Category: Industry News
Secure tags, 10 reasons why
1. For Brand Authentication
A product sold with your brand on the tag will ensure its authenticity.
2. For Brand Loyalty
The more consistent the brand and the more times that the consumer sees it, the more likely they are to recognise it again.
3. For building a brand that delivers Support & Aftercare
Products have the stamp of genuine care as customers purchase a garment or product with the tag still securely in place.
4. For Security
The tag stays in place until it reaches the consumer, if not returns are null & void.
5. For Colour
Build your branded tag in your own Pantone colour.
6. For Value-adding
The perception is that if you’ve tagged a product it’s worth more.
7. For a Voice
Using your brand voice, “Hi fans” or “Hello friends”, there’s space here to add some text that will build up the message you send to a growing client base.
8. For Quality
If your warehouse and processes have been quality assessed, this is a way of spreading the word, and increasing the return on investment on the Quality standard.
9. For Street appeal
This has to do with the colour and design of the tag, to help your product stick out.
10. For a Competitive edge
If your competition do not have a Secure tag, here’s your ultimate leg-up! Grab the idea quick and give your brand the edgy extra.
And if you can think of an 11th reason, or want a quote, feel free to contact us!
By email business@boxcouk.com or phone 020 3011 0211
Recycling Coffee cups… The facts in brief
We had thought it was untaxable; a Coffee culture that swept the UK, replacing Pubs and, becoming our new, and favourite, social venue. Now, with a growing 2.5 billion empty plastic-coated coffee cups, getting into rubbish tips, it prompts a recommendation that the government step on them.
Watch the coffee culture in the UK here
5th Jan, 2018 – MPs on the Environmental Audit Committee have recommended the Government to introduce the “latte levy” of 25p per disposable coffee cup purchased, to cover improvements to the UK’s reprocessing facilities and “binfastructure” according to Mary Creagh, chair of the Environmental Audit Committee.
The proviso is that if the number of single-use (non-recyclable) cups doesn’t decrease sufficiently, then there could be a ban on non-recyclable coffee cups by 2023.
In his November budget, the Chancellor Philip Hammond supported charges on single-use plastics (which includes non-recyclable coffee cups) and from 2017 at Cardiff University, researchers concluded that charging 25p for every coffee cup would help cut the number used by up to 300million a year.
The boss of Suez Recycling however, calls for a wider, joined up reform, to shift the responsibility back to the Coffee-cup producers, saying the Latte Levy won’t be enough. David Palmer-Jones says that disposable coffee cups only represent a small fraction of the national annual tonnage of card and plastics waste.
Days before the report, on 2nd Jan, Pret A Manger announced that they would start offering a 50p discount on hot drinks if customers bring their own cup (it has been 25p). The same day, Starbucks said it would start a three-month trial of a 5p paper cup charge in up to 25 London shops, starting from February. (Incidentally, only in November 2016, Starbucks withdraw their discount for customers bringing their own cup.)
It turns out that there is only 2 or 3 recycling plants in the UK that have the equipment to recycle coffee cups (the other 5 can’t) and that recycling coffee cups is complicated by the double-wall and mix of plastic and cardboard. In practice, although they carry logos that show they can be recycled, the vast majority of coffee cups do not end up being recycled.
In reality, less than 1% of coffee cups are currently being recycled.
7th Jan, 2018 Can we ask, what’s the rest of Europe doing?
14th Jan, 2018 Enter Frugalcup – the coffee cup that can be easily recycled anywhere and promises to hit Starbucks stores very soon.
What can we expect next?
Some people are expecting it to go like the 5p carrier bag charge, with customers being penalised for not remembering to bring their own cup with them. Other ideas include Coffee companies charging more for single-use takeaway cups (who would have thought of it?!) to cover increased recycling taxes. So far it’s just a recommendation, so you can lobby your local MP, perhaps take he/she out for a coffee…
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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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.
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.
Signet Seals take display pack to Innovation Day
Signet Seals were out to cause a stir at an Innovation Event Day in London when they contacted BoxcoUK to create a great presentation for their samples.
The Innovation Day was being held in London, and the purpose of the event was to bring new ideas to all of their marketing, design and procurement teams. Signet needed something to hand out, a personalised gift, alongside samples, and something that would give everyone a reason to remember them.
Bespoke printed ribbon handles and Signet’s very own seal
Business card holder cut-out in the lid and inlay designed around gifts & samples
Roy Lyon, Signet, says
Working with BoxcoUK our Marketing team put together the contents for this sample presentation pack which was for what we call an ‘Innovation Day’ held in the Head Offices of one of our largest clients to bring new ideas to all of their marketing, design and procurement staff as well as their associated Design Agencies and Preferred Suppliers of Presentation Packaging.
We wanted to hand out a personalised gift and sample pack that would give everyone something to remember us for and I would say we definitely achieved this, with a pack that contributed greatly towards a really successful event. Thanks again.
Ronnie Devine, BoxcoUK, says
The ribbon handles lend that elite and charming look, luxurously soft and easy to carry – they don’t cut into your wrist like some bags do. Possibly best seen balanced alongside a Champagne glass in the same hand! Ultimately the pack was designed to look “rich” and, working with Signet, I think we achieved this.
Drinks on the house…(Head over for your next exhibition pack)
For highly effective Welcome Packs that Win more…Call BoxcoUK on 020 3011 0211 and arrange an appointment
Great to see our product getting onto the shelf!
Well spotted Adrian
On sale at John Lewis, in Oxford Street
Creative packaging for Liquor, designed to last the journey.
Whilst there might be other teams out there that have bulk packaging, in stock, on the shelf, we don’t.
At BoxcoUK, we think the first time packaging should be ‘off the shelf’ is when you reach for it in the shop. That’s why we design and build packaging in sympathy with your brand.
We worked with Signet Seals on this packaging, visit signetseals.com to name, seal and build the brand.
Perhaps we can help you to get your products “off the shelf”?
Win more…Contact the team on 020 3011 0211, or send us a message Contact us
Why give out a welcome pack?
In your organization, do you focus on customer acquisition or customer retention?
Did you know?
An enquiry from an existing customer, has a 60 – 70% chance of becoming an order, in oppose to a new enquiry from a Google search with only a 20% chance of turning into an order.
Customer retention put simply is “maintaining existing customers”.
Maintaining a satisfied and loyal customer is all about their experience. We have all had good experience, and very good experience, and possibly some negatives which we prefer to forget about!
The internet is creating ever shorter buying cycles, with access to information and reviews helping decision makers to close on projects. Your opportunity for experience is being compressed into less time than ever. Even “first impressions” may be out of your immediate control. The first impression of your company may be a personal recommendation in a coffee shop, it may be your website, or your Linkedin profile. There’s a good chance that by the time you speak with the customer they have been convinced about you already!
So when you have finished a project or resolved their requirement with your product, give them a Welcome pack. Always expect to do business with them in the future. All your customers have a network of colleagues and contacts, and a Welcome pack will guarantee that they share their experience with their network, and become a promoter for your business.
Download our brochure Where Presentation Takes Off
Thanks for choosing to fly with us
This Marketing Week live we launched our Welcome Packs for New Clients, New Sponsors, New Members, New Students, New business… For those of you who visited the show, it was good to meet you.
To contact a member of the team, simply use the email addresses that came out on the book mark, with the new catalogue.
Join us at Marketing Week Live…Olympia London
Why Because this is Where Presentation Takes off – Visit Stand MF25 for BoxcoUK and Client Welcome Packs. Elsewhere there’s networking sessions, Marketers Unite. Keep up to date, stay ahead of the competition, meet the experts.
What Marketing Week Live – Not long now – Register by Tuesday 28th, 5:30pm, click here
Where Olympia London, Hammersmith Rd, London W14 8UX – Stand MF25 on First Floor
When Wednesday 29th April, 9:30am-5:30pm & Thursday 30th April 9:30am-5pm
How By bus, Hammersmith Road: 9, 10, 27, 28; Holland Road: 49; North End Road: 391. By tube, It’s a short walk from Barons Court on the Piccadilly Line.By train, Mainline trains from Watford Junction and Clapham Junction and Overground trains from Shephards Bush to Kensington Olympia.
Welcome to our stand MF25 at Olympia next week…Where Presentation Takes Off
In this world of international travel, and multichannel marketing, decision makers are being targeted from every direction. Nobody is far from a marketing message, a promotional email, or even an advertising text. The internet has become the resource for knowledge, searching new contacts and suppliers. LinkedIn has brought the commercial world closer together. So how do you differentiate yourself? How do you keep your brand and products recognised? How do you fly above your competition? How can you win more customers like your current top customer?
The sales journey has changed, internet research has meant shorter buying cycles, customers approach with a broad knowledge of the products and the competitors before any conversation begins. So you’ve got to stand out, you need to place your company alongside the big brands.
Welcome to BoxcoUK where we believe in creative presentation.
With creative promotions and presentation you will inspire both your customers and your sales team, it’s a passport to improved customer relationships, and better customer experiences that convert into positive social media traffic.
Take the first step by visiting our stand at Marketing Week Live and find ideas and products that will enable you to land more business next year.
Client Welcome Packs
Meet the BoxcoUK team and discuss your brand and requirements
Leave refreshed
Location
Olympia London, Hammersmith Rd, London W14 8UX
Stand MF25 on First Floor
Wednesday & Thursday next week
Wednesday 29th April, 9:30am-5:30pm
Thursday 30th April 9:30am-5pm
BoxcoUK welcomes Robin Garms
With over 15 years experience in digital and integrated advertising in major London Advertising Agencies. As Creative Director, Robin will be a vital player in the creative team here with skills in Art Direction, Copywriting and Design. To read more, click here
To contact Robin, call BoxcoUK on 020 3011 0211
Marketing Week Live 2015
We’re exhibiting at Marketing Week Live – Wednesday 29th and Thursday 30th April, 2015.
To visit Marketing Week Live website, click here
We look forward to seeing you there.
Opening Times
Wednesday 29 April 2015 | 9:30am – 5.30pm
Thursday 30 April 2015 | 9:30am – 5:00pm
Where
Olympia London
Hammersmith Road
London
W14 8UX
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Do YOU want Results?
To everyone who made it: Thanks for coming… Sorry if you didn’t (this was our strap line)
We exhibited last month at MWL2014 (Marketing Week Live) – 25th & 26th June. To those of you who visited the show – Good to meet you… We hope you enjoyed ‘polishing off’ the chocolate!
For those of you who got stuck in the office, we wanted to share with you some of the fun we had on Stand D250 (particularly with our unique Exhibition roll-alongs on the 2nd day) at Marketing Week Live, Olympia Grand.
When you want results we look forward to helping you…
Email business@boxcouk.com
We’re all excited about Marketing Week Live!
Exhibiting at Stand D250 TODAY & TOMORROW, Wednesday 25th & Thursday 26th June
Register for FREE at www.marketingweeklive.co.uk
Visiting the Exhibition: Olympia Grand, Hammersmith Road, London W14 8UX
Opening Times: Wednesday 25th, Thursday 26th, 9.30am – 5.30pm both days
Don’t miss this unique opportunity to meet the team.
Can’t make it? We are always around when it comes to highly effective marketing communications that Win more…Call BoxcoUK on 020 3011 0211 and speak to Ronnie Devine
Phone 01923 220055 | Email business@boxcouk.com
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