News

Planning a Diamond Jubilee Street Party?

By Spark and Fuse on February 6, 2012

Street Party 1977 Letchworth

Today marks the Queen’s 60th anniversary of her accession to the throne. Celebrations will continue over the next few months and end in a four-day long UK Bank Holiday weekend in June. Woo hoo! Last year’s royal occasion encouraged over one million people to go to a street party and if you’re thinking of celebrating the Diamond Jubilee in a similar style then early planning is key to pulling off a successful, and stress-free, event. And when we say early planning, we mean NOW.

Here are our top tips to get you started:

• Firstly start speaking to your neighbours as early as possible – preferably this week while the anniversary is really in the spotlight. Getting people excited, on-board, and agreeing a date can take longer than expected. Not everyone will be up for it and it could take some negotiation to get their agreement and involvement.

• Don’t forget to consult with your local council to get the necessary permission to close your road to traffic. They may ask you to sign an indemnity, and you might need to take out an insurance policy for your event. You’ll need to think how this might be funded.

• If the necessary permission isn’t granted to close the road don’t give up, but look at alternative places to celebrate. You could use a local park, car-park or driveways, for example.

• You, or your local council, will need to talk to the fire, ambulance and police services prior to your street party as closing the road will impact them.

• For those planning to sell tickets or alcohol or include regulated entertainment (such as live music) you’ll also need to apply to your local Council for a Temporary Events Notice (TEN).

• Will everyone in the street be happy sharing their bathrooms or are you going to need port-a-loos and mobile sink units? There are 600 festivals across the UK this summer – yes, 600 – and these facilities get booked very early, so get researching now.

• Including a raffle as part of your event, is a great way to raise money for a local charity. Check with the Gambling Commission first so you don’t fall foul with an illegal lottery.

• Bear in mind if you’re throwing your street-party to tie into a key event then services such as caterers, St John’s Ambulance and not to forget Royal Family look-a-likes, could be in high demand. And event suppliers will be adjusting their prices to match. Get in early to secure your choice of suppliers and at the best rate.

• Have a wet weather plan. Let’s face it, we can’t rely on the British weather to promise a weekend of glorious sunshine. Make a Plan B to ensure you can still celebrate the event even if it pours with rain all day long.

• And finally don’t forget to divide up the tasks between you and your neighbours. This will not only make the event more manageable but also involving as many people as possible will create a wonderful feeling of community.

If you would like some advice on planning your street party, email us at bright.sparks@sparkandfuse.com

How to win on Twitter!

By Spark and Fuse on January 19, 2012

Last week on Twitter we stumbled upon the perfect example of how to attract criticism, lose followers, and ruin your business reputation all because of a poorly executed prize draw.

An online travel agency launched a follow and retweet draw offering a decent prize. Said company’s announcement of the winner was followed by outcry – other entrants could see that the winner had only ever tweeted a handful of times and had never once retweeted the actual prize draw message – it wasn’t difficult to discover, they merely had to check the winner’s timeline. If this wasn’t bad enough, the winner was located very close to the agency’s HQ. A deluge of complaints were tweeted and the agency blocked anyone on twitter who enquired about the outcome, whilst also deleting posts on its Facebook page. Allegedly they have also subsequently deleted previous tweets with any mentions of an external agency conducting the draw. Within hours, followers had decided this company were totally untrustworthy and the message was spread quickly amongst their followers, too.

What a mess.

We asked the twitterverse to feedback details of other suspect prize draws and the response was staggering. For every prize draw that is conducted to code and within industry guidelines, clearly there are at least another five which are not. We heard more stories of companies awarding prizes to fictional users, to users who hadn’t followed the instructions and other unacceptable behaviour.

We’re not the Twitter Prize Police but we are an agency that advocates good promotional behaviour. Compliance is essential. Run your prize promotion properly and everyone is happy. Run it badly and you will be found out. Your followers will tell their followers and rather than building a solid foundation for your business, you are essentially destroying your reputation. Prize draws that are conducted badly always attract more publicity than those which are carried out well.

It doesn’t matter who you are, what prize you are giving away or the size of your company, terms and conditions are not only essential they are a CAP code requirement. They protect both the promoter and the consumer and leave no room for ambiguity. Recently we conducted a twitter draw for a prize which had to be sent in costly refrigerated units – one of the winners was in the USA. Because our terms were robust and because they excluded non-UK residents we were able to politely explain to the winner why a redraw had to take place. The winner understood and there were no hard feelings.

Decide on the route of entry and communicate this well. Do people simply have to follow, follow and retweet once or retweet a number of times? Make it clear and ensure only qualifying entrants are put into the draw.
The draw itself must be conducted by an independent person. That is someone who doesn’t work in your office or for your company, and isn’t a relative or fictional character.

Be aware that the Advertising Standard Authority’s digital remit includes Twitter. If a consumer makes a complaint and this is upheld, you might find yourself at the receiving end of a fine, having to fork out for extra prizes, redirection of any Google search for your company to the ASA complaint rather than your homepage or even a trade embargo.

If there’s any doubt of the point we are trying to make, we’ll spell it out again. Run your prize promotion properly. No one is above industry regulations and twitter users are not fools.

Don’t say we didn’t warn you…

If you’d like some help compiling robust terms and conditions, or need an independent person to conduct a prize draw please contact us at bright.sparks@sparkandfuse.com

Running a big sporting event promotion this year?

By Spark and Fuse on January 9, 2012

We're taking no chances with the image we use so here's a pic of the infamous Bavarian Beer ambush marketing of the World Cup 2010

You’d have to live on the moon to not know the Olympics are coming to London this year. Businesses across the country are busy creating ideas to link in with the biggest sporting event on the planet. However, if you’re planning to hook marketing plans or promotional events around the Olympic games, we implore you to read on.

Before we get stuck in we need to make it very clear that we are not official sponsors of this year’s games and neither are we trying to suggest or imply that we are. However, as an agency that specialises in compliance we are compelled to discuss the matter.

An incredible two billion pounds of private funding has been given to the Olympics and therefore the exclusive rights of these sponsors, as well as the long term reputation of the games, are legally protected. If you are not an official sponsor you cannot claim or imply that you are linked to the games in any way.

Well that’s nothing to do with me you might think, I’m simply planning to offer a prize to London in July as a nice topical tie in with the games. This is exactly the sort of marketing which is absolutely not permitted. By all means offer a prize to London in July to see The London Eye, but touch on the O word and expect a call from The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games.

LOCOG will not tolerate any representation of any kind in a manner likely to suggest to the public that there is an association between the London Olympics and a goods or service. While LOCOG has promised a balanced approach to infringement – with polite phone calls in the first instance – the courts have already been allocated significant power in this matter and LOCOG can seek damages, impose massive fines, request account of profits and impose injunctions against anything which is seen to infringe protected rights.

What does create an association mean? Use of iconic games images, medals, podiums even colours or values associated with the games is enough to conflict with the protected rights. For example it is unlawful to use the Olympic symbol, the London 2012 logo in the course of trade without LOCOG’s written consent. Words and listed expressions too such as ‘Olympic’, ‘Olympian’, ‘London 2012’ and ‘summer 2012’ are all included in protected rights and cannot feature in any promotions or marketing (and don’t forget this includes ads and advertorials, paid for bloggers or tweeters). The context of these things is also important such as the nature of the product, timing and previous conduct.

There are only three defences for breach of the above and they are publishing and broadcasting factual information for the news (and note, not for ads or advertorials); historical use (for example if you’re already called Olympic Holidays, that’s okay) and factual statements providing no association is implied.

This post only really touches on the issue of legally protected rights, we have not covered off trademarks, copyright for example or even ambush marketing. You can find out more about it on the offical website: www.london2012.com/brandprotection

Never before has compliance advice at the planning stage been so crucial. Get in touch if you’d like our help – we can check your promotional ideas before you allocate budget or go live.

New year, new prize promotions?

By Spark and Fuse on January 3, 2012

With the arrival of the New Year you’re probably adding the final touches to your 2012 marketing plan or preparing promotional concepts for clients. Perhaps you’re planning a prize promotion as the opportunity to hook onto something of great national focus is tremendous this year – there’s the Diamond Jubilee, the Olympics and Euro 2012 for a start. 

Prize promotions are brilliant marketing tools and can achieve many things but before you make it so, are you absolutely sure that you’ve thought it all through properly?  Tempting as it is to cut corners or replicate something you’ve seen elsewhere, it’s essential to get it right. Prize draws and competitions which are executed badly generate more publicity than those which are managed successfully. And websites dedicated to people who enter prize promotions (of which there are many) will pick up on anything untoward and won’t hesitate to criticise.  Far from creating a positive feel-good connection with customers, ill-thought out promotions damage reputations and in some cases mean hefty fines or business penalties levied by industry regulators such as The Advertising Standards Authority.

We’ve been drafted in on many occasions to pick up the pieces of a poorly considered concept so would like to share some top tips to help you get it right from the outset.

1. First and foremost is your prize promotion compliant?  Is it even legal? Prize promotions are regulated by The Gambling Act 2005 and it’s essential that you’re not in breach of this. Be certain that you understand the difference between a prize draw and a competition and if your prize promotion requires payment for entry in some way – be it purchasing a product or entering via SMS.

2. All prize promotions must have full terms and conditions. Yes, even if it’s only going on Twitter. And no, don’t make them up or copy something ‘because it looks really legal’ from someone else’s website. They may not know what they’re doing either. Terms and conditions are vital – they protect both the promoter and the customer

3. Include a closing date. Once a promotion is live, this date cannot be changed – even if you don’t receive as many entries as you would like.

4. Make it clear how customers enter the competition or prize draw. It might sound obvious, but don’t forget to include entry details in the copy. The clearer your entry details, the better the response.

5. If you’ve chosen to run a competition, it’s a CAP code requirement that an independent judge assists with the selection process. Your panel needs to include somebody with relevant experience for whom the outcome has no benefit. We know what you’re going to ask – no, neither your mum nor the work experience person is acceptable.

Before you action anything, approve budget or sign off creative be certain your prize promotion does not conflict with industry regulations or even fall foul of the law. Get in touch if you’d like advice on your concept or full terms and conditions for your prize promotion.

Ho Ho Ho, Merry Redwood!

By Spark and Fuse on December 21, 2011

Redwood guests dressed for a masquerade theme xmas party

We organised an awesome Christmas party for publishing agency, Redwood, that will be remembered well into 2012. Don’t take our word for it, this is what the client said.

‘Thank you so much for arranging such a fabulous party last night. I really appreciate all the hard work that went into it – from finding such a different venue to getting that rather marvellous ‘golden ticket’ sound track! Thank you.  There are rumours it was the ‘best one ever!’ I think everyone had a lot of fun… and we’re all paying for it now.’

The masquerade-themed party was held at nightclub of the moment, Cirque Du Soir, and costumed guests were welcomed with Circus Passion cocktails and enjoyed extraordinary circus acts, including a record-breaking contortionist. There was also a golden ticket draw where five people each won a very nice cash prize. Canapes and a vodka ice luge kept the partygoers dancing well into the night… and we were there until the very end to make sure everyone got home safely.

Tesco Magazine Kids Drawing Competition winners!

By Spark and Fuse on

We’ve just finished overseeing the Tesco Magazine online Kids Book Club drawing competition and think the three category winners deserve huge congratulations! Well done to Edward Hopper, Angus Macfarlane and Humaira Asif who each win an an art kit and £500 worth of books for each of their schools!

The competition invited children to draw a picture to illustrate an exclusive short story He Should have Listened to Grandad by Steve Hartley and prizes were awarded to the most creative and unique entry from each category.

The entries were judged by much loved kids’ illustrator Ed Vere who said ‘I’ve had a lovely day looking at all these fantastic drawings, thank you. There are clearly some great artists working out there! It’s been very hard to pick winners because all the drawings were so good, so well done to everyone and don’t forget to keep on drawing!!’

There’s a gallery of some of the fabulous entries at http://kidsbookclub.tescomagazine.com/picture-competition.html

A winning entry!

X-Factor Competition Cancelled

By Spark and Fuse on October 24, 2011

The X-Factor has issued an apology after cancelling the competition broadcast live on Saturday 22nd October 2011. A technical error in the show meant that the competition answers read out were different on two different screens forcing the promoters to cancel the competition and offer entrants a full refund.

Not only an administrative nightmare for the promoter, and a loss of revenue generated from SMS and phone lines, but perhaps most importantly viewers will be left disappointed by this technical error which comes at a time when ratings are already reported to be slipping.

While excellent promotional planning can ensure risks are greatly reduced, errors and technical glitches can, and do, happen. And it is vital that the service entrants receive following an incident such as this is top-notch in order to alleviate disappointment and avoid any further negative PR.

If you’re thinking of running a promotion, large or small, then it is important that you have everything in place to ensure its smooth running.  Email Spark & Fuse today at bright.sparks@sparkandfuse.com – we’d be happy to provide help and advice to ensure your promotion is a success.

Happy Birthday Spark & Fuse

By Spark and Fuse on October 4, 2011

Sarah Burns (Spark) & Juliette Thomas (Fuse)

We are five years old this month – happy birthday Spark & Fuse! We’ve been lucky enough to work with some great clients and really exciting projects throughout the life of our company and we’re looking forward to plenty more. To celebrate our fifth birthday, we’re offering a 5% discount on any new project commissioned during October to both new and existing clients. Plus we are also donating  5% of these new project costs during October to Teen Biz, the UK’s first business start-up scheme for under 18s.

The not-for-profit organisation launches on 1st November and each month, one student will receive up to £500 funding, a mentor and a start-up kit to help them on the road to enterprise. We think all young people deserve a chance in life, and hopefully we’ll be able to help make a difference – for more info on Teen Biz click here.

For more details email us at bright.sparks@sparkandfuse.com or call 0207 502 3005.

Terms and conditions: To qualify for the 5% discount, a project must be commissioned before 31st October 2011. The discount is applicable to any new project. It is not applicable to work for which a costing has already been provided or work started.

Badly run competition equals PR disaster

By Spark and Fuse on September 12, 2011

A cautionary tale this week of how running a competition without due consideration can generate very bad publicity…

A well-known toy company recently launched a brilliant competition on Facebook promising to reward the winner with a big cash prize. The competition was judged and the winner notified. A week later, the winner was contacted again to say that the judges’ marks had been added up incorrectly and the winner was in fact not the winner after all and wouldn’t be awarded the big cash prize.
Unfortunately for the toy company, the winner was a professional comper with a well known blog which talks about all her experiences, good and bad. And so the PR disaster began… the toy company was trashed on Facebook, Twitter and comper websites.

Rightfully, the toy company then decided to award a cash prize to both the original winner and the new winner. But it was an expensive mistake to make given that advice on how to run the competition correctly in the first instance would have cost them less than the additional prize. And it’s not possible to put a cost on the damage to their reputation as the competition generated substantial criticism, which is a shame because they really do produce great toys.

If you’re thinking about running a competition and would like some advice on how to do it properly, drop us a line at bright.sparks@sparkandfuse.com.

British Council Chinese Speaking Competition

By Spark and Fuse on September 9, 2011

UK students show off Mandarin Chinese from British Council on Vimeo.

The British Council Chinese Speaking Competition launches today with a little help from Spark & Fuse. Sponsored by HSBC, the competition is open to UK secondary school students who are non-native speaking learners of Mandarin Chinese that have learnt the language from scratch. And for the lucky competition winners, there’s a trip to Beijing. It’s our second year assisting the British Council with this prestigious competition and we’ve been instrumental in ensuring all elements (from the entry procedure right through to the final) are fair and fully compliant with industry regulations. It’s a really exciting project with which to be involved and last year we were so impressed by the participants’ commitment to learning such a difficult language. For details of how to enter the competition, click here.

Older Posts »