Multi-award-winning creative brand experience agency, N2O, in partnership with Tesco, has created a pop-up Christmas Market that will visit stores across the UK in the run up to the festive period.

Standing up for joy this Christmas, the festive Tesco Christmas Market comprises free food and drink sampling, gifting inspiration and spreading festive cheer for the whole family. The focus is around spending less; offering helpful ways to celebrate the season’s festivities, with hints and tips for hosting no matter the budget.

The multi-brand roadshow includes Disney, Coca-Cola, Lurpak, Costa Coffee, Schwartz, Maltesers, Kopparberg, Amarula, McVitie’s, San Pellegrino, Tesco Finest and many more.

Clare James, Chief Operating Officer at N2O, said: “Back by popular customer demand, we’re delighted to deliver the Tesco Christmas Markets for a third year. With the current tough economic climate, we’ve focused on offering customers a memorable free experience, with lots of festive food and drink to try, a free gift wrapping service and tips for how customers can still bring some budget-friendly joy into their celebrations this year.”

Customers can locate their nearest Tesco Christmas Market at www.tescochristmas.com

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To mark the 20th anniversary of Tesco Finest, the retailer’s premium, own-brand food range, Tesco is inviting food-lovers to a free immersive exhibition, curated with the help of ‘food alchemists’ Bompas & Parr, at Kachette in Shoreditch from 11th to 13th October.

‘DEVOUR – the exhibition you can eat by Tesco Finest’, fuses the worlds of food, art, design and theatre to create an exploration behind Tesco Finest products in an adventure designed to engage all the senses.

The edible exhibition will allow food lovers to travel through six different experiences that take the concept of a tasting menu to a new, fully sensorial and interactive level, bringing to life the lengths Tesco Finest goes to in order to ensure the best quality food and drink.

Guests will step inside the Tesco Finest Vintage Grand Cru Champagne bottle for a bubble catching experience which brings to life the 250 million bubbles inside every bottle. Drinkers will be able to catch floating edible champagne bubbles in their mouths before enjoying a glass of bubbly.

From venturing down a Himalayan salt mine to embarking on a foraging expedition to playing a wild mushroom symphony and seeing the unimaginable come to life with an edible rainbow, the multi-sensory taste journey will take diners through a whole meal, from aperitifs to starters through to main and dessert.

Tickets are free, but consumers will have to book in advance at tesco.com/devour

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McDonald’s has signed a deal with The Smiley Company, master licensee for the Rubik’s Cube, for the iconic 1980s puzzle toy to feature in McDonald’s Happy Meal offers in multiple countries.

In a deal brokered by global customer engagement agency The Marketing Store, which has worked closely with McDonald’s for many years, the multi-territory promotion will appear in McDonald’s restaurants across various European countries, the Middle East, Africa and North America.

The campaign launches in France this month (July 2018) and will then roll out across other territories from August through November 2018, including Italy, Spain, Austria, UAE and Canada, amongst many others.

It is not clear yet whether it will be running in the UK, where restrictions are in force on the use of toys and licensed characters to promote food and drink products. Promomarketing has asked McDonald’s for clarification on this point.

Unusually, the Happy Meal Box will be transformed from its traditional tented ‘house’ design into a Cube shape to mirror the Rubik’s Cube for the duration of the campaign.

Children enjoying a Happy Meal at participating McDonald’s will have a choice of four different bespoke Rubik’s Cube toys; including square 2×2 cubes and rectangular 3×2 cubes as well as rounded versions of these, with a total of 12 different toys to choose from.

The unique promotion will also feature a product mash-up between Rubik’s and a major Hollywood animation film studio’s properties appearing on the toys alongside the iconic Rubik’s Cube colours and trademark twist and turn mechanism.

Nicolas Loufrani, CEO at The Smiley Company, says: “We have worked closely with The Marketing Store and the whole team at McDonald’s and are really pleased with the innovative and high quality content of this campaign. From the robust mini Cubes and the unique Rubik’s Cube shaped Happy Meal box to the TV ads and bespoke games created for the Happy Studio app, every aspect of the promotion has been crafted to perfectly leverage the Rubik’s brand mission of encouraging children to PLAY SMART and further our goal of bringing intelligent play to kids of all ages.”

The Smiley Company will be leveraging the partnership with McDonald’s to drive the ongoing Rubik’s brand extension program and “to realise our plans to take the brand to new consumers, with particular emphasis on engaging the brand with children aged from 3-8 years old, as our brand mission continues to focus on creating new toy partnerships for this age group,” Loufrani adds.

To support the promotion’s launch in the markets where it will be appearing, there will be a 360° marketing campaign, supported by a TV advertising featuring the Happy Meal mascot ‘HAPPY’ playing with a Rubik’s Cube in a 26 and 13 second spots. There will also be series of ‘How to Solve’ short video tutorials launched on social channels to help kids solve the bespoke Happy Meal Rubik’s Cubes, and a McDonald’s Happy Studio app takeover.

Additional marketing materials will include in-store POS, branded balloons, colouring sheets, wall stickers and window decals which will help amplify the Rubik’s brand identity throughout the promotion.

The launch of the activation in France is being supported with an influencers’ campaign while other national markets will also see major marketing initiatives.

The Smiley Company is a brand licensing company which originated in France and which holds the intellectual property rights to the classic smiley face symbol face symbol in more than 100 countries (although not the United States, where the symbol originated).

In addition to the smiley symbol, it also holds licensing rights for Rubik’s Cube and related properties, and recently launched a major brand extension program for Rubik’s. This draws on Rubik’s iconicity, rich heritage and archive and the resurgence of retro gaming and geek culture, while utilising Smiley’s own industry leading design studio and world class distribution channels.

The company says global demand for Rubik’s is now at the highest levels since its launch in 1980 and a number of industry leading partners have already signed up across categories including apparel, back to school, gift, live events and attractions, partworks, promotions and publishing.

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Discover Delicious, an organisation dedicated to promoting the food and flavour of Wales, is launching a new consumer-facing online marketplace, DiscoverDelicious.Wales, which celebrates Wales’ best loved producers and the products that have made them local foodie favourites.

The integrated consumer launch campaign for the marketplace was developed by Bath-based AgencyUK. The activity includes TV advertising, PR, social media, experiential and brand activation. TV advertising broke this week. The launch follows a number of successful consumer test campaigns that have been underway since April 2018.

Discover Delicious is part funded by Welsh Government and is a partnership between Way Out Events and AgencyUK. The Discover Delicious brand, communications strategy and eCommerce site have been developed in collaboration, with AgencyUK’s in-house team leading on delivery.

Laura Pickup, founder of Discover Delicious says: “We’re proud of the fantastic food and drink in Wales and really excited to see this campaign promote the incredible products to a wider market. Our Discover Delicious team collectively bring over 20 years of experience in marketing Welsh produce and, with AgencyUK’s support, our mission is to bring Welsh flavours to consumers’ tables nationwide and put Welsh food on the map. We’re here to support producers from all corners of the country in that mission, amplifying their profile and products as part of a connected network that promotes the rich gastronomy of Wales.”

The site already features hundreds of products, but Discover Delicious is actively recruiting more producers to join its community.

Sammy Mansourpour, managing director of AgencyUK, adds: “We know we have a strong brand with huge potential and we can now look forward to amplifying the Discover Delicious story in 2018 through engaging content and compelling advertising campaigns. We’ll start with a TV, PR and Social Media campaign this June.”

The project has received funding through the Welsh Government Rural Communities – Rural Development Programme 2014-2020, which is funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the Welsh Government.

AgencyUK is an award-winning full service strategic digital, advertising and creative marketing communications agency based in Bristol, Bath and London.

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Brands including alcohol-free Budweiser Prohibition Brew, Walkers Max Strong, Branston, Primula and Bodean’s have signed on as partners for National BBQ Week, a multi-brand experiential, sampling and marketing campaign which returns for the 22nd year from Monday May 28th.

The organisers say that National Barbecue Week is one of the UK’s top awareness weeks and has, since its launch in 1997, been a “catalyst for growth in the BBQ market” according to PR Week and also being “fundamental in changing consumer attitudes to BBQ” according to Mintel and The Grocer.

Launching on Spring Bank Holiday and running from 28th May until the 3rd of June, the awareness week will be incorporating a dynamic digital, PR and media focus set to reach over 25 million people. There will also be experiential sampling at the launch of London’s ‘Summer by the River’ festival from the 1st to the 3rd June, where a further 150,000 people will be exposed to the campaign.

Key sponsors for this year’s campaign are: Official Alcohol-Free Beer: Budweiser Prohibition Brew; Official Snack: Walkers Max Strong; Official Sauce: Branston; Official Cheese: Primula; and Official BBQ Restaurant: Bodean’s.

Competitions will be run through media and through social media channels including Instagram, Twitter and Facebook including the return of the BBQ Baptas. Consumers will be encouraged to send in videos of their fun barbecue or grilling technique and results, with the aim of winning a BBQ Bapta Award, a cash prize and a BarbiBox, full of product from the sponsors.

Along with the UK’s leading BBQ Website full of hints, tips, recipes and guides to ‘Being a Better BBQ’er’, there is also a Barbi Blog, with messages from the sponsors and chief GrillMaster, Brian George, founder of National BBQ Week.

George, who runs agency Grocery Gurus, says: “National BBQ Week is one of the UK’s biggest awareness weeks and has helped change consumer BBQ attitudes and usage from just 9 million in 1997 to over 130 million last year with the overall BBQ food and drink market being worth around £1.3 billion, up from just £150 million back in 1997.”

Grocery Gurus will also be organizing other multi-brand campaigns including WorldBeerathoN in October (to coincide with Octoberfest), Get Wine Wise in November, Mixorama (for at-home cocktails) in December, and National Wine Week, from 26th November to 2nd December.

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Brands are needing to communicate their brand stories with more authenticity than ever to meet the demands of ever-changing consumer behaviour, says Ceri Gravelle of eventeem

Telling the brand’s story has never been so key in the experiential industry. With consumers becoming more and more savvy to commercialism, promotional staff are needing to communicate product information and the brand’s story to the tiniest of detail at experiential events.

Consumers want to know if a product is gluten free, vegan, cruelty free, recyclable, organic and along with this, they want an authentic brand story that they can believe in.

Ensuring promotional staff have strong knowledge and clear passion for the product is so important in order to win over the consumer. That means employing promotional staff who are the right fit for the brand is vital.

They need to be able to demonstrate genuine knowledge of the product – for instance, if what’s being promoted is an organic and gluten free product, you need staff who are passionate about organic foods or eat gluten free products themselves, so they can offer genuine interaction with the consumer.

As always, consumers need to ‘buy’ the person before they buy the brand.

Over the past couple of years, clients have been putting more creative thought into the way they communicate brand’s stories to meet the changing behaviour of consumers. One of the key trends has been bringing individuals involved in the production of the product to the sampling events – for example, for the Rachel’s Organic Yoghurt brand, the Welsh dairy farmers who supply the organic milk for ‘Rachel’s’ came along to sampling events.

With the consumers being able to interact with the people involved in the production first-hand, the brand story becomes more reliable and trustworthy, and the customer is more likely to become invested in the product.

Not all clients are able to provide this kind of interaction, but for those that can, it creates a level of authenticity that consumers buy into and that resonates, driving more loyalty, sales and increased brand affinity in the long run.

Another emerging trend over the past year or so is the amount of thought being put into the times of day and the location of an experiential event. If you are promoting a breakfast product, for example, then organising sampling in the mornings around busy commuter areas like train stations will give people on their way to work the chance to try it at breakfast time.

By sampling a product where and when it’s supposed to be used like this, the consumer is better educated and the product becomes so much more useful and relevant to them. Even if you’re running these events in locations with lower footfall, if your activity mirrors the consumer’s real life behaviour, it will have a bigger impact.

Historically, measuring the success of an experiential food or drink sampling campaign has been difficult. The usual protocol is to measure how many products have been distributed, how many people interacted with the staff, and the customer feedback.

But marketing and brand managers are becoming more accountable for their budgets, so they’re having to provide evidence of campaign success in more detail than ever before — and this includes how the consumer’s behaviour has been affected by the campaign and the Return on Investment (ROI) from live engagements.

The industry is trying to tackle the issue of ROI measurement in experiential – so the Institute of Promotional Marketing (IPM) is developing on a new model to evaluate the effectiveness of experiential which explains how behavioural change of consumers by live engagement should and can be measured. The IPM has put together key principles and a step-by-step approach to how this can work, for pop-up retail, creative sampling, gamification live stunts and performances, to name a few.

This new model will be rolling out over the next 12 to 24 months and will be a huge benefit to those in the experiential industry looking to emphasise the worth of sampling. I know we at eventeem will definitely be looking to utilise it to evaluate our sampling success.

Ceri Gravelle is Managing Director and founder of promotional staffing and experiential agency, eventeem, which specialises in the organisation and staffing of sampling events.

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Lucozade Sport, the UK’s best-selling sports drink, has unveiled limited-edition packs featuring a new version of its ‘Move More, Win More’ on-pack competition, first run a year ago, offering consumers the chance to win one of 20,000 prizes, ranging from Fitbits to holidays for two.

The on-pack activity will be supported by a £5m Through-the-Line ‘Made to Move’ campaign to inspire consumers to be more active over the summer. Fronted by Lucozade Sport brand ambassadors, boxer Anthony Joshua and footballer Harry Kane (pictured), a combination of TV, proximity, digital and social activity will show the nation that no-one ever moved forwards standing still. The campaign will culminate at point of purchase with bespoke ‘Made to Move’ POS, developed to maximise the opportunity in-store and encourage purchase of the special packs.

To enter the competition, consumers have have an iPhone with Apple Health Kit installed, a smartphone with Google Fit installed; or a smartphone and a FitBit device. They then need to download the Lucozade ‘Made to Move‘ app and sign up for an account. They can then log eligible exercise activities (either walking, running, cycling or swimming), which translate into ‘Exercise Contributions’. Every day they complete an Exercise Contribution entitles them to be entered into that day’s prize draw. If consumers achieve three Exercise Contributions on separate days during a week, then they can enter the weekly draw.

Prizes for daily draws include Fitbit Charge 2 devices, Lucozade Sport drink bottles, vouchers for 500ml bottles of Lucozade Sport, pairs of Tough Mudder tickets, PureGym passes, and Goals sessions. There will be a maximum of 50 daily prizes awarded.

Every week, one entrant will win a bigger prize, which may be a Fitbit Ionic, a trip for two to the British Grand Prix, a trip to Paris to watch the finish of the Tour De France, holidays for two in San Francisco, New York, Florence or Dubai, or fitness weekends in the Peak District.

Lucy Grogut, Lucozade Sport Brand Director at Lucozade Ribena Suntory (LRS), says, “With the biggest event in the football calendar just around the corner, our new limited-edition packs will allow retailers to capitalise on the increased interest in sports drinks this summer. We know Lucozade Sport sales spike by up to 12% during sporting tournaments, so this presents a huge opportunity for our customers. We’ve got 20,000 prizes up for grabs – that’s 100 per day – so we know shoppers are going to be incentivised to pick up even more Lucozade Sport this summer season.”

The on-pack competition will run on all major pack variants from April 23rd until October, with the latest phase of Lucozade Sport’s ‘Made to Move’ ATL campaign kicking off on June 4th. Consumers can enter via the app for the chance to win prizes including Fitbits and holidays for two.

Lucozade ran a similar promotion under the same name a year ago.

Lucozade Ribena Suntory is one of the leading soft drinks businesses in the UK and Ireland. LRS was formed in 2014 and is part of Suntory Beverage & Food Europe. Its soft drinks brands include Lucozade Energy, Lucozade Sport, Fitwater, Ribena, Orangina and True Nopal cactus water.

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Clipper Teas, the ethical and organic tea brand owned by Wessanen UK, has partnered with chocolate producer Seed and Bean on a large scale on-pack promotion; available to all its retail partners nationwide.

Over 300,000 packs of Clipper’s green tea will carry a Seed and Bean branded sticker which will give consumers an opportunity to claim a free bar of Seed and Bean’s 85g dark chocolate.

There are four flavours to choose from: Extra Dark, Cornish Sea Salt, Extra Dark 72% Cocoa, Extra Dark Mint and Fine Dark Lemon and Cardamon.

To claim their free chocolate, consumers will be directed towards a dedicated micro-site to enter the unique code printed on the inside of the box. They will then be asked to choose the flavour they want, and the free bar will be sent to them.

The promotional packs are available from mid-December 2017 and will be available until stocks last.

To help introduce office workers to green tea and dark chocolate, Clipper will also deliver samples to over 500 major London businesses including Top Shop, Vogue House and Air BnB.

Finally, to inspire consumers to switch their tea break to green tea and dark chocolate, Clipper Teas has enlisted the help of expert nutritionist Libby Lemon who offers advice on the best green tea and dark chocolate pairings on Clipper’s website.

The partnership unites and strengthens the shared values of the brands including their organic and Fairtrade principles alongside their dedication for using the finest natural ingredients and delivering great-tasting products.

Adele Ward, Clipper Teas Brand Controller at Wessanen UK, says: “There is a great synergy between Clipper and Seed and Bean which has enabled us to put together a well aligned on-pack promotion and a generous offer that will attract ethical and conscious shoppers. Not only do we share the same natural, fair and organic principles, but we are also both produced in the UK and are committed to producing high quality and delicious products in beautiful packaging.

Clipper Teas and Seed and Bean will be supporting the partnership across all social media channels including which will include a collaborative social competition to win a hamper of green tea and dark chocolate.

Clipper was the UK’s first Fairtrade tea company. Founded in Dorset in 1984, Clipper manufactures an extensive variety of organic and Fairtrade teas and coffees – from everyday blends to green tea and infusions. All of Clipper’s products are made with pure ingredients from the highest-quality sources, with nothing artificial added.

Clipper brand owner Wessanen UK is a natural and organic food company with healthy brands including Clipper Teas, Kallo organic rice cakes, savoury snacks, stocks, gravies and cereals, Whole Earth organic spreads, cereals and drinks, Mrs Crimble’s gluten-free macaroons, cakes, biscuits and snacks and Almond Breeze milk alternative.

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Dinner to Dine For; Together is Better, the IPM Award-winning multi-brand experiential roadshow campaign organized by agency Brand Belief, has launched for the fourth year running.

The campaign, which features three separate travelling Big Night In roadshows, will run until the end of March 2017.

Originally launched in 2013, the Dinner to Dine For campaign will be visiting 40 Tesco large format stores as well as a Tesco HQ event at Welwyn Garden City and Waterloo and Victoria railway stations.

The activity is being supported with an integrated campaign that includes the experiential roadshow itself, with full Point of Sale support, in-depth engaged sampling and competitions offering hundreds of prizes, plus a PR drive on traditional and online media, a campaign website, social media promotion, a mobile coupon app and trade support at store and HQ level.

The roadshow encourages people to enjoy a Big Night In with luxury food and drink as a way to treat themselves in “busy and expensive times”, according to Brand Belief, which adds that the campaign will communicate with over 500,000 consumers through traditional and digital media and engage with 400,000 consumers via the roadshow.

Brands which are participating include Kumala Reserve Wines, Pilgrims Choice Cheese, L’OR Coffee and Bahlsen Choco Leibniz biscuits.

Brian George, Managing Director of Brand Belief, says: “Focused on Big Night In and ‘at home’ Meal-treats, we decided to move our award-winning Dinner to Dine For from October to February so as to follow-on from the Valentine’s Day celebrations.”

George adds that the move also recognizes that the weather in the UK in February and March tends to mean consumers are more receptive to staying in than going out.

Further information can be found on the campaign website, www.dinnertodinefor.co.uk, or by following the campaign’s social media feeds facebook.com/dinnertodinefor and @dinner2dinefor.

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The latest Change4Life campaign, backed up a by a free app which scans product barcodes and compares ingredients, aims to educate families about the significant amount of sugar children are consuming even before they get to school.

The new push from Public Health England (PHE), the government department behind Change4Life, launched today. Its main message is that children consume half the daily recommended sugar intake before the morning school bell rings.

The campaign urges parents to Be Food Smart and take more control of their children’s diets. The new Be Food Smart app highlights just how much sugar, saturated fat and salt can be found in everyday food and drink that their children consume.

The free app works by scanning the barcode of products allowing parents to compare brands and also features food detective activities for children and mini missions the whole family can enjoy.

The app is an integral part of a campaign that also includes TV, digital and outdoor, plus the distribution of 4.6 million free Be Food Smart packs to primary school aged children and families at local events across England.

PHE says that on average children in England consume more than 11g of sugar at breakfast time alone, almost three sugar cubes. The recommended daily maximum is no more than five cubes of sugar for 4 to 6 year olds and no more than six cubes for 7 to 10 year olds per day. By the end of the day, UK children have on average consumed more than three times these recommendations.

A survey conducted for PHE’s Change4Life campaign found that parents are unsure what makes up a healthy breakfast for their children. Most parents (84%) whose children consume three or more sugar cubes in their breakfast think their child’s breakfast is healthy.

PHE says some of the main sources of sugar at breakfast time include sugary cereals, drinks and spreads. Away from the breakfast table, children are also consuming too much sugar, saturated fat and salt in items such as confectionery, biscuits, muffins, pastries and soft drinks.

Dr Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist, Public Health England, says: “Children have far too much sugar, and a lot of it is before their first lesson of the day. It’s crucial for children to have a healthy breakfast, but we know the mornings in a busy household can be fraught. That’s why we’ve developed our Be Food Smart App, taking some of the pressure off parents and helping them to choose healthier food and drink options for their children.”

Public Health England exists to protect and improve the nation’s health and wellbeing, and reduce health inequalities. It does this through world-class science, knowledge and intelligence, advocacy, partnerships and the delivery of specialist public health services. PHE is an operationally autonomous executive agency of the Department of Health.

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