled to have been nominated for the second year running, particularly when you look at the incredible talent and creativity on offer from all those companies shortlisted for the Scottish PPA Awards.

"Our debut year last time out was better than we could possibly have hoped for, and we look forward to another enjoyable event, whoever wins, and wish all those companies and individuals who have earned a place on the shortlist all the very best for the awards night on November 27."

MEDIA RELEASE: ecoforyou launches live today

MEDIA RELEASE:

Click HERE to view Issue One of ecoforyou for FREE


FOR IMMEDIATE USE: Tuesday, Oct 21st, 2008

NEW digital only green lifestyle magazine ecoforyou is now available for FREE from website www.ecoforyou.co.uk

Issue One runs to 34 full colour pages and features eco news, features and tips on going green.

Among the interactive offerings available to readers is the chance to pick their own cover – selecting from four alternatives – and click-through advertising.

Video and other Flash animation, including scroll bars and slideshows, are used across the live digital magazine.

As well as being 100% carbon neutral, ecoforyou is also available in Text Only format compatible with screen readers, opening up its written contents to the blind and visually impaired.

Scottish Environment Minister Mike Russell has penned an exclusive piece for the title that also includes articles on the Energy Agency, ScottishPower, Heathrow Airport and the world’s first occupied carbon zero house.

Glasgow-based Eco publishers Planet Ink Ltd estimate the first edition will be mailed out to around 50,000 email addresses.

They are now accepting inquiries for advertising, sponsorship and editorial for Issue Two which will be available late November.

Preferred publishing partners YUDU Media – the multi-award winning digital platform - have sponsored the publishing cost of Issue One.

An ecoforyou page is also available via social networking site Facebook and updates for the magazine will be posted via Twitter and an associated blog available at ecoforyou.wordpress.com.

Co-Publisher Gerry Cassidy said: “We’ve already had scores of people trying to sign up for the mag before it was even available, thanks to all the fantastic coverage we received from the media and bloggers last week.

“We really hope readers will like what they see and sign-up for free to receive future editions and – importantly – send the ecoforyou link onto their friends, clients and colleagues to support the project.

“Everyone at ecoforyou would also like to thank all those who have been in touch with their advice and emails of support. We’re still wading our way through them trying to reply to them all to say thanks.”

Unlike traditional magazines, Planet Ink Ltd are relying on only web-based communities to help promote ecoforyou.

Co-Publisher Shaun Milne said: “We already know what the power of the web can achieve through communicating quickly, efficiently and socially.

“So this platform offers us the perfect opportunity to grow.

“The more people who hit the Share Me button to pass on the link, the more readers we hope will sign up every month to receive their free editions.

“As our community grows, so should the magazine, opening up a web-savvy community across the ages and demographics for advertisers and sponsors to target using Flash or video ads.

“We’re fast approaching Web 3.0 – the intelligent web – where content and how it is used and distributed will be key to its development, moving on from ability to simply inform online, to being able to do so better.

“Not only is ecoforyou doing away with traditions such as print and ink to become 100% carbon neutral, we hope it is also recycling the mould of how publishers can reach as many readers as possible by embracing the emerging technology available.”

NOTES FOR NEWSDESKS:

(1) ecoforyou is available by email or free link found at www.ecoforyou.co.uk.

(2) the publishers plan an estimated initial mail-out to 50,000 potential readers.

(3) ecoforyou is accepting inquiries for sponsorship, advertising and editorial inquiries on 0141 248 5595/6 or via info@ecoforyou.co.uk. A full rate-card is available.

(4) Planet Ink Ltd is an award-winning independent design, media and publishing house established in January 2006 by directors Shaun Milne and Gerry Cassidy.

(5) For further information call Shaun Milne on 0794 121 9061 or Gerry Cassidy on 07798 543 9752, or 0141 248 5595.

For further information please email info@ecoforyou.co.uk or visit www.planetinkltd.co.uk

MEDIA RELEASE: ecoforyou to launch October 21, 2008

A NEW lifestyle magazine covering environmental news and features is to launch this month – but without a print edition.

Available in digital page-turn format the new magazine - ecoforyou - will be free to readers and circulated using web only distribution channels.

Publishers Planet Ink Ltd say the digital format, which can be used on both PCs and Macs, allows them to save on both natural resources and energy used in traditional printing.

It also allows ecoforyou to feature video content, audio, live links to stories and websites and animated Flash based advertising normally associated only with websites.

Content will include news, interviews, features and tips on going green, sustainable shopping and more, all set out in an innovative fully interactive format, hosted for Planet Ink Ltd on the YUDU Media digital platform.

The actual production process will also be fully offset – aiming to make it a 100% carbon neutral publication.

The Energy Agency, ScottishPower and Scottish Government are among the big names lined up as part of the maiden launch.

The first edition of ecoforyou is expected to go live on Tuesday, October 21, 2008, and publish as a monthly.

In what could be an industry first, ecoforyou will rely upon the online community to spearhead its assault on the market through social networking.

A Facebook page and Twitter subscription site are up and running already, while a dedicated website hosting the free editions is also about to go live at www.ecoforyou.co.uk

Readers will be encouraged to use ‘Forward to a Friend’ buttons and post links to blogs or add content they enjoy to the likes of Delicious, Digg and Technorati among others.

Employers are also being invited to send ecoforyou to staff or clients for free as part of their company’s own corporate environmental responsibility.

Founding director Gerry Cassidy said: “We hope ecoforyou will appeal not only to individual readers who care about green issues but businesses, campaigners and industry leaders too.

“By making ecoforyou available online and for free, we are inviting people to use it as part of addressing their own commitment to encouraging a sustainable lifestyle.

“They can easily email ecoforyou to their clients, colleagues and workforce and retain their green credentials, without having to go to the additional expense of their own publication.”

“Many businesses would love to have their own green edge title but with today’s economic picture, environmental considerations are all too often the first to be axed.

“But in ecoforyou we believe we have a product not only to be proud of but one that is trailblazing a new era for publishing in general.”

Planet Ink Ltd also believes that the online only approach will prove popular with potential advertisers because of its full interactivity with readers.

Founding director Shaun Milne said: “One of the many great things about ecoforyou is the fact that it engages the reader in a way print titles can only dream of.

“They can play videos, click onto websites, scroll their way through articles, move photographs – even choose their favourite cover, making it an enjoyable experience.

“And we can also offer statistical packages detailing how many views an edition has had, how long people have lingered on a page or how many times a link has been clicked and so on.

“It’s like a half-way house between print and web. All the familiarity of turning pages with the interactivity and usability of the web – while being eco friendly."

“Call it publishing with a conscience – combining entertaining content and functionality to propel an important yet often maligned subject into the mainstream.”

Director Derek Bryce added: “Online ad revenues remain one of the few areas to have performed far better than print based advertising, with click through rates on page turn titles also reportedly higher.

“This gives added value to advertisers who can track the success of their ads or allow us to provide them with the background data, literally at the click of a button.”

Other functions will allow readers to burn to disc or memory stick, download offline versions for later viewing, bookmark, print, add notes or even search content.

ecoforbusiness ecoforlife ecoforyou

Launching October 21, 2008
www.ecoforyou.co.uk

NOTES FOR NEWSDESKS
(1) ecoforyou will be available via email or through a free link available at
www.ecoforyou.co.uk from October 21, 2008.
(2) the publishers plan for an estimated initial mail-out to 50,000 potential readers. Accurate readership figures will be made available in due course.
(3) ecoforyou is now accepting inquiries for both sponsorship and advertising opportunities on 0141 248 5595/6. A full rate-card is available.
(4) Planet Ink Ltd is an award-winning independent design, media and publishing house
based in Glasgow established in January 2006 by founding directors Shaun Milne and Gerry Cassidy.
(5) For further information call Shaun Milne on 0794 121 9061 or Gerry Cassidy on 07798 543 9752, or 0141 248 5595. Email info@planetinkltd.co.uk or visit www.planetinkltd.co.uk

Media release posted FRIDAY OCTOBER 10, 2008.

ENDS

MSS Scotland Connect With Planet Ink Ltd

Planet Ink Ltd has just completed its first project for the Multiple Sclerosis Society Scotland by converting their printed magazine into a digital title.

MS Connect, which is designed by Edinburgh based 39steps, is now available online after we were able to convert their hi-res PDFs on a same day service.

MSS Scotland are hosting a link to the new format on their webpage and inviting feedback from members.

Coming Soon....

ecoforyou

The new online only magazine about eco living.

Launching October 21, 2008.

For advertising inquiries call 0141 248 5595/6.