Incentive Today articles from April 2005

Incentive Today archives from April 2005

Make awards work for you and your company.(ISP Promotional Marketing Awards)(MCCA Best Awards)(PROMOTA awards)(Brief Article)(Editorial)
April 1, 2005... The awards season is upon us. Last month, you may have been at the MCCA Best Awards, the PROMOTA awards or, of course, Incentive Today's own Motivation Awards, and next month sees the ISP Promotional Marketing Awards. There are now even...

More scrutiny will restore confidence of the cynical consumer.(Letter of the month)(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2005... When I tell people what I do for a living, the initial response is nearly always the same: "Nobody ever really wins any of those prizes do they?" It is a response that I am getting heartily sick of. The former is a widely held perception...

Phones are for phoning so give us some peace.(Letter of the month)(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2005... I was interested in your editorial regarding the targeting of consumers via their mobile phones (Incentive Today, February 2005). I fall into a rather unique class of mobile phone user in as much as I use it as a business tool to make and...

SP Partnerships.(in conjunction with Whitbread Restaurants and GMTV promoting childrens television show Toonattik)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... SP Partnerships has secured a tie-up between GMTV and Whitbread's Beefeater restaurants to promote the TV station's new children's weekend TV brand, Toonattik. Different characters from programmes within the Toonattik schedule appear on new...

Gillette.
April 1, 2005... Gillette is running a competition for its starter shaving packs for teenage girls, Venus Divine Girl2Goddess, which is launched this month. It offers the prize of a chance to "live like a goddess" through a bedroom makeover, supported by MTV...

Bd-ntwk/Scotland.
April 1, 2005... Bd-ntwk/Scotland has been appointed to spearhead the global below-the-line account for The Famous Grouse, owned by the Edrington Group. The agency will be responsible for a number of projects this year, including the brand's evolving identity,...

Thomas Cook.
April 1, 2005... Thomas Cook has made its vouchers available for buying online for the first time. Business and consumers can order vouchers to the value of 250 [pounds sterling] while corporate customers looking for a business incentive can submit their...

Billington Cartmell.
April 1, 2005... Billington Cartmell is to support the launch of Heinz's new range of spicy canned beans, Mean Beanz, with trade, promotional and sampling activity later this year. The agency also named and helped position the range.

PepsiCo.
April 1, 2005... PepsiCo is kicking off a 5m [pounds sterling] marketing campaign for its new snack brand, Nobby's, with "heavy-weight" sampling activity. Aimed mainly at men aged 17 to 34, it will take place at key events such as the Carling Cup final in...

Lloyds TSB.
April 1, 2005... Lloyds TSB has confirmed it is reviewing its Create Services subsidiary, which provides credit card products and services, such as the Create Card, Texaco Card and More Than card. However, it said the Goldfish card and its loyalty programme...

Cognito Integrated Marketing.
April 1, 2005... Cognito Integrated Marketing has been appointed by Nivea to work across a number of product ranges including sun, deoderant and men's. They will work on multi-disciplined campaigns incorporating experiential, direct marketing and promotional...

European crackdown on unfair promotions.(Unfair Commercial Practices Directive)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... A new European directive is set to be formally adopted, paving e way for a crackdown in the UK on unfair practices in promotional marketing. Supported by the UK government, it bans 28 different activities, including many kinds of marketing...

BPMA chair quits to launch new incentives show.(News)
April 1, 2005... Ian Allchild has quit as chairman of the British Promotional Merchandise Association (BPMA) because he is planning to launch a new incentive show at London's Barbican Centre next March. He has teamed up in a joint venture with Simon Tilley,...

Triumph reveals lingerie offer.(News)
April 1, 2005... Customers are being offered free return flights to European destinations when they buy selected items of Triumph International lingerie and swimwear. The promotion, which is running in over 650 stores in the UK and Ireland and on the...

CD in tune with restaurant brand.(News)
April 1, 2005... Restaurant chain Frankie & Benny's is strengthening its brand identity with the launch of a CD of classic tracks of the 1950s and 1960s. EMI Business Development has created the fifth volume of the Frankie & Benny's Classic Years series of...

Book's Golden Ticket promotion made real.(News)
April 1, 2005... Nestle Rowntree is to turn the most famous sales promotion from the world of fiction into a reality to mark the release of summer movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. As official partner of the Warner Bros film, it is launching three...

TV magician fronts Royal Mail stamp launch.(Royal Mail Group PLC. promotional campaign developed by Billington Cartmell )(TV magician Stephen Mulhern endorsements)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Royal Mail has conjured up a promotion involving TV magician Stephen Mulhern to support the launch of stamps to celebrate the centenary of the Magic Circle. Marketing communications agency Billington Cartmell has developed an integrated...

Rubbish incentive proves a hit with bank.(News)
April 1, 2005... An unusual new voucher redeemable for hiring rubbish skips has been picked up as a perfect incentive for home movers. Sales promotion specialist AIM Solutions has secured exclusive rights to market the vouchers on behalf of the UK's only...

Firebrand cooks up merger with rival.(Business and Incentive Gifts)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Firebrand has doubled in size after taking over competitor Business and Incentive Gifts (BIG), making it the sixth biggest promotional merchandise supplier in the market. Formed only two-and-a-half years ago by Andrew Bourne, the business...

Dairycrest.
April 1, 2005... Dairycrest is running a cause-related marketing campaign on packs of Cathedral City cheese to raise cash for the Leukaemia Research Fund. Created by Haygarth, it asks customers to send in cheese recipes with the pledge that it will then donate...

Liquorice.
April 1, 2005... Liquorice won two awards at the Sales, Marketing and Retail Training awards for its communications programme to raise awareness of McNeil's drug, Zocor Heart-Pro, among pharmacists, GPs and nurses.

Odeon.(Odeon Cinemas offering cinema pass to promote new website of Lastminute.com called Stopslouching.com)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Odeon is offering a chance to win a six-month cinema pass to support the launch of Stopslouching.com, a new microsite hosted by online travel and leisure retailer Lastminute.com. The website provides a one-stop shop for information on film...

Bacardi Brown-Forman.
April 1, 2005... Bacardi Brown-Forman has hired direct marketing agency Meteorite to develop trade marketing activity for Bombay Sapphire gin. The agency will develop a rewards-based strategy to strengthen the brand's relationship with retail outlets.

Infinite Ideas.(marketing store for publishing industry)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Infinite Ideas has been launched as a "radically new incentive weapon" for putting together bespoke promotions campaigns. It is a database of nearly 2,600 "lifestyle ideas", which can be used to support marketing activities such as tips on...

IPC.
April 1, 2005... IPC has teamed up with London private members' club Momo for a covermount promotion in its monthly interiors magazine, Livingetc. It is giving away a chill-out CD free with the April issue.

Scottish Courage.
April 1, 2005... Scottish Courage is running a promotion for ale brand John Smith's in partnership with betting group Ladbrokes to highlight the brand's sponsorship of the Grand National from April 7 to 9. An on-pack promotion is giving away 280,000 [pounds...

NCH.(National Children's Home raised funds by selling Beanotown Racing pin badges produced by Big Badge Co.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... NCH, the children's charity, is raising cash through 2,300 branches of Barclays and Woolwich across the UK by selling Beanotown Racing pin badges produced under licence from DC Thomson's Beano comics by the Big Badge Company. The activity is...

Anoraks or watchdogs?(ISP Perspective: The latest views from the Institute of Sales Promotion)(Brief Article)(Column)
April 1, 2005... I have recently attended two regional gatherings of compers. There are several thousand compers in the UK who make a hobby of entering prize draws and competitions and meet regularly in groups all over the UK to enjoy their shared interests...

Prize suppliers guarantee everyone's a winner.(Projectlink Motivation)(Felix Group developed Everyone's a Winner )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Projectlink Motivation and a string of high streets retailers are the latest companies to join the list of incentives suppliers behind a new sales promotion mechanic, Everyone's a Winner. They will be providing prizes for supporting...

Marston's brews up fantasy offer.(WDB Brands advertising campaign)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... WDB Brands is launching a 1.5m [pounds sterling]in-pub promotion to support its Marston's Pedigree brand, offering a chance to escape to a "fantasy island". The promotion, which goes live this month, links with the return of the brand's...

Mediator powers up brand search engine.(News)
April 1, 2005... Partnership marketing agency Mediator has invested in a search engine that helps to match over 4,000 different brands through data. The Partnership Engine allows the agency to specify brands' target audiences through demographic,...

SMP and Blue Chip top ISP awards list.(News)
April 1, 2005... The number of entries for the ISP Promotional Marketing Awards were up by 50 per cent this year, with the nominations list headed by a promotion from Gillette and agency SMP. More than 450 entries were received by the Institute of Sales...

Health and beauty offers push cereals.(News)
April 1, 2005... A new token-based promotion is to be launched on-pack for eight Watchers breakfast cereals, offering health and beauty incentives. The campaign, devised and managed by MKM Marketing & Promotions, aims to heighten brand awareness, reward...

Device heralds new order in marketing.(News)
April 1, 2005... New Order has become the first band to be promoted using Hypertag devices that allow people to receive free music clips from shop window displays on to their mobile phones. Warner Bros Records installed units in the windows of HMV stores in...

Unilever takes art sponsorship to staff.(News)
April 1, 2005... Unilever has launched an internal communications campaign targeted at its 12,500 staff to build on its sponsorship of a high-profile series of art at Tate Modern. Creative marketing agency Nous aims to generate interest in the Unilever...

Covermounts target pre-teen readers.(News)
April 1, 2005... Puffin Books used PVC key-rings and stickers as part of a marketing campaign to promote a new book at the preteen market. Sourced by Blue Fish Business Promotions, the premiums were used as covermounts on Indigo Blue, a new book by Cathy...

Events.(News)(Brief Article)(Calendar)
April 1, 2005... April April 10-15 International Performance Improvement Conference Vancouver, Canada Organised by ISPI www.ispi.org April 12 Effective Mobile Marketing seminar London NW1 Organised by DMA Tel: 020...

Checkout incentives win over loyal shoppers.
April 1, 2005... At loyalty card scheme at Somerfield is leading shoppers o spend three times more than non-members despite not being a points-based system. The 700-strong supermarket chain has signed up 3m Saver Card customers in its first year, and now...

Promoters offered a Place in the Sun.(Landround PLC's voucher)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Travel promotions specialist Landround has expanded its portfolio with the launch of a new voucher that offers recipients a free luxury apartment. Called Place in the Sun, it entitles up to four people to seven nights' free accommodation...

Agency to produce ideas outside of brief process.
April 1, 2005... Family marketing agency Logistix has set up a separate division to explore new creative technologies and concepts outside of the standard process of responding to clients' briefs. It aims to provide a constant pipeline of new promotional...

Coca-Cola engages football fans with Win a Player promotion.(News / Promotion of the month)
April 1, 2005... The Incentive today promotion of the month is sponsored by buy and fly! The winners receive 1,000 buy and fly! points--sufficient for two flights to Paris Coca-Cola has launched its biggest-ever UK domestic football promotion offering...

Football club sticks to motivation drive.(News / Motivation)
April 1, 2005... Manchester United Football Club has launched a motivation programme with the core tool of a sticker book containing all 525 of its employees. The stickers, featuring everyone from Sir Alex Ferguson to the Old Trafford cleaners, provide a...

Vouchers win a piece of the action.(News / Motivation)(PizzaExpress Ltd.'s marketing)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... PizzaExpress has driven up levels of customer service across its chain of restaurants through an incentive scheme using High Street Gift Vouchers as a reward. It is linked to quarterly challenges and a mystery shopper programme at the 300...

Hotel group switches from cash to points.(News / Motivation)
April 1, 2005... Hotel management group Centre Island has launched a new reward and recognition scheme to replace monetary bonuses and incentives. It has involved developing a currency that can be used on a national basis to motivate all 650 employees, who...

Unique venues for incentive events.(News / Motivation)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Organisers of motivation programmes are being targeted with a new guide to some of the most historic and quirky venues. Unique Venues of England has been produced by Meet England, the meetings department at tourism marketing body...

Car club targets incentives market.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... A new motoring club has been launched to provide companies with access to a range of high-performance cars that are suitable for rewards in incentive programmes. Club Autopia offers a broad range of "supercars" such as Aston Martin DB89,...

Motivation Awards knocked for six by P&MM.(News / Motivation)
April 1, 2005... Performance improvement agency P&MM picked up six awards at this year's Motivation Awards but narrowly lost out on the top award to retailer Alpha Airports Group. P&MM received trophies for programmes that it developed for Land Rover and...

New voucher offers travel and leisure.(News / Motivation)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... A new leisure and travel voucher has been launched into the motivation sector, offering holiday breaks and experiences in the UK and the rest of Europe. The web-based product, called ActivityBreaks.com, is being offered by Northern...

IVR and web system to manage rewards.(News / Motivation)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... A new service has been developed that allows companies to monitor and reward the performance of staff automatically through the internet and voice-recognition technology. Performance Bonus's system can be used for bespoke incentive...

The Voucher Association.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The Voucher Association (VA) has revealed that the size of the voucher market in the UK grew to a record 1.41bn [pounds sterling] in 2004. This marked a year-on-year increase of 3.7 per cent, with a 3.6 per cent increase in the last three...

Simetri Communications.
April 1, 2005... Simetri Communications, which creates events and communications for motivation, has rebranded with a new logo, website and brochure as part of new drive to target managers who want to motivate their staff. * www.simetri.co.uk

Leisure Vouchers.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Leisure Vouchers has launched 13 added-value deals that it has put together with its redemption partners to make its vouchers go further, which customers can access by registering online. Offers include four-for-two golf games at Marriott...

Compass Event Management.
April 1, 2005... Compass Event Management is offering corporate hospitality opportunities within the Cowes Yacht Haven marina during Skandia Cowes Week in July and August. As official hospitality provider at the annual yachting event, the company has created a...

Congress Centre.
April 1, 2005... Congress Centre in London's West End has expanded with the opening of a separate suite of meeting and training rooms called the Bedford Suite. They include rooms for up to 10, up to 14 and up to 35, with high-tech facilities and a self-service...

The Corporation of London.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The Corporation of London has launched a call for entries for its Dragon Awards, which reward employers that have helped to improve the social, economic and physical conditions of communities in the capital. For the first time, it includes an...

Indago International.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Indago International, the hospitality recruitment specialist, has published a report that highlights that incentives within the hotel industry are often "dated, stodgy and usually ignored". It says HR budgets must be increased to pay for better...

The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to work for Marcoms agency staff among most motivated.(News / Motivation)
April 1, 2005... Motivation and marketing communications agencies have been named as some of the best employers in Britain in a survey that reveals the most motivated workforces. Miles Calcraft Briginshaw Dully, St Luke's Communications, Brahm, the JJ...

Rewards and recognition.(News / Motivation)(incentive schemes)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Employee of the month schemes, luxury gifts, travel and awards dinners are much-used motivation tools at many top employers, according to the Sunday Times survey. Financial services group Hfs Group, which ranked seventh, runs a "dreambank"...

P&MM.(News / Motivation)(Employee incentives)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Performance improvement agency P&MM, which was named one of Britain's best small companies to work for, continues to develop new ways of rewarding its staff. In January, it launched a staff recognition scheme, Up For It!, which follows the...

Quality of life.(News / Motivation)(Nationwide's employee incentives)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Nationwide, which was named the best big company to work for, provides "lifestyle haven" rooms at its bases in Northampton and Swindon where staff can enjoy complementary therapies at discounted rates. Other initiatives aimed at improving...

Employee volunteering.(News / Motivation)
April 1, 2005... Many of the Sunday Times's top employers find that staff are more motivated and happy if they can do voluntary work. Notable examples include: * About 65 per cent of Nationwide's 15,679 employees volunteer in the community. Last year, more...

Evans above: as the Grass Roots Group celebrates 25 years in business, its founder and chairman David Evans talks to Mark Ludmon.(People)
April 1, 2005... David Evans sounds rather paternal when he talks about the Grass Roots Group, the agency he set up a quarter of a century ago this month. "Running a business is nothing but continuous concerns, like raising a child," he says. "With Grass Roots,...

The group of companies that includes McGarvey Russell, McGarvey Russell Marketing, IBR and lLLICO Events has a new financial director, Richard Boothroyd.(Moves)
April 1, 2005... The group of companies that includes McGarvey Russell, McGarvey Russell Marketing, IBR and ILLICO Events has a new financial director, Richard Boothroyd. With 22 years' commercial experience, he has worked for Thomas Hannah & Associates,...

Revive.(Moves)
April 1, 2005... P&MM has brought in Clair Memer, a qualified beauty therapist, as business development executive for Revive vouchers. She was most recently Aveda account manager at department store group House of Fraser. It has also appointed Emma Buckley as...

i21.(Moves)
April 1, 2005... Live marketing agency i2i has appointed Tim Medcalf to its board as commercial director to help drive the agency's growth and reputation. Most recently, he was commercial director of experiential marketing agency RPM, where clients included...

Logistix.(Moves)
April 1, 2005... Katherine Tupper has joined family marketing agency Logistix as an account director where she will focus primarily on its Burton's Foods account. She was previously an account director at Dialogue Marketing and, prior to that, at Mercier Gray.

Cottrills.(Moves)
April 1, 2005... Servico awards specialist Cottrills has appointed Alex Speed, pictured, as national sales manager to its newly formed incentive and motivation division. She was previously national account manager at Capital Incentives & Motivation. At the same...

Grass Roots Group.(Moves)
April 1, 2005... The Grass Roots Group has appointed Sonia Chana as senior account director to look after clients in retail and pharmaceuticals. She was formerly at Hilton where she managed the hotel group's global loyalty programme, Hilton Honours, for the UK...

Electric Incentive Company (EIC).(Moves)
April 1, 2005... The Electric Incentive Company (EIC) has brought in Phil Weston as business development manager. Weston, a former board director of the British Promotional Merchandise Association, was previously at handling specialist Diss Promotional...

iD.(Moves)
April 1, 2005... Live brand experience agency iD has made two senior promotions, making Jennifer Newton business development director and Emma Ede associate director of the collective, its promotional staffing division. Deborah Broadbent has joined as financial...

Experience preferred: as consumers become more resistant to the hard sell, brands are turning to experiences that engage people through all their senses.(Promotions / Experiential marketing)
April 1, 2005... Last month saw the inaugural meeting of the new Live Brand Experience Association (LBEA). The trade body as set up out of "frustration" at experiential marketing not having enough profile within the marketing mix, says Sharon Richey, managing...

Interactive TV means integrated promotions: Ashley Carpenter, director of specialist TV integration agency TV-SP, looks at the new opportunities that digital TV provides for promoters.(Opinion)
April 1, 2005... Recent directives from the Office of Communications (Ofcom) have created huge changes in broadcasting and equally sizeable opportunities for the more adventurous promotional marketer. TV-SP was formed to exploit these new opportunities for...

Paper view: despite the growth of plastic gift cards, paper vouchers continue to thrive. Glynn Davis looks at how high-tech innovation is ensuring they remain attractive for promotions and motivation.(Product Focus / Vouchers)
April 1, 2005... Even though they're not made of plastic, paper vouchers can still be electronic. Gift cards have shown the potential of high-tech solutions, but now there is also sophisticated electronic infrastructure behind many of Britain's vouchers. They...

In the family way: new tax breaks this month mean that childcare will be more affordable for employees. Mark Ludmon looks at how childcare vouchers fit in with motivation.(Product Focus / Vouchers)
April 1, 2005... According to the CBI, nearly 11bn [pounds sterling] a year is lost due to absenteeism, of which a "significant proportion" is thought to be caused by difficulties with childcare. With the rise in single-parent households, these problems can...

In the shade.(Product Showcase: Incentive Today's round-up of the latest products for incentives, promotions and motivation)
April 1, 2005... Umbrella design has changed little since traveller Jonas Hanway brought one back from Persia in the 18th century and made it popular in the West. Freestone Innovations used the PROMOTA show in Birmingham NEC last month to unveil the new...

Musical box.(Product Showcase: Incentive Today's round-up of the latest products for incentives, promotions and motivation)
April 1, 2005... The battle of the MP3 and iPod is hotting up with the launch of the new Sony NW E99 Portable MP3 player, available from the Electric Incentive Company. The equivalent of up to 46 CDs can be transferred onto the internal memory thanks to the...

Toast master.(Product Showcase: Incentive Today's round-up of the latest products for incentives, promotions and motivation)
April 1, 2005... A bottle opener that doubles as a drinking game is one of the new products featuring in the spring 2005 collection of corporate and promotional gifts from Special EFX. Named Cheers, the opener has a rotating dial revealing 16 countries on one...

Moving image.(Product Showcase: Incentive Today's round-up of the latest products for incentives, promotions and motivation)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... One of the newest arrivals in the digital camera market is the Contax i4R by Kyocera, which has apparently become an accessory for the likes of Christina Aguilera. Measuring just 3.75cm by 9.3cm, it features a Carl Zeiss Tessar T lens with a...

Flag of tricks.(Product Showcase: Incentive Today's round-up of the latest products for incentives, promotions and motivation)
April 1, 2005... The new Flag pen is designed so that it provides over 500 per cent more space for printing branding, images or messages than an ordinary pen. Supplied by Squeezyball Merchandising, it is printable on both sides in four colours, with special...

Resting place.(Product Showcase: Incentive Today's round-up of the latest products for incentives, promotions and motivation)
April 1, 2005... Clear Prospects, the company behind the innovative Jet Rest travel pillow, has come up with a smaller version for children aged three and upwards. The original product, which featured at last year's Incentive World and National Incentive Show,...

Calendar boys.(Product Showcase: Incentive Today's round-up of the latest products for incentives, promotions and motivation)
April 1, 2005... Promotional and business calendars are big business, and Bemrose has repeatedly shown its primary position by winning a string of awards. Its latest achievement is to pick up trophies in the National Business Calendar Awards, now in their 38th...

Brushwork.(Product Showcase: Incentive Today's round-up of the latest products for incentives, promotions and motivation)
April 1, 2005... A new desktop accessory, the Computer Brushman, has been launched in the promotional market to help tackle the enduring problem of crumb-filled keyboards. It can be placed on top of a computer monitor until needed, faithfully displaying a logo...

Elvis is in the house.(Diary)
April 1, 2005... When an email lands in your in-Pox with an attachment labelled "Scott Knox and Elvis", you cant help being intrigued. Has Scott, managing director of the Marketing Communication Consultants Association, found the king of rock and roll alive and...

A blooming marvellous promotion.(Diary)
April 1, 2005... Offices around the country have been given a bit of floral colour this year without Charlie Dimmock having to set a foot through the door. Promotional marketing agency Dynamo came up with the simple but engaging idea of sending all their...