Put the kettle on: Independent Venue Week (IVW), the UK’s leading celebration of independent music venues, has announced a partnership with Yorkshire Tea to fuel venues and gig-goers all around the country.

As well as making sure every venue can offer a proper brew across the week, Little Urn, their legendary mobile tea van, will be taking to the road at the weekend visiting The Adelphi in Hull on Friday 1^st February for Novelist and The Trades Club in Hebden Bridge on Sunday 3^rd February for Thurston Moore.

The partnership will also see Yorkshire Tea offering VIT (Very Important Tea-drinkers) hampers for a handful of venues and artists.

As part of IVW’s “Where Does Music Take You?” campaign, encouraging gig goers to tour and visit cities and venues they’ve never been to before, Yorkshire Tea is asking “Where will a brew take you?” inviting gig goers to share their experiences of shows they’ve been to across the week on social media, tagging @YorkshireTea. The most adventurous posts will win a special box of tea, limited edition IVW Yorkshire tea towels and pin badges.

Ben Newbury, Senior Brand Manager at Yorkshire Tea said: “We love our music here at Yorkshire Tea and we’re proud to have worked with loads of tea-loving bands and venues over the years. We’re really proud to be supporting Independent Venue Week this year, fuelling venues and artists with proper brews and visiting a couple of Yorkshire-based shows with our trusty Little Urn.”

“Who doesn’t love a proper brew? When you’re on the road touring or in a venue getting bands set up for a show, nothing can beat a good cup of tea – it’s what keeps everyone going. But it needs to be done right – decent mug, fresh milk and most importantly, quality tea” said Sybil Bell, Founder of IVW UK. “The IVW office runs on tea and so this partnership is an absolute treat for us. Proper venues offering a proper brew for proper gigs.”

Independent Venue Week is running, once again, at the end of January giving gig goers the perfect reason to get out and see newly-tipped artists, helping to shake off the January blues and support their local venues. As the project continues to grow, there are plans for much more activity with venues and partners across the whole year which will be announced after the week.

Novelist and Samantha Renke are ambassadors for 2019. Key facts include:

• 200+ venues signed up to take part
• 90 of those venues are taking part for the first time
• Venues in 100+ different villages, towns and cities around the UK
• 55% of the venues are outside of large cities
• 86% of venues outside London

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Lucky Generals and Goodstuff have teamed up with virtual technology specialist Zappar to create an augmented reality (AR) mobile experience that educates young families about environmental sustainability and brings to life Yorkshire Tea’s passion for trees. This campaign also features a partnership with Guardian Labs, aiming to drive a deeper understanding of the project through longer form content.

The introduction of the AR experience comes during year four of Yorkshire Tea’s five-year pledge to plant one million trees across the UK and Kenya. Aimed at families with young children, the campaign looks to increase understanding of why trees are important in a fun and engaging way.

Using Zappar’s augmented reality platform, ZapWorks, the experience is accessed by scanning full page press adverts using the camera feature on Shazam. AR technology then transports users into the forests of the UK and Kenya. Users are given interactive challenges which include planting seeds, learning about various tree species, picking avocados for farmers to take to market and tapping to oxygenate clouds of carbon dioxide with trees. A friendly narrator acts as a play-a-long guide, highlighting the importance of trees at every stage.

The campaign will run across a series of magazine titles and supplements within newsbrands such as The Evening Standard, The Times and The Observer, as well as being distributed via activity sheets in schools across the UK. In tandem, a partnership with Guardian Labs will drive a deeper understanding of the project through longer form content.

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Lipton, the UK’s No.1 Ice Tea brand, is visiting city centres nationwide for a 23-day roadshow, as part of its ‘Let’s Go’ summer campaign.

Urban spaces are being transformed by experiential agency iD, who has produced the experience on behalf of Lipton, offering the public a chance to relax and unwind with their friends.

At the experience, consumers will be able to enjoy samples of perfectly served Lipton Ice Tea alongside slices of fresh fruit, offering a moment of refreshment and disrupting the usual lunchtime routine.
Lipton’s “Let’s Go” campaign aims to tap into the mentality of millennials who prioritise social togetherness and to mobilise friends to get together and spend quality time with each other.  The campaign acts as a constant reminder to never settle and always look for better experiences together.

The roadshow is part of a wider integrated campaign which includes a new TV commercial, reinforcing the great taste and refreshing qualities of Lipton Ice Tea in a playful way and is supported by social and digital media campaigns.

Lipton is distributed by Britvic, a leading international soft drinks company, with a strong British heritage. It has operations in GB, Ireland and France and exports to over 50 countries. In the UK and Ireland, it is the number one supplier of still soft drinks and the number two supplier of carbonates.

iD is a multi-award winning specialist experiential and in-store marketing agency established in 1993. It delivers large scale sampling campaigns, road shows, and immersive brand experience campaigns for clients including Britvic, PepsiCo, Unilever and Co-op. iD also provides teams of highly trained expert demonstrators in retailers throughout the UK for clients including; Nespresso, Microsoft, Revlon, Elizabeth Arden and Sage Appliances.

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Ethical tea brand Clipper has launched a new nationwide initiative, the Clipper Tea Shop Awards, to champion both the wide variety of tea shops and the great experiences that those in the out-of-home market deliver to customers and has brought in Kirstie Allsopp, self-confessed tea lover and TV personality, as a judge.

Clipper, the Fairtrade and organic tea brand owned by Wessanen UK, is inviting any relevant food service outlet that serves Clipper Teas to submit an entry via a dedicated area on the Clipper website from now until August 11 2017.

There are six different categories to enter: Traditional Tea Shop, Quirkiest Tea Shop, Contemporary Tea Shop, Cosiest Tea Shop, Coastal Tea Shop and the Tea Shop that provides the Best Afternoon Tea.

Clipper will pick the top six entries – one from each category – with the help of Kirstie Allsopp. Each shortlisted entry will win a bundle of bespoke Clipper prizes and will then go through to the next stage, which will be a consumer vote.

Once the shortlist has been announced, the awards will be opened to an online public vote in September to decide which tea shop will ultimately be crowned the Clipper Best Tea Shop in the UK.

Clipper is investing in dedicated social media and consumer PR activity, amplified through its relationship with Kirstie, to raise awareness amongst consumers and encourage more votes. Voting consumers will also have the chance to win afternoon tea at the winning Tea Shop with Kirstie.

The well-known TV presenter will visit the winning establishment and present them with the prestigious Clipper Cup, a cash prize of £2,000 and a range of Clipper products.

Kirstie Allsopp says: “I’ve been a Clipper fan ever since the brand launched and I am honoured to be part of this competition. Tea Shops are an old and exquisite tradition here in the UK and I am excited to see where the awards will finally take me for an amazing cup of tea. I usually take mine with a dash of milk and no sugar.”

Adele Ward, Clipper Teas brand controller at Wessanen UK, adds: “The UK has some of best and most unique tea shops in the world. From the traditional to the quirky, we want to celebrate our nation’s finest tea shops and reward those who work so hard to provide a relaxing and enjoyable space to savour a cup of Clipper tea.”

All the top-rated tea shops which enter will also be included in the definitive Clipper Tea Guide which will celebrate the UK’s best cups of Clipper.

Tea shops can submit an entry via an online entry form, available at www.clipper-teas.com/tea-shop-awards/

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Clipper, the Fairtrade and organic tea brand owned by Wessanen UK, has launched the second phase of its Flavour that Sings campaign with an experiential event focusing on the superior taste of its everyday tea.

The launch event, which took place on May 23, included a unique tea tasting and a live performance from Clipper’s dedicated Flavour That Sings band, The Clipperettes.

Led by Clipper’s own tea tasters, master blender Dan and head of buying James and acclaimed flavour scientist Dr Rachel Edwards-Stuart, guests gathered in the Clipper tea tasting lounge for a fun and informative tea-tasting session to uncover the secret behind the superior taste of Clipper’s everyday tea range.

Consumers were given the opportunity to win tickets to the event through an engaging competition on Clipper’s Twitter, Facebook and Instagram channels and joined key influencers, bloggers and media at the exclusive event in London.

The Clipperettes will be central to the Flavour That Sings activity this year. A three-piece female-vocal band formed by Clipper’s creative agency Aesop, they will be putting their own distinctive spin on some pop classics which will be shared across the brand’s social media channels.

The launch of a Flavour That Sings video coincides with a high-impact consumer competition on social for fans to win a live performance from The Clipperettes, either at their home or place of work. Offering a unique brand experience, the band will arrive complete with afternoon tea to enjoy while watching the performance.

The Flavour that Sings summer activity will conclude with an on-the-ground consumer sampling activity, taking 250,000 samples of Clipper’s Organic Everyday Tea to busy commuter areas around London, accompanied by The Clipperettes.

Adele Ward, Clipper Teas Brand Controller at Wessanen UK, says: “At Clipper we make it our mission to make the greatest-tasting tea. We source the best tea leaves from the world’s finest tea gardens across East Africa, India and Sri Lanka and work hard to perfect a beautifully balanced blend; creating a high-quality tea that delivers a fanfare of flavour. We never add anything artificial to any of our products – we don’t even bleach our tea bags. We like to let the flavour sing for itself.”

Ward adds: “Our Flavour that Sings campaign is aimed at winning us new fans by communicating the delicious taste of our everyday black tea. This has carried through from our initial outdoor advertising creative to the experiential activity we have planned with The Clipperettes over the summer. We want consumers to feel immersed and join in the melody. It’s all about enjoyment, and it reflects our brand personality: natural, bright and full flavour.”

The campaign began in January 2017 with a large-scale outdoor advertising activity which represented Clipper’s biggest-ever advertising drive. Bright and colourful, the eye-catching artwork targeted tea-drinkers across London and the South East, reaching 60% of the target audience (women aged 25-55).

Reflecting the award-winning tea producer’s commitment to natural, authentic values, the Flavour That Sings advert featured a three-dimensional collage of charming hand-crafted paper gramophones, tea cups and flowers objects displayed in a kaleidoscopic effect by Dutch artist Noa Verhofstad.

Clipper’s organic everyday tea is the brand’s biggest-selling product and is growing at 12% year-on-year (according to IRI).

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PG tips is the official Red Nose Day partner for the 2017 charity fundraising initiative, organised by charity Comic Relief.

The brand has launched a #1MillionLaughs campaign to get the public sharing jokes across social media using the hashtag, and has committed to donating £300,000 to this year’s Red Nose Day, which takes place on 24th March 2017. It will be making a donation for every promotional pack sold, plus encouraging PG tips fans to give more.

The #1MillionLaughs campaign will be supported by out-of-home activity and social media support, including sponsored posts on Facebook and Twitter, a new Snapchat filter and a ChatBot.

PG tips has also launched limited edition packs featuring jokes inside to inspire consumers to take part.

The PG tips ChatBot is an online tool which will allow consumers to message the PG tips Monkey brand character directly via @MostFamousMonkey on Facebook Messenger and get jokes back. The ChatBot will also encourage users to donate via the app or ask questions about the charity and what the money is used for.

Fiachra Moloney, PG tips marketing manager at Unilever UK and Ireland, says: “We are thrilled to be supporting Comic Relief through our #1MillionLaughs campaign. We know that UK consumers are passionate about getting behind Red Nose Day and this activity is designed to do just that in a fun and engaging way. The unique ChatBot will give fans the chance to get their own daily dose of Red Nose Day as they receive jokes from Monkey himself.”

Monkey, the brand character who fronts PG Tips’ advertising and marketing, is actually owned by Comic Relief and used by PG Tips under license. Comic Relief has the rights to Monkey as the result of a legal settlement over ownership of the character between the receivers of ITV Digital, the digital pay TV channel which shut in March 2002.

Monkey was created by advertising agency Mother and made by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop (responsible for The Muppets) for ITV Digital’s advertising campaign, which also featured his partner Al (still played today by comedian Johnny Vegas).

Monkey was one of the channel’s few valuable assets, and became the subject of a year-long legal battle which was ended in February 2003 when both parties (Mother and the receivers) agreed to sign over rights to Comic Relief. The character then made a couple of appearances on TV and was the lead character in an as yet un-aired BBC variety show before being reunited with Johnny Vegas in a TV ad for PG Tips in 2007.

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Viennese family-owned coffee company Julius Meinl is celebrating this year’s World Poetry Day on March 21^st with its fourth annual ‘Pay With A Poem’ initiative. Popular London establishments such as St James’ Theatre, Beaufort House Members Club, Manna Dew and The Pearson Room are confirmed to join the popular campaign.

Participating partner locations worldwide will offer consumers the chance to pay for a hot beverage with a handwritten poem. For 2017, the brand hopes to surpass the almost 100,000 people who put pen to paper during last year’s campaign.

Already, Julius Meinl-supplied cafés in 34 countries are on board, with the Netherlands and Singapore set to take part for the first time.

Speaking ahead of the launch, Julius Meinl’s CEO, Marcel Löffler added: “Pay With A Poem continues to grow year-on-year and so too does our commitment to poetry. It’s motivating to see so many of our partners in cafés, restaurants and hotels getting involved and experiencing the positive benefits of this initiative.”

Participating locations will be supported by a global integrated marketing campaign including dedicated digital, social, PR and experiential efforts. To drive maximum consumer impact, the brand has also developed an app featuring all participating locations. Registered partners will also receive flyers, door stickers and posters to announce the campaign.

The offer is being promoted on Julius Meinl’s Facebook page, and consumers are being encouraged to follow the initiative on social media via the hashtags #PayWithAPoem and #PoetryForChange.

Julius Meinl, established in 1862, is a fifth generation Austrian family company and positions itself as the global ambassador of Vienna’s coffee house culture for more than 150 years. It supplies restaurants and business customers in more than 70 countries and has 700 employees worldwide with total sales of €160million. Julius Meinl ranks among the top three premium coffee brands in over 40 countries and the company is the market leader in supplying hotels, restaurants and cafes in Austria, Central and Eastern Europe, the Adriatic coutries, Russia and Dubai.

World Poetry Day  was established by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 1999. The purpose of the day is to promote the reading, writing, publishing and teaching of poetry throughout the world and, as UNESCO says, to “give fresh recognition and impetus to national, regional and international poetry movements.”

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On March 8th 2017, International Women’s Day, Rotarians across Britain and Ireland will host simultaneous IWD Purple4Polio Tea Parties to raise money for the campaign to rid the world of polio once and for all.

The tea parties will all begin at the quintessentially British tea-time of 4pm.

The Purple4Polio campaign dates back to 1985 and an ambitious promise Rotarians made to the mothers of the world that polio would be eradicated and their children would no longer suffer from the life threatening and crippling disease. That promise is on the brink of being fulfilled, with just 37 polio cases in three countries in 2016. There are real hopes that 2017 will see the last case of polio worldwide.

The Rotary polio campaign resonates with the International Women’s Day 2017 objectives ‘Be Bold For Change’. The IWD Purple4Polio Tea Parties will be kicked off with a media launch at the Rotary London headquarters in Regent’s Park. It will be opened by TV Presenter Konnie Huq with celebrity guest speakers including Jane Garvey of BBC Radio 4’s ‘Woman’s Hour’ and Purple4Polio Ambassador and broadcaster, Julia Roberts.

To support the tea parties and Rotary’s campaign to end polio forever, both Tiptree Jam and Typhoo Tea have donated free product.

Wilkin & Sons Ltd. (Tiptree Jam) has given 52,000 specially branded jars of plum and greengage Purple4Polio jam to Rotarians across Britain and Ireland. They will be encouraged to use the jam to raise awareness of the Purple4Polio campaign and to fill the empty jars with coins. The aim is to raise up to £1 million; with matching funding through Rotary, this £1 million will become £3 million.
Typhoo Tea, the second largest tea manufacturer in the UK is organising a tea-tasting at the launch, and donating tea and branded disposable mugs.

Somnath Saha, CEO, of Typhoo Tea, says: “Uniting communities to help eradicate polio is essential and we’re proud to be a part of helping achieve this. Working closely with Purple4Polio nationwide, we’re hoping our charitable tea parties will bring people together to cross the finishing line and end polio now.”

Polio eradication has become a personal mission for Eve Conway, the President of Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland. She has recently returned from India where she joined British Rotarians on the frontline in the fight against the disease. India was declared polio free in 2014 but there are still vital ongoing national immunisation campaigns giving polio drops to every single child under five years old in order to keep the country free of the disease.

Outside London, there are plans for Rotary Districts and Clubs to host their own Purple4Polio tea parties with local celebrities.

Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland is a volunteer organisation whose 50,000 members use their skills and time to improve the lives of others both locally and globally, while building friendships and having fun in the process. There are nearly 1,800 Rotary clubs across Great Britain and Ireland.

Rotary International was founded in 1905 in Chicago and is now the world’s largest international service organisation with over 1.25 million professional men and women as members. There are 34,000 clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas.

Rotary’s partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative – the World Health Organisation, Unicef, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – are all confident that 2017 could see the last case of polio. If three years pass with not a single new case anywhere, then the whole world will be declared polio-free.

Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland’s campaign is called Purple4Polio as purple is the colour of the dye put on the little finger of millions of children during mass immunisation campaigns.
Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland will be posting on the day about the events via twitter.com/RotaryGBI using #IWD2017 and #Purple4Polio, also on facebook.com/RotaryinGBI.

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