Category: 2016
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Love them or hate them: Chocolate Sprouts
Yes – we actually can get these – Green wrapped foil chocolate footballs (and they look very realistic) but you’ll soon find everyone loves sprouts when they get into these.
Perfect ingredient for a controversial marketing stunt or a fun giveaway.
Who’s going to kick off a marketing campaign with these?
Contact the team for your greens
You choose a gift to make your customers happy, still the best idea? Yes.
My alternative choice of heading was going to be “Choose a gift and make your customers happy or let them choose, and let them down.” This is how I feel right now…
When you give a gift you normally try and think about your audience, and how they will feel about receiving your gift, whether it links, or doesn’t, too big, too small, too over-powering, too happy-clappy, what will it say about your company, all these thoughts are going on in your head, planning a campaign, particularly the end-of year “Thanks for your business” campaign.
However, when Mailchimp gave me the chance to choose my end of year gift, I noted this was really clever. Mailchimp – by the way – provide an online portal to make email campaigns, and have an incredibly supportive team. Very clever, but I didn’t give it much more thought, other than thinking of it in relation to our own business here, ‘when we’re big enough to let customer’s choose’ a wishful, fluffy kind of thought, and being me, the chocoholic, I choose a Chocolate Freddie. The choice, from memory was a range of about 6 Freddie options in small circles (Freddie is their monkey-mascot) – a red Freddie head, a gold Freddie head, a few coloured options and the Chocolate one…
My thought process went something like this – Chocolate, gone in no time, (unlike the socks from last year) no one would be embarrased of me just eating a Freddie-head (rather than wearing the socks round the office for the afternoon, and on occasion later) and it wouldn’t be a useless toy, or synthetic fruit-flavoured like the others appeared to be.
So Chocolate-Freddie it was.
As with previous Mailchimp giveaways, you tend to forget you’ve made any decision over a gift, so when it finally arrives it is a surprise and a laugh. I said previous didn’t I?
Today, I received my Freddie. When I saw Mailchimp on the barcode, I knew straight away what it would be. When I saw how big it was, I called over my colleague to come and share the chocolate… There must be loads of it! Then we discovered the Non-Chocolate Freddie. Only after we’d had a good try at snapping off his arms and thinking he looked like an easter egg on steriods, did we decide to start an online chat with Mailchimp and complain about the Freddie-chocolate rip-off. It wasn’t even a phone-holder (no second use…arghhh!)
Me: Hello – I just received my Chocolate Freddie… looks like chocolate, smells like chocolate… Can I eat it???
JJ: Hi Jeannette! Thanks for reaching out. I would recommend that you DON’T eat it 🙂
Me: Sorely disappointed. I choose it thinking it would be half the size, and chocolate.
JJ: Jeannette, I want you to know you’re not the first one to think that! I will definitely pass along that feedback, as I am a chocolate lover myself. Would you like some free MailChimp swag as a peace offering?
Me: Yes please. Anything. Totally understand if you can’t send it to arrive right this second.
JJ: https://link to swag-order options – hats and t’shirts but no sign of any chocolate Choose any one item on that page, and we’ll send it to you on the house! Was there anything else I can help you with today, Jeannette?
Me: I’m struggling now… no chocolate still! Nah – thanks
JJ: Sorry, Jeannette! I know how crucial chocolate is–you can submit your feedback here, too, if you want!
So I emailed my feedback… I can’t believe the diddle! All I wanted was a little nib of chocolate to nobble on, and instead I get this useless non-chocolate piece of plastic. Asside, we decided that the outer packaging is very good, and very well produced.
To finish off, and keep our relationship sweet this is how the online chat ended.
JJ: If you need anything else, let me know. I hope you enjoy the rest of your day!
Me: Thanks and you
Maybe I am thankless, but I take from this that, fluffy thoughts aside, better to choose a gift to keep your customers sweet than let them choose something useless without meaning to!
Sweet treats are always a success, but there’s a few things to watch as well as your waist line…!
We’ve found that any promotion with food gains more traction than without!! Even with our monthly emails, if they have a foody Subject heading, the clicks go up. From our experience of helping clients pack their marketing message alongside a foody give-away, and sticking mainly to sweets and chocolate, here’s a few of the pitfalls:
1. Best-before dates
Really you need to be thinking more in terms of when will your sweet-treat look it’s best, and how to deliver it so it does reach your target audience in its best condition. This isn’t just about standard best-before dates, it’s about protecting it’s route all the way from the supplier through to final consumption!
2. Food becoming tainted by print
You need to consider whether the sweet-treat could be tainted in any way by coming into close contact for an extended period of time – chocolates in silver or paper wrappers (not fully sealed) is the worst example for this. Whether it’s coming in close contact with fresh print in the packaging or whether it’s tainted from other printed items it’s packed in with. Sometimes it is a long time between goods being packed and when they are discovered and enjoyed. Generally fruity flavoured sweets are fine, but chocolate is not!
We recommend that the time between goods being packed and the time they are delivered (to the consumer) is 3-5 days – so if you’re sending chocolate you need to arrange for a one-off campaign to be packed and sent in a very short space of time.
Alternatively there are ways to seal the sweets or the packaging to avoid tainting.
3. Sending out as a Campaign, or one by one?
We recommend a campaign for a number of reasons – for one it makes it easier to track the success, how many people responded, level of new enquiries (we always recommend following up a campaign by email and/or phone, backed by social to gain maximum results) and secondly, you don’t end up with overs on any foody bits that go out of date on you, meaning everyone gets fat eating them up! However, that said, we know that some of our clients like to send out quotes with samples, that simply can’t be done as a campaign. So… we recommend choosing foody gifts that will definitely be in the supermarket and available as one-offs, so you’re not tied by bulk-buying and food going out of date.
4. Choosing a shape of foody-gift
If you’re going to send out ad-hoc, and even if you’re going to run a campaign at the start, it’s always worth picking a sweet-treat that is a standard size. For example, if you’re going to send out a cream egg it’s worth picking a really standard size, so if it’s got a designed slot in your presentation pack then it’s easy to change over to a different type of easter egg if you find you can’t get the same thing. Certain sizes of sweetie bags come in a range of different brands and flavours, but similar size of bag, making it easy to change over (if you had to!).
5. Keeping costs sensible
You might want to think about costs too – it’s all very well doing a campaign when you can contact the manufacturer and buy in bulk (and they are pleased to hear from you!) but if you want more for sending out later, you want to be sure that they’ve sold you a standard size that you can easily obtain in smaller quantities.
6. Selecting food suitable for the time & location you’re sending it in to
This sounds more complicated than it actually is. It’s just about delivering the right message, at the right time, to the right people. Merial (below) delivered a pack of microwave popcorn and fruit gums to the first 500 people who signed up for their webinar, a great example of delivering the perfect sweet-treat so appropriately.
Sweets and chocolate delivered to almost anywhere is appropriate, unless you’re trying to sell to Dentists or Hygenists, then perhaps not…! Over to you on your target clients.
7. Buying too many
Touched on already – this is a common problem – the campaign was for 500 people but the outers on chocolate bars meant you had to order 600… It doesn’t take anyone with too many brains to work out that there are 100 overs sitting around. It’s well-worth planning an office party, or how else you will use them up rather than have them sitting there going out of date, or heading onto the hips of your staff, groan!
8. Don’t use your brand confectionery
There are many promotional companies that can sell you all manner of confectionery, fudge, biscuits and other items branded with your company name. Imagine if you received a tube of BoxcoUK biscuits. You might well say “Are these OK to eat!?”, after all BoxcoUK doesn’t make biscuits, and there’s a good chance that you don’t either! (So don’t go there!) When sending promotional biscuits or confectionery, depending on your target audience use a well-known, popular, or luxury brand. Your customers will have confidence in packaging they have seen before more than they will in your own brand product.
The exception to this rule is if your own brand confectionery packaging has a secondary use, in which case it will be used for storing something unrelated (and your brand will be on it, rather than another).
(Almost everybody has another use for a nice box or tin for keeping things in.)
We hope you learnt something new and if you’d like to tell us about your experiences with food, good or bad, we’ll try and include your contributions to this blog post! Stay in touch by following us on Linkedin for more.
For fun, here’s some great examples:
Fixfast – Pick ‘N’ Fix pack
Providing exclusive hampers – This mock-leather hamper was used to launch the new season’s brochure in straw, to match the catalogue, alongside luscious Stem Ginger & Dark Chocolate fudge!
Maple Sunscreen Quotation delivery pack
What could your clients need more when they come to read your catalogue or brochure, this pack came complete with biscuits, mug, notepad and pen.
Merial Webinar Snack Pack
The world shopper insight panel reached a 30,000 members! This simple yet very effective marketing communication was produced to share the news, along with a pile of Viscount biscuits.
Liquidline Truffle presentation pack
Woodhouse Workspace Drop-in pack
Inspiring dynamic workspace performance, using Woodhouse can make all the difference when it comes to taste…explained in a handy leaflet and delivered with Montezuma chocolate bar!
Want to have foody fun with your brand…?
For bespoke promotional marketing and training products that help you Win more…
Call us on 020 3011 0211.
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The Mince Pie Office Pack, info to download
Click here
Any questions, please call 020 3011 0211 or send an email to business@boxcouk.com
Re-living that wow moment when Carling delivered Lager ‘Thank You’ pack
Above: Carling for a refreshingly refined taste
The promotional desk drop was designed to launch the new brand to all team members, with a carry handle to take home, complete with two bottles and a can of Carling to enjoy. Focusing on drink, and making an impact with your target audience… do you want them to enjoy it, share it or blog it?
Baileys
Taking the Baileys brand to exhibition, the gift bags designed for two sizes of bottle were a bespoke measure with luxurious ivory gold ribbon
Jack Daniels
Designed for The Daily Telegraph newspaper who needed a branded outer pack for the promotional giveaway of a bottle of Jack Daniels Tennessee
Pilsner Urquell
Created as a presentation pack for an individual beer glass, the Pilsner Urquell pack comes complete with a wax seal of authenticity.
Johnnie Walker Red Label
A bespoke end of year promotion for top customers, this unique pack was created to have real impact with a concise message ‘with thanks’.
Julia Arenson, Head of Creative Production at VCCP says…
We worked with BoxcoUK on these Carling display boxes. They helped us with the construction of the boxes. The boxes were done to a high standard and we were very happy with the result.
Drink and drive your marketing responsibly…
For bespoke promotional marketing and training products that help you Win more… Call BoxcoUK on 020 3011 0211 or visit our Gallery for ideas.
Bespoke-built sample presentation, and the LAX BlackCore range
Making an impression with delivery increases engagement with your brand, and adds quality to the products and services you provide. For best impact, deliver a little of what you do best… Keep it simple, and think about what your customers want to see (is there a service you offer that they don’t all know about, but they’ve been asking for?), and what could you put in alongside to increase engagement (we find a foody-something works!)…
The LAX range we use is constructed using BlackCore board, which gives a very professional end product with white edges eliminated on the corners of your boxes. LAX looks particularly good when foil blocking or screen printing techniques are used to finish it off.
Pictured above: Quickband by Safeaid Supplies the rail safety specialist
Armband and badge inserts delivered in fully branded LAX BlackCore presentation pack with engraved pen
Providing clients, prospects and sign-ups with just a little sample of what you do best, goes a long way to strengthening your brand. For advice on bespoke promotional marketing and training products that help you Win more…
Call BoxcoUK on 020 3011 0211 or, if you’re not ready yet, follow us on Linkedin
Samples of other presentation packs we’ve made…
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Built to showcase hearing aid solutions, the Phonak presenter was a masterpiece in itself
Phonak’s mission is to reconnect it’s niche audience with the beauty of sound.
From Sky-V hearing aids in 16 colours to wireless hearing aids controlled from your phone the innovation that Phonak provides, means sufferers now lead fuller lives.
Yes – you heard right. Thanks to modern technology and innovation, high quality standards and industry-leading expertise, Phonak is able to continuously deliver the best solution for hearing.
The presentation pack designed by BoxcoUK showcased the newest hearing solutions and had brochures, CD and mock framed certificate neatly placed inside.
Ronnie Devine, Customer Experience Manager at BoxcoUK, comments
The pack was made for the Sales team to present at the coal-face, visiting clients. It provides something tangible for the Sales people to show and talk about as well as for the clients to engage with the brand and learn about Phonak and what they do for people with hearing difficulties.
In today’s world it’s no longer about having a great product with excellent design, delivered on time etc., people want to hear the story and experience being part of a community, buying from a great company, with a fantastic brand, and belonging to the culture that comes from owning it.
The presentation case designed for Phonak is tangible and a great way to demonstrate a living brand that engenders a vibrant community of previously impaired people whose lives have been changed, all thanks to Phonaks unique hearing pieces, “Life is on”.
Do you have difficulty in making yourself heard?
For bespoke promotional marketing and training products that help you Win more…
Call BoxcoUK on 020 3011 0211 or visit our Gallery for ideas
Running with the best methods, fast!
We recently attended a networking session on Marketing Strategy with delegates from a range of different industries, from apple packing machinery to plush office fit-out, clothing to coffee. Sharing ideas, we talked about the challenges we face, and the different marketing methods there are, which to utilise and how.
What came through was that everybody in management wants to know what marketing methods are best, and secondly, is marketing strategy separate or the same thing as having a Business Strategy? We quickly concluded on this second idea, during the session, because we felt that when there is a clear business strategy, then the marketing (strategy) falls into place… and really calling it a Marketing Strategy is way more complicated than is necessary! Read on for my takeaways…
So marketing is part of the business strategy… but everyone wants to know: What are the best marketing methods to pick up? With a myriad of ideas out there, which could be the big new thing for your brand. So many avenues, restraints with time and budget, you just can’t do everything, so choosing which ideas you use is vital.
There’s a need to evaluate the success rate of a marketing method, and which type of brands has it worked for so far? How can you take ideas used in other similar industries (but avoiding ‘me too’ – copying your competitors) and turn your industry on it’s head with a new idea, driving an awesome return in Sales.
Being able to measure the outcome of marketing – everyone knows that this is where digital shines – check someone is getting reports and knows what your key numbers are. Watching them month on month can be really helpful and supports evidence of an increase in Sales coming from digital.
For non-digital methods – it can be treated as a campaign, and measured against the number of leads you started off with. It might be that you have to measure by gut feel (and this isn’t guessing) – analysing and evaluating and asking honestly: Did this work, or did it NOT work? Who felt good about the marketing? Did it bring in more Sales? What response did you get from customers? Keep using the methods that are working. Find creative ways to finish with methods that aren’t working. Embracing change quicker and quicker.
Face to face is coming out tops again – Visiting customers is powerful – it proves you care (and exist!). There is so much noise out there now and so many people can be contacted in so many ways, that it seems face-to-face is coming out tops again. This is not just cold-calling – you have to know they have a need – you’re not wasting anyone’s time – it needs to be very focused.
Cold calls are no longer so cold… The phonecalls we make are purposeful, following up leads that have made contact with us, or where a colleague has referred someone. Social can soften up leads and generate a long-term interest as clients engage with your brand.
Email marketing is working for everyone… so long as it’s timely & relevant, it’s effective.
And lots more was discussed but no room here… Content marketing, make it interesting and something that is going to be shared. Digital marketing starts with a great website, the hub for all your marketing. Having a targeted individual strategy for different customers … or a set of customers. Having a referral scheme in place, videos of customer testimonials, an app…
Focusing on the marketing ideas that are working (because you know they are) is key to the Marketing Strategy (or Business strategy!) and measuring the results is calculating how far you’ve run and what distance there is still to cover.
Now’s the time to be thinking how good Mince Pies taste…
Particularly when a pack of 24 arrives in the offices of your customers, right at the start of the party season. Add this pack to your Marketing Plan for Christmas 2016, available in quantities of 100, 200 and 400packs. Branded all over, from Design Guides that Boxco provide, these packs have consistently caused a stir when they get unwrapped and shared round the office. No surprises, eh?
Enquire now, in time for delivery in early December.
Intentionally slim, making a big impression, as it delivers a welcome message (with key, card, pen or USB information)…
An ingenious presentation pack created from card folded around a foam centre. Very effective and modern in impact…The PEK620 Thank You (shown above) delivers a warm welcoming message with the key to a new home-owner, presented alongside a branded key ring & pen.
‘Everything you need is explained here’… ‘Welcome to’… ‘We hope you enjoy your stay’… ‘This is what your membership covers’… The PEK pack has numerous uses giving brands the scope to deliver a direct message to the right people, at the right time, in the right way.
Jeannette Jones, comments from the Marketing Team at BoxcoUK
“The PEK is designed to be given out by hand and can be used at Exhibition (as a give away), or in a Showroom setting (with additional information), as well as behind the desk when you get new customers signing up for e.g. Gym Membership.
You can post them but they would need clear seals over the sides, or a ‘rip-off’ strip and if it was potentially secure information there would have to be some mechanism for the recipient to activate (e.g. the card) when they received it. All things are possible with the PEK. There are many situations where it performs outstandingly.”
Looking to deliver a slim simple message? For bespoke promotional marketing and training products that help you Win more…
Call BoxcoUK on 020 3011 0211
To download a copy of our brochure, click here
To request a printed copy of our brochure, click here
Pictures from the day
We were at CDX16 on Tuesday this week exhibiting our personalised vehicle handover packs to Car dealership groups. The packs can be personalised online for the new car owner, really neat and a great way to cause a stir on handover making for long-term connection between the car dealership and the new car owner. The success on handover brings reward to the dealership of good customer feedback, repeat business and referrals for future business.
Some pictures from the day…
Compact and ready to personalise for the new prospective client, an inspiring message delivered with chocolate… Expect results!
Woodhouse had a familiar life-could-be-better story… “All we need is more clients, just like our best client”… A way to target new prospective clients, get them thinking about an office refurb, ahead of the event, and keeping them away from the competition. What we needed was something direct, personalised, with a friendly approach. That’s how the Drop-in Pack was first briefed.
What soon became clear was that their top-notch prospectives were working in adjacent offices to their current clients, the floor above, the floor below.
When we designed this pack for Woodhouse, more business from next door meant that when one of the team was making a site visit they could easily take 5-10 packs out with them, walk into the Reception above and below where they are working, and ask for the best contact, write this on the front of the Drop-in pack (there’s a space designed for it) and the pack would be guaranteed to be in the right place, for the right person. Really targeted, really effective.
The pack itself is small but won’t be missed. On the outside it says Here’s a little of what we do… and the word Taste which reads well both referring to the contents and what Woodhouse delivers in terms of tasteful design.
Inside there’s the mission statement and a testimonial to their great delivery – on time, on budget – space for a bar of Montezuma’s chocolate, a Z-card showing past projects, and a clear call to action.
Matthew Cooper, Director of Business Development at Woodhouse Workspace, comments,
“Woodhouse are really pleased with the drop-in packs provided by BoxcoUK. From initial brief to finished article, they were excellent. We required a product that caught people’s attention, was small, but got prospects to pick up the phone and this is what BoxcoUK produced. We still have a requirement for these boxes years later!”
Ronnie Devine, Customer Experience Manager at BoxcoUK, comments
“Good news Matthew! I believe one of the secrets to the success of this pack is being able to personalise it to the recipient. People love being given something just for them with their name on. Marketing fails to impress with incorrect spelling or old data, but these are designed for everyone in the team to be approaching new clients, on friendly first name terms, making it an easy obvious choice for new clients to make contact.”
Simple, direct, effective… Who’s next door when you visit your client?
For bespoke promotional marketing and training products that help you Win more…
Call BoxcoUK on 020 3011 0211
Tasty viscount biscuit pack delivers massive message to new users
The company, Kantar World Panel provides consumer insights on all aspects of shopper behaviours, from personal care to petrol, fashion to fast-moving goods such as food and drink, allowing businesses, across the world, to take decisions based on real facts gathered from reliable data.
Kantar needed to send a message that was clear, to new prospectives, portraying graphically the depth of their insights into consumer behaviour. They had also reached a level of 30,000 UK households participating on their consumer panel…
Working with this statistic BoxcoUK came up with the sliding packaging that revealed the green zeros in the “30,000” which were green Viscount biscuits and very tasty for the recipient to share and enjoy while they read the Kantar brochure, which was a slim folded leaflet delivered alongside.
The campaign was highly effective in pointing out that Kantar’s consumer panel of participating households had now reached 30,000 and, because of this, now offers a greater level of accurate insight to brand owners base decisions on real consumer buying behaviours.
David Bottazzi, Creative Consultant, comments,
“The Kantar project went well – BoxcoUK certainly helped to develop the marketing piece that was very successful as far as I remember. Thanks again.”
Elspeth Devine, Production Manager, comments from BoxcoUK
“It’s amazing how simple the ingredients can be for a good memorable marketing piece. This was a clear message delivered alongside something edible. What greatly helped the Kantar pack was that there was enough biscuits to share, making it a good office-stopper, or ‘meeting moment’, certain for success.”
What numbers do you need to achieve in your business?
For bespoke promotional marketing and training products that help you Win more…
Call BoxcoUK on 020 3011 0211
It all started with a bacon roll…
Last month I attended a digital strategy networking session with 3 colleagues… It was a really simple occasion, with just 3 speakers which is quite enough when it comes to digital-points-of-view. A quick resume follows, including the gems of the event:
Lynsey Swales of SocialB – SEO, Social Media & Digital Marketing Expert/Trainer/Professional Speaker UK/Int. DMA Vice Chair Social Media Council
No. 1 is a good website: Good design, Clear ‘call to action’ so clients can find what they want straight away, Content & Google wants to see you updating regularly, Navigation (across the top is best) focus on getting people to the right part of your website, Credibility (get your accreditations up there), Mobile Friendly & your social media buttons clear.
For SEO compile a list of all the key words for your product or service – an Excel doc will do – show this to everyone who does anything online for the business – don’t assume you know what people will Google. These key words should appear in URL title and meta descriptions, headings, images and Alt descriptions, but not so over the top that clients switch off (it’s only for Google). Some great content Lynsey.
Tom Bowden – Director at Footprint Digital Ltd
Whatever you do in Marketing – Measure it, Test it – don’t just put a system in place and hope marketing works. On Adwords – providing you’re generating business, they make good sense. In his delivery he did some live tests for the audience to participate in choosing which bar or button they would have clicked, and showing what actual digital tests had proved, e.g. 3 Google adverts with slightly different wording and which had infact generated the highest response.
Thanks Tom, enjoyed you’re tests & the audience interaction was great.
Mili Ponce – International Strategist on Social Media Marketing, Traffic and Lead Generation, Web Conversion and PPC
In Jan 2016 there is 7.395 billion people alive, 3.419 billion Internet users, 2.307 billion active social media users, 3.790 billion unique mobile users (this is 51% of the total population!) and 1.968 active mobile social users.
Social Media use across the world is 31% but in North America it is 59% of the population; South America 50%; West Europe 48%; East Asia 48%; Ocenia including Australisia 45%; East Europe 45% and Central America 40%. After that there is Southeast Asia at 37%, Middle East 26%, South Asia 11%, Africa 11% and Central Asia 6%.
Reddit is popular, given that the website looks a shade 80-ish… definitely worth looking at it if your product is technologically niche, scientific, innovative. Facebook is everything, talk to your clients when they are in their lest defensive mode.
Social media is about brand-awareness, not about your products & services, it’s about your great relationships.
ROI on Direct Mail/marketing sent out by post is now up to 10% – this is largely thought to be due to the lack of post we receive that more envelopes get opened.
If your website is not getting a 10% return (100 visits, 10 actions) then social media is not worth starting… Food for thought that, Mili. Another bacon roll please.
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