Instagram today launches its ‘Banter or Bullying?’ campaign with anti-cyberbullying charity Cybersmile, to mark the start of Anti-Bullying Week (11th-15th Nov).

Seeking to draw attention to the fine line between banter and bullying, the campaign is backed by comedian Mo Gilligan and social media stars Zoe Sugg (founder of Zoella) and Chessie King, who will all be talking about their own experiences on the platform throughout the week.

As part of the partnership activity, Cybersmile has produced a report for Instagram on attitudes towards online banter. The research, which surveyed 3,001 13-18-year olds, aims to encourage young people to talk about the issue and call out those who try to use banter as an excuse for bullying.

The findings reveal that more than half (51%) of young people think banter can go too far and become bullying. Some two thirds (66%) of young people say that they see a peer left upset by banter at least once a month and over a third (39%) see this occur weekly. What’s more, almost half (47%) have been personally upset or insulted by banter.

The campaign has been designed to demonstrate both organisation’s ongoing commitment to leading the fight against online bullying, as well as reiterating the importance of the social platform’s new Comment Warning and Restrict features.*

Dan Raisbeck, Co-founder of Cybersmile, said: “As our research shows, too many young people are on the receiving end of bullying which is being masked as banter. This happens online and offline, and the two cannot be treated in isolation. We urge people to think about when they are overstepping the mark. By talking openly about this issue, we can help ensure that banter is kept safe from the bullies.”

Kira Wong-O’Connor, UK Policy Programmes Manager at Instagram, said: “Banter should never be used as an excuse for bullying. We’re working hard to give people greater power to tackle bullying behaviour on Instagram, whether that’s restricting a bully from seeing when you’re online, or giving you the option to post Stories to Close Friends only. This Anti-Bullying Week we’d encourage parents and teens to explore how our anti-bullying tools can help keep their experience on Instagram positive.”

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BAM Student Marketing discusses the sudden decline in followers of the top influencers on Instagram.

When you checked your Instagram recently you may have noticed something a little off and in some cases, a lot off.

The eagle-eyed platform users among you may have clocked that some of your favourite Insta bloggers and vloggers have had a sudden drop in following almost overnight and today they are taking to Social Media to seek answers for just what is happening in the influencer world.

Since the mass panic from brands and bloggers alike, Instagram have released a statement on the situation, commenting “We’re aware of an issue that is causing a change in account follower numbers for some people right now. We’re working to resolve this as quickly as possible.”

Although the general consensus coming out of Instagram HQ is that this ‘mass culling’ was unplanned and unpredicted, the conspiracy theorists out there are suggesting otherwise, implying the overnight ‘glitch’ was a deliberate act by the company designed to shut down fake and inactive accounts brought by celebrities and influencers in an attempt to elevate their position online.

However, if this is, in fact, true. It comes as no surprise, as back in November Instagram informed all users that this was something they would be cracking down on in the future, writing; “We’re taking a number of steps to limit this kind of unwelcome behaviour.”

Although a small number of those affected by the issue have seen their following return to normal, the vast majority are still left contemplating the authenticity of their audience and their future relationships between themselves and the brands that once favoured them for their online reach.

For some Instagrammers the loss of thousands of followers and in some cases millions will undoubtedly seem like the end of the world and a colossal waste of months or even years of hard work and carefully choreographed posts, we at BAM see the ‘culling’ whether intentional or not, as a positive!

When a brand or business works with Influencers, they rely on their audience being active and engaged followers, something that is crucial if they are to see a worthwhile return on their efforts and investments. So when followers are inactive, fake or dis-engaged, all collaborations, sponsored posts and ads showcased on their page are essentially falling on deaf ears, and this benefits no one.

With the estimated amount of money invested into influencer online ads and sponsored posts on the platform being colossal worldwide, this is money that can no longer be wasted and as a result of the ‘purge 2019’ brands can now start to expect more realistic, accurate and predictable results when working with influencers online.

Organic growth can once again become the priority focus, while also giving the enormous bank of Micro-Influencers a chance to shine and for brands to start to see the real value in smaller but engaged audiences, rather than focusing purely on the numbers!

BAM Student Marketing is a niche, values driven agency. BAM have the experience and expertise to deliver full-service youth marketing campaigns from concept creation through to campaign evaluation, and everything in-between. Whether dipping into one element or the whole package, their clients benefit from their 20 years’ experience and unparalleled insight into the youth market.

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TBWA\London has created a Christmas campaign with a difference for Harvey Nichols with the world’s first shoppable Christmas carolers – all wearing Harvey Nichols party outfits which can be purchased via Instagram.

Because Christmas is all about giving, and Christmas caroling is all about raising money to help others, Harvey Nichols is donating 10% of sales from the Knightsbridge store and online over the four-day campaign to its charity partner, Smart Works: an organisation that offers dressing and interview coaching services for women entering the world of work.

Research shows that Harvey Nichols’ target audience attends an average of nine parties during the festive period, so they need many impressive outfits. But rather than going to Harvey Nichols to find these outfits, Harvey Nichols’ four floors of fashion is coming to them.

The four-day initiative, which launched across offices throughout London on Thursday 29 November, sees the glamorous singers entertain office workers with a very nontraditional mash up of carols and party anthems. Live performances will take place at offices across the tech, creative, fashion and beauty sectors. Highlights include Google’s office, The Telegraph, Estee Lauder and – of course – Harvey Nichols itself.

Deb Bee, group creative and marketing director at Harvey Nichols, said: “Christmas is the fashion season, because it’s also party season. But we know that our customers are rushed off their feet. So we have partnered with Smart Works to raise awareness of this partnership and help busy women in London find a party outfit even if they can’t take time out of work. This will be delivered in the most Christmassy way we know; with a fun, glamorous, party-song-singing, shoppable Christmas choir.”

TBWA\London’s CEO, Sara Tate, added: “The one thing that many working women wish for during the festive season is the gift of time! By devising the world’s first shoppable Christmas carol choir, we are not only bringing some festive cheer, we’re also bringing them an incredibly convenient way to shop for the hottest party looks during this hectic season.”

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Elizabeth Arden’s cult multitasking beauty balm Eight Hour® Cream is celebrating the healing power of love this Christmas by teaming up with British muralist James Goldcrown to create the Limited Edition Love Heals x Eight Hour® Collection.

To celebrate this collaboration, Elizabeth Arden asked Jackanory to create a pop up store that would drive brand awareness and appeal to new customers. Taking place in Boxpark in London’s Shoreditch from Tuesday 23rd October until Sunday 28^th October, visitors to the pop up will receive a complimentary Oxygen Blast Facial, a personalised skincare consultation, an exclusive gift with purchase and much more.

Born in West London, James Goldcrown is a self-taught muralist and photographer based in New York and LA and is best known for his insta-famous #lovewall murals which can be seen throughout the US, Japan, South Korea, China and Brazil.

The pop up features original James Goldcrown artwork and visitors will be encouraged to take a selfie in front of his #lovewall for the chance to win an original canvas.  Those who purchase from the limited-edition collection will also have the opportunity to spin a wheel of fortune for discounts, gifts and more.

Marion Bloch, Brand Manager for Eight Hour said “We wanted to maximise visibility of our limited-edition Eight Hour collection amongst a younger target audience and we were confident Jackanory would create an eye-catching, visually impactful pop up store with multiple engagement points and instagrammable details.”

Lucy Gillions, co-founder of Jackanory said: “We’re thrilled to be sharing the story of the #lovewall collaboration between James Goldcrown and Eight Hour. We’ve worked hard to create a pop up that immediately captures the attention of passers by, raising awareness of the limited-edition collection and kick starting a younger generation’s relationship with this much-loved beauty balm.”

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Glenfiddich is launching a new campaign to promote Fire & Cane, the fourth and latest release in the Glenfiddich “Experimental Series”. The campaign broke on July 23rd 2018 in the USA, with sampling and experiential activations at the Taste of the Cocktails event in New Orleans, and will roll out in other lead markets later in the year – including France in September, the UK in October and Taiwan in 2019

The campaign is part of the William Grant & Sons-owned brand’s continued drive to recruit new drinkers into the whisky category.

The New Orleans tasting saw the whisky paired with grilled andouille (local Cajun sausage), grits, peppers and cream cheese.

The campaign was put together for Glenfiddich by London-based creative agency Space, which has been awarded the lead strategic and creative responsibilities for launching the next edition in the Experimental Series. The campaign brings to life the brand’s maverick spirit and focuses on the power of a simple question and how it can lead consumers on a journey to challenge conventions.

The newest expression in the Experimental Series is an unexpected peated whisky finished in Latin rum casks.

The campaign will be predominantly social, and kicks off with a 5-second teaser video. It will also feature short-form AV assets, Out of Home, print, interactive social assets such as Facebook canvases and Instagram polls, as well as experiential and sampling, all created by Space.

Campaign visuals centre on the liquid’s unique flavour profile. The hero 20” social video features animated CGI sugar crystals and innovative liquid photography showcasing the smokiness and sweetness of Fire & Cane. It runs in reverse order, opening with the product beauty shot (the outcome of the experiment), and closing with the moment of inspiration (the genesis of the experiment).  The core message is that when you question convention, as Glenfiddich has with Fire and Cane, you can spark the unexpected.

Oliver Rudgard, Global Brand Director at Glenfiddich, says: “Fire & Cane is #4 in the Glenfiddich Experimental Series.  The Experimental Series demonstrates our continued commitment to create new, innovative and inspiring whiskies.  Working with the great team at Space, we have pushed the creative boundaries further to create a set of new codes in the single malt category which are set to create cut through, attention and desire for the Fire & Cane launch across the globe.”

Jason Nicholas, Managing Partner at Space, adds: “The Experimental Series offers the chance to continually work on something that challenges a category. The creative idea in this campaign has led to the creation of a beautifully crafted and visceral campaign that will get under the skin of new drinkers and whisky advocates alike. Working with Glenfiddich on this their key campaign for 2018 has been a great opportunity and led to a campaign we’re really proud of.”

Glenfiddich most recently collaborated with Space to launch its first whisky finished in India Pale Ale (IPA) casks. This was backed by a global TV campaign, also created by Space.

Space is an award-winning integrated marketing agency which works across social, mobile, outdoor, in store, on-pack, in print, live or virtually. Clients include Heineken, Arla Foods, William Grant & Sons, General Mills, Eurostar, Sky, Coral, Bundesliga, UEFA, NBA and AELTC. Our work has been globally recognised with four ‘best in the world’ awards

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Kellogg’s has teamed up with ITV2’s Love Island for an on-pack promotion on leading brands, Kellogg’s Corn Flakes and Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut, with a trip for two to Mallorca to see the Love Island final as the grand prize.

The partnership encourages consumers to buy a pack in store, take a selfie of themselves holding up the back of the cereal box and then share it on the Kellogg’s Facebook page, Instagram or Twitter with the hashtag #KelloggsCerealDater.

UK and Irish consumers are being offered the chance to win a two day trip to Mallorca plus a pair of tickets to the poolside Love Island live final, with additional limited edition Love Island fridge magnet sets available for runners up.

The on pack promotion will be available on Kellogg’s Corn Flakes and Crunchy Nut and aims to drive engagement with consumers in store and brand awareness on social media.

Niamh Cribbin, Senior Marketing Manager for Kellogg’s Europe, says: “Love Island was one of last year’s most talked about TV shows. The partnership allows us and the retailers to tap into consumers who wouldn’t necessarily expect to see Love Island in this category – or at breakfast. The promotion aims to drive sales and brand awareness, by tapping into a younger and trends influenced shopper.”

The offer runs until July 31^st.

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The UK’s biggest selling stock brand, Knorr, has launched a new online tool, ‘Eat Your Feed’, an app which analyses a user’s Instagram feed and serves up a personalised selection of recipes based on their experiences.

Users just connect using their Instagram account and the Eat Your Feed bespoke technology suggests recipes personalised to their feed. Accessible on mobile, desktop or tablet, the tool suggests recipe ideas along with ingredients and cooking methods to create quick and tasty meals in the comfort of users’ own homes. They can save the recipes or, with a few clicks, add the ingredients (including Knorr products) to their shopping basket.

Creative digital agency AnalogFolk made Eat Your Feed possible by turning data from the Instagram post into a matching recipe from the Knorr recipe database. AnalogFolk used visual recognition and individual image data to build a bespoke AI algorithm, and trained it to understand posts and match to the perfect recipe.

Each Instagram image holds a very rich source of information. Every image has data that contains the time it was submitted, potentially a geolocation if the user added it and, of course, the caption. The location provides the city and country name, and the caption, containing phrases and keywords, supplies context.

For the image itself, AnalogFolk incorporated the IBM Watson Visual Recognition service to identify the scenes and objects in the picture – for example Nature, Beach, Lake, Snowboard, Dog etc.  This created a list of keywords that a bespoke prioritising algorithm scores and then finds the best match from the Knorr recipe database the perfect match.

The Eat Your Feed tool will be supported by the world’s first Instagram powered restaurant, created by Knorr’s PR agency W Communications, where traditional menus will be scrapped and instead diners will be served meals matched to their Instagram feeds. The one-of-a-kind pop-up dining experience takes place on Wednesday 11th April at Jones & Sons restaurant in Islington, North London. Once the technology has analysed each diner’s feed, it will then share personalised recipe suggestions with the Jones & Sons restaurant kitchen. The innovative dishes served at the restaurant will each match a special memory captured on Instagram.

Philippa Atkinson, Senior Brand Manager Knorr UK & Ireland, says: “Eat Your Feed is an innovative concept that showcases the transformative power of Knorr stocks to a new younger generation, adding twists to their favourite recipes or discovering new ones. We’re excited to be the first Instagram inspired recipe solution – using our consumers’ own posts to prompt recipes with real value and relevance we know they’ll love, as well as a reminder of the great adventures they’ve had in the past.”

The Knorr brand is owned by Anglo-Dutch food and household products company, which acquired it in 2000 when it bought Best Foods. Knorr makes a range of products including stocks and soup mixes.

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Regulations governing how social media influencers advertise products online are confusing and unclear, with the UK public overwhelmingly believing the system should be more transparent, new research reveals.

The comprehensive survey into influencer marketing was carried out on behalf of Prizeology, a prize promotions agency specialising in promotional regulation and compliance. The survey looked at how the public perceive rules and regulations around influencer marketing.

The research, carried out on 2,015 members of the general public, looked at influencer marketing on social media platforms covering Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Pinterest. It overwhelmingly revealed a worrying lack of knowledge around the rules governing advertising by influencers.

A huge majority – 71% of people – wrongly believe that there are no regulations surrounding influencer marketing. Nearly two-thirds (61%) believe that influencers do not have to state that they have been paid to talk about a product – which is incorrect, because under consumer protection legislation, influencers must state if they are being paid to promote a brand’s products. The CAP Code, the code of conduct which is part of the UK’s self-regulatory system covering advertising and marketing in the UK, reflects and reinforces the legal position, and a number of complaints against brands have been upheld by industry regulator the Advertising Standards Authority for insufficient clarity in publicising commercial relationships with bloggers, vloggers and other social media influencers.

Half (49%) of the UK public were unaware of the relevant language or tags like #ad which are supposed to appear on paid-for posts to show that paid-for product promotion is involved; 33% of these were young people aged between 18-24, which suggests consumer confusion is not restricted to the older age brackets.

The research also clearly showed that the general public believes that they should be informed if people are being paid to promote products: 88% of the survey sample agreed with this statement, with 60% agreeing that their perception of a brand is improved when they are transparent about product promotion.

Sarah Burns, Managing Director of Prizeology and an expert on compliance and regulation in the promotional marketing sector, says: “The results are extremely interesting and overwhelmingly show a shocking lack of knowledge and confusion amongst all age groups – including teenagers – about the way that brands use social media influencers to advertise their products.”

Well over two-thirds (71%) of those questioned felt that more should be done to force disclosure.

Brands are also in danger of having their reputations damaged by lack of transparency, with 44% of those surveyed saying they felt that influencer marketing is damaging and 66% of people agreeing that their perception of a brand improved when they were transparent about product placement. Burns comments: “This should be a wake-up call to brands to make sure that they are acting within the rules when working with influencers. The public do not want to be duped and brands could suffer as a result.”

She concludes: “It is clear that this is an area of promotion that is growing rapidly, and the regulations need to be enforced more rigorously to keep pace with its growth. Now is the time to take action. I know the Advertising Standards Authority has committed to comprehensive education and enforcement this year, and our research shows that this would be welcomed by consumers.”

The survey of 2,015 people, representative of the UK by age, gender and region, was conducted by Vitreous World Ltd for Prizeology between January 30th and February 2^nd 2018. A white paper and full breakdown of the survey and results can be downloaded from the Prizeology website.

Prizeology is a prize promotions agency working with brands to engage customers. It specialises in compliance and best practice and helps brands and businesses run prize promotions which stick to the rules and regulations.

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Sarah Burns of Prizeology has some words of wisdom on how to run prize promotions campaigns on social media that comply with UK law and the CAP Code

I love social media. I love social media because it enriches what leisure time I have in oh so many ways, especially when it comes to watching skateboarding dogs; but also because it’s brilliant for prize promotions, which is what I fill my working days with.

YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest – they all have their merits and indeed their quirks, but I like these platforms because, unless you don’t understand how the channel works and get the mechanic completely wrong, the audience is almost always engaged and responsive.

Also, because these are still new and evolving spaces, promoters can be innovative – although, of course, they can’t make up their own rules, because each platform has its own acceptable use policies and guidelines for promotions.

Facebook, for instance, insists prize draws must be run through an app within Facebook or a business page, not a personal profile, while Instagram says you mustn’t ask people to tag themselves in photos if they aren’t actually in the pic. A competition in which the most retweets wins breaches Twitter guidelines and you can’t permit multiple entries to a Pinterest promotion or ask entrants to re-pin a specific image.

If you don’t follow these platform guidelines for promotions your account or – much worse – your client’s account is at risk of being shut down. It goes without saying that I don’t want one of the primary ways in which my client engages with its customers to be blocked.

I see it as my responsibility because my company makes full use of our clients’ business logins to monitor their social media campaigns. We answer queries, review the stats and check the promotion is being seen. Facebook’s recent algorithm change now means giveaways, for instance, might not always appear organically in feeds and brands will need to pay to boost their posts in order to gain visibility, so that presents a new challenge.

In addition to these site-specific idiosyncrasies, online prize promotions must abide by the regulations and laws of the land. Like all non-broadcast promotional marketing in the UK, social media prize draws are regulated by the CAP Code (the self-regulatory code which governs advertising and marketing in the UK), so they must have clear terms and conditions. These can be abridged – Twitter is still a tight squeeze although it’s slightly easier now there are 280 characters to play with – but the full and frank version should never be more than a single click away. If your promotion is global, take care, because different countries have different rules and what’s legal here isn’t necessarily legal elsewhere.

Whatever platform you use, you have to be able to pull all the entry data if you’re asked for it and prove that your prizes have been awarded fairly, so you need an app or program for doing this. On platforms like Twitter and Instagram, as well as asking entrants to use a specific hashtag, get them to tag your brand, as this helps you sort people who have actively entered your prize draw from those who have coincidentally used the same hashtag.

You also need a verification process to ensure entrants are who they claim to be, own the content they’ve entered and haven’t broken any other terms and conditions.

If you rely on notifying your winners by naming them in a Facebook post or tagging them on Instagram, you can’t guarantee they’ll see that post or, if they do, it might be months later, by which time you’ll have given the prize to someone else. People really do set up fake accounts simply to claim prizes, so always contact winners privately. On Twitter, for example, this may mean asking them to follow you so you can direct-message them.

Best practice on social media means running effective but compliant promotions. I would be mortified if a consumer complained to the ASA about a promotion I had run. But more than that, non-compliance, including by social media influencers who fail to make the correct disclosures of any commercial relationship with the brands they are promoting, undermines consumer trust and damages the promotional marketing industry as a whole, so following platform guidelines and adhering to the law benefits us all.

I am out to spread the love, because although I do love social media, I also love compliance too – and I don’t care who knows it!

Sarah Burns is Founder of Prizeology, a consultancy specialising in the management and implementation of all aspects of prize promotions, on both strategic and tactical levels. Prizeology is one of the Headline Sponsors of Connect 2018, the IPM’s Members Networking Event which is taking place on Wednesday 31st January. For more information about Connect 2018, see the IPM website.

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Kelloggs-owned savoury snack brand Pringles is running a promotion offering consumers the chance to win £300 in free flights to European destinations every hour, by posting pictures of themselves taking a bite of a Pringles chip to social media.

The promotion opens on February 1^st and closes on April 16^th 2018. There will be one winner drawn at random every hour from 11.00am to 7.00pm, with a final ‘mop-up’ draw for entries received after the closing date and before the end of July. There will be 601 prizes awarded in total, consisting of £300 towards a return direct flight to a European destination for one person. Winners will be able to put the £300 towards a more expensive flight and pay the excess, but may be charged a handling fee by the prize management agency working on the promotion.

To enter, UK and Republic of Ireland consumers (aged 18+) have to take a picture of themselves taking a bite of a Pringles chip and then share it via either Facebook (posting it to the Pringles UK Facebook page), Instagram or Twitter. If they use Instagram or Twitter, they have to include the hashtag #PringlesTakeaBite.

Consumers are restricted to entering once per person per day and can only win one prize during the promotion.

Winners will be informed via Direct Message on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter within seven days of the hourly draw taking place. They will then have seven days to respond, or the prize will be re-awarded.

Winners will be notified via Direct Message on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter within 7 days of the hourly window and will be required to provide personal details to progress with prize fulfilment.

There is a No Purchase Necessary entry route for residents of Northern Ireland, while those from the Republic of Ireland whose names are drawn will have to answer a tie-break question correctly in order to be deemed a winner. This is because both Northern Ireland and the ROI have slightly different laws governing prize draws to the UK (and to each other).

Prize management and fulfilment is being handled for Pringles by Cloud Nine Incentives, which is a member of the Institute of Promotional Marketing.

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