Drum campaign rescues News Gem at Volume Group

In August the marketing industry lost shining star New Gem when she was axed from Volume's website, but our campaign has forced bosses to bring her back

News Gem, better known as Volume's head of creative services Gemma Spencer, had presented monthly news bulletins on the Volume Group's website since August 2008, but a website re-design threatened to see her bulletins come to an end. When The Drum heard about this, the magazine launched a campaign to save her, which has now seen Volume Group CEO Chris Sykes perform a dramatic u-turn and re-introduce the video bulletins to the new look Volume Group website. Speaking of her return, Spencer said: “It’s great that they have decided to bring News Gem back above all else it keeps me in a job and I’ve missed my alter ego. I have been very flattered that there is such a demand for her. One ‘fan’ if you like, even started a ‘Save News Gem’ Facebook group which has nearly 100 members! Lets hope that News Gem is here to stay!” Commenting on his decision to bring back News Gem, Sykes said: “When we stopped producing News Gem we noticed a significant drop in regular site traffic of upto 50%. We also noticed that people were staying on the site for less, obviously they didn’t have News Gem to keep them engaged. "But, when we recently added a shortened version of News Gem about our new office move, web traffic shot up again, so there is obviously a ‘News Gem effect’. We’re also been asked by our clients where she’s gone so she has been in demand and her comeback is eagerly anticipated!” News Gem's first video newscast can be seen today at www.volumegroup.co.uk. The return of News Gem coincides with Volume's move to new offices that Sykes says confirms the transformation of Volume from a local marketing communications agency to the creative and technology hybrid that it is today, supporting global, leading organisations. The company is also now working with Scottish-based success story Vets Now, for which Volume is building a CRM system for. The latest News Gem released this week will report on all these latest changes and bring you fully up to date with what has been going on at Volume towers and its new digital campus.