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.

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Marc Rigby of MRM looks at the relevance of Promotional Marketing to today’s marketing industry

Part of my misspent youth was dedicated to undertaking a degree in Marketing. How shiny and new it all felt back then in the 1980s, with brand spend all hovering above and below some imaginary line.

I chose below the line. Cash, holidays and cars. Neck labels, fix-a-forms and scratch panels. Free flights, treasure hunts and soft toy Labradors. Activity so impactful in its imagination and creativity that sometimes it didn’t even need a press release to make the national news.

Fast forward 18 years into the new millennium and the chance to assess where the trends of integration, omnichannel and the like have taken the old trouper that is Promotional Marketing. And no better place to do that than at the 2018 IPM awards, particularly as MRM was a sponsor this year.

But first, some context. To paraphrase Lord Black of Brentwood in his excellent introductory speech at the Awards, “I have never known such a time of change and flux.”

An economy showing marginal growth with Brexit concerns and growing inflationary pressures, dictatorial government legislation and public health concerns.

After a decade of dominant price promotion activity there is evidence of the usurping impact that EDLP pricing is having in the shape of the sales strategies of German retailers Aldi and Lidl.

And look at the fact that retailers such as Asda, Ikea, Next et al chose to step away from the bun fight that is Black Friday. It is low prices not short term price offers that is winning the promotional day.

So, can added value promotions still have a role to play in building the all-too-important brand equity?

Promotional Marketing as a marketing multiplier

What this year’s entrants consistently demonstrated is that their campaigns defined promotion as less about a proven collection of techniques to drive sales and more about the role Promotional Marketing can play when it has the chance to contribute to the marketing multiplier effect that boosts a campaign’s impact and how its customers really begin to engage with it.

What do I mean by that last statement? That campaigns truly reach another level when a great idea is founded in a brand truth and delivered to a consumer as a total brand experience.

Take the immense piece of work that is Lucozade Energy and TBK Group’s ‘Unstoppable Bottle’ – a multi award winner at the 2018 IPM Awards (see the picture above). Product packaging uniquely adapted to the activity. Check. Product sampling. Check. Relevance of activity to brand proposition. Check. Amplification of activity with advertising and social media. Check. Tangible motivating reward. Check. Add the fact that the activation was the first of its kind and it was delivered flawlessly achieving outstanding results, and you have a deserved winner. And, in striking a sensory, emotional, relevant and behavioural chord with the audience, it truly delivered a brand experience.

Clearly, promotional success need not be as reliant on retail presence as it once was. Packaging still remains a primary medium to communicate through, even if the power of the retailer’s own brand limits the opportunities to stand out in store. Getting listings and facings is a hard and often expensive challenge for any underperforming brand. Today’s marketer has a number of channels to drive communication of a promotion. Digital activity can undoubtedly help to build your story and promote the activity to a targeted audience. Hell, it even serves as an ideal place to store your terms and conditions. But it can also very quickly undermine your best efforts if your activity doesn’t pass the scrutiny of your consumers.

Not that this was a problem for another award winner. Nestlé KitKat and ZEAL Creative’s personalised KitKat packs proved how the public’s appetite for personalisation can be integrated into an established brand’s packaging.

So I hope I am not alone in concluding from this year’s crop of winners that, within the armoury of marketers, Promotional Marketing remains a trusted and effective weapon. And whilst the idea at the heart of any marketing campaign should be embedded in the brand proposition, creativity can only truly thrive with the support and expertise of practitioners who understand the importance of planning, insight and how best to manipulate the Promotional tools; not to merely drive sales but also deliver brand experiences that challenge and engage the audiences they seek to reach.

At MRM, we like to think we are defined by our services but measured by our results.  That is a statement that should be a maxim for our whole industry.

Marc Rigby is Managing Director of Multi Resource Marketing Ltd (MRM), a marketing services agency celebrating its 25^th anniversary this summer. MRM is a sponsor of the IPM Awards 2018.

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Lucozade and TBK Group collected the trophies for Brand Owner of the Year, Agency of the Year and the coveted Grand Prix Award at The IPM Awards 2018 last night, the biggest networking event of the promotional marketing industry year.

This year’s winners, which were announced at the IPM’s black-tie Awards Gala on Thursday 14th June at the London Hilton Park Lane, showcased and celebrated the very best in creativity and effectiveness in the promotional marketing industry.

The evening commenced with opening addresses from Lord Black of Brentwood, President of the IPM, and John Sylvester, the IPM’s Chairman and Chairman of Sodexo Benefits & Reward Services UK, while the host for the event was comedy superstar, Russell Kane.

Lucozade was named as Brand Owner of the Year, after campaigns for sub-brands Lucozade Sport, Lucozade Energy and Lucozade Zero collected five Gold awards, three Silvers and the Grand Prix (for Lucozade Energy’s ‘Unstoppable Bottle’ campaign).

The Grand Prix is chosen from all of the Gold winners in the IPM Awards 2018 by a Final Judging Panel. The winner is selected by anonymous vote, and this year the vote went to the ‘Unstoppable Bottle’ campaign.

All of the Lucozade trophies were for campaigns created by agency TBK Group, which also took two more Silver trophies for the ‘£10 million Giveaway for Carphone Warehouse – this haul cemented the title of Agency of the Year 2018.

Other agencies taking away multiple trophies from the IPM Awards 2018 include Savvy Marketing (five Golds and three Bronzes), ZEAL Creative (five Golds, two Silvers and four Bronzes), Leith Links (three Golds and two Silvers) and Brass (two Golds and a Bronze).

The full list of winners is on the IPM website, and you can click here to download the Winners’ Book for the IPM Awards 2018.

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Ribena has launched a major summer on pack promotion, ‘Pick Your Own Gig’, offering customers in the UK and Republic of Ireland an opportunity to win tickets to a Ticketmaster event of their choice – with runner-up prizes of free music downloads and free bottles of Ribena.

The campaign was created by activation agency tbk and is its first project for the brand.

Pick Your Own Gig builds on Ribena’s musically-distinctive ‘Ribenary/Zoobydoo’ advertising, and aims to use events to build even greater relevance amongst its consumer heartland, 16 – 24 year olds. It also references the brand’s historic advertising, which traditionally emphasises the quality and provenance of the blackcurrants picked for making Ribena.

Featured on more than 20 million bottles, the fully integrated campaign is being supported through digital, Out of Home (OOH) and a national sampling campaign.

The promotion runs until August 31st 2018. The daily prize pool includes a £200 Ticketmaster egift card, two £100 Ticketmaster egift cards, five £50 Ticketmaster egift cards, 2,000 £1 Amazon egift codes and 7,993 Free Ribena 500ml Coupons. Winners will be selected through daily ‘winning moments’ prize draws, and not all prizes will necessarily be won.

Consumers in mainland UK have to buy a promotional pack and then go online to www.ribena.co.uk/win/ and enter the last four digits of the pack barcode and their personal details. There is a ‘No Purchase Necessary’ route for entry in Northern Ireland, while in the Republic of Ireland consumers have to answer a skill-based question to enter.

Ribena Marketing Controller Charlotte Flook says: “Ribena is growing up, and events offered us the perfect platform to engage with our young adult audience”.

Andrew Ryan, Head of Brand and Partnerships at tbk, adds: “Taking Ribena on a journey into the events space gave us great opportunity to contemporise the brand while still acknowledging the brand’s tremendous heritage and tradition through the language of ‘pick your own’.”

tbk is an award winning brand activation agency that works with clients including Lucozade Ribena Suntory, Krispy Kreme, TUI, Carphone Warehouse and Wickes.

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Currys PC World is launching a summer football-themed campaign, ‘Get your TV for Free’, which offers customers a one in 20 chance of getting the money they spend on buying a TV back, up to a maximum value of £24,999.

Running from May 9^th until June 26^th, 2018, the ‘Get your TV for Free’ promotion requires customers to purchase a 55” size TV or larger from Currys PC World online, in-store or via the retailer’s call centre. To participate, customers must then register at www.currys.co.uk/FreeTV and click on the TV they see on screen to reveal if they have won. The winning prizes will be randomly assigned to a one in 20 win ratio using an independently audited and verified process. Participants must upload their qualifying receipt to redeem their prize.

The campaign has been created and is being managed by promotional marketing agency tbk, in partnership with digital promotions specialist Brandmovers.

The ‘Get your TV for Free’ campaign will be supported by a TV campaign, radio, social media and related POS materials in stores.

The Currys PC World brand is a British electrical retailer operating in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, owned by Dixons Carphone. It specialises in selling home electronics and household appliances, with 295 superstores and 73 high street shops. Smaller shops also trade under the Currys Digital brand in the United Kingdom.

tbk is a multi-award winning, independent promotional marketing agency that creates ideas and experiences that drives ‘buzz’ and sales for brands. Carlsberg, Pringles, Lucozade, Krispy Kreme, Boots and Wickes are just a few of the brands it works for.

Brandmovers is a global leader in digital engagement promotions and loyalty. With over 15 years’ experience and with offices on three continents, Brandmovers provides global reach and digital expertise in all aspects of promotional activity, working with agency partners and world- leading brands like MasterCard, Manchester United and Nestle on innovative consumer or trade marketing campaigns which engage target audieences via multiple channels and devices.

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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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Trade and consumer DIY store chain Wickes has reintroduced its ‘Buy now, do it later’ campaign, and is backing it with a new initiative, Wickes Trips, which encourages customers to take advantage of the fantastic seasonal offers in store over Easter, but then leave the work for a later date, and enjoy the extra time with their nearest and dearest.

The campaign is supported by in store POS, radio advertising and social media events offering customers the opportunity to win more prize trips.

Wickes has appointed marketing agency tbk Group to create and manage the new Wickes Trips initiative, which offers every Wickes customer the opportunity to take advantage of discounts on experiences, days out and UK holidays.  By sourcing a number of different activities and breaks, tbk has created a campaign offering a guaranteed reward to every Wickes customer shopping either in store or online between March 14^th  and April 15^th 2018, regardless of their level of spend.

Experiences, rewards and discounts on offer include bungee jumping, weekend breaks, Haven Holidays, kids’ passes, golf, swimming, paintballing, trampolining and more.

To claim a reward, shoppers have to go online to the promotional website, www.wickestrips.co.uk, fill in their personal details and the unique reference number from their till receipt and upload an image of the receipt.

Matthew Gaunt, Wickes Customer & Communications Director, says: “This is a great way to reward all our customers – and enhance our brand strategy at the same time.”

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Carphone Warehouse has launched a £10m giveaway promotion, its biggest ever. The campaign gives customers a guaranteed reward for spending in store from November through to Christmas.

The campaign was created and is being managed by promotional marketing agency TBK in partnership with digital promotions specialist Brandmovers.

Prizes consist of five Mini Coopers, 40 Samsung QLED TVs, 5,000 sets of JBL Bluetooth headphones, 200,000 Starbucks Cards, 100,000 Odeon Cinema Tickets and over 450,000 tastecard memberships. There are also 60 plus cash prizes with a total prize value of £250,000 to be won instantly.

Customers are encouraged to visit the £10 Million Giveaway microsite and click on the Christmas Cracker to reveal their guaranteed prize. Participants must upload their qualifying receipt to redeem their prize.

Georgina Bramall, head of brand and advertising at Dixons Carphone, says: “This has been a big footfall driver in terms of driving traffic into our store estate. We’ve already given away £10,000 to two winners, a Mini Cooper and a 40 Samsung QLED TV. It’s a sales promotion that’s designed to give customers a hook, an attraction.”

The campaign also features selected shopping centre events to support the campaign, run by Wolf Experiential, the experiential part of TBK group. The events, sponsored by Samsung, give shoppers the chance to play a table-based game against the clock to win a new Samsung Galaxy S8. A steady hand is required to remove the metal ‘app’ icons from the game using the electromagnetic wand; if people touch the side, the app piece will drop back into the game.

The roadshow will be visiting a total of five venues around the UK. It has already been to The Bullring in Birmingham, Braehead Centre in Glasgow and The Trafford Centre in Manchester in November; in December, it will be visiting Bluewater in Kent and Stratford Shopping Centre in London.

Dixons Carphone plc is Europe’s leading specialist electrical and telecommunications retailer and services company, employing over 41,000 people in nine countries. Dixons Carphone’s primary brands include Carphone Warehouse and CurrysPCWorld in the UK & Ireland, Elkjøp, Elkjøp Phonehouse, Elgiganten, Elgiganten Phone House, Gigantti and Lefdal in the Nordic countries, Kotsovolos in Greece and Dixons Travel in a number of UK airports as well as Dublin and Oslo. Its key service brands include Team Knowhow in the UK, Ireland and the Nordics, and Geek Squad in the UK and Ireland.

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