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Scotty Brand launches new outdoor campaign in Scotland

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0600

Scotty Brand is launching an outdoor campaign for its range of Scottish grown produce from 14^th November.

Scotty Brand will deliver the best tasting produce, fresh from Scotland and the 48 and 96 sheet campaign has been proximity bought to support key listings. Scotty Brand produce is currently stocked in Scottish Asda, Tesco and Co-op stores.

The campaign represents Billington Cartmell’s first work for the brand, since winning the Scotty Brand integrated marketing role in August.

Beri Cheetham, Executive Creative Director, said: “Our vision was to create an iconic campaign that does true justice to Scotty Brand’s provenance, heritage and quality. We think the dramatic contrast between epic landscapes and intriguing produce shots make for engaging outdoor advertising.”

To support the campaign, Billington Cartmell created the new brand website, www.scottybrand.com. Shoppers can find out what makes the range so special, where to buy Scotty Brand food, how to cook and in-depth video reportage from the actual award-winning Scottish farmers who grow Scotty Brand crops.

Scotty Brand Marketing Manager, Michael Jarvis, said: “We wanted to demonstrate the values at the heart of Scotty brand. That is to provide excellent quality, healthy food, making the most of pure Scottish rainwater and the rich soil of the country. With the use of high-tech impactful photography, we’re able to bring the fertile lushness of the Scottish countryside right in front of the consumer.”

Mobilise Now

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 10:26:16 -0600

Consumer marketing B2B/B2P marketing Retail marketing

With a ‘perfect storm’ of improvements in devices, data networks and app development, 2011 has all the makings of a tipping point for mobile as the major marketing opportunity. Our dedicated Innovations Team outlines the areas to watch in mobile, regards Consumer, B2B and Retail sectors, and also talks about the new rules of engagement for continuously connected consumers and their always ‘onlives’.

“The future’s here, it’s just not widely distributed yet.”

This quote from noted cyber-thinker William Gibson perfectly defines the mobile channel right now – because while many of the significant innovations that will define future mobile marketing opportunities exist now, to date conditions haven’t been right for them to gain the level of take-up they deserve. With a ‘perfect storm’ of improvements in mobile devices (including tablet PCs), data networks and app development, 2011 has all the makings of a tipping point for mobile as the major marketing opportunity. In this piece, we the Innovations Team will outline our thoughts on the mobile marketing mindset and mobile facets to consider in key sectors, such as Consumer, B2B and Retail.

Mobilised Thinking – New Rules of Engagement for Always ‘Onlives’

Any device that can deliver text, audio and video, and which is rarely out of arm’s reach for consumers 24/7, is naturally something marketers will be keen to exploit. However, we think traditional ‘exploitative’ thinking is antithetical to marketers who are going to win in mobile moving forward. The reason for this is twofold. Firstly, the mobile channel is a uniquely private one and consumers will be more reluctant to tolerate traditional ‘push’ modes of advertising. Secondly, with the increased ability to get just what they want, when and where they want it, mobile will further encourage a mindset that will be increasingly impatient with a disruptive approach and respond more to comms they see as simple and complementary – as Helge Tennø eloquently puts it in his Post Digital Marketing presentation:

“As the air around our citizens thickens with unwanted messages and interruptions, the goal should not be to add to the unwantedness, but to create deliberate and appreciated value.

“Because people won’t stop communicating, but will get better and better at filtering, so it’s the valuable stuff that will spread between people, igniting conversations between participants who trust each other and the content the other party is recommending.”

So, we feel that the winning mobile mindset is one that evolves beyond traditional ‘silo thinking’ of offline versus online, and considers consumers as having always ‘onlives’. In this context, it is not our job to interrupt them but instead, through the creation of content, apps or services, to help them enjoy the ride. (Ensuring, as we do, never to fall foul of the 3Ps of mobile: 1. Respect and protect consumer Privacy; 2. Check we always have their Permission to continue the conversation; and 3. Use every interaction appropriately to understand more about their Preferences – so we can further tailor activity to complement their lives in the simplest, most accessible way.)

Mobilised Thinking – New Rules of Engagement for Consumer Marketing

In consumer marketing, the ongoing pressures of the economic situation are likely to see consumers increasingly behaving in audit mode. In the context of continuous connectivity, this means that they will rapidly scrutinise what value is being offered to them and then buy or else move on. Brands that hide their value in creative cleverness, remote chances to win or complicated mechanics are likely to see diminishing returns. Increasingly, consumers will expect brands to add value to their lives – on their terms…

Value on hand 24/7

With the success of mobile services such as Vouchercloud and Groupon, consumers are increasingly accustomed to the idea of having discounts or offers on hand via SMS or apps. Moving forward, brands will have to evolve their consumer offering in terms of giving consumers access to added-value offers in a format that gives them more of what they want, when and where they want it (with increased availability of location-based technology). Brands such as Tesco that account for major consumer spending and are moving rapidly to offer simple m-commerce functionality (via barcode scanning linked to an online shopping list) are positioning themselves to dominate.

Virtual content is king – across an expanding kingdom

Microsoft’s simple strategy moving forward is to focus on three-screen living – these being mobile, PCs (increasingly tablets, exploding in 2011) and connected TVs. As this vision continues to take shape over the next two to three years, content that can be seamlessly shared across key device touchpoints will become increasingly important. The implication for brands is that they need to make sure they not only consider chameleonic content that can switch effortlessly between channels, but also that they shift focus from physical rewards to those with virtual value. For disciplines such as promotional marketing, this could herald a change from thousands of small prizes to everyone gets an app/game/e-currency, or content.

Socialisation of mobile devices

As social functionality continues to be built into mobile devices, we expect marketing to respond in kind with increased consideration as to how brand interactions and added-value offers can be shared with friends. This is likely to herald ongoing campaigns inviting social co-creation; the ability to garner friends’ opinions on when to buy and when not to (in contexts such as store changing rooms). And also rewards that are activated via group-buying – either on collective check-ins via Foursquare this year, or the recently launched Facebook Deals – offers linked to Facebook Places.

Mobilised Thinking – New Rules of Engagement for B2B/B2P Marketing

With communications evolving markedly, the way we work now has changed irrevocably compared with even a few years ago, particularly with increased use of the mobile web. This has major implications in the way B2B organisations approach their communications – provoking a significant rethink on more traditional B2B comms channels. This is supported by two recent surveys, from Forbes and McKinsey & Co., that not only suggest social networks are now a key information source for execs, but also that ‘networked enterprises’ (web 2.0 fluent) enjoy a greater competitive share and higher margins. With more informal channels being used as key information sources by busy business people, there is a perception that a more human tone has emerged in B2B. As a result, many have started to refer to B2B as B2P – ‘Business to Person’ – reflecting the recent paradigm shift in the way the sector is being considered and how mobile and social comms have opened up more constant/personable communication between companies and their customers. As one industry pundit phrased it, “putting a relationship on the relationship”. These are the following areas that we feel are important for B2P marketing moving forward.

Keep the customer content

With the relative ubiquity of smartphones among business people and the ever-growing tablet market, it is no surprise that many are making more use of information they can access on the move. To this end, smart B2P companies will make sure key information is channel-neutral, so that customers can get what they need, when and where they need it. Typical information might include offers, business locations and also podcasts/video content. To this end, companies are also trying not to pull business people into cold, corporate environments, but increasingly using social media to give people what they want, when they want, where they want it.

Cutting through on the move

Recent media reports suggest a distinct decrease in email as the communications vehicle of choice. In 2008, business users were sending 140 a day, whereas now the figure is down to only 84 on average. Increasingly, email is seen as being for formal communication, while instant messaging on handsets such as Blackberry is gradually taking over. Also, group social media messaging will increasingly allow more efficient comms within select groups, versus the traditional all-staff email.

Open up data – open useful dashboards

With the increased fluidity of content that smartphones and tablets encourage, it is no surprise that many companies are looking for platforms that allow information and applications to be re-tasked across different channels (in tech-speak, ‘open APIs’ – Application Programming Interfaces). What we are likely to see developing in 2011 is an increasing use and perceived value in dashboards; business people becoming used to the convenience of infographics versus text-heavy data sources. Smart B2P firms will steal a march by not only sharing expert information, but doing it via formats that help people work smarter, not harder – to take out the information they need.

Mobilised Thinking – New Rules of Engagement for Retail Marketing

Some of the most dynamic changes we will see brought about by mobile devices are in the Retail sector. Which is not surprising, when one considers that in terms of price and promotions, mobile can deliver news at the point of purchase in real-time. Therefore, in its potential to add value to the consumer experience, Retail is pretty unparalleled. Based on a recent study by ForeSee Results, analysing Christmas shopping habits, 32% of respondents said they had used their mobile to access retailer apps and websites, and an additional 32% said they intended to access retailer websites and apps in future (more so than ever before).

Kevin Ertell, VP of Retail Strategy, commented: “It looks like two-thirds of all shoppers in the UK will soon be using their mobile phones for retail purposes, if they aren’t already.”

Other stats of note: purchases made on mobiles were at 8% – quadrupling from 2% the year before; shoppers use their phones for a variety of tasks – 47% to compare pricing, 34% to compare products, 20% to compare specifications and 15% to look at product reviews; consumers were found to have little patience for poor mobile site experiences and, where they have a good cross-channel (mobile site experience), this makes them 31% more likely to buy on and offline as well as to recommend the site and remain brand-loyal.

On the behaviour suggested by these results, mobile is clearly an opportunity worth exploring. Below are some of the areas that we think will continue to be of interest.

SMS-based voucher delivery, a simple success

As ever, simple sells and simple voucher-delivery platforms will continue to be big news for consumers – giving them good value in one of the most accessible ways across the majority of handsets (including non-smartphones).

Check in before you check out

Improvements in data infrastructure and GPS positioning of mobiles will greatly improve the ability to serve location-based offers. At a basic level, this will allow platforms such as Vouchercloud to serve offers to consumers based on locality to purchase, and we will see platforms like Foursquare and Facebook Deals serve offers based on check-ins at certain locations and even at certain times. (In terms of allowing retailers to drive traffic into times or even areas of low demand, this is like Orange Wednesdays with a 21^st-century pulse.) Another area to watch in terms of building on the socialisation of mobile in general is group marketing linked to location. What this means, e.g. for a brand such as Carlsberg, is that consumers check in with X-number of friends and receive ‘the first round on us’.

Visual search and interactivity

Different forms of augmented reality that offer consumers added-value information, or the ability to cross-reference price and product data, will continue to take hold. As seen on the recent Tesco and Waitrose ads, the ability to point your phone camera at a barcode or a QR code and link straight into app or mobile web content will become more commonplace. The next level version of this will move beyond a coded graphic and give consumers information based on a visual database of actual objects – e.g. point your camera at a wine bottle in your kitchen and it will offer you comparative pricing, link to a video from the wine maker on the virtues of the product and tell you the closest shop that sells it – as well as detailing current offers on that specific wine. If you go on to buy it, you might choose to enter it into your virtual cellar

NFC chips

NFC (Near Field Communication) chips are the chips that allow contactless interaction and payment to be taken from Oyster travel cards, as used on the London tube. You just wave the NFC close enough to a sensor and the transaction is complete. The rise of NFC as a game-changer for mobile has been heralded for years, however 2011 could finally start to see a real service emerging, as Samsung has launched the Nexus S android 2.3 phone with an NFC chip built in. With estimates of 70 million NFC-carrying handsets in the market by the end of 2011, this is obviously a major opportunity for retail and, with the icon already agreed for rollout, it is one to take more seriously. For Retail, it will not only make payment effortless, it can also act as a loyalty, credit and ID card combined. Is every consumer going to throw away their wallets next year and take this up? In a word, no. However, this is one of the most major developments of note in mobile yet that will impact Retail. Something such as NFC linked to voice recognition – already possible through next-gen smartphones – will begin to turn the heads of even the most security-conscious consumer in the next two to three years.

We’ve scooped the On-line Award at the ANNA’s

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 09:24:59 -0600

We’re delighted to announce that we have triumphed at the ANNAs (Awards for National Newspaper Advertising).

Creative team, Liam Fenton and Nick Frearson, won the on-line award for their creative work our Peperami World Cup campaign.

“Watch this space for what is hopefully the beginning of several awards for our ground breaking campaign that resulted in the biggest volume sales in Peperami’s history.”Marco Gazzelloni, Group Account Director

Find out more here

We’ve brought Kylie & Lexus together

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:03:05 -0600

The cross-media campaign devised and executed by Billington Cartmell will see the new Lexus model CT 200h and Kylie appear in TV, press and headline tour sponsorship.

Lexus’s new hybrid luxury hatchback, the CT 200h will launch on 11 March. The model is Lexus’ first move into the luxury compact category and will bring Lexus to a new, more mainstream audience. Characterised by cutting-edge hybrid technology, the CT 200h is a perfect match with Kylie’s live tour, with significant audience crossover.

Billington Cartmell’s Head of Music & Entertainment, Thomas said: “Billington Cartmell Music & Entertainment division believes in making brands matter by finding the most appropriate way to tap into, and improve, the audience experience.

This campaign really demonstrates how a cross media campaign can deliver for a brand when natural commonalities exist between the partners, with each half of the equation enhancing the other. In this case the campaign centres on innovation, in the way that the technology-focused target market likes to consume information. We are delighted to have secured Kylie as the face of the CT 200h and are proud to be playing such a big part in her groundbreaking tour.”

The show will be a record-breaking visual and technical spectacular that has cost more than $25 million to develop and which features a specially built bespoke stage for the European leg of the tour.

Billington Cartmell’s campaign also sees Lexus unveiled as the headline sponsor of the UK leg of Kylie Minogue’s forthcoming world tour. The five-month world tour, ‘Aphrodite: Les Folies 2011’, reaches the UK on 25 March, with performances taking place in Cardiff, Manchester, Glasgow and London.

Linking the partnership with the ‘Quiet Revolution’ theme that is launching the CT 200h, Thomas explained how Lexus is “Quietly presenting” the Kylie tour.

Belinda Poole, Lexus Director, said “We could not wish for a better ambassador for Lexus and the new CT200h. Kylie has energy, style and exceptionally popular public profile that will add huge appeal to our new model and our brand, reaching out directly to the new customers we believe will form the core market for CT200h.”

We’ve made history!

Tue, 07 Dec 2010 11:06:14 -0600

The agency celebrates its 20th year with an unprecedented third consecutive title as Marketing magazine’s Agency of the Year.

“Billington Cartmell demonstrated admirable clarity of thought as well as steely consistency of standards across its portfolio,” said the award judges. The judges also applauded the agency’s top-line business growth of 12%, “especially given the fact that it is already a sizeable player operating in a recession-hit market.”

Key work included the Juicy Little Ideas campaign for the GlaxoSmithKline juice drink range Ribena, which aimed to reconnect the ‘leaky bucket’ in its sales – parents who had lapsed from the brand. The campaign focused on occupying children during the summer holidays, a time when many parents are wary of relying on the TV for that purpose. The result was an activity-filled board game and website for families that helped the brand retain an extra 20% of purchasers in the three months after playing.

The FIFA World Cup was a key event in our year with two major campaigns, for Peperami and Carlsberg. The former launched the ‘Fanimal’, a rubber, double-entendre-shouting Peperami ‘Animal’ dressed in an unofficial England football shirt. Its impact was dramatic – 100,000 ‘Fanimals’ were snapped up and Peperami achieved its biggest volume sales to date, up by 117%.

Small budgets have also been used effectively: for the launch of Surf Capsules, the agency used a YouTube campaign to generate 37.3m views – 350% over target.

For the last word, the judges said: “All in all, for demonstrating clear thinking, consistency and a good measure of creativity for both its own business and those of its clients, Billington Cartmell deserves to win.”

Billington Cartmell’s Managing Director, Jason Nicholas, said: “To be named Agency of the Year in our 20th Anniversary and consecutively for the past 3 years is an amazing achievement that makes us very proud. We have built some remarkable client relationships and chalked up some enormously successful campaigns – but we have no intention of getting complacent or standing still. We’d like to say a big thank you to all our clients and employees for their contribution in making this happen.”

For any enquiries, please contact Victoria Nairn, Marketing Manager, on 020 7471 1954/ victoria_nairn@bcl.co.uk

Morrisons ‘Let’s Grow’ takes top honours at Global Green Awards

Thu, 02 Dec 2010 14:33:20 -0600

Billington Cartmell’s ‘Let’s Grow’ schools & community campaign for Morrisons has won a top award at the prestigious 2010 Global Green Awards.

The Best Green Educational Project honour was awarded on Thursday 2 December at a star-studded gala dinner where the guest of honour was world-famous broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough CBE.

The highly-successful ‘Let’s Grow’ campaign, now in its third year, is a national community programme created by Billington Cartmell to inspire children to follow a healthier lifestyle and get them excited about fresh produce, while reflecting Morrisons’ focus on fresh food’.

‘Let’s Grow’ supplies teachers and schools with gardening equipment, as well as teaching resources linked to the National Curriculum, helping children grow healthy produce while learning how to become environmentally responsible with food.

Throughout the campaign, more than five million 3-18 year olds have had access to ‘Let’s Grow’ gardening equipment – and between them, they have planted enough seeds to grow 14 million carrots and enough potatoes to feed 450,000 people!

The Global Green Awards were set up in 2006 to raise awareness of Green issues and boost the role of marketing in influencing and informing consumer behaviour. The Best Green Educational Project category was introduced this year to acknowledge a ‘project that prepares individuals as active and participant world citizens working for their society and the environment’.

The 2010 Awards Evening was held at London’s Natural History Museum, supported by a host of special guests, senior professionals and news media from government and industry. The Awards were co-hosted by Jo Wood, celebrity founder of Jo Wood Organics, and Red or Dead fashion designer Wayne Hemingway MBE, well-known as a champion of environmental issues.

Guests included:

- Sir David Attenborough (who received a special Lifetime Achievement Award)

- Secretary of State for Energy Chris Huhne MP

- Sir Paul Judge, President of the Chartered Institute of Marketing

- Eric Falt, Assistant Director General UNESCO

Billington Cartmell Managing Director Jason Nicholas said: “We are absolutely delighted Let’s Grow has won this hugely prestigious award which acknowledges the enormous success of the initiative. Yet, as the agency which developed the idea and strategy, our real reward has been watching the way the campaign has been embraced and brought to life by children all over the UK over the past three years.”

He added: “Billington Cartmell was founded 20 years ago this month – and it feels highly appropriate to see one of our campaigns win this award in 2010. ‘Let’s Grow’ is not just one of the most significant campaigns in our history, but probably the most important and satisfying work that Billington Cartmell has ever created.”

BCL creates industry first for Impulse campaign

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 10:52:00 -0500

We're extremely proud to have created a UK first for our latest Impulse campaign: an on pack promotion with a Facebook App entry mechanic.

We've brought together Impulse and female fashion brand Lipsy to offer consumers the chance to win a £250 Lipsy shopping spree every day. We've created a "shopping spree" Facebook App on the Impulse Diaries Facebook page where consumers can enter their pack codes for their chance to win and also get a 10% Lipsy discount.

With Facebook competitions proving ever popular with our target audience, it made complete sense to use the existing Impulse Diaries fan page as the digital hub for this activity and the link to purchase means that we're ultimately driving sales as well as brand equity.

We've supported the campaign with press, outdoor and digital media.

See the campaign here

Marco Gazzelloni, Group Account Director, Billington Cartmell

A look at the plans for Billington Cartmell in Scotland

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:03:00 -0500

The Drum talks to David Guy who is heading up the Edinburgh office of Billington Cartmell, to find out what the agency hopes to achieve within the Scottish market place.

Guy has also recently recruited Fiona Burton from The Union and Pamela Craig from Feather Brooksbank, working alongside clients such as pensions and finance brand AEGON UK, for which it recently launched a summer tennis campaign and Morrison's.

Billington Cartmell has been in Edinburgh for a couple of years now - what does the company hope to achieve through its Scottish presence?

Since opening in May 2008, our plan remains unchanged, combine the best local talent with a major London integrated agency to help Scottish based businesses grow and help companies grow in the Scottish market.

As the industry saw major network agencies pull out of Scotland, Billington Cartmell saw opportunities in Scotland. That's why we've developed a streamlined network agency solution for our Edinburgh office with viability at the core of how we're structured.

We make brands matter' is Billington Cartmell's primary purpose and we're bringing this approach to our clients' briefs and consumers' lives - north and south of the border.

We look for top calibre staff who can clearly show excellence in delivering campaigns for leading private and public sector clients in Scotland. Like Fiona Burton from The Union, who recently joined the team and has already provided existing BCL clients with strong local insights to help shape future Scottish campaign work.

What do you hope, Billington Cartmell brings to the industry north of the border?

We are unashamedly proud of the creative talent we have in the group and in Scotland we want to bring on fresh Scottish talent to this pool. Our group ambition, "to be the most admired creative agency, through heroic innovation" continues to inspire and challenge the agency and its people to move forward. We believe our ambition is aligned to the character of Scotland, whose brave, enlightened thinkers have changed, and continue to shape, our world.

20 years ago our founders were both senior client-side marketeers and have imbued their agency with a single-minded entrepreneurial focus. In Scotland we're bringing clients this potent blend of commercial, strategic and creative thinking.

We also hope to give clients access to leading UK creative's and planners, but with the value of a local presence to build relationships and smooth the delivery of fast-paced projects.

Our networked solution gives clients access to a deeper pool of agency thinking specialists.

You've just moved into the centre of Edinburgh and have begun hiring from some of the more well established agencies in the city. Why is this all happening now?

Being in the busiest part of Edinburgh attracted us. We wanted to re-create the buzz of the London office and clearly the knock-on effect that has for staff and client experience.

There are great agencies in Scotland, yet many are not always producing the fantastic work they have done in the past. We're finding many potential recruits share our way of thinking. New staff tell us they have more headroom to develop and freedom to express themselves. Which is great to hear as we're in the business to develop better work - and critical to that is having fired-up agency staff.

How do you hope to develop the Scottish operation over the coming months?

"If you build it, he will come", exemplifies our attitude to agency development. Our focus is on excellence for our existing clients and looking at how we go the extra mile, making time to proactively think about how we make their brands matter even more tomorrow.

What scale do you see the operation growing to in Scotland?

Over the next five years the group aims to double in size - and plans are in place to ensure that happens. In Scotland, we'll continue to focus on delivering excellent work for our existing clients and we hope to add one or two more along the way.

BCL gives more to Carte D’Or

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 14:28:00 -0500

We're delighted to announce the launch of our brand new Carte D'Or website and on-line media campaign featuring TV chef Gino D'Acampo.

We transformed the brand website www.cartedor.co.uk into a destination that reflects its premium and luxury positioning whilst providing the deeper engaging content craved by our "foodie" target audience inspired by the brand campaign idea "Give More, Give Carte D'Or".

To drive awareness of our site, we have created an on-line media campaign and series of on-line partnerships using Gino D'Acampo's love of Carte D'Or recipes as our hook. Our campaign is being seeded within our consumers' environment of 'recipe rich' websites.

Marco Gazzelloni, Group Account Director, Billington Cartmell

‘Do More’ reaches new heights

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 09:20:00 -0500

Living the Lucozade Energy 'Do More' philosophy, our very own intrepid explorer, Simon Callender has reached new heights after a whole day of rocks & rivers he's arrived at Everest base camp, 5342m. A comfy bed and fluffy pillows will have to wait a little longer, as he continues his journey to Beijing.

BCL Wins Again!

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 09:09:00 -0500

We continue to be recognised for our market leading work with another successful night at the recent ISP awards. This time we picked up a Gold for the Ribena 'Out for Lunch' promotion and a Silver for the Unilever Surf 'Twilights Sensation' campaign.

The 'Out for Lunch' outstripped some other big hitting brands such as Coke, Pepsi and Powerade to land the top prize in the non-alcoholic drinks section. Judges praised the work for delivering an innovative and humerous solution to the British workers dilema of being tied to their desk during the lunch hour.

Surf Twilight Sensations came a very close second in the Healthcare, Household, Fashion & Beauty section. It was deemed a well targeted and beautifully executed integrated campaign.

Alex Young, Director, Billington Cartmell

Peperami World Cup Campaign

Fri, 21 May 2010 17:51:00 -0500

The Peperami shouting football mascot is back for the 2010 World Cup and we're delighted to have created a truly integrated advertising campaign to shout about it. As sole creative agency, we developed advertising support for our on pack promotion across radio, press, on-line, in-store and outdoor.

Blokes' snacking and football go hand in hand so the World Cup gives us the perfect opportunity to drive trial of Peperami whilst giving punters the chance to literally take home a piece of the brand. We look forward to making the Peperami Fanimal the must have item of the summer.

Marco Gazzelloni, Group Account Director, Billington Cartmell

REACH Shoppers - 5 Steps To Shopper Success

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 17:32:00 -0500

Things were falling to earth long before an apple landed on Newton's head and the force was named 'gravity'. Similarly, humans have been shopping for some time: receiving marketing messages that guide purchase from the first thought of buying, right up to handing over the cash. So, there is some debate over whether Shopper Marketing can be called a 'new' medium - just because these messages haven't always been harnessed, doesn't mean they didn't exist.

There is less debate over the growing focus on and investment in Shopper Marketing; 21% annually according to a Grocery Manufacturers Association & Deloitte report. Driven in part by the wealth of data-driven insights now available, this growth has led to new job titles and teams indeed whole departments to gather, process, generate and act on this 'new' thinking.

It's hugely refreshing that corporate marketing structures are finally forced to acknowledge, embrace and commit spend to an area that had perhaps been the 'grubby' end of the business for many years. To those marketers with a more open (I hesitate to overuse the word 'integrated') mindset, however, this is not 'new' thinking, just thinking that has been carved up and packaged in a slightly different way and, worryingly in some cases, given a different silo.

In the eternal sales/marketing power struggle the real opportunity then for Shopper Marketing is to connect the 'silos' and take the brand right through to point of purchase in a meaningful, consistent way. (It really is a two-way street.) Those working closer to the coalface often bemoan the amount of spend allocated to 'emotive' ATL messaging and push back accordingly with harder messaging in store. The functional element is certainly important when in the shopping mindset, whether information gathering or as a purchase trigger. The average three second POS engagement window is 10 times smaller than the average TV ad slot, but there is room for a bit of both - functional and emotional benefit.

At point of purchase product messaging should always be 100% on brand, not just 100% about brand. We usually apply a 'sliding scale' approach to brand/product messaging looking to achieve an indirectly proportional relationship between brand and product the further along the shopper journey we go.

Whichever leg of the journey you are specifically responsible for, any brand looking for commercial success is always going to end up at the same place - for sale, in a store, in front of a shopper. Taking the holistic view is key to success; as the Cheshire Cat advised: "If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there," marketers should not simply focus on making it to the next turn in the road, but where their brand needs to end up.

Billington Cartmell have built a series of principles to guide the stages of the shopper journey and an overarching model looking at the steps pre- store with the brand first entering the shopper's mind, through the store environment to the point of purchase. This can help inform the right message and media for the right shopper mission allowing us to more effectively and efficiently REACH shoppers.

R Relevance

To the shopper, to the retailer, to your business. Increase shopper awareness and affinity for your brand well before shoppers reach store. Even where the shopper is not the end consumer, we can work to understand the relationship between shopper and consumer and how we can influence this to give meaning to the shopper: happier families; easier meal solutions; greater convenience; etc.

The insights-driven approach that has been the fuel of Shopper Marketing growth should be used to identify the missions shoppers will be on, and importantly, where your brand fits into those missions. Understanding shopper motivations is key to understanding how they will digest your brand in the store environment.

Understanding which channels and accounts we should consider as 'heroes' to the business is also important. Not just those accounts which are most relevant through immediate sales, but also those that support our brand strategy and give positive exposure direct to our consumers so we are seen in the right places.

Also consider the relevance of your brand to the retailer(s) brand. What messages will appeal to them? Can our agendas be aligned?

E Emphasis

Many products will not be front-of-mind on the majority of shopper missions, plus cluttered retail environments restrict cut-through of messaging. We should seek to interrupt shoppers positively, but as often as possible on their journey: press as they plan their shopping trip over the breakfast table; local radio as they make their way to town; proximity outdoor as they make their way along the High Street or through the shopping centre and finally into store with front-of-store display through to gold standard fixture display to off-fixture and co-siting. Utilise the wealth of segmentation and basket data most retailers now hold to find the best matches (and sometimes unexpected ones.)

A Attraction

Shoppers need to be clearly led through the store, into the aisle and to the right point at fixture. This can be achieved through directional signage and/or directions at FoS.

Effective signposting will need to take account of the shopper missions to ensure the messaging, and position of PoS, is matching the shopper mindset.

Signposting alone is often not enough to drive traffic down to fixture, so seek to create positive disruption through theatre and promise of reward. Driving to aisle/category also provides a strong bargaining tool for retailer discussions.

Once in aisle the shopper will still need directing to your brand on fixture, particularly if your siting is less prominent than competitors.

Attraction can also be achieved through prompting reason to buy with need state messaging that taps into the shoppers mindset.

C Choice

Once at fixture give the shopper a clear reason for preference by reinforcing your USP and role within category.

H Hook

Don't underestimate the power of instruction. Always include a call-to-action - tell the shopper what they need to do next. This should be simple, direct and have urgency - "buy me now".

If the messages, missions and moments have been well planned and executed, giving an experience that was supportive and even beneficial to the shopper, the 'hook' stage should be extended beyond a single sale, ideally into repeat purchase and to advocacy.

The above is only an overview of the shopper journey, mainly from the shopper perspective. At each stage there are influencers and gatekeepers who need to be engaged and excited in order to secure store space and shopper head space.

We need to get "On the LIST", reaching the shopper and their influencers before they get to store.
We need to ensure we have followed the rules of engagement with the retailer (their agenda; expectations; staff) to ensure we gain display and our shopper can get the product "Off the SHELF".
Finally, we need to match the right messages for the right missions at the right moments to engage, signpost and persuade the shopper to get our brand "In the BASKET".

As surely as a falling apple will reach the ground, if shoppers can buy your product you're already in the Shopper Marketing game. Understanding and harnessing sound shopper thinking can make sure your shoppers land exactly where you want them.

The Future of Mobile Marketing - 7 Things Marketers Need to Know Now

Wed, 21 Apr 2010 18:05:00 -0500

With observations such as 'By 2013 mobile phones will overtake PCs as the most

common web-accessed device worldwide' and '33% of all Google searches are now made by mobile', it is easy to see why mobile is hailed as the key channel of the future. Indeed, the evolution of the mobile channel - from 'basic talking brick', to multi-media interface - has been impressive. (With 3000% growth in shopping searches made on mobile internet devices in the last 3 years.)

Now, phones can be used for web browsing, email, shopping, personal alarm clock, music, mobile TV, video, social networks, vouchers, micro-payments, cameras, navigation and gaming. (To name but a few functions.) To use the vernacular of the category, many marketing practitioners see 'mobile' as the 'killer app' for future growth. And with stats like those listed above, one can see why - there is huge commercial value at stake.

Nevertheless, with all the hyperbole, there should always be a note of realism. After all, if we believed everything futurologists told us, we would be using mobiles as hoverboards by now. That said, given exponential handset and software evolution, network advances and the myriad of media applications consumers now comfortably access via mobiles, we thought it invaluable to map out the trends that will really matter over coming years. Practical advice, that marketing practitioners should have acted on already (and trends that need to be firmly on their radar in coming years.)

1. Smartphones

While one should never forget the lowest common denominator handsets, the handset marketplace is definitely getting smarter. There are now 11.1m smartphones in the UK, with 70% YOY growth. All manufacturers and many consumers are aspiring towards smartphones. (NOKIA's 5800 is now the UK's most 'popular' handset - largely on the basis of aggressive contract pricing and the sleek - iPhone-esque - appearance of the handset.)

Many smartphones deliver greater connectivity over 2.5-3G, or WiFi and offer consumers genuine consolidation in terms of all their 'work, rest and play' media. (Telephony, mms, email, mobile internet browsing, downloadable apps and games, as well as video and music.) Integral GPS chips have further added the opportunity to serve location-based information, ads, or promotional offers close to point of sale.

In the wake of the iPhone, many manufacturers are optimising touchscreen interfaces to add to user experience and make 'online all-the-time' a wider reality. Indeed, touchscreen users access three times as much data as their key-pressing counterparts. Brands should be thinking not only how to harness apps - with Apple's iAd and Admob able to serve ads inside apps - but also be thinking how they can use location-based info to target compelling offers close to point of sale. Given tariffs and handset costs, smartphones are particularly relevant for 25+ adults currently and increasingly for young adults - as top of the gift wishlist over coming years.

2. Data

Historically we had the Battle of Britain, increasingly we have the Battle of Bandwidth. With tolerable operating speeds on 2-2.5G across the UK (barring rural areas), 3G is where we are gunning for in the immediate future (predicted to be circa 90% coverage in Western EU by 2014).

The next battle on the horizon, is going to be between '4G' networks and WiFi. There is likely to be a degree of merging of technologies to create a richer experience for consumers across the board. Expect to see service speeds slowly creeping up, as we edge closer towards a nation breathing 'online oxygen' to help their business and social lives thrive.

The 3GppLTE (Long Term Evolution) network is likely to deliver 4G-esque 'mobile broadband' capabilities with data serving speeds of up to 100mps. What this means practically is that video, mobile TV, multiplayer online games, instant messaging and other 'high-data dependent' mobile functions will be a real working possibility for many. In terms of timescales, 2012 will start to see cell testing, while 2015-2020 will see these LTE technologies becoming commonplace.

WiMAX (using microwave technology to extend the reach of WiFi hotspots) will make 'mobile broadband' even more of a reality. With data usage bundled and 'unlimited internet' becoming the standard mobile model, brands should be thinking about how they can best deliver to smartphone users who already - to use iPhone as an example - use 10-20 times more data than other mobile phone users. One should also not forget the use of 3G dongles on netbooks and table PCs - who use on average a sizable 1.5gig of data per month (10 times that of the average smartphone user).

The implications for brands are - a need to deliver richer experiences to consumers, and think about how commercial sponsorship could facilitate the delivery of games, apps and video on demand (VOD) to mobile. Also, brands should think about the kind of data they can receive via return paths, to further refine their mobile marketing and CRM activity.

3. Mobile Internet

As networks evolve, we will see huge numbers of mobile devices capable of accessing the internet from phones, netbooks and tablet PCs (via WiFi, or 3G dongles). Brands must be prepared to serve them properly.

The size of the prize now - stats on mobile internet:

18.9m users

1 in 10, (1.89m) have made a purchase using the mobile internet

- 81% using it once per week or more

- 46% using it daily

- 35% using it weekly

- 40% of those using it are considered heavy users

Nearly all brands should be thinking about not only an online presence, but a 'mobile online presence'. Increasingly, consumers just want delivery in their chosen channel and brands that aren't set up to do so, risk falling out of favour. 44% of users blame the brands (not the kit) for a bad mobile internet experience.

Building on this, brands should also be contemplating not just online mobile brand content, but optimising their sites against mobile search (mSEO) and also multiple call to action options e.g. order now on iPhone/order now on Android. Only if marketers are thinking in real terms about a Mobile Content Management System (MCMS), can they deliver the excellent experience consumers expect now, and the seamless experience they will expect tomorrow.

Manufacturers will make a lot of operating systems in coming years, which are meaningful in terms of their respective abilities to deliver optimal online content speedily. As infrastructure advances - both with handsets and retail - brands should consider mobile as a means to deliver sales - via scannable bar/QR codes and vouchers/promotional ticketing.

Also starting to be tested in 2010 (and becoming mainstream from 2012) are Near Field Communication (NFC) chips. These are smart chips - like the ones used in Oyster Cards for wave and pay transactions. Brands need to be aware of these - with potential application for micro-payment, one-touch social interface, Mobile ID verification and even transport.

4. Mobile Advertising

Promoting your brand through users' mobiles will become hugely important - with the market set to explode in 2010 onwards.

Mobile advertising arguably became really significant with the launch of the iPhone 3G. In 2009 we have seen major consolidation of players and techniques to make the marketplace a serious proposition for brands moving forward. This was particularly underscored by Google and Apple acquiring Admob and Quattro respectively - specifically to meet their needs for provision of mobile advertising. Given the massive growth in mobile usage, it is not surprising that Q4 2009 saw the best-ever quarter for mobile advertising - with (anecdotally) double the ads being placed, versus any other quarter so far.

Consolidation has also brought significant reductions in costs both for placement and costs per click. That coupled with development of new ad formats and functionality - such as location-based, or image search based ad serving - make mobile advertising an area brands should really be thinking about. Here are just some of the ad formats that will be likely to develop over the next two years:

Expandable banners
Flash banners
Feed integration - putting live update information into the ad space
Location-based ad serving - delivery of ads local to point of conversion
Image recognition ads - serving ads appropriate to consumers' image searches
Sponsored apps - with Steve Jobs launching iAd - sponsoring app provision is not only going to be big, it's also a commercial/consumer win-win. (It gives something to the consumer for free and places the sponsor's ad in a context where the consumer is likely to be more receptive to it.)

Brands should think about how their ads will be reflected in mobile search, and how they can use this to their best advantage. In addition, sponsored apps and location-based ad serving (mentioned earlier) are both things that should be top of mind.

5. Location Based Technology

Location based technology is particularly stand-out functionality, as it allows ads to be served based on consumer interest and location. A recent gym recruitment campaign - based on the network's understanding of the recipient's liking for exercise, and proximity to the gym chain in question - led to a 6.8% response rate. Location-based communities like 'Foursquare' - that reward micro-community ambassadors for acting as area 'Mayors' and sharing local info with other users - are also of significant note to brands.

6. Augmented Reality (AR) and Voice/Visual search

The placement of products and brands into the real/virtual world will grow rapidly, and smartphone handsets will become more capable of delivering this to the mass-market. 'Layaring' - named after the Dutch company 'Layar' (leading specialists in the field) - is probably one of the most immediate and valuable AR applications available.

'Layaring' describes AR information, layered over a real live camera street view to deliver valuable branded information, or offers, literally to the man/woman on the street.

Voice and Visual search will increasingly develop in coming years - as processing power allows - to cross-reference visual/voice input with an online database. The database will then deliver availability and pricing information quickly and easily to consumers in retail.

7. SMS

Simple will still sell - so text will still be massive. (80% of the market use it.) It's the primary route for engaging mass-market consumers - particularly older ones (55+) - and will remain so for some time.

You can also turn a simple entry mechanic into ECRM - encouraging consumers to participate further with interesting promotional stats on winners, or sharing further added-value offers. Not forgetting of course that virtual rewards (in terms of digital mobile content) could increasingly be valuable as the "plus 1000s of prizes" in future promotional marketing.

Conclusion

Ultimately, the future of mobile comes down to a beautifully integrated service for consumers and that goes for everything from handset interface, network performance, apps, and a very real value exchange.

Essentially, as with most brand interaction, forewarned is forearmed. This is a clarion call to review your mobile marketing strategy and prepare to deliver an outstanding mobile experience for consumers (before your competitors do). For further information please contact dan_machen@bcl.co.uk

Boot Boys

Wed, 07 Apr 2010 09:14:00 -0500

Having just read that 'Dr Martens uses music to build online presence' I feel for Dr Martens. Perhaps the closer a brand is to music historically the harder it is to pick up again after a hiatus.

Unfortunately, despite their exquisite vintage, Dr. Martens is probably no more associated with music by young consumers right now than any other fashion brand. Which I suppose is where this "get a newish band to record an old song" concept is meant to come in; currency and heritage combine to make beautiful music.

The trouble is "new band, old song" is a very well-trodden path indeed; Radio 1's Live Lounge is the benchmark at four top ten double albums since 2006 and a weekly Radio 1 show (DM participants The Noisettes contributed last year with an old Killers song). Recently Audi TT Remastered featured "a mix of emerging musical talents and pioneering musicians reworking 14 infamous pop tracks". I also have literally a box full of music magazine tip-ons from the past 15 years recorded under exactly the same premise. The NME/Childline "Sgt Pepper Knew My Father" in 1987 was perhaps the daddy of them all and even that was revised in 2007 with Kaiser Chiefs, Stereophonics et al re-recording the album.

Dr. Martens possibly pioneered the branded compilation; before the PRS slapped a premium on such things, their 1995 "Unlaced" compilation entered the album charts at number 9 and for many old enough to have a copy it still bookmarks Britpop. DM's sales samplers from around this time were also great sources for discovering new music pre-internet. In the late '90's the link between Dr Martens past (mods, skins, punks, bikes) and the emerging artists they were supporting through live associations was seamless and often executed beautifully.

DMs music heritage is very deep indeed, such a shame to see it squandered here with another Kareoke concept that the agency doubtless could have bolted on to countless other brands. I'm afraid that kids browsing this content on The Pirate Bay are unlikely to be struck by either the originality or heritage of the idea and all it's likely to say about this great brand is that they've been away a bit too long. I'd prescribe some better advice and a bit more of that rebellion that set the brand apart in the first place.

It’s time for more brands to think digital conversations, not campaigns

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 10:39:00 -0500

Neil Davidson believes that it's time for more brands to think digital conversations, not campaigns.
Find out why here

BCL achieves in Best Companies Accreditation 2010

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:49:00 -0600

Billington Cartmell has achieved a "One to Watch Status" in the Best Companies Accreditation for 2010. Jonathan Austin - Founder and CEO of Best Companies says: "We would like to congratulate Billington Cartmell on their outstanding achievement...organisations like Billington Cartmell that have kept on engaging their staff and making sure they are involved in the business will be in a good position for the future and should be congratulated for their efforts".

In it for the long haul? – the paradox of marketing

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 10:51:00 -0600

Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago - Warren Buffett said that, and the man has a very good point.

The brands that mean the most to us are the ones which have been carefully grown and nurtured over time to encapsulate a set of values that we find both appealing and relevant. Oxo has always held a knowing mirror to the family and its relationships. Kit Kat has celebrated the break through wry humour for over thirty years and, until recently, if you wanted the ultimate Teutonic driving machine then you had to look no further than Stuttgart. All these brands made continuity of personality and behaviour a valued brand asset.

For us to know a brand we need to understand what it stands for and how it will behave now and in the future - just like our friends, it's by acting consistently that we learn to trust them. Sure brands can evolve just like people do, but their central personality and values mustn't flex.

So developing brand assets and values is a job for the long term. You don't develop a deep relationship in a day; it takes time for consumers to learn and understand a brand. But marketeers aren't always focused on the long term and herein lies the dilemma.

Marketeers need to make a mark to build a career - a promotion is easier to justify if you have developed and owned an 'all new marketing plan' and its associated execution programme. It's by changing communications and 'challenging the thinking that has gone before' that marketeers build careers.

Who wants to do what the last chap did? That's not exciting and that's not going to get you noticed. So often pragmatically and selfishly the agenda for change is set.

Agencies too are all too quick to dismiss previous work even if, as is often the case, they developed the work themselves. New, it appears, is always better. This year's plan is always better than last year's plan. They are always 'building on new learnings'.

Of course evolution of any comms programme is a necessity to avoid wear out and over-familiarisation - but all too often brand teams and agencies indulge in wholesale reinvention of not just the execution, but the wider brand idea and often the brand personality too. The upshot is brands that people thought they understood and could rely on to act in a particular way are suddenly all-new, alien and 'supposedly better'.

In the real world this means consumers can't keep up - too many messages changing too often and executed across a myriad of ever-tempting fragmented media touch points.

Stella Artois - reassuringly expensive quality or an overt focus on natural ingredients? Or is that Beck's - or Carling? Actually it's all three. BMW talking about fluffy, happy 'Driving Joy?'. What happened to the precision of the Ultimate Driving Machine? (And anyway, weren't Honda talking joy three years ago?)

If these brands play fast and loose with their propositions and personalities how are we expected to know them anymore?

The way out of this constantly churning pot of messaging is to put a new and rigorous focus on consistency.

If consumers develop brand trust (and accordingly brand relationships) in the long term, then that's how we as marketeers should manage our brand assets.

Marketeers should be as true to brand personality as to brand proposition. Continuity of action is everything. Additionally, activation spaces should be identified for the long term and brand ideas selected only if they have the capability to last for years, not months.

Other brand touch points should also be audited for the long haul. A brand strapline should help consumers summarise their take-out of your brand messaging, whilst also confirming the brand source of that information. Why change it every 12-14 months?

Another reason there is so much changing of messaging and overstretching of brand personality is the time-pressured way in which strategy is developed against brand planning deadlines.

If you take away the temptation to change the communication strategy every year and focus instead on enriching a fully researched, longer-term 5-year brand idea, then the purpose of brand planning becomes more channel and execution-focused. An altogether more manageable task.

Wholesale change of proposition and/or personality should, in summary, only be entertained under exceptional circumstances and only when lessons have been learned from previous mistakes.

Change should come through the executional evolution of long-term brand ideas which develop and enrich already loved and respected personalities.

We should all be building brands with consumer-validated longevity rather than being slaves to reinvention, creating tactical pop-up offerings with familiar logos for our own vanity.

Now if you really want to make your mark - there's a real creative challenge.

Rage against the old brand planning machine

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 13:59:00 -0600

Brand planning needs to keep up with consumers

Rage Against the Machine's victory over the X Factor's Joe McElderry in the battle for Xmas number one is a fitting way to end the decade. That a rock fan from Essex can take on the might of the X Factor and win is further proof that this was the decade when power shifted from big brands to consumers, driven by the rise of 'my media', digital peer review and a massive decline in trust in brands. All this should be the final nail in the coffin of brand planning processes developed in the last century. Smart brands have to recognise that successful brand planning is no longer as simple as developing single-minded brand and campaign propositions and delivering them to the consumer neatly packaged up in a creative idea.

This doesn't mean that brand planning is dead, because successful brands still need the rigour, depth of analysis and consumer insights that it delivers. The opportunity is to hang onto the best parts of brand planning, discard the parts that aren't relevant any more and bring in new ways of working that fit new consumer mindsets and how they want to interact with brands now.

The much ridiculed brand onion and the brand key could be good candidates for the scrapheap, but the issue is more about how people use them, often as an intellectual exercise rather than a tool to get under the skin of consumers. They can still be good foundations and add rigour to brand strategies, but they have to be seen as a starting point in connecting brands and consumers, not a job to be done before leaping onto creative briefs and execution. More work needs to be done to truly connect brands with consumers, and more often.

Our approach to brand and campaign planning is to constantly ask 'what matters?' and to recognise that the intellectual leaps that come out of the planning process also have to be judged against whether they will connect with consumers – ideas have to be clever, but they also have to connect with real lives. It's also what matters at different points in the brand planning and campaign process – there are many consumer insights but what's the insight that we need to act on? There are many smart propositions but what's the proposition that comes out of the brand, is consumer-focused and is right for the context of a campaign, where it should connect with the consumer? Effective planning needs to recognise that the brand proposition is no longer enough, and that propositions need to be flexed for different contexts while retaining the essence of the brand.

Much more planning time needs to be invested in what really matters, and developing brand activation spaces is a more worthwhile approach than ever before. This is the sort of work that more time needs to be invested in during the planning process if brands want to matter in consumers' lives. There has been a big shift in power and the brand planning process has to recognise this, otherwise more brands will lose out to the mighty consumer, just like the poor old X Factor

Blogging – digital PR or strategic brand tool?

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 12:51:00 -0600

The blogging community has an incredible reach and a disproportionate influence over its audiences. It's estimated that well over 180 million people have started a blog, writing over one million posts a day and with over 350 million readers. It seems obvious that all brands should at least be considering how they tap into the power of blogging communities, but they also need to consider the model they adopt for doing this.

Blogging's success is partly due to the quality of writing, speed to publication and the clarity of viewpoints, not obscured by media owner interference. (The Huffington Post is a good example, with an estimated audience of over 45 million readers.) The success of blogging is also due to a shift in consumer attitudes, turning away from older, established conventional news sources and brands to 'my media', digital brands that they now have greater trust and belief in.

Given this shift in media power and consumer attitudes it seems strange to apply old marketing techniques to this new equation, particularly a digital PR approach. The opportunity for brands is to look at their approach to blogging in a new way, not as a short-term tactical tool, an extension to their PR strategy, but as having great potential as a strategic brand tool. Bloggers are not another digital tool to be turned on and off to fit the peak and troughs of marketing campaigns. They can be a brand's strongest brand ambassadors, but brands need to invest time, money and care into building ongoing relationships with key bloggers, essentially relationship marketing for blogging.

Stormhoek is still a great example of the power of using brand blogs to drive success. Other brands can learn a lot from it and the success of its 100 Dinners in 100 Nights approach to engaging with bloggers:

It understood, engaged with and flattered bloggers, rather than imposed the brand's worldview on them.
It acted on the insight that bloggers love other bloggers – using Hugh MacLeod as the force behind Stormhoek flattered bloggers, as it told them that they were considered to be in the same class as this top 100 blogger.
It didn't try to influence their views on your brand or product in the way that old-school PR did.
It let go control of the brand and let bloggers decide whether it was good enough.
It gave them unique content that made them look good in the eyes of their readers, another deviation from the classic PR press release approach.
They continued to nurture the relationships established with the bloggers.

The opportunity for brand owners is to think differently, engage with bloggers on their terms and then reap the rewards.