Feature: "Seeding" viral
By its ease of use, rapid dissemination and low cost, email has always been a powerful marketing tool and with the potential for unlimited forwarding, its viral nature has long been apparent.
Feature: Brand Sainsbury: outlook not as rosy as Red Nose Day
Red Nose Day is finally upon us, and the tell-tale signs are all there: thousands of people are volunteering their time in support; celebrities are reciting their speeches, and schoolchildren are salivitating at the prospect of not having to conform to the usual school uniform strictures for one day of the year.
Feature: Experiencing higher redemptions
As experiential marketing continues to make news as a marketing discipline, people finally seemed to have moved on from the debate over what it actually is, and instead are thinking about how it can work for them. One question that does still arise is how ROI can be monitored, and most good experiential agencies will apply a bespoke facility to each individual campaign.
Feature: Red Nose Day
Sales promotions have come on leaps and bounds in recent years with the dawning of some truly amazing technology. But it’s nice to see that some of the good old fashioned promotions are still used by good old fashioned Red Nose Day. Free gifts and bonkers promotions (Walkears, anyone?) are rife at his time of year and it’s great to have an excuse to be enormously silly in the name of charidee.
Feature: Thinking Celebrity? Think Twice!
Not a minute too soon for a nation obsessed with its fourteen-stone eight-year-olds (or is that just the media?), Ofcom has made its pronouncement on HFSS products – those high in fat, salt or sugar. Ostensibly aimed at tv advertising, stringent new rules will impinge upon all areas of marketing communications. Sales promotion is no exception.
Feature: The EU backs CO2 cuts but, still has not come up with the global grand plan!
EU member states have made a big decision by calling for a deal by the developed world to cut 1990 levels of CO2 emissions by 30 percent by 2020. If such an international deal fails, then the EU’s own emissions should be cut by 20 percent, they have said.
Feature: Variety Show
As we’ve reported earlier in this issue, some of the traditional techniques in sales promotion remain as effective as they did ten years ago and this months Comic Relief promotions clearly illustrate this. However, if you want to pull somebody away from their desk for the day to visit an exhibition, the likely hood is that you’re going to have to offer more than a selection of products that will lend themselves well to sticking your logo on.
Feature: And the nominees are…
The ISP 2007 Award nominations have just been announced. Matt Sullivan was invited for the first time to be a panel judge and was surprised at the scrutiny each entry received.
Feature: Interactive Gift Cards - The physical to the digital
The US gift card market is saturated. Newcomers are joining on a regular basis and market leaders have to evolve their offering constantly to ensure that they stay ahead of the game. Visit any major retailer in the US and the average consumer will be bombarded with countless offers trying to sell them gift cards for everything from music to fast food.
Feature: Choice of redemption
Five years ago, work had just begun on the building of the new Wembley and the bid to hold the 2012 Olympics was just a dream. The news from America was of a plastic revolution that would change the shape of the UK Gift Voucher market forever.
Feature: Choice is the word
Many incentive agencies now produce their own prepaid or gift card, as well as provide multi-choice voucher programmes. These have become extremely popular with customers as they offer choice, variety and flexibility and have fast become an essential tool for the incentive and motivation industry.
Feature: VAT on Vouchers - A European Debate
The UK legalisation for VAT on vouchers was re-written in April 2003 and at the time had major implications throughout the incentive and marketing industry, as well as for voucher providers and issuers. A number of concerns were raised by businesses after the legislation was passed. One of the main issues cited was the ambiguity over how VAT would be charged on vouchers.
Feature: Why a gift card mall isn’t just for Christmas?
Gift card malls, gift card shops and centres were launched into British retail shops just before the Christmas stampede. While a number of leading suppliers and issuers have been offering gift cards for several years, this was the first time that retailers in the UK started to sell multiple brands of gift cards in-store.
Feature: Paper, e-vouchers and plastic – Sibling rivalry or complementary partners?
With chip and pin technology now fully operational and the introduction of gift card malls offering a selection of suppliers’ cards in one place, it may seem that the time is now ripe for the voucher and gift card industry to embrace this transition fully. However, the debate remains open as to whether there is still a place on the market for paper vouchers and whether the relationship between all three is one of ‘sibling rivalry’ or of ‘complementary partners’?
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