We mentioned our Dave Comedy campaign in an earlier blog post but we wanted to provide more detail on the Facebook app we developed as part of the campaign. The Facebook app was designed, built and implemented by Mediator to enable a more social entry process for the One Night Stand Awards and encourage user participation in the promotion.

Traditionally competition votes had been via post or text message, but the Facebook application offered a simple and easy to use multiple choice entry mechanic, that was hosted on a medium that users were actively engaged with. This was the first time such a process had been used by Dave to compliment their other marketing efforts.

The bespoke app was developed to act as a landing tab for the Dave Facebook page. The user could then choose to enter the competition by ‘liking’ the page or exploring the rest of the page further. Once ‘liked’ the user could then gain access to the multiple choice venues that were eligible for the One Night Stand Comedy Award. This method allowed Dave to engage with the user whilst benefiting from inbuilt data capture, to ensure the relationship went beyond just this single promotion.

Entrants were incentivized with a variety of prizes including iPads and Home Entertainment packages. 

The Facebook App went on to be so successful that over 80% of the 2,500 entries were via the app, with comedy clubs around the country actively promoting it on their own social networks.

This month many of the UK’s biggest theme parks and attractions will be opening their doors for the 2012 season with a host of new rides and attractions to tempt the British public through their doors.

Since 2010 Mediator has been working with ALTON TOWERS RESORT, the UK’s number one visitor attraction, delivering a variety of partnerships to meet their key objective of driving visitors.

At a time where every penny counts, a family day out can prove a costly luxury. By working in partnership with relevant brands to offer customers a two for one entry offer, ALTON TOWERS RESORT is able to stick to their brand promise of ‘existing to make Britain happy ‘, making days out accessible.

Working in partnership with ALTON TOWERS RESORT who can provide access to a high value entry voucher is an attractive proposition for brand partners. Previous promotions have shown that consumers actively seek out these offers so there is a great opportunity to drive sales by bringing new users into the category and increasing trial. In addition, it’s pertinent for many brands to work with a days out offering that’s relevant to families. With mum as the main shopper an ALTON TOWERS RESORT promotion gives them the opportunity to treat the whole family with a great day out.

Mediator’s brief was very much centred around securing FMCG brands to work with. Knowing how challenging it is to achieve cut through in this area, Mediator’s approach is to develop creative ideas that resonate with key partner objectives. Armed with a strong proposal, specific campaign ideas and our partnership and promotions expertise Mediator has been effective in delivering successful FMCG partner promotions for the brand. In 2011, Mediator secured an on-pack with Northern Foods brand Fox’s Biscuits across c.30 million packs of biscuits – it was the biggest solus promotion ever achieved by any Merlin attraction.

Delivery of partnership promotions for ALTON TOWERS RESORT has gone from strength to strength and Mediator has secured a schedule of four FMCG partnerships to go live across the 2012 season with brands including Green Giant, Yoo (Tesco only yogurt brand), Bernard Matthews and Sugar Puffs. The promotions will reach in excess of c.22 million with a message about ALTON TOWERS RESORT.

The market for on-pack offers is becoming increasingly competitive and achieving cut through can be difficult. Online support, specifically social media and supporting competitions all have a role to play to ensure the success of promotions. With the right partner and the right mechanic, working with an attraction can prove advantageous for both parties - driving sales for the partner and visitors for the attraction.

Although there can be a perception that ‘two for one’ offers are widely available, the fact remains that demand is high. Mediators approach to identify relevant brands and undertake detailed research into specific brand campaigns and objectives ensures we take a strategic, creative and bespoke approach to partner promotions that deliver.

Go on, treat yourself, go and buy some Tesco Yoo and take the family for a great day out at a fraction of the cost!!

At Mediator we love challenging briefs, so when television channel, Dave asked us how we would reinforce the channels ‘witty banter’ positioning whilst strengthening their association with live stand-up comedy, we jumped at the chance!

Our solution - Dave’s Comedy Society, a multi-faceted partnership campaign designed to develop a deeper relationship with viewers whilst positioning Dave at the heart of the UK comedy scene, championing the industry at a grass root level.

With the demand for stand-up comedy on the rise, phase one saw Mediator develop partnerships with 135 comedy clubs nationwide enabling the channel to offer viewers ‘2 for 1’ tickets to comedy events up and down the country. To promote the scheme, Mediator secured a high profile media partnership with The Sun newspaper who promoted Dave’s Comedy Society in-paper for the launch week and online for the remainder of the launch month to 16.9 million adults, offering a media value of £194,668.

Phase two saw Mediator develop Dave’s One Night Stand Award, activity that would drive engagement amongst the clubs by getting them to encourage the public to vote for their favourite comedy night. Each club became a mini marketing hub for the channel by displaying a range of Dave branded collateral in-venue. Again this activity was supported with a high profile media partner, Absolute Radio. Thanks to Mediator’s robust targeting methods, we knew the radio station was spot on in terms of brand fit and as such, they agreed to co-promote the award throughout the two month promotional period offering a media value of £626,035 and extending the reach of the campaign by 12,745,000.

As one of our most ambitious and innovative multi partner campaigns to date, Dave’s Comedy Society is a great example of how different partners can tick different boxes. The comedy clubs offer added value to Dave viewers whilst positioning the brand at the grass roots of comedy and the media partners act to drive awareness of the campaign. Due to its unprecedented success, both the 2 for 1 scheme and Dave’s One Night Stand Award will be re-running in 2012/13, so watch this space!

In July, O2 launched Priority Moments, an extension to the network service provider’s existing priority loyalty scheme. Priority Moments is an app that uses geo-location technology to offer their 22 million customers access to exclusive and innovative offers provided by a range of 30 partners. Following a two week launch, the Priority Moment app rose from 12^th to 1^st place in the Brand Republic branded app chart so what is it that makes Priority Moments stand out from the crowd?

Using partner rewards as a way to engage and reward customers is not a new principle. With brands across all categories recognising that one of the biggest motivators for customers is cash, offering discounts across their favourite brands holds value. Or does it? In an environment where at the drop of a hat people can visit Vouchercloud or Groupon to get a free starter at Zizzi or group discounts on National Express, are third party rewards valued by consumers enough to have a positive impact on reducing churn? O2 certainly think so….

What O2 have done with Priority Moments is provide people with practical savings straight into the palm of their hand, rewards that can be redeemed instantly, oozing simplicity and relevance. With a promise of saving customers up to £105 a month through partner rewards, Priority Moments becomes a strong retention tool as well as an acquisition driver.

The success of Priority Moments is as much about the support the brand gives the scheme as it is about the scheme itself. The level of investment has enabled O2 to offer its customers new and exclusive rewards that in turn provide stand-out amongst the crowd – until now, I haven’t seen French Connection, Neals Yard or House of Fraser participate in a programme of this nature.

It is estimated that O2 has spent £6m in ad spend alone to promote Priority Moments. Different creative executions feature partner logos and imagery, making participation in a programme of this nature a very attractive proposition to brands - access to 22 million customers as well as above-the-line support!  By properly supporting the campaign with significant investment, partners are willing to put forward strong offers in return for the exposure they will receive. This, coupled with an immediate and simple redemption mechanic makes Priority Moments different to all other third party based retention tools.

The moral of the story is, in order to create an engaging partnership strategy brands should be prepared to invest in above-the-line support as well as the partnerships themselves. A recent report from the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising showed that combining above-the-line advertising with promotional marketing is the most effective way to achieve ‘hard business objectives’*. Not only does this raise awareness of the campaign but, more importantly, in Partnership Marketing it creates an attractive proposition to take to partners, ensuring valuable rewards are secured.

Taking Priority Moments as an example – a scheme solely based on partner rewards, why wouldn’t brands invest in the very backbone of their strategy?

In an ever competitive market, O2 have got it right with Priority Moments but it didn’t come without a price. Moving forward, brands should recognise the importance of supporting partnership activity with above-the-line advertising, ensuring activity is engaging, exclusive and offers real value to customers.

www.ipm.org.uk

Somebody asked me yesterday to explain partnership marketing. My immediate thought was they must be joking – when you’re immersed in something on a daily basis you do tend to assume everyone already gets what you do.

When I realised they weren’t, my answer was as follows. Partnership marketing can be sales promotion. It can be about generating loyalty or finding new routes to market to acquire new customers. It can be a promotional campaign to support a new product launch.

It’s basically any kind of promotional marketing with one key point of difference – the selected route to reach a target market is via a brand that audience is already interacting with, making the delivery of a message all the more powerful. So for every sales promotions brief, there will be a partnership marketing solution. For every acquisition or loyalty brief, there will be a partnership marketing solution. In short, wherever there is a need to motivate a change in customer behavior, there will be a role for partnership marketing.

That’s why at the heart of our slick new re-brand is the line ‘creating change through partnerships and promotions’ which we think sums up exactly what we do. If you want to take a closer look at how it all works, check out our case studies. We’re also now on Twitter and Facebook and between the two will be sharing our opinions on industry news, our own campaigns and generally giving you the chance to get to know us better.

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Elaine Robertson
Managing Director