Billington Cartmell set to launch entertainment unit

Billington Cartmell has hired Denzil Thomas as head of music and entertainment, with a remit to launch an entertainment unit serving the whole BCL group.

Thomas will be also working across BCL’s experiential agency Closer and broadcast unit Brave, to develop relationships between clients and the entertainment industry.

Thomas has spent the past three years running his own consultancy, Eat Your Greens, running commercial music programmes for brands such as Toyota, Coca-Cola, MBNA, Lloyds TSB, Nokia, Jack Daniels, Diageo and O2.

He previously worked as a business development manager for IPC Media, where he created projects for Uncut, Muzik and Toyota and developed the NME joint sales promotion with Coca-Cola, which featured on 40m packs.

He is a former Grammy-nominated recording artist and also helped launch UK university radio network Student Broadcast Network in 1997, bringing in more than £1m in revenue.

Thomas said: “I have worked with several agencies in the past. But it was only through working with BCL that I felt the time was right to return to the agency world.

“I have always been impressed by BCL’s creative work for many global blue chip clients and their unrivalled strategic thinking, and with my entertainment experience, we will create an unbeatable package for not only BCL and Closer clients, but any clients considering working in this area.”

BCL also has a history of establishing entertainment partnerships, having worked on Vodafone’s entry to music marketing with its sponsorship of Kylie’s comeback tour. Other clients include Diageo, Tesco, Unilever, Nestle, Carlsberg and Heinz.

Ian Billington, BCL chairman, said: “The music and entertainment industries are areas where advertisers can make an enormous impact if they approach the right talent in the right way for the right brand.”

BILLINGTON CARTMELL TO GET FRANK WITH PARTNERS

Billington Cartmell has been appointed by the Home Office, the Department of Health and the Department for Education and Skills to develop partnership marketing for the FRANK campaign. FRANK is the national drugs information service aimed mainly at young people and their parents/carers.  

Billington Cartmell will be negotiating partnerships with a range of youth brands to help promote FRANK campaign messages in environments which are difficult to reach through traditional media.  They will also be working to drive traffic to both the helpline (0800 77 66 00) and www.talktofrank.com  COI managed the three-way pitch that also included Iris Nation and Gasoline. 

Commenting on the appointment, Chris Neish, Senior Campaigns Manager at the Department of Health said:“We were impressed with the quality of Billington Cartmell’s strategic thinking and creative flair and look forward to working with them to ensure that young people receive reliable drugs information from FRANK in a straightforward and non-judgemental way, via the brands they respect.” Partnership marketing is part of the fully integrated FRANK campaign which includes above the line, PR and stakeholder support. 

Billington Cartmell Tops the Tables

Growing our reputation.

The annual Marketing Week Agency Reputation Survey saw BCL climb to 7th position in the overall agency standings; our highest ever ranking ( up from No.9 in 2005.)

The agency also registered in the top 10 in every criteria measured with “creativity”, “strategic planning” and “expertise across more than one discipline” our highest ranked competencies. ( all at 5th position.)

Growing our culture.

The annual Marketing magazine / Stop Gap survey of the UK’s best marketing employers ranked BCL 12th in the agency category.

This is the agency’s highest ever showing in this survey.

Billington Cartmell is helping The National Autistic Society to Get Miles More Out Of Life

This January sees the launch of ‘Get Miles More Out of Life’; an integrated communications campaign created by Billington Cartmell for the National Autistic Society.

The campaign seeks to inspire and interest potential participants to sign up for Active Challenges and in the process raise funds for the NAS.Active Challenges include NAS-organised events, such as Trekking in the Sahara or to Mount Kilimanjaro, open events such as the London Marathon and the Great North Run as well as adrenalin events such as skydiving or white water rafting.Get Miles More Out of Life means taking part in physically and mentally challenging activities for the benefit of people with autism and their families; helping them cope with the challenges they have to face every day.

The campaign is built around a specially-created series of adverts which will run in national and specialist press as well as an online campaign which drives readers to the bespoke website: www.getmilesmore.org.uk. 

On the site, potential challengers can request an information pack for any of the Challenges. Once registered, challengers will receive a Registration pack which includes a comprehensive Training Guide, a Fundraising Guide and a guide to getting maximum media coverage of their event.To support each event there is also a wealth of visibility items including banners, flags, supporters t-shirts and a large event stand.If you would like to get more out of your brands please contact:
Vanessa Hogg at Billington Cartmell on 0207 471 1978 or email vanessa_hogg@bcl.co.uk

 

Marketing Society Grand Prix Award

Billington Cartmell’s sister agency, Brave, has scooped three of the top prizes at the Marketing Society 2006 Awards for Green & Black’s.

Brave won The Marketing Society Awards for:

• Excellence

• Marketing Achievement

• Grand Prix

Closer Wins Experiential Evaluation Award

Billington Cartmell’s experiential division, Closer, have won:  

• Event Award (Gold) for Unilever’s Vie Shot

• Brand Experience Awards (Gold) LBEA Award for experiential marketing campaign evaluation

What is the most important factor in the decision

Health and beauty brand Boots is the most trusted brand in the UK, according to research from consultancy Corporate Culture and its Customer Trust Index. It emerged with an 85% trust rating, closely followed by search engine Google (at 84%), computer software company Microsoft (at 69%), and cosmetics retailer The Body Shop (at 66%).The survey also found that three in five people will not buy a product from a company that they do not trust however attractive the price, product or service. To see what ranks as the most and least trusted business sectors and the top 10 factors for building or destroying trust, read on…. Most trusted sectors                  Least trusted sectors 1. Entertainment and leisure        1. Tobacco 2= Food companies                     2. Fast food 2= Supermarkets                         3. Petrochemicals 2= Technology                             4= Gas/electricity 3. Pharmaceutical                        4= Construction 4. Cosmetic/toiletries Top 10 most important factors in decision to trust a company: 1. Keeps promises (76%) 2. Customer service (70%) 3. Consistently high quality (64%) 4. Effectively deals with complaints (64%) 5. Value for money (64%) 6. Honest/admit mistakes (59%) 7. Product safety (59%) 8. Meets individual needs (52%) 9. Listens to customers (51%) 10. Clear pricing (49%)T Top 10 most important factors in decision NOT to trust a company: 1. Doesn’t correct mistakes (80%) 2. Fails to protect privacy (77%) 3. Doesn’t do what it says (74%) 4. Inaccurate billing (70%) 5. Too many sales calls (65%) 6. Inconsistent quality (63%) 7. Ingredients may damage health (60%) 8. Doesn’t inform price/product changes (50%) 9. Outsources call centres/operations (55%) 10. Unclear pricing (52%)Source for all tables: Corporate Culture

How to transform online business data into accurate, adaptable and actionable information

Tesco has chosen Site Intelligence to provide its online business intelligence for Tesco.com. The move is part of Tesco’s multi channel retail strategy and will enable the company to analyse all aspects of its on-line customer acquisition, retention and conversion behaviour.

Tesco will use Site Intelligence’s “Visitor Behaviour Information System” (VBISTM), to transform online business data into accurate, adaptable and actionable information, in order to drive profit generation.Tesco chose Site Intelligence to supply a solution that was fast, cost effective and adaptable and offered a solution that would run on the Tesco system.

This means that Tesco has the ability to analyse information from all of its online business streams and receive valuable business reports that give a much greater customer understanding and the ability to improve website design and marketing, leading to better conversion rates and improved customer retention.

Stuart Gregory, Tesco.com comments: “We wanted a robust web analytics system that we could manage in-house and was flexible enough to meet the growing demands of all our business managers. VBIS from Site Intelligence will provide us with online marketing intelligence ensuring all our marketing campaigns are measured, evaluated and consistently improved”.

David Pool, Commercial Director at Site Intelligence, comments “We are extremely pleased to be working closely with Tesco. We have extensive experience in the on-line retail sector and worked closely with Tesco to really understand what is important to the business and ensure the system addresses all Tesco’s requirements now and into the future.

The main point of difference for Site Intelligence is its ability to provide seamless online and offline behavioural analysis and reporting so that businesses have a complete and incisive understanding of their customers, in order to drive both sales and profitability.

U.K. economy to expand the most since 2004

Britain’s economy is set to grow strongly on the back of the booming financial-services industry and rising business investment, according to the Ernst & Young Item club.The club, which uses the Treasury’s model of the economy and predicts 2.9% growth this year, is more upbeat than most economists, who see growth of only about 2.5%.

“The forecast shows business investment growing by another 7.5% in 2007.”

The new forecast envisages the good times continuing into 2008, with growth carrying on at a 2.9% rate.

This year’s growth will come in spite of a predicted slowdown in the housing market.

The Item club said that inflation would fall to the Bank’s 2% target even without another rise in interest rates from the current 5.25%. Strong retail sales figures last week, showing a 1.1% jump in sales volume in December, have combined with the news of a rise in consumer price inflation to 3% to put the financial markets on alert for further interest-rate rises.

The risks are on the upside. “If asset valuations continue to rise there will be a strong case for raising interest rates to bring the markets to heel and protect the economy from a financial crash,” a financial commentator said.

Economists will be looking for guidance to Mervyn King, the Bank governor, when he gives a set-piece speech on the economy in
Birmingham this week. Analysts surveyed by Ideaglobal.com, the financial-data firm, predicted a 7-2 vote in favour of the rate hike. A clearer vote in favour of the hike would add to fears of further early increases, while a closer vote could persuade the markets that the Bank will bide its time.

Insight into Viral marketing

Everyone’s talking about viral marketing campaigns and user generated content. The consumer has more power than ever before and marketers are eager to reach them in new ways. Although viral campaigns can be risky territory for brands that take the wrong approach, a well-executed campaign can build relationships and communicate brand experience in a way traditional media never can.

The overwhelming rise of viral marketing campaigns in the past few years means the field is becoming oversaturated nearly as quickly as it caught on. While it used to be that consumers would forward on any clever video clip that landed in their inbox, the information overload that exists today means it’s harder for viral campaigns to stand out from the pack. With dozens of social networking sites introducing their own video platforms and nearly every brand trying its hand at viral, it’s becoming more and more crucial for marketers to deliver the overall brand experience.

A viral campaign has to come from the big idea and relate back to the brand’s message, or else it runs the risk of being just another amusing clip that ends up in the “deleted items” folder. Another one of the challenges with a viral campaign is that the consumer is ultimately in control. In addition to being highly particular about what campaigns they’ll forward on to their friends, consumers are also turning their critical eye back onto the brands.

Video sharing platforms are quickly adapting their models in order to give viewers more control. The marketers that can also evolve will be the ones whose campaigns cut through the viral clutter. To make the most of a viral campaign, brands should follow these tips: • make it relevant – consumers aren’t going to pass on a video that doesn’t mean anything to them, or won’t be of interest to the people in the address book;

• know what is right for the brand – an insurance company that traditionally targets fortysomethings would probably look a bit out of place with its own MySpace profile; • allow consumers the opportunity to opt-in to interact with the brand – sending spam is never a good way to get positive attention;

• test the message on a small portion of the audience before rolling out the entire campaign – it’s rare to get the message right on the first try. Sending the email to a small sample and monitoring conversion rates can help in tweaking the campaign;

• viral campaigns are more successful if the company doesn’t consider it advertising – viral is an entirely new channel with its own set of rules. For the latest on viral marketing trends and the most buzz worthy campaigns, visit www.nma.co.uk or www.mad.co.uk.