SPCA shortlist

The judging has begun on entries for the new-look Sales Promotions Consultancy Agencies (SPCA) Best Awards 2000, which this year sees eight new categories.

These include four special categories which reflect the contribution individuals and companies have made to sales promotion as we enter the new millennium. During the past six months, Marketing Week readers have e-mailed their nominations for the following categories: Best Promotional Marketing Campaign, Best Individual Contribution to Promotional Marketing, Best Client Contribution to Promotional Marketing and Best Promotional Marketing Agency.

The shortlist is as follows:

Best Promotional Marketing Campaign

Tesco – “Computers for schools”. A successful and long-running campaign which captured the imagination of shoppers keen to provide new computers for schools. The campaign was developed inhouse.

British Airways – “The world’s biggest offer” gave away 50,000 free seats. In 1991, BA was affected by both the recession and Gulf War. The solution was a major promotion to kick-start business. On April 23 1991, it put 50,000 free seats up for grabs and 20 million entries were received from around the world. The campaign was developed by FKB.

Heinz – “Win a car a day”. Clarke Hooper devised the promotion and invented the free entry route. A car a day for 100 days to celebrate 100 years of Heinz trading caught the attention of consumers and trade businesses alike. The promotion opened the door for games of chance to be run legally onpack.

Shell – “Make Money”. It was one of the first gamecard promotions back in 1964. Drivers received one half of a cash cheque when they filled up with petrol and had to find the other half to claim the money. Shell’s market share grew by five per cent as people took out newspaper ads to find the other halves. It was devised by the Glendinning Consultancy.

Cadbury – “The Cadbury creme egg treasure hunt”. This promotion became a national event. Triangle came up with the idea of a treasure hunt for 12 Fabergé-style eggs hidden in secret places across the country. Consumers had to send in 12 wrappers to claim a book of clues. Early on, an egg was discovered by chance, which fired up the public imagination.

Best Individual Contribution to Promotional Marketing

John Hooper – co-founded Clarke Hooper in 1974. He left to become managing partner at Scorpion Promotional Marketing Consultancy in 1991, and then became director general of the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers in 1994.

Brian Francis – helped launch IMP in 1967 and became managing director in 1977. He left to co-found FKB in 1982 and is now chairman of Cramm Francis Woolf.

John Farrell – joined IMP as an account executive in 1980. This was followed by a brief stint as a founding director of FKB in 1984. He returned to IMP and in 1995 became group chairman of DMB&B in the UK. He is now DMB&B’s New York president.

Barry Clarke – started as a graduate trainee for sales promotion for Procter & Gamble in 1961. In 1966 he left his post as promotions development supervisor to join the first internal promotions consultancy, Glendinning, where he was involved in the “Make Money” campaign for Shell. In 1974, Clarke co-founded Clarke Hooper Consulting and he is chairman.

Colin Lloyd – has been chief executive of the Direct Marketing Association since 1993 and has seen it grow in size and influence. It is considered one of the most influential advertising trade bodies in the country today. Lloyd was one of the founders of KLP Sales Promotion – launched in 1969. He left KLP in 1993, three years after selling the agency to French agency RSCG. During 1991 and 1992, Lloyd was UK chairman of RSCG.

Best Client Contribution to Promotional Marketing

Walkers Crisps – all round consistency of interpretation and innovation. Promotional marketing is viewed by the client as a central platform for brand building.

Tesco – Changed the face of retailer promotions by dropping trading stamps for Checkout in 1977. Tesco created added value promotions, such as Tesco’s “Computers for schools” and pioneered loyalty programmes with the Tesco Clubcard.

Shell – Created a milestone campaign in 1964 through its “Make Money” campaign, which was one of the earliest gamecard promotions. This was highly innovative in its day.

Kellogg’s – consistent use of quality promotional marketing across many brands to win market share. Kellogg’s defined and shaped the “instant win” promotion, which is an integral part of its product presence. Everybody can relate to the fun and nostalgia created by delving into cereal packets for the hidden collectibles.

British Airways – had the vision to create and run “The world’s biggest offer” to kick-start business during the 1991 recession.

Britvic – Tango Doll promotion was unconventional and therefore high-risk. The result was a successful, integrated promotion and 100 per cent original.

Best Promotional Marketing Agency

(We asked each agency to highlight why it should win promotional marketing agency award.)

Clarke Hooper Consulting

“Clarke Hooper was one of the first of a new breed of sales promotion agencies to open its doors in the Seventies. It was founded on the then radical idea of providing professional consultancy work on the basis of client exclusivity rather than selling print or premiums to anyone who would buy them. Its important innovations led to some of its most memorable work. The agency worked with Capital Radio in 1974 to create “Help a London child” which has become the broadcast industry standard for marathon appeals.

“A few years later, Clarke Hooper successfully challenged conventional thinking on chance promotions to create Heinz “Win a car a day”, the first major onpack prize draw. A whole new category of prize draws and instant wins flowed from this innovation. Clarke Hooper was a pioneer in cause-related marketing 20 years before it became fashionable. It was also Heinz which gave the agency the opportunity to mount a series of mould-breaking onpack charity promotions, which had consumers sending in hundreds of millions of labels to raise funds for the National Children’s Home and many other causes. The agency’s founders, John Hooper and Barry Clarke, have given extensive service to the industry and been decorated for their public service work – Hooper with a CBE in 1997, Clarke with an OBE in 1998. The agency is a member of the AMV Group and BBDO Worldwide Network.”

KLP

“As we speed towards AD 2000 – how do you choose the agency of the millennium? The biggest? Longest? Brightest? Strongest? Or maybe just the one which shouts loudest?

“The answer should consider how well the agency does for its clients and how it consistently performs as a business. In the next millennium, successful agencies will not be agents which purchase (and earn commission). They may be theatrical agents (gathering and representing the best talent). But, more than ever before, they will be agents of change.

“If I am a client, I want my agency to be about change – exploring, innovating, opening new doors for its clients, and itself.

“On that basis alone, KLP is without equal. Consistent? Yes, it has been a leader for more than 25 years. Change? How is this for a CV? The first promotions group to float on the USM. The first marketing service offer to go for a full listing. The first agency to recognise the value of an international network.

“And, more recently, it was the first agency to create an entertainment group. Delivered famous firsts – famously for its clients: – T in the Park, Ballantine’s and The Prodigy in Red Square (and worldwide on MTV) and the Peugeot 206 launch, signposted on the Oxo Tower.”

Triangle

“The true test of a great brand is whether it can consistently exceed the expectations of its target audience; so too with agencies.

“How many other agencies, above- or below-the-line, can boast a founders partnership of 24 years, a creative product that spawned three out of Campaign’s five best promotions of all time, and continuous client relationships that stretch back, in Cadbury’s case 22 years?

“Founders, Kevin Twittey and Roger Hyslop, together with Elizabeth Baker, have assembled a talented management team whose combined experience covers many markets and most commercial environments.

“In a sense Triangle is also an academy of promotional marketing, having spawned several successful agencies and over a dozen creative directors for other agencies, as well as providing some client companies with senior managers in recent years.

Winner of more than 20 industry awards in the past three years, both in the UK and internationally, Triangle was again voted number one agency in the Marketing Week Sales Promotion Agency Reputation Survey this year, this time by the largest margin ever recorded.”

IMP

“Over the past 31 years, IMP has helped to develop some of the industry’s best talent: Adam Wylie, Adrian Coleman, Alan Smith, Alan Thompson, Alison Kennedy, Alistair Tims, Alistair Wolfendale, Andrea McCarry, Andrew Coleman, Andrew Sutcliffe, Andy Barker, Andy Blackford, Andy Collis, Andy Cowley, Andy McMorran, Andy Regan, Ann Elliott, Annette Thurgood, Bharat Parmar, Brian Francis, Carl Eatson, Carolyn Warner, Chris Chalmers, Chris Killingbeck, Chris Merrington, Chris Satterthwaite, Claire Blackstone, Clare Gordon Jones, Clive Mishon, Colin Clark, Craig Wheeler, David Harris, Denis Kerslake, Donal Murray, Ed Mason, Ed Prichard, Eileen Riddiford, Elizabeth Denny, Esther Phillips, Fiona Blades, Fiona Cialis, Francesca Bateman, Francis Wyburd, Geoff Marshall, Graham King, Helen Green, Ian Priest, Ian Thomas, James Clunis, James Hunter, Jamie Priestly, Jane Pendleybury, Jeff Goddard, John Diss, John Farrell, Jon Davies, Jonathan Oswin, Jos Marcon, Jo Shcwarz, Julia Cantley, Julian Dodds, Juliet Blackburn, Julius Denny, Justine Bold, Karen Farrell, Karen Humphries, Kate Howe, Kate Murphy, Ken Richman, Kevin Hill, Lance Smith, Laura McFarlane, Les Mear, Lesley Saville, Lindsay Wall, Liz Farnan, Liz Howard, Louisa Philips, Louise Pargetter, Louise van Moppes, Lucy Hart, Marc Rigby, Margaret Harvey, Margaret Ridley, Margot Perry, Mark Fiddes, Mark Lines, Mark Piper, Mark Reardon, Mark Zimmer, Martin Hill, Melanie Basham, Mia Dickson, Mike Bowen, Mike Johnson, Mike Townend, Muriel Stirling, Natasha Delliston, Nick Tappin, Nigel Glennie, Nikki Howson, Patricia Connell, Patrick Larsimont, Paul Armfield, Peter de Wesselow, Peter Granger, Peter Sharples, Peter Warner, Phil Slade, Pippa O’Regan, Richard Church, Richie Stewart, Rob Farrell, Rob James, Rob Tappin, Robin Bowler, Rufus Yells, Russ Kane, Ruth Blakemore, Sam Harrington-Brown, Sam Noble, Sara Bamber, Sarah Morris, Sarah Reggit, Saskia Grandison, Shelley Davis, Shelley Dawson, Simon Hastilow, Simon West, Simone Dyson, Steve Bell, Steve Brewer, Steve Cook, Steve Gumbrell, Steve Hummel, Steve Langlois, Steve O’Connor, Stewart Ayliffe, Stewart Baxter, Stewart Shanley, Stuart Pearson, Stuart Rose, Tessa Lee, Tim Dearing, Veronica Wardell, Vijay Anand, Will McKenzie, and William McDonald. The people here today are why we think IMP makes the Agency of the Millennium.”

Now it is time to cast your votes for the winner in each category. You can do this by either e-mailing Jo-Anne Flack, Special Reports Editor at Marketing Week at joannef@centaur.co.uk, or by telephoning your vote to Jan Johnston at the SPCA on 0171-580 8225. The winners will be announced at the SPCA Awards night on February 25 at Planit 2000 in London.