Best Group Marketing Campaign
"Clearly presented, professional and highly commendable" was how one of the judges summed up the Granada Food Services' (GFS) marketing campaign. Another judge described it as "a very laudable effort". The promotion, entitled Eat With Us, carried the sub-heading "and collect some tasty rewards".
It cost £175,000, funded entirely by suppliers, and 2,400 branches took part, representing an 80% uptake.
GFS proudly claimed that such a structured campaign had, in its words, "never been attempted within the industry".
Through a partnership with suppliers, GFS wanted to set measurable objectives. These objectives were to increase the number of participating branches in GFS from its 1997 promotion, raise the amount of money customers spent (by 10% during promotional times), and create awareness.
This was achieved in a number of ways, including the introduction of a nationwide loyalty scheme, launched in April 1998, and a collector scheme.
Customers who subscribed to the collector scheme and spent more than a set amount were given a stamp on their collector card. If they bought certain goods, such as a bottle of Coca-Cola, they received double the number of stamps. These they could use to earn discounts at a range of Granada businesses.
A number of scratch-card promotions were also run, offering a variety of instant prizes.
There were also a series of prize draws held every six or seven weeks using a tear-off section of the collector cards. More than 250,000 people entered four draws.
The judges concluded that GFS had taken on a difficult market and produced good quality material to attract its customers.
GFS joins a list of notable past Group Marketing Campaign award winners, including Perfect Pizza in 1998, Radisson Edwardian Hotels and Jarvis Hotels.
The search is now on for this year's winner. All nominees for the 2000 Best Group Marketing Campaign will be scrutinised by an expert panel of judges, who will be looking for a campaign that clearly achieves its marketing objectives.
It should include good research, intelligent application of the findings, appropriate use of media and supporting materials, and successful results in a return on investment.
If you have been impressed by a campaign run in your organisation in the past 12 months and would like to enter for the Best Group Marketing Campaign Catey, entry forms can be obtained from Sarah Sutton on 020 8652 8349. The deadline for submissions is Friday 31 March and judging will take place on Wednesday 19 April at the Dorchester hotel, London.
