Lucozade Energy is delivering its biggest ever sampling activity across the UK this year as part of its wide-reaching Energy Beats Everything campaign. The brand’s extensive sampling will see seven million ice-cold orange 150ml cans being circulated during this campaign will drive sales of Lucozade Energy by getting the drink into the hands of consumers.

The brand is also handing out vouchers as part of the sampling campaign, giving consumers 50p coupons to be redeemed against any Lucozade Energy or Lucozade Zero SKU.

Sampling for the UK’s number one energy drink will be activated nationwide, in high footfall cities and the surrounding areas throughout England, Scotland and Wales. The brand is spending a total of £28m on the Energy Beats Everything campaign, which will also include nationwide TV, outdoor and digital activity, alongside in-store marketing.

Bridget Hirst, Brand Manager at Lucozade Ribena Suntory, says: “In the past, our extensive sampling campaigns have proven to drive a 9% sales uplift on Lucozade Energy.”

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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Mars brand SNICKERS is launching a money-off promotion with a difference in the US, to support its long-running “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry” marketing platform. A special ‘Hungerithm’ has been created to monitor the mood, and the hunger level, of the Internet. As the Internet’s “hanger” increases, the value of coupon discounts off SNICKERS at participating U.S. 7-Eleven stores will increase in real time.

“Sometimes you say stuff online you don’t mean in a moment of hunger,” said Michael Italia, Senior Brand Manager, SNICKERS Brand. “We’ve all witnessed this type of behavior from friends and family in our newsfeeds. Now SNICKERS can help satisfy in real time.”

“Hungerithm” was developed by Clemenger BBDO Melbourne under the “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry” umbrella and originally piloted in Australia to critical acclaim and business success. The algorithm checks social media posts in real time against a list of 3,000 commonly used words and phrases to determine sentiment and capture a snapshot of how people are feeling. It even understands slang and sarcasm. As hanger goes up, the coupon value goes up too.

Consumers can view the SNICKERS Hungerithm at www.Hungerithm.com and track the value of the money-off coupons across the day – they can then use their mobile devices to lock in a coupon value and generate a barcode which they can redeem at participating 7-Eleven stores.

“Hungerithm” went live mid November and will be available until December 22nd, 2017.

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Even though the volume of money-off coupons and vouchers in circulation appears to have fallen, UK consumers still saved £3.4 billion in the 12 months to April 2017, a new survey conducted for coupon company Valassis reveals.

Almost all consumers said they use coupons when supermarket shopping (99%) and almost all (96%) say they are actively looking for promotional offers more often or as much as a year ago.

However, while the appetite for coupons and vouchers remains high, 41% of consumers report that they are receiving fewer than a year ago. The survey’s respondents reported decreases in coupon availability across most of the usual sources, with nearly two thirds (65%) claiming they now receive fewer coupons at till and 35% spotting fewer coupons online.

Charles D’Oyly, managing director of Valassis UK, comments: “Several grocery retailers have pulled back from using basket price comparisons against other supermarkets, which often resulted in the price difference being printed out as a voucher when checking out. This promotional mechanic has been popular since early 2010, but with the rise of the deep discounters and the need to compete on everyday low prices for household staples, it looks like retailers are not issuing as many of those types of coupons and vouchers.”

The hunger for coupons and vouchers remains high, especially among younger shoppers, with 49% of 16-24 year olds stating they had increased coupon use compared to 33% of all consumers.

Regarding new shopping habits, 20% of all shoppers claim to regularly use online shopping and home delivery, and it is particularly popular among the younger age group. Younger shoppers are also more likely to try other new shopping methods – 11% of shoppers aged 16-24 often use “Click and Collect” compared to 1% of shoppers over 65, while 15% of younger shoppers often use a handheld scanner when shopping compared to just 2% of all shoppers.

Over half of all those surveyed (54%) claimed to have used Amazon for grocery shopping, with 19% using it regularly.

However, some traditional shopping habits remain – most people still use a shopping list, with just 30% saying they never use one for their main grocery shop, suggesting that most shopping decisions are made before setting off to the supermarket. The research underlined this further, with 37% of respondents agreeing that offers will sway what they intend to purchase and what goes on the shopping list.

Loyalty to retailers is decreasing, with far fewer people using only one supermarket for their regular shop.  Shoppers visiting just one store for their grocery shopping has dropped to just 8% from 12% in the previous year. Likewise, over two thirds of shoppers (67%) report that they use two to three stores on a monthly basis.

The research also suggested that the rise of discount supermarkets may be slowing down and that the discounters may even be falling out of favour – exactly a quarter of shoppers stated that the hassle and inconvenience of shopping in places like Aldi and Lidl were not worth their lower prices.

The findings are based on an online survey of 2,000 nationally representative adults, conducted by GfKNOP from April 3 to 10 2017 on behalf of Valassis.

Valassis Limited is the UK’s largest coupon and voucher services provider, performing crucial data management and financial clearing services for brands, retailers and others. Responsible for handling most of the UK’s coupons and vouchers, Valassis Limited is uniquely positioned to deliver insights on UK consumer promotions.

In North America, Valassis is a leader in intelligent media delivery, providing over 58,000 clients with innovative media solutions to influence consumers wherever they plan, shop, buy and share. By integrating online and offline data combined with powerful insights, Valassis precisely targets its clients’ most valuable shoppers. NCH Marketing Services, Inc. and Clipper Magazine are Valassis subsidiaries, while RedPlum is its consumer brand. Valassis is a wholly owned subsidiary of Harland Clarke Holdings.

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Procter & Gamble-owned toilet paper brand Charmin offered New Yorkers their own private and personal toilet facilities last week, with the launch of Charmin Van-GO, the first-ever on-demand mobile bathroom service.

With US actor Anthony Anderson, star of popular sit-com black-ish, onboard, the Charmin Van-GO will travel through some of NYC’s busiest neighborhoods to bring bathrooms to those in need, while surprising and delighting people with bathroom humour along the route.

New Yorkers in select NYC neighbourhoods were invited to go online to CharminVanGo.com and follow simple directions to request a visit from the Charmin Van-GO. With just a few clicks, they could ask for a totally private and super clean bathroom to visit the location they requested. They could also download electronic coupons for money-off their next purchase of Charmin.

The experiential marketing activation was piloted on June 21 and June 22

“At Charmin, we’re always looking to bring people the best bathroom experience, both at home with our tissue and in new and unexpected ways,” said Janette Yauch, Associate Brand Director, Charmin. “With the Charmin Van-GO, we are providing one of the largest, most-trafficked cities in the world a new way to Enjoy the Go… on the go.”

The on-demand bathroom service was available from 8.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time in New York City neighbourhoods including: Columbus Circle, Lincoln Center, Herald Square, Rockefeller Plaza, Bryant Park, Union Square and the High Line Elevated Park.

Charmin was launched in 1928 by the Hoberg Paper Company of Wisconsin. Hoberg changed its name to Charmin Paper Company in 1950 before bought by P&G in 1957. P&G sold the rights to the brand in Europe to SCA in 2008 and SCA changed the name to Cushelle.

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Ready Brek has teamed up with Play-Doh for a new on-pack promotion running until January 31st 2017, where consumers can get £5 off Play-Doh when spending £20 or more on the children’s modelling clay or associated Play-Doh products such as the Play-Doh factory.

The promotion will be appearing on the breakfast cereal’s Original variety 450g and 750g pack sizes.

Hannah Flannery, commercial marketing manager for Ready Brek, said: “It’s said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day for adults and children alike and so we want to see more families enjoying a nutritious and tasty start to their day with Ready Brek. As an extremely popular product with children, we’re thrilled to be partnering with Play-Doh to continue celebrating Ready Brek’s integral place in the modern family home.”

Craig Wilkins, marketing director, Hasbro UK & Ireland, said: “Play-Doh and Ready Brek are both iconic, nostalgic brands for parents that are much loved by kids across the country – it was a natural collaboration for us. As we celebrate our 60th Anniversary this year, we’re delighted that our partnership with Ready Brek enables us to offer parents added value when purchasing new Play-Doh products.”

Ready Brek and Play-Doh were both launched at almost exactly the same time: 1956 for Play-Doh and 1957 for Ready Brek. After going through various owners including General Mills, Play-Doh has ended up with toy giant Hasbro. Ready Brek was originally launched by J Lyons & Co and is now owned and manufactured by Weetabix.

Originally called a ‘smooth porridge’ it was rebranded as a breakfast cereal for kids in the late 1960s – with the famous advertising slogan ‘Central heating for kids’; with the resurgence in popularity of porridge in recent years, the product is again been marketed as porridge.

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The ‘It’s Lunchtime’ multi-brand experiential and promotional campaign kicked off for its third run at the end of September, this time with a social media campaign aimed at getting busy office workers who can’t get away from their desks to try out some desk-based exercises.

It’s Lunchtime includes major media, promotional and trade support activity centred around the It’s Lunchtime RoadShow which runs until mid October and which should reach an estimated half-a-million shoppers, highlighting the importance of a midday day meal to health, well-being, energy levels and concentration – as well as the fact that a balanced midday meal can boost the metabolism, which in turn can help with weight loss.

Brand Belief, the agency behind the campaign, has signed up leading brands including Cathedral City cheddar, Carte Noire coffee, snack brand Nākd, biscuit brand Bahlsen PiCK UP!, spread Clover and Kallo rice cakes.

Brand Belief will also be conducting a survey to find out exactly where Britons like or tend to eat lunch, #wheredoyoueatyours.

The RoadShow will be appearing at two London mainline stations, Victoria and Waterloo, as well as 30 key Tesco and Sainsbury large format stores over four weeks. In addition to lunch-related sampling sessions, money off coupons will also be distributed.

In addition, as the majority of working adults now eat lunch at their desk or workstation, the campaign will also be promoting simple #lunchercise exercises to keep the healthy message going. Exercises include The Desk Push Up, Chair Swivel, Printer Sprinter and The Lunchbreak Hammy.

The campaign aims to reach out to 12 million people through the media, targeting 150 titles, and via social media. There will be ‘Lip-smacking Lunchbox’ giveaways via the press and online plus advice, hints, tips and recipes across social media and on the website www.itslunchtime.co.uk.

Julien Lacrampe, Trade Marketing Manager at Bahlsen, comments: “Following last year’s success, we are delighted to be involved in the ‘It’s Lunchtime’ sampling initiative again. Last year alone, more than 79,000 incremental households bought PiCK UP! biscuits and through this sampling we will drive even more consumers to the brand.”

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The campaign will be encouraging people to ‘Shake Up’ the mundane as the antidote to all things boring and sensible and will be supported by the brand’s #ShakeItUp messaging.

An intense four-day sampling burst kicked off the campaign at the start of August, with brand ambassador teams handing out freed rinks at London’s Victoria and Liverpool St train stations, Westfield Stratford and Westfield London.

The activation, created by marketing agency Sense, is the experiential element of a wider brand repositioning campaign that will include a range of digital and social media activities.

Over the four-day activation, more than 45,000 400ml Yazoo samples were handed out along with a specially designed handout that compliments the overall look and feel of the campaign, where everyday monotonous situations are ‘Shaken Up’.

The aim of the campaign is to more clearly differentiate Yazoo from its rivals and to increase penetration among young adults – the brand’s ‘life’s too short to be serious; message will be central to this.

Alongside free and 50p-off Yazoo coupons, the handouts will feature quirky illustrated items (including a face, the bottom half of a mermaid and crocodile head) that can be easily popped out and then introduced into photos of everyday situations to “Shake them up”.

Digital advertising includes banner ads targeted at millennials on a number of pre-selected websites, with consumers being encouraged to either text shakeitup to 65009 to receive a secure digital voucher or click through to a microsite where they can opt to get their voucher delivered by SMS or email. Secure digital coupon services are being provided by i-movo.

Consumers will be encouraged to get creative and share their photographic results via social media using the hashtag #ShakeItUp.

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UK shoppers saved £3.3bn over the last year by using coupons and vouchers, based on new consumer research released by Valassis Limited, the UK’s largest coupon and voucher services provider.

Overall, 86% of supermarket shoppers use coupons, with 40% indicating increased use from the previous year. Half (50%) of full-time workers revealed increased coupon usage, 12 percentage points higher than the previous year.

The survey found that 45% of shoppers are looking for promotional offers more than a year ago, eight percentage points higher than the previous year’s response. Younger consumers are more likely to look for deals with 55% of 25 to 34 year olds looking for offers compared to 28% of those 65 and older.

“Consumers increasingly seek out value and from a number of sources, thus continuing a long-standing shopping skill, honed further by the recent global economic crisis. Even though the economy has returned to growth mode, shoppers are not complacent” said Charles D’Oyly, Valassis Managing Director (pictured). “While coupons received at till was the most prolific source of coupons for shoppers, the Internet and mobile channels are gaining momentum.”

Additional survey findings:

• 33% of consumers feel their personal financial situation is worse than a year ago. Last year, 28% of consumers felt this way;
• Average monthly coupon savings increased to £6.83 from £6.59 with the savings varying based on leading supermarket-specific results;
• 65% of consumers have received a coupon at till along with their receipt;
• 35% of consumers said they have downloaded a coupon from the Internet;
• 34% are shopping at discount retailers more than they did a year ago; and
• Internet coupon usage has risen 9 percentage points from last year with 25 to 34 year olds leading the way.

These findings are based on market research responses from 2,000 UK adults aged 16+ conducted by GfK from April 8^th to 11th, 2016.

Valassis Limited is the UK’s largest coupon and voucher services provider. Responsible for handling most of the UK’s coupons and vouchers, Valassis Limited is a leader in intelligent media delivery, providing over 58,000 clients with innovative media solutions to influence consumers wherever they plan, shop, buy and share.

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