tbk Group has brought together the UK’s number one dry shampoo brand, Batiste, and the UK’s no. 1 premium cosmetics boutique, Benefit, for a partnership campaign to launch Batiste’s new premium range of dry shampoos.

Benefit will be giving away exclusive trial size Batiste products with every purchase and are launching the partnership with experiential activity in Benefit’s Carnaby Street store, offering free hair makeovers provided by Batiste’s expert hairdressers.

The promotion is designed to educate customers about Batiste’s new dry shampoo range, which is tailored to individual hair care needs, and it coincides with a TV launch campaign, Rethink Dry Shampoo.

Batiste brand owner Church & Dwight tasked TBK with ensuring their product was put directly into the  hands of women that actively seek premium beauty and fashion brands that meet the needs of their busy social and work lives. Traditional high footfall areas such as train stations and supermarkets would not have enabled a premium or immersive experience with the Batiste brand, nor enabled brand ambassadors and hair stylists to talk to women about the variant that would best suit their hair type.

tbk Group won the business after a competitive pitch process and have delivered the whole brand experience, including facilitating the partnership with Benefit Cosmetics, developing in-store point of sale materials and providing brand ambassadors via tbk’s Live Experience division. The partnership and a related Gift With Purchase (GWP) offer, which will be running until mid-November in Benefit stores, will be amplified through both Batiste and Benefit’s social channels and also CRM activity to Benefit customers.

tbk Group Director Rachelle Headland says: “Benefit and Batiste are a great pairing for reaching busy women who want to look their best on the go. The tie-in will enable Benefit customers to reappraise Batiste products and their new premium range within an inspirational context.”

Batiste Senior Brand Manager Holly Dove adds: “Our core dry shampoo range has historically been differentiated by fragrance. Consumer insight shows that women shop for wet shampoos according to their hair type. Our Rethink Dry Shampoo campaign aims to get women to rethink everything they thought about dry shampoo. They can buy exactly what they need for their hair, it’s a lightweight and invisible miracle worker for freshening up and restyling your hair anytime and anywhere. The Benefit partnership was spot on in terms of positioning and reaching our audience.”

tbk Group (formerly The Big Kick) is a brand activation agency founded in 1999 creating local marketing programmes and integrated engagement and experiential campaigns for brands and retailers. It is the recipient of multiple awards for its campaigns, including the IPM Awards Grand Prix 2018 and five Gold trophies for its work with Lucozade.

The post Batiste shampoo and Benefit Cosmetics partner for premium brand launch appeared first on IPM Bitesize.

O2 is offering customers the opportunity to cover their fridges with snapshots, with a ‘gift with purchase’ offer giving away free Kodak Mini 2 Bluetooth printers (worth £89.99) when they buy an eligible handset either instore, online or over the phone.

The activity aims to drive awareness and sales of flagship Android handsets from brands like Sony, Huawei and LG. To leverage the superior camera features and high-quality photography capabilities of the latest handsets, O2 wanted to create an added-value reward that could really bring these elements to life at point of purchase

The campaign was created by integrated agency Blue Chip, which is managing creative, concept development and print production, including devising a scratchcard mechanic to enable customers to claim their free printers, which will be delivered by post within 28 days of consumers registering a claim.

Dan Selas, Account Director at Blue Chip, says: “We know these handsets are appealing to a certain type of audience that love to be creative and take lots of high quality photos, and the Kodak Mini 2 Bluetooth printer is the perfect companion for these handsets as it allows you to produce amazing vibrant prints from your best pictures.”

The promotion runs until the end of June across the O2 state nationwide.

Blue Chip is a multi-award-winning Manchester-based integrated agency that works for clients including Essity, Kellogg’s, SPAR and Muller.

The post O2 encourages customers to fill the fridge – with pictures appeared first on IPM Bitesize.

Baileys has launched Baileys Treat Stop, a pop-up featuring the Diageo liqueur brand’s first customisable bar menu, where people can transform lattes, hot chocolates and cocktails.

Created for Baileys by experiential and event agency RPM, Baileys Treat Stop opened on December 4th 2017 in London’s Covent Garden, offering those seeking festive indulgence a wall-to-wall celebration.

Joanna Andrews, Baileys Senior Brand Manager, says, “Baileys Treat Stop is a Baileys fantasyland for fun loving grown-ups looking to treat up their pre-Christmas shopping trip, for imaginative Baileys fans who fancy flexing their creative cocktail creation skills or for friends just looking for the ultimate festive, indulgent retreat.”

Dom Robertson, Managing Director at RPM, adds: ‘We’re really excited and proud to take Baileys Treat Stop to Covent Garden where their indulgent treats can be shared on this festival occasion’

Open until December 17th, Baileys Treat Stop includes a luxurious Alpine themed snug area for visitors to chill-out, a bar serving Baileys Original Irish Cream, Baileys Pumpkin Spice and Baileys Chocolate Luxe hot drinks, expert workshops and an exclusive Baileys cocktail-style desert designed by well-known food and drink creators.

Baileys has teamed up with The Treat Collective, a group of creators in the food and drink world, to design an exclusive, playful and over-the-top Baileys treat for fans to indulge themselves after a day’s Christmas shopping.

The Baileys Treat Stop is open from December 4th to December 17th (closed December 11th) for drop ins and ticketed workshops. Workshops will be held on December 5^th, 6^th, 12^th and 13^th with two 1.5 hour sessions per evening.

Baileys Original Irish Cream, Baileys Pumpkin Spice and Baileys Chocolat Luxe are on sale at the Baileys Treat Stop (retailed at £15); fans who post to social media with the hashtag #treatup will receive an exclusive chocolate reindeer gift with their purchase.

The chocolate reindeer gift with purchase will also be available nationwide through drinks delivery service 31Dover (www.31dover.com) from November 27th.

Baileys is owned by Diageo, a global leader in beverage alcohol, which also owns Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, JεB, Buchanan’s, Windsor, Smirnoff, Cîroc and Ketel One vodkas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Don Julio, Tanqueray and Guinness amongst others.

RPM is an independent award-winning event and experiential agency which celebrates its 25^th anniversary in 2018. Working from its HQ in London’s Shepherds Bush, RPM delivers multi-channel global campaigns for clients including Diageo, M&S, Mondelez and Heineken.

The post Baileys launches ‘Treat Stop’ indulgent pop-up in Covent Garden appeared first on IPM Bitesize.

No matter what new technological invention or innovation in promotion you choose, the challenge of standing out in a crowded marketplace remains, says Chris Baldwin of Sodexo. PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

Brands risk devaluing their campaign products by discounting too frequently, and with tight margins to meet it just isn’t economical.

This is where adding value is key. Marketers would be better not lopping pennies off in store for a meagre splash but instead adding value or being creative with ‘discount’ for a big eye catching impact.

Adding value is the easy bit – promotions, prizes, trade-ins and guarantees can help brands stand out for all the right reasons. But with so many different promotional mechanics, how do marketers choose which is best for their campaign?

Looking at what they want to achieve is a pretty good start…

Promoting value

Snipping coupons is old school, right? Wrong! This mechanic’s popularity shows no sign of dwindling. The use of money-off coupons is as popular as ever. Even truly old school methods like cutting out vouchers in newspapers still draws a crowd.

Sodexo, part of the Sodexo family, worked with John Smith’s to create a coupon in the Mirror that saw readers receiving £1 off their next purchase. Creating a robust alignment between The Mirror and the brewery – and putting savings in consumers’ hands. With Sodexo covering all the possible redemptions, remaining financing liable and providing campaign analysis, John Smith’s were able to reach an offline audience and inspire a purchase.

Another ‘discount’ mechanic on the block, cashback, has the potential to increase sell out while enabling marketers to reduce the profit sacrificed by a true, flat discount. By highlighting the ‘discount’ (savings made once cashback is paid) rather than the reduced price, marketers can create a greater sense of urgency and give consumers a reason to ‘buy now’.

Plus, cashback allows marketers to sell a product at full price, increasing basket spend for the retailer, while knowing that, once the offer has finished, they’re not left with the damaging effects of price erosion.

Instant gratification

Before AR, VR, QR and the rest, scratch cards were literally the most interactive way to promotionally market to consumers en masse. Odds on scratch cards tend to be greater than in other mechanics, and the compulsion of finding out if you’re an instant winner is hard to shake.

An instant win promotion requires a relatively large prize pool which can put agencies and manufacturers off. But instant wins need not blow the budget – with the right risk management in place, marketers really can afford to reward everyone and reap all the excitement in their follow up collateral.

Gift with purchase is a great example of instant gratification. From the high tech to the cuddly, a gift with purchase rewards impulse buys as well as repeat customers. We can enlist the help of risk management agencies to help calculate levels of participation, expected reward claims and cover the promotion with a fixed-fee to protect their budget.

Inspiring confidence

Marketers that are looking to develop consumer trust through their offering need to drive forward campaigns that inspire confidence and conviction in their products and services. And there are a number of different mechanics that help build relationships in this way.

Whether inspiring consumers to switch brands or try a product for the first time, Try Me Free promotions are a great idea to help encourage confidence in potential customers and inspire repeat purchase and new-found loyalty. Brands look like they are so sure of their product that they will give it away for free, knowing that consumers won’t be able to resist a repeat purchase. And with the help of some agency expertise, brands can work work out how many product samples are likely to be claimed so they don’t spend a penny over budget.

Another confidence-inspiring mechanic with consumers is the product guarantee. How much more can a brand do to prove it has 100% faith in its product than literally give dissatisfied consumer their money back? The problem is, product guarantees can strike fear into brands who worry that a flood of claims will see them hit financial ruin. But it doesn’t have to be that way. By understanding the risk, and calculating the likely number of claims a balanced budget can be achieved.

Buy and Try de-risks the purchase process for consumers – often related to high value purchases. It removes purchase barriers for nervous or thrifty customers, as they can buy what they really want, safe in the knowledge that they have up to 90 days to return it, no questions asked!

Building anticipation

The Advertising Standards Authority describes prize draws as when ‘Prizes are only awarded to those who return the winning code or symbol to the promoter within the promotional period.’

By running a prize draw campaign, marketers can build anticipation – and brand awareness – by offering amazing prizes (think cars, holidays, one of a kind experiences) but limit the opportunity to win and avoid any substantial risk. The most important thing is offering something spectacular that’s worth entering for – and being clear in the terms and conditions.

Driving loyalty

When customers feel like they get something extra from a brand they will bring their custom back time and time again – why would they look elsewhere for less? Marketers can reap the benefits of loyal consumers by rewarding a purchase with points or offers that they can’t get anywhere else. Points and offers which drive consumers back to spend again, attracted by the idea that they’re getting something for nothing thanks to a previous purchase.

Collector schemes are another great way for brands to drive loyalty. Sales are increased as shoppers collect tokens etc. and the customer is enticed to buy more and more in order to fulfill the gift or prize requirement.  Again, a smart promotional agency can protect brands’ budgets – and ensure all consumers get the rewards they’ve been promised.

Removing barriers to purchase

In a crowded marketplace where prices fluctuate and competition is fierce, consumers hold onto their purchases for longer than ever before. No matter how loyal a consumer is to a brand, once they have a household product (for example), they just don’t need to get another similar version.

So, how do marketers get consumers interested in upgrading to the latest and greatest models when they already have the old one in full working order stacked up in their broom cupboard?  This is where trade ins come in – by offering the customer something tangible for their old product, marketers are removing the barriers to purchase.

In our latest Case Study we explore how popular cleaning brand Kärcher ran a trade in campaign to encourage existing customers to upgrade to their latest model. The July 2016 promotion was focused on current window vac owners and offered them a cash incentive to move on to a better machine – if they bought the new Kärcher WV5, with an RRP of £89.99, and traded in their old machine they could receive up to £30 in cashback.

The campaign involved a number of different parties to ensure a seamless delivery to the consumer, from the receipt validation to the cashback payment Sodexo sourced and handled every element meticulously. Sodexo also built the microsite which looked to consumers as simply an extension of the Kärcher website – the site housed the claim area, all the promotion information including contact details, where and what to buy, how to claim and the FAQs. With hundreds of stores involved and a relatively complex offer to make simple, the campaign had the potential to be challenging but was pulled off expertly and with plenty of lessons learned.

Clearly, campaign mechanics aren’t ‘one size fits all’ and each, however old or new, serves a purpose in today’s busy marketplace. The challenge for marketers is choosing the right one for their needs, measuring its success and being reflective as the embark on the next one.

Chris Baldwin is Director of Consumer Promotions and Loyalty at Sodexo. 

Sodexo has published a new eBook,  How new technology is driving the promotional marketing industry, taking a closer look at the digital revolution and how it can help marketers influence shoppers. For a free copy, click here.

The post How to find the right promotional mechanic for your campaign appeared first on IPM Bitesize.

Chinese sauce brand Lee Kum Kee has partnered with Twentieth Century Fox and DreamWorks Animation to feature characters from the new movie, Kung Fu Panda 3, in its latest brand campaign.

Lee Kum Kee, founded in 1888 by the inventor of Oyster Sauce, kicked off the ‘Let’s Panda’ campaign during the Chinese New Year celebrations in February, with it reaching its peak this week to mark the release of Kung Fu Panda 3 which opens in the UK on March 11th.

Put together by Lime Communications, Twentieth Century Fox’s retained brand partnerships agency, the campaign is supported by a significant investment in advertising across outdoor, print, digital and retail channels. Lee Kum Kee also created limited edition labels for its four key products (Premium dark soy sauce; Premium light soy sauce; Pure sesame oil; and Chiu chow chilli oil) and has been running an on-pack promotion in Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Waitrose, Morrison’s and independent Chinese retailers.

A bespoke recipe book was created in partnership with food Vloggers ‘The Dumpling Sisters’ and is being distributed through foodie magazines, at cooking demos and via sampling events at VUE cinemas.

Lee Kum Kee is running a gift with purchase promotion (offering consumers a choice of four bespoke Kung Fu Panda 3 bowls) as well as the chance to win trips to Europe to visit real life pandas.

The partnership campaign has also been running in Germany and The Netherlands.

Shuang Cheng, Marketing Manager for Lee Kum Kee Europe, comments: “We are thrilled to be part of the release of Kung Fu Panda 3 – the latest DreamWorks Animation movie. With the ‘Let’s Panda’ campaign, we are looking to introduce the range of our awesome Chinese sauces, provide consumers with inspirations of authentic, home-made taste, and also use it as a great way to engage with a much loved movie.”

In Kung Fu Panda 3, hero Po is reunited with his long-lost panda father and has to train a village full of his fun-loving, clumsy brethren to become Kung Fu Pandas to fight a supernatural villain.

The post Lee Kum Kee partners Kung Fu Panda 3 appeared first on IPM Bitesize.

Confused.com has added two new free toys, Miss Herbert and Stunt Herbert, to the rewards which customers can claim when they take out selected products through the price comparison site.
To support the launch of the two Herbert toys, Confused.com have unveiled a new 30” advertisement, in which Stunt Herbert and Miss Herbert’s sibling rivalry is revealed as they compete.
In addition to the ad, the Herberts are proudly sponsoring the second series of ITV’s popular show Ninja Warrior UK. The show starts in January and features contestants trying to battle their way through one of the world’s toughest obstacle courses in the hope of being crowned the ultimate Ninja Warrior.
Confused.com says it decided to expand its collectable family of toys and give customers more opportunities to claim them after the success of its free BRIAN the Robot toy, which launched in February 2015.
From now on, customers who take out car, home, life, van, motorbike or pet insurance or a credit card through Confused.com can choose between one of the three collectable toys: BRIAN, Miss Herbert and Stunt Herbert.
The toys have been developed in partnership with promotional marketing agency ATOM Marketing.
The Herberts were first seen coming to the aid of BRIAN when he was captured by metal scrapyard dealers last Christmas and have been by BRIAN’s side ever since. And due to popular demand Confused.com have now launched two new toys, Miss Herbert and Stunt Herbert.
The new pull-and-go toys are designed to encapsulate the characters’ personalities. Miss Herbert is sweet, sparkly and as hard as nails. Her toy comes with a set of stickers and an activity wheel that helps you decide what games to play with her. Stunt Herbert is the hardest, most daring and most reckless of the Herberts, and his bobble-headed toy comes with a fun target game.
The Ninja Warrior UK sponsorship is being marked with a series of different idents starring Miss Herbert and Stunt Herbert as their sibling rivalry boils over. These idents range from five to 15 seconds in length and feature Miss and Stunt attempting to outdo each other as they try to capture the audience’s attention.
To further support the toy launch, Confused.com are focusing on social media in a new fully-integrated advertising campaign. Consumers will be able to get involved and pick a team: Team Miss, Team Stunt or Team BRIAN via Confused.com’s social channels.
Fiona Creedon, Head of Advertising at Confused.com, says: “Since the launch of our BRIAN the robot toy we’ve seen his popularity soar and felt it was time to expand his family. The Herberts were introduced last Christmas and since then we’ve seen people’s affections grow for these loveable robots.”
Confused.com, launched in 2002, was the UK’s first price comparison site for car insurance. It has expanded its range of comparison products over the last couple of years to include home insurance, holiday insurance, pet insurance, small van insurance, motorcycle insurance, breakdown cover and gas and electricity, as well as financial services products including credit cards, loans, mortgages and life insurance. Confused.com is owned by the Admiral Group plc.
ATOM Marketing is a promotional marketing agency specialising in creating and managing campaigns for some of the UK and Europe’s biggest brands.

The post Confused.com adds two new Herbert toys appeared first on IPM Bitesize.