Opinion from Paulina Lang Head of Behavioural Science at Together Agency

IPM Member Agency Together explain how they use the COM-B Model to help inform brand strategy and creative. The process is part of a framework used to identify appropriate interventions linked to key drivers or barriers of behaviour.

Explaining how the abbreviations work within FMCG with the example of a healthy snack product, Paulina states; “we can begin by thinking about Capability; can the consumer physically open the snack? They need to ensure the packaging is easy to open to ensure it’s not a physical barrier.

The psychological capability would be to establish if they understand the health benefits of the snack? Is it made clear enough?

Next is Opportunity. Physical opportunity would be that the snack is easily available. Some food items are only available in certain countries, so if the consumer knows about the product but cannot access it; this would be a barrier. You want the product to be in local stores and prominently displayed. Social opportunities would involve promoting it as a healthy snack consumed by similar people; so the social media campaigns and the marketing of the product would look at the social influence and trends on behaviour, online endorsements and reviews.

Finally, we have Motivation. Reflective motivation around the product would establish if the customer consciously thinks and values the health and nutritional value of the product? Whereas automatic motivation is the emotional connection to the brand or just an impulsive buy. An example is that the package triggers positive emotions that influence the customer to pick the item up.

Combining all these factors together, we can design creative and strategy around breaking the most important barriers, and drive the consumers to pick this product.”

To find out more about how these fascinating methods inform strategies you can access the full interview here

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Hold on to your hashtags because the world of influencer marketing is constantly growing and Together Agency are about to break it down for you, by looking at key trends, stats and strategies to help keep you ahead of the curve.

They will spill the tea on how influencer marketing isn’t just evolving, it’s the latest social media revolution. From big names like Alix Earle (who has 6M TikTok followers) to micro-influencers building an audience of thousands, looking into the likely trends for this year and strategies for how your business can use influencers to level up your brand.

Take a look here and prepare to influence and be influenced.

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Insights from Justine Clement at The Happy Prize Company

It goes without saying, that staying ahead of the latest consumer trends is as crucial as it gets in this industry. In 2024, the UK consumer landscape is set to undergo significant transformations, driven by technological advancements, changing societal values, and evolving consumer behaviours. In this article, we’ll explore the top UK consumer trends to take notice of in promotional marketing for 2024 and discuss how they may impact your strategies.

Trend 1: The Rise of Conscious Consumerism

It comes as no surprise that consumers in 2024 are increasingly conscious of the environmental and social impact of their purchasing decisions. Many now prioritise sustainability, ethical sourcing, and social responsibility when choosing products and brands to support. Aligning campaigns with these values becomes increasingly more important.

Tip: Consider partnering with (other) sustainably-conscious brands, promoting sustainable practices, and highlighting your commitment to social causes.

How we can help with prizes: We’re a B Corp, so creating sustainable prize ideas, whether that be sustainable travel experiences, or vouchers, or products/items you need, is what we love focussing on. See here and here to get you started.

Trend 2: Personalisation and Customisation

Consumers expect personalised experiences and products tailored to their individual preferences. What seems obvious now, yet still appears in all trend analysis, is the importance of investing in data analytics and customer segmentation, helping us to understand target audiences better and create more personalised promotional campaigns.

Tip: Explore technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate and optimise the customisation process.

How we can help with prizes: We’ve always been about customising prizes for your campaign theme and audience. Once you know who you are targeting and what you want to achieve, we’ll come up with tailored prize solutions to help raise the brand’s profile and create some serious standout.

Trend 3: Digital Transformation

The rapid advancement of technology has reshaped consumer behaviours and expectations. In 2024, digital transformation will continue to drive consumer trends, with a focus on seamless online experiences, mobile commerce, and augmented reality.

Tip: Embrace digital channels, social media advertising, and interactive online experiences to engage with your target audience effectively.

Trend 4: Health and Wellness

Consumers are increasingly prioritising their health and well-being, driving the demand for products and services that support a healthy lifestyle.

Tip: Incorporate health and wellness messaging into your promotional campaigns, highlighting the benefits of your client’s products or services for physical and mental well-being. Consider partnering with fitness influencers or wellness experts to amplify your message.

How we can help: Our sister agency is The Life Adventure – a wellbeing agency. That means we’re really proactive in creating wellness retreats, digital wellness content, wellbeing events and brand partnerships with influencers in this space.

Trend 5: Authenticity and Transparency

In 2024, consumers will continue to seek authentic and transparent brand experiences. They value honesty, integrity, and openness from the brands they support.

Tip: Brands and indeed all businesses need to be more transparent about their business practices, sourcing, and manufacturing processes. Authentic storytelling and genuine connections with audiences will be key to building trust and loyalty.

How we can help: If you’re running a prize promotion element to your activity, we’ll look at how the prizes offered will help to convey this message.

Trend 6: Remote Work and Online Shopping

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift towards remote working and online shopping. Even as the world recovers, remote working and e-commerce will remain prevalent. Adapting promotional marketing strategies to cater to the online shopping experience, offering convenient and seamless purchasing options, is more important than ever.

Tip: Consider virtual events, webinars, and online collaborations to engage with remote workers and digital consumers.

Trend 7: Inclusivity and Diversity

Diversity and inclusivity continue to be important values for consumers. Embracing inclusivity in promotional campaigns by featuring diverse representation and promoting inclusive messages will be key forever more.

Tip: Collaborate with influencers and content creators who champion diversity to amplify messages and reach a wider audience.

How we can help: We give careful thought and consideration to the prizes we create, and consider and ask ‘will they appeal to a diverse audience?’ And ‘are they inclusive in all the right ways?’ We’ll give special attention to this as directed by you.

Trend 8: Experience-Driven Marketing

Consumers are increasingly seeking memorable experiences rather than just products.

Tip: Create experiential marketing campaigns that engage all five senses and provide unique and immersive brand experiences. Consider pop-up events, interactive installations and experiences, and virtual reality experiences to leave a lasting impression on your target audience.

How we can help: We combine wellness and experiential by offering immersive prizes that take winners, for example, out into nature to Forest Bathe. Forest Bathing specifically looks at how, if we engage our 5 senses, we can calm our nervous system to relieve anxiety and stress, boost our immunity and improve our sleep. Or how about woodland wild cookery sessions. Or curated, wildly inspired dining/dinner party experiences beneath the trees using locally sourced and wild ingredients.

Trend 9: Social Media Influence

Social media platforms remain powerful tools for reaching and engaging with consumers.

Tip: Leverage the influence of social media by partnering with influencers, running user-generated content campaigns, and fostering an active and engaged community. Authenticity and relatability are key to successfully harnessing the power of social media.

How we can help: We can help you in partnering with influencers in certain areas e.g., Crepe City, wellbeing, travel influencers.

Trend 10: Voice and Visual Search

As voice assistants and visual search technologies become more prevalent, optimising online presence on these platforms is crucial.

Tip: Invest in search engine optimisation strategies that consider voice and visual search queries. Ensure websites and digital content is optimised for voice and visual recognition, making it easier for consumers to find and engage with your brand.

Finally…

By embracing conscious consumerism, personalisation, digital transformation, health and wellness, authenticity, inclusivity, experience-driven marketing, social media influence, and voice and visual search, you’ll create impactful and relevant promotional campaigns that resonate with any brand’s target audience. Adapt to the evolving consumer landscape, leverage technology and data, and foster authentic connections to drive growth and stay ahead of the competition.

The Happy Prize Company is a certified B Corporation prize, rewards and incentive agency. To get in touch to discuss any of the above, please email here for a fast response.

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Keeping your business’s equipment clean, tidy, in great condition can be a big task for any company.  But when your equipment is 2.5 metres wide, 4 metres tall, 16.5 metres long and weighs 30,000 kgs that task is not only more tricky but absolutely essential for health and safety reasons. XPRESSION Logistics pride themselves on the upkeep of all assets, to ensure high standards are met.  Being the preferred servicing supplier in the UK for Rolfo gave the company the capability to service all trucks and trailers. “Managing something like this doesn’t just mean servicing and hydraulics checks every 8 weeks, but ensuring the vehicle is pristine inside and out before and after every delivery” said Jonathan Hill, XPRESSION Logistics MD “the UK Government, quite rightly, has strict regulations with regard to the safety of haulage and we do our best to exceed those for our customers”. 

There lies another mammoth task. In order to keep all assets to the highest standard the recruitment of the correctly trained staff is essential, and finding Truck Technicians a challenge.  “We are always in the market for great, highly experienced Truck Technicians” said Mr Hill “they are the backbone to the success of the company and we look after them, as we do all of our team”.  

For more information please email jonathan@xpressionlogistics.co.uk or call directly on 01869 233324

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Opinion from Jonathan Hill

Cities across the country are following the lead of the Mayor of London, and ULEZ (Ultra Low Emissions Zone), by implementing their own measures to reduce carbon produced by combustion engines.  
 
Xpression are based just outside Oxford, where Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council have introduced a zero emission zone (ZEZ) to improve air quality, cut carbon emissions and move towards zero emission travel in the city.  The ZEZ is an area of Oxford where zero emission vehicles such as fully electric motor cycles, bicycles, cars and vans can be used without incurring charge but where others may be charged – including hybrids.  
 
Jonathan Hill, MD of Xpression Logistics said “we are investigating a number of ideas to reduce costs for our customers who need to deliver or collect goods from inner-cities, finding ways to minimise the daily fees incurred by combustion engines, whilst cutting carbon”.   There are a number of ideas they are investigating but the most obvious was for the business to invest in electric vehicles (including electric vans) to add to their electric car fleet.  “We have already worked on a number of carbon-reducing ideas such as running all diesel generators on carbon-offset fuel with which we also intend to run two vehicles on the logistics fleet” said Mr Hill. 
 
Xpression have for many years had a close relationship with Volkswagen and therefore their first instinct was to research (and then purchase) a Buzz.  Mr Hill said “the initial opinion of the drivers what sceptical, but as each of them has the opportunity to test drive the Buzz and use it to make deliveries, their minds are quickly changed”.   EV technology has improved dramatically over the years and the Buzz is proving to be able to do nearly 300 miles on a full battery, charge quickly, have plenty of space to carry customers’ goods and (importantly to the team) is exceptionally comfortable to drive.  
 
“We took the Buzz to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone this year and it was ideal, as well as attracting a lot of attention”.   Mr Hill added  “I am not concerned about the future of logistics in an EV world, every problem is an opportunity and this company is looking forward to managing those opportunities going forward”
 
For more information please email Jonathan@xpressionevents.co.uk or call 01869 232234

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Opinion from Andrew Ryan, Director at Halo

When John Pemberton invented Coca-Cola in 1886, not even their catchy positioning of “Delicious! Refreshing! Exhilarating! Invigorating!” could persuade consumers to try it over all the other carbonated wonder tonics and elixirs already on the market.

So, to help increase sales his bookkeeper started giving away tickets for free tastes of Coke, but Pemberton chastised him for extravagance. Fast forward a few years when tycoon Asa Griggs Candler bought the company in 1888, he revisited the bookkeeper’s idea, and distributed thousands of bits of paper like the ones above, and so the coupon as we know it was born.

By 1913, Coca-Cola had redeemed over 8.5 million free drink coupons.

Thankfully the humble coupon itself has made a smooth transition to the 21st century and the new dawn of digital coupons will soon be the norm. If you want to boost your sales and attract more consumers, couponing is still a solid marketing tool to use. Coupons can help you create a sense of urgency, reward loyal consumers and increase brand awareness.

This is especially true in the cost-of-living crisis when consumers are even more value conscious. The tightening of consumer purse strings is placing an even greater demand on the need to deliver value where it matters. This is being born out from our findings across the UK, Europe, Africa and the US that there is a noticeable increase in response and uptake on any promotion that delivers real consumer value. Free and Save messages are currently outperforming all other mechanics.

However, unknown performance can place greater demands on budgets which is where Fixed Fee comes in to provide much needed cost certainty. Fixed Fee is perfect for when costs are variable and the final outcome is unknown. It allows a campaign to be budgeted for regardless of the final performance, protecting the variable costs under a one off completely covered​ Fixed Fee with the backing of re-insurance.

By combining the powerful mechanic of couponing with the cost certainty benefits of Fixed Fee, brands can better navigate these tough trading conditions.​

Why coupons?

1. Couponing creates a sense of urgency. When consumers see that a coupon has an expiration date, they are more likely to act fast and make a purchase before they miss out on a good deal.
2. Couponing appeals to the masses, everyone loves saving money, and couponing allows consumers to feel like they are getting more value for their money.
3. Couponing encourages repeat purchases. By offering coupons that can be redeemed on future purchases, you can increase consumer retention and loyalty. You can also use coupons to cross-sell or upsell other products or services that complement your main offer.
4. Couponing generates word-of-mouth. Social sharing. When consumers are happy with purchases, they’re more likely to share their positive experiences with friends and family. You can also incentivize referrals by offering coupons to both the referrer and the referee.

  Quick couponing checklist                                         

• Set clear goals and objectives for your coupon campaign. What do you want to achieve? Who do you want to target? How will you measure your success?
• Choose the right type of coupon for your offer. There are different types of coupons, such as percentage off, £1 off, buy one get one free, free delivery. Choose the one that best suits your product or service and your target audience.

Tracking, ROI and first party data

• Analyse and optimise your coupon campaign. You can monitor and evaluate the results of your coupon campaign regularly. You can use metrics such as redemption rate, conversion rate, average order value, consumer acquisition cost, consumer lifetime value. You can also collect feedback from your consumers to improve your offer and consumer experience.
• Coupons can help you collect valuable consumer data and feedback. You can use coupons to ask consumers for their email addresses, phone numbers, or opinions. This can help you build your consumer database and improve your marketing strategies.

The humble coupon might not get the recognition it deserves, especially at awards events, but you clients will thank you for the direct impact it can have on driving trade.

Couponing is certainly not broken, far from it, but they might need fixing in which case we’d be delighted to help.

The post Isn’t It Time We Fixed Couponing? appeared first on IPM Bitesize.

The OG of Influencer Marketing, Holly Eddleston, and BIG little London Founder, Emma Critchley-Lloyd, partnered with The Institute of Promotional Marketing (IPM) to present their insightful guide: ‘How to ace influencer marketing for your next promotional campaign’.

What you need to know:

• The top 5 tips to ace your next influencer marketing campaign
• How to create a successful campaign
• Influencer strategy for promotions

Download the webinar here

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The IPM is delighted to welcome members to take part in our brand new Webinar Series. As a member of the IPM, you now have the opportunity to share invaluable knowledge, champion thought leadership and raise your profile.

In the fast-paced world of promotional marketing, staying up to date with the latest trends, strategies, and insights is essential for success. The IPM Webinar Series offers you a unique platform to engage with industry experts, thought leaders, and seasoned professionals who are at the forefront of promotional marketing. Through these webinars, you’ll have access to cutting-edge information, innovative ideas, and best practices that can propel your campaigns to new heights.

Taking part in The IPM Webinar Series is free for IPM members. For more information on how you can get involved contact emmak@theipm.org.uk

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Opinion By David Pearson, CEO at SPARK

According to Public Health Wales data 60% of the Welsh population are overweight and one in four children are obese by the age of 5. Pretty scary numbers.

The Welsh government have taken action with plans to introduce restrictions on meal deals with high fat, salt or sugar content and bans on temporary price drops and multi-buy offers on the unhealthiest foods. The new rules will be in place in 2024.

Response from the public is mixed, supporters say it’s “about time” whilst those against maintain that it should be their choice what they put in their bodies. Similar changes in England have been delayed with the UK government pointing towards the cost-of-living crisis not being the right time to introduce such measures though it looks like they are inevitable in the future.

In Scotland there are calls from campaigners to raise the minimum unit price for alcohol from 50p to 65p so whatever your view on the rights and wrongs of the policies at a time when putting food on the table is difficult for so many people…changes are coming.

Dr Simon Moore, Chief Psychologist at behavioural science agency Innovation Bubble thinks that the ban will help to stop consumers making “lazy buying decisions” based on a psychological tendency to prioritise immediate emotional satisfaction (financial savings) rather than thinking carefully about long-term consequences (our health). Dr. Moore also suggests that price promotions lure us into thinking that we’re “beating the system”, satisfying our need to feel smart.

It’s great news for the brand teams at health-focussed brands on whom the limitations won’t apply and will be free to promote as they wish…but what does it mean for brands at the unhealthy end of the scale?

Tactically, price promotions work. 65% of Brits find money off promotions appealing according to the recent “What Brits Want from Promotions” research from Mando (with YouGov) making discounting the most appealing type of promotion.

But price promotions also damage brand equity.

Long-term repeated discounting in the open-market can lead to loss of brand equity in the consumers eyes. If it always costs less, then it must be worth less. Outside of the food-space take a look at fashion retailer “The Gap”. In the 80s and 90s viewed as a premium high street retailer of quality clothing, but subsequent ongoing and constant sales meant no-one ever paid full-price and brand value was decimated.

Life’s going to be a little more difficult for marketing teams of unhealthy brands in the coming years but the new regulations create an opportunity for them to return to more creative and eye-catching executions of tactical promotions. The removal of price promotions as a tool will force brand teams to get more creative by incentivising purchase using relevant prizes, giveaways, brand/charity partnerships, loyalty-based campaigns, point of sale activity and more.

That’s a good thing, both in terms of healthy eating and maintaining the health of brands.

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Clare James, Chief Operating Officer at creative brand experience agency, N2O

At N2O, we’re dedicated to helping brands build meaningful relationships with their target audiences through relevant brand experiences.  Through our long-standing expertise in working with brands such as Tesco and Superdrug to create Pride campaigns, we understand the importance of connecting authentically with the LGBTQIA+ audience and strive to help brands move beyond tokenism during Pride month.

However, we acknowledge that the decision to create a targeted experience at Pride is complex, so we felt compelled to explore the subject further and provide our clients with practical guidance through our white paper, “Standing Proud at Pride – and Beyond.”

We assembled a dynamic panel of industry experts and diverse community members whose collective perspectives and insights fuelled our research. Using our own data and insights from sources such as GWI and YouGov, the resulting white paper provides a comprehensive and digestible understanding of the LGBTQIA+ audience and how brands can support them. It highlights the importance of being a year-round ally and the potential pitfalls to avoid when activating Pride experiences. Download your copy of the white paper here Brands at Pride White Paper – Standing Proud at Pride and Beyond

Our research also led to an in-depth webinar with IPM, where our Strategy Director, Steven Workman, Art Director, Emily Shahaj, and panel contributor, Sade Giliberti, shared illuminating and authoritative advice based on our findings. The webinar is available here Institute of Promotional Marketing

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