The independent brewer, Brewdog will launch an online bar session tomorrow (Friday) at 6pm.

The online session will include beer tastings with experts, homebrewing masterclasses, Q&A sessions, quizzes, live music and comedy, and giveaways

Brewdog will set up online bar sessions for bars in the UK, USA, Australia and Germany to give locals and regulars a chance to reconnect and share a beer.

The brand will announce details across it’s Twitter and Instagram accounts.

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Fiona Strong, Managing Director at Ark-H Handling, explores how Black Friday can be both a blessing and a curse for retailers and fulfilment houses.

Introduced from the USA several years ago, the Black Friday phenomenon, like so many American imports, has had positive and negative effects on the UK market in almost equal measure.

Initially the new concept in sales promotion led to a massive rise in on-line sales, as internet retailers rushed to capitalise on this frenzy of armchair bargain-hunting.  Sales spiked, web-sites crashed and the shopping world went Black Friday mad. The high-street trembled as the statistics for year-on-year on-line shopping sales shot through the roof and the world of fulfilment and distribution was caught on the hop.

As time has gone by the Black Friday effect has begun to diminish somewhat, although this is still the busiest period for sales, both on-line and on the high street. Designed to ‘kick-off’ the holiday season (Thanksgiving) in the US, Black Friday has, to a marked extent, become the starting pistol for pre-Christmas sales in the UK.

Mainstream retail has caught up with on-line, with stores building television campaigns designed to capture both on-line and footfall sales. Shoppers looking for bargains still flock to find the best deals, in the ether or on the pavement, but the one-day pressure has eased.  Many retailers have sought to up-stage the Black Friday event with earlier offer days with Amazon Prime day being a ‘prime’ example.

The on-line shopping bonanza continues to grow and flourish and it is now expected that sales will rise and rise. It is the rush to discount that has slowed slightly, with retailers of all descriptions recognising that this is more of a rush to bottom than a race to the top. The benefits to consumers remain and special deals abound but no longer in the staggering proportions of a few years ago.

On-line fulfilment services too have adjusted to meet demand and it is no longer so difficult for companies to fulfil the peak in demand. Gone are the days when neither websites nor warehouses could cope with the Black Friday effect.

Predictions for 2018 suggest that the average Brit will spend about £220 on Black Friday. This is significantly less than last year but it is also predicted that many more people will take part. So the overall spend on the Black Friday weekend will still probably top out at over 7 billion pounds.

The Black Friday phenomenon is both a blessing and a curse for retailers and fulfilment houses alike but, given the need for them to keep the customers satisfied and sales rising now that everyone has got the hang of the idea, on aggregate they are probably better off with it than without it.

Ark-H Handling has over 28 years of proven expertise in delivering a comprehensive range of handling & fulfilment solutions. They provide unparalleled levels of service and expertise delivered through industry leading systems & facilities, combined with outstanding staff and a commitment to quality.

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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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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.

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Behavioural communications agency HeyHuman has announced the appointment of Liz Brown to the new role of Associate Creative Director, with a focus on online and social media content. Her hiring brings an all-female creative lead to HeyHuman, alongside Executive Creative Director, Shnoosee Bailey, and Creative Director, Carole Davids.

Brown joins HeyHuman with over a decade’s worth of experience at agencies including Doner (as Associate Creative Director), LIDA (Senior Creative/Copywriter) and Karmarama, where she led the social creative drive for Costa Coffee and Onken.

She began her career as an integrated creative copywriter, learning to craft campaigns through all touchpoints of the customer experience before specialising in the delivery of engaging social content, a skillset she will deploy in her role at HeyHuman.

Brown has worked on integrated campaigns for the likes of Boots, Ikea, and Huawei and, in 2017, handled live social content for London, Paris and Milan Fashion Weeks.

HeyHuman’s Executive Creative Director Shnoosee Bailey says: “The social media landscape is constantly evolving and we need someone on board who understands it implicitly to ensure our client campaigns harness the full potential of the medium. Liz is just the person. Her expertise in creating social content that people want to engage with not only answers a brand need; it fits perfectly with the empathetic, human-first approach we bring to every brief.”

Liz Brown adds: “Social wasn’t even a ‘thing’ when my career started, but it’s where so much important work happens today. The idea of building a story over a period of time, over a variety of platforms, is both an opportunity and a challenge that really appeals to me. Social weaves ideas, things and scenarios directly into people’s lives like no other medium can – you can build a brand and create meaningful relationships this way.”

HeyHuman is an independent behavioural communications agency that specialises in brand, content, social and experiential. With around 100 staff, HeyHuman supports the relationship between brands and consumers via a focus on building ‘Human Brands’ and specialisms in brand, content, social and experiential. Current clients include Sony, Unilever, Diageo, Slimfast and Mondelez.

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Soft drinks company Nichols plc. has launched a new ‘anti-advertising campaign’ for its Vimto brand, with a budget of £3m covering TV, social media (including a Snapchat lens) and digital, a partnership with student-focused viral content site Unilad, experiential sampling and what it says is an industry-first: personalised Video on Demand (VOD) and cinema.

The new ‘I See Vimto in You’ campaign, which launches during Love Island on June 4th, 2018 and runs throughout the summer, repositions the popular soft drinks brand with its target audience of 15-19 year olds. Nichols says the ad is engaging, disruptive and taps into the teen desire to be themselves in a world of constraints.

Its anti-advertising approach even goes as far as to suggest viewers should close their eyes rather than watch the advert. The new campaign also marks the end of brand representative, the Vimtoad, an animated character created by Aardman and introduced in 2014 to represent the product’s disruptive and anarchic element.

Emma Hunt, Head of Marketing at Nichols, says: “The approach is refreshingly different, just like Vimto. We want the ‘I See Vimto in You’ campaign to be a celebration of individuality and a catalyst for fun, encouraging teens to be themselves and take enjoyment from the everyday – like they do when they drink Vimto.”

Nichols says the campaign shouldhelp Vimto significantly increase its current sales value of £78m, claiming that the brand is in one in five households in the UK and continues to outperform the category, growing at +6.0% YOY.

Hunt adds: “The Vimtoad, who has starred in our campaigns over the past four years, has successfully helped us to deliver the message that Vimto is a multi-fruit soft drink. Under his watch, we’ve seen Vimto rise to its highest levels of brand awareness, but now it’s time to appeal to our core target audience in an innovative and contemporary way.”

The ‘I see Vimto in You’ national multi-media campaign will reach over three million teens across the country. This includes the Vimto brand’s return to TV, with the Love Island launch spot on June 4th. It will also break new ground with its unique personalised advertising across cinema and VOD, as well as experiential sampling, social influencer programme, the Snapchat lens and the partnership with Unilad.

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The Financial Times plans to invest heavily in a brand experience campaign this summer, aimed at supporting its recently-launched global marketing push for the FT Weekend section. As part of its plans, it has just hired Tamara Gates, formerly with TV, film and ad production and visual effects specialists Moving Picture Company, in a new role as experiential marketing manager. Her remit will include managing the planned brand experience activities.

The new Open Minds campaign for FT Weekend was inspired by the section’s colourful and provocative journalism and aims to encourage stronger engagement with FT Weekend by the FT’s core business audience, while attracting new readers to its world-class coverage of arts, culture, ideas  and lifestyle.

The campaign, which builds on a 2017 refresh and rebrand of FT Weekend under editor Alec Russell, will have two phases. The first will include out-of-home, digital display, online video and retail elements in high profile locations in London, Hong Kong and New York’s Times Square. The second phase, in the summer, will have a major experiential focus, marking a new direction for the Financial Times.

The creative concept and execution of Open Minds have been developed in partnership with The Brooklyn Brothers. The visually striking phase-one adverts were designed by a variety of illustrators and inspired by a range of thought-provoking FT Weekend articles:

• ‘Is mind control the tech industry’s greatest invention?’ (pictured) challenges readers to question their relationship with the smartphone.
• ‘Can we separate the art from the artist?’ challenges people to think about the character flaws of renowned artists and entertainers;
• ‘Is age a disease we can cure?’ poses questions about wellbeing and mortality;

Financial Times chief communications and marketing officer, Finola McDonnell, says: “We have created this campaign with editorial content at its centre to have strong visual and intellectual impact, sparking debate and conversation – exactly what FT Weekend aims to do. We’re positioning the FT Weekend as an essential read for those interested in arts, culture, ideas and lifestyle, just as the Financial Times and ft.com are essential to our core business readership.”

FT Weekend editor Alec Russell adds: “This campaign goes to the heart of my ambition for the journalism in FT Weekend each week. It is sharp, provocative, probing and embraces the big ideas of our age – yet it is also tinged with mischief.”

The campaign will be supported by social media activity on the FT’s Facebook, Twitter (@FTWeekendand @FTLifeArts) and Instagram (@FT_Weekend) accounts with the hashtag #FTOpenMinds. The articles which inspired the campaign can all be found outside the FT’s paywall at FT.com/OpenMinds.

The Financial Times is one of the world’s leading business news organisations, recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy.  The FT marks 130 years in 2018 with a record paying readership of more than 930,000. The FT is now a majority digital content business, with digital subscriptions up to 739,554, representing more than three-quarters of the total paying audience. Content revenues represent almost two-thirds of total revenues, double the share of five years ago.

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Lambrini, the best-selling perry brand, has teamed up with self-tan specialist, Fake Bake, for a Spring on-pack promotion offering the chance to win Fake Bake products , and get online discounts.

From April 23rd, a limited edition co-branded packaging design rolled out on bottles of Lambrini Always Original, with each bottle featuring an offer of 50% off all Fake Bake products purchased online. In addition, consumers can enter a competition to win one of 1,000 Fake Bake Amplify Gradual Tanning product.

Bottles feature a “limited-edition” imprint on the neck, with the promotional offer and Fake Bake’s logo further down the sleeve. The activity aims to build on last year’s campaign, where Lambrini successfully launched three seasonal bottle wraps.

The new limited edition bottle, which will be available through grocery and convenience channels across the UK, will be supported with wider PR and social media activity, including a co-branded blogger event.

Emily Cross, Brand Manager for Lambrini at Halewood Wines & Spirits, says: “Lambrini is a brand that has become synonymous with the ‘girls’ night in’ and Fake Bake is perfectly aligned with that target audience. As such, we are confident that the collaboration and customised limited edition design will stimulate demand and draw instant attention from both loyal and new fans discovering Lambrini for the first time. Product differentiation in this category is essential and we are continuing to evolve and update the brand to maintain its relevance”.

Lambrini is a sparkling pear cider, or perry, made by Halewood Wines and Spirits, the UK’s largest independent alcoholic drinks manufacturer and distributor. Halewood’s product range includes wines, spirits, beers, ciders, and bottled water. The key brands include award-winning Whitley Neill Gin, J.J. Whitley Gin and Vodka, Liverpool Gins and Vodka, Marylebone Gin, Bajan Rum Sixty Six, Crabbie’s Alcoholic Ginger Beer, The Pogues Irish Whiskey and Red Square Vodka.

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Valassis, the UK’s largest coupon and voucher services provider, has launched Cashback & Rewards, a new multi-channel promotional solution that facilitates direct payment between the brand and the promotion’s beneficiary, removing reliance on third parties to fulfil the promotion.

Valassis says cashback has significant and broad-reaching promotional applications – research has found that nearly 20% of shoppers made a purchase or spent more than planned because of a cashback offer. Cashback & Rewards can be implemented for any number of target audiences – shoppers, merchants or even staff, as an employee benefit – the company adds.

The Cashback & Rewards mechanic has been designed to be simple for the shopper, the company says. Once they have bought a product, the shopper inputs their details online along with a picture of the receipt and is then sent a cashback or reward payment.  Payment can be delivered via a number of methods – cash, PayPal, cheque or coupon. Rewards can also be product samples or entry into a prize draw.  This direct fulfilment allows brands to reinforce messages, which often is not possible when fulfilled via a third party.

Valassis has worked with brands across Europe to deliver Cashback & Rewards for products in the pharmaceutical sector, with cashback given to both merchants and shoppers. The service is now being made available in the UK.

Charles D’Oyly, Valassis’ Managing Director, observes: “Our new Cashback & Rewards solution means that brands can deliver benefits directly to intended beneficiaries and without involving point of sale.  It taps into existing interest among consumers for cash back and represents a flexible and compelling promotional tool to engage shoppers via an easy and seamless customer experience.”

Valassis Limited is the UK’s largest coupon and voucher services provider, performing crucial data management and financial clearing services. Responsible for handling most of the UK’s coupons and vouchers, Valassis Limited is uniquely positioned to deliver insights on UK consumer promotions and is regularly quoted as an expert in the media. Valassis is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Harland Clarke Holdings, a US provider of payment solutions, multi-channel marketing campaigns, and secure data-driven lead generation and critical communications.  In addition, Harland Clarke provides promotional products, call centers, and governance, risk and compliance (GRC) solutions.

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Cult Japanese confectionary brand Hi-CHEW has launched in the UK, backed with a social media promotion which allows London-based consumers to claim a free sample pack.

The promotion was put together by Hi-CHEW’s UK marketing agency, tbk, with the digital vouchers being delivered by i-movo.

The social media campaign launched at the beginning of March, with thousands of consumers clicking through to the i-movo service to request the voucher. All of the initially available vouchers were claimed within 24 hours; Hi-CHEW now plans to extend the online campaign shortly, and will also be running a series of experiential campaigns in the Greater London area.

Targeted advertising on social media sites has been driving relevant consumers through to a promotional site where they can claim their vouchers, which are sent to their mobile phones, as well as find their nearest participating retailer. Consumers can then redeem their vouchers at participating stores – the initial campaign ran with around 700 convenience stores in the Greater London area.

Hi-CHEW is a chewable soft candy, described as a cross between chewing gum and sweets like Starburst, which has been sold in Japan for decades. Made by Japanese company Morinaga & Co, the brand was launched in the US in 2008, and is also available in various Asian countries.

tbk is an award-winning independent creative marketing agency that also includes Carlsberg, Pringles, Lucozade, Krispy Kreme, Boots and Wickes amongst its clients.

i-movo is one of the largest Secure Digital Voucher networks in the world, advising agencies and brands on initial creative concept, planning and execution, and post-campaign analysis, as well as providing systems and skills to minimise the risk and maximise the return on investment. It works with over 60,000 participating retailers, has delivered over 300 successful campaigns and has processed over 10 million vouchers worth over £100 million.

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