Surf signs five-figure deal for Handbag.com tie up

Surf, the washing detergent brand, has signed a five-figure deal with women’s lifestyle website Handbag.com, marking the Lever Fabergé brand’s first ever use of targeted online marketing.

The campaign kicks off in April, with a solus e-mail newsletter to launch Surf’s new Tropical variant, and follows with a six-month programme of bespoke editorial, promotions and advertising designed to “brighten up” Handbag readers’ everyday lives. The editorial content covers topics such as fashion accessories, holiday destinations, must-see movies of the moment and a “hot man” of the month.

Elements of the campaign will also appear on Surf’s website (surf.co.uk) with links between the two sites.

Damon Westbury, sponsorship and partnership manager of Handbag.com, says: “This opportunity offers premium advertising and editorial exposure, positioning Surf as a core and trusted brand for the Handbag audience.”

Other consumer brands that have teamed up with Handbag.com for promotions in the past include Nestlé Rowntree’s Little Notions, health site Tesco eDiets, cosmetics brand Avon and Durex condoms.

Set up in 1999 as a joint venture between Press Holdings and Boots, Handbag.com was the first women’s website to launch in the UK and claims to be the market-leading women’s lifestyle site with 876,000 regular readers, mostly 25- to 45-year-old women, each of whom spends an average 48 minutes reading 28 pages a month on the site.

Today (Wednesday) Handbag.com announced that Press Holdings is to take over Boots’ stake in the business.