Writing and storing emails to be sent after your death is just one digital fad too many, says Dick Lumsden.
Price-comparison sites are enjoying a surge in popularity among consumers, yet some brands have made their non-participation in them a marketing focus. Andrew Hawkins, MD of DCH, gives his opinion.
Buying Christmas gifts is like betting on the horses - a great feeling when you choose right, but a massive let down all round when you pick a donkey, says Dick Lumsden.
Price-comparison sites are enjoying a surge in popularity among consumers, yet some brands have made their non-participation in them a marketing focus. Andrew Hawkins, MD of DCH, gives his opinion.
Fuller, Smith & Turner P.L.C., London’s only remaining traditional family brewer, is delighted to release details of the first-ever major press and poster advertising campaign, created by DCH, for its award-winning range of beers.
In an ageing society, is living to a very old age really something to celebrate? Dick Lumsden thinks not.
DCH is working with Discovery Foods to launching a campaign to push its "Perfect Fajita" promotion.
Adwatch research, conducted from 5-17 July 2009 by TNS placed the DCH Moneysupermarket ad top.
Retiring to live in the sun is a distant dream for most, but very much a reality for some. Dick Lumsden has been for a firsthand look.
If there is one thing to learn from the boom in social networking, it's that the digital consumer likes connectivity, not just from a social network, but increasingly from the brands they want to talk to.
Nik Margolis, Head of Digital & Direct at DCH, investigates the ways consumers habits are changing online, and what brands need to do to stay relevant.
The recession has had an impact on everyone, but there's one sector that has flourished throughout it: the low cost sector.
Rory Teeling, Planning Director of DCH, identifies some key marketing principles that have helped achieve impressive bottom line results, as well as generate sustainable customer loyalty that has value for any brand.
It's never too early to start planning ahead, at least not if you are certain age, argues Dick Lumsden.
Majestic Wine's profits are plummeting as corporate and overseas sales fall off. Rory Teeling, DCH's Planning Director, discusses the approach Majestic can take to avoid a continuing hangover.
The COI has appointed DCH to its Regional Integrated Agency framework in Wales and the East of England. The framework was created to respond to the demands of the COI’s growing base of regional clients, enabling them to access agencies with regional insight and experience.
Moneysupermarket.com is launching a £14m TV campaign featuring Dragon’s Den entrepreneur Peter Jones as its first celebrity spokesman.
The campaign, which breaks on Friday (12 June), comprises six executions over the year. The campaign was developed by DCH and is based around a virtual supermarket.
Jones pushes a trolley along the aisles as he appeals to consumers' economic concerns, highlighting the range of choice and exclusive deals. The ad concludes with him saying: "I'm in, shouldn't you be?"
The brand's adoption of an ambassador follows the success of meerkat character Aleksandr, the mascot of its rival, Comparethemarket.com.
The internet is no longer just the playground of the young. As Dick Lumsden discovers, its popularity is scoring with the older age groups.
Forget swine fever, Dick Lumsden believes we are facing a much bigger and longer lasting pandemic.
Nikon has appointed DCH to handle its digital CRM strategy following a pitch against the incumbent agency on the business, SMP.
DCH has initially been tasked with providing strategic cCRM support and planning, which will include the creative elements for more than 80 emails across the year.
The final Flora-sponsored London Marathon will take place this Sunday, ending the 14 year association with the event.
From 2010, the race will be sponsored by Virgin Money, which agreed an £18m sponsorship deal last year.
As we teeter on the edge of a pensions black hole which threatens to engulf us all in a poverty-stricken old age, the European bureaucrats have thrown yet another spanner in the works, writes Dick Lumsden.
“I’m 38, married, have a small child and rapidly greying hair, yet I was asked to review ‘Be frisky, not risky’, a microsite promoting safer sex to people who still have the energy to do it. What a way to make me feel old.” writes Jon Buckley.
The drinks giant is reportedly in talks with small-scale operation Innocent over acquiring a £30m share in its business. But would the smoothie firm regret allowing Coca-Cola to buy into it?
Four industry experts, including Andrew Hawkins, managing director of DCH, give their views.
As regulations force their influence on the industry, so advertising has to adapt. But are they a cap on creativity or a spur? This article examines the pros and cons.
Seafood marketers are struggling to achieve a clarity of consumer message. Fish and chips may still be synonymous with British cuisine, but consumers are still not being hooked by wider messages promoting the variety and flexibility that seafood offers.
In response, the seafood industry body Seafish has announced a 12-month promotional drive to boost fish consumption.
The over-50s are the fastest-growing sector in the UK, but are largely ignored by advertisers and the media. But, as Dick Lumsden discovers, there are some people out there who want us, even if we don’t want them.
When hip hop mogul P Diddy announced he was cutting back on his trademark bling so as to be ‘sensitive’ to the economic plight of lesser mortals, it was seen by some as the death knell for the era of conspicuous consumption.
Read on to find out how luxury brands are being affected.
LONDON - Fuller's has launched a new TV ad aimed at highlighting the passion that goes into creating London Pride. The ad called ‘Ingredients', which rolls out today on new channel Blighty, features the voice of actor Sir Michael Gambon and is built around the theme ‘Pride you can almost taste'.
It shows images of the beer's ingredients: water, hops, barley and yeast, and a pint being poured. Then the voiceover remarks: ‘There is one other indispensable ingredient in Fuller's London Pride we can't show you: pride itself. You can't see it, but you can taste it in every pint.'
The ad, created by DCH, ends with a shot of the freshly poured pint, and the end line: ‘Whatever you do. Take Pride.'
As part of the channel re-launch, Blighty wanted iconic British brands to advertise. Other British advertisers that will be involved in the channel's launch are County Life and PG Tips.
LONDON - Fuller's London Pride is once again lending its support to the England rugby union team this weekend, the opening round of the 2009 RBS Six Nations.
The premium cask ale brand, which is also supporting England cricket and football, will run a high-profile marketing campaign ahead of tomorrow's clash between England and Italy.
The print ad, created by DCH, will run across national newspapers and borrow lines from Shakespeare's Henry V.
Pride is already supporting England's faltering cricket team in the West Indies through perimeter advertising until April.
Finally, the brewer will back Fabio Capello's England next Wednesday through the same channel as England take on European champions Spain in Seville.
WARNING: This article contains optimistic content which may be offensive to those of a pessimistic nature. It may seem perverse, but despite the gloom and doom all around, Dick Lumsden believes that the over-50s have the ability to kick start the economy.
Will Channel 4 be able to make the transition into a partnership for funding while maintaining its distinct brand identity?
Marketing asked Andrew Hawkins, Chief Executive at DCH, who worked on the Carlton TV account, and former BBC Marketing Director Sue Farr, chief executive at Chime Communications.
These two industry experts suggest how Channel 4 can regain its cutting edge.
DCH is behind an interactive viral campaign to promote the use of contraception among younger audiences, and create wider brand awareness for Marie Stopes International, the not-for-profit sexual health agency.
The BeFriskyNotRisky campaign is designed to encourage 11-19 year olds to pass on the sexual health message via a quirky interactive web-based application.
Visitors to the page are encouraged to place their friends into a variety of humorous hypothetical sexual scenarios. The simple process begins with the selection of the friend’s gender and a prospective ‘partner’, before each is set within its own scene, such as on a boat or in the office. Visitors can upload a photo of their friend and add text into speech bubbles within the scene.
In each scenario, visitors must select the right contraception for their friend to use. The website gives advice on the possible selections, promoting the range of choices available. The page also provides the option to forward the game on to other friends via email, or to upload it onto social networking site, Facebook.
The interactive campaign will be seeded online at popular youth sites and viral pages, as well as via email to health professionals.
Jess Weir, account director at DCH, added: “As one of the first digital agencies to exploit online channels on behalf of charitable organisations, DCH were ideal partners to support Marie Stopes International in promoting the ‘Use Contraception’ message. Our remit was to raise awareness of contraception among 11-19 year olds in a way that was engaging, interactive and truly viral. The ‘Be Frisky Not Risky’ campaign is a compelling way to help spread the message without being preachy, couching a serious message in fun, light-hearted terms.”
Marie Stopes International (MSI) is the UK's leading provider of sexual and reproductive healthcare services. Our nationwide network of sexual health clinics see over 100,000 men and women each year who come to us for information, advice and professional care. We are committed to providing all the help you need to make informed choices about your health. We ensure that there is no wait for appointments and that our centres are safe, friendly, and comfortable places to visit.
Our services include: contraception, unplanned pregnancy counselling, abortion information and advice, help for women needing abortions, abortion pill and other abortion treatment options, vasectomy information and vasectomy procedure, female sterilisation, health screening for men and women, and company health screening.
If you would like to know more about our sexual and reproductive healthcare services
click on the women’s and men’s sections. Our fees section gives details
including abortion costs and vasectomy costs.
A registered charity, Marie Stopes International also works around the world in
40 countries. Surplus funds from the UK clinics, help support vital sexual and reproductive
healthcare programmes in some of the world’s poorest regions. So by using
Marie Stopes International services in the UK, you are also helping improve the
lives of nearly 5 million people every year.
http://www.mariestopes.org.uk/Home.aspx
On 17 March 1921, Marie Stopes opened the UK's first family planning clinic, the Mothers' Clinic at 61, Marlborough Road, Holloway, North London.
In 1925, the clinic moved to Whitfield Street in Central London, where it remains today as Marie Stopes Internationals flagship clinic in the UK: Marie Stopes House.
For more on Dr Marie Stopes and the history of Marie Stopes International click here.
In addition to the UK, Marie Stopes International has a further 443 centres, multiple outreach sites and mobile services across 37 countries delivering the same high standard of care and services. As well as abortion, female sterilisation, vasectomy and health screening, Marie Stopes International also offers post abortion care; maternal & child health; STI diagnosis & treatment, and HIV prevention initiatives including condom distribution and male circumcision. Providing information and encouraging behaviour change (i.e. HIV awareness) are also an important part of Marie Stopes International’s work, with numerous in-country campaigns taking place each year.
Worldwide in 2006 Marie Stopes International:
LONDON - Travelodge is taking the supermarkets' approach to fending off competition, with a new price check campaign positioning the budget hotel chain as cheaper than its rivals.
The new press and online campaign from Travelodge's agency DCH focuses on the savings customers can make by booking a room at least seven days in advance of their stay.
The campaign is running across national press titles including The Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph and The Sun and as online banners.
The campaign uses a Union Jack pillow-case as an emblem, highlighting ‘The Travelodge Price Check' printed across the flag and featuring the strapline ‘we price check our competitors so you don't have to'.
One ad features the room rates for Premier Inn, Express for Holiday Inn and Hilton hotels, comparing them to Travelodge and showing Travelodge as cheaper at £38 per night when customers book at least seven days in advance.
This is the second campaign DCH has created for Travelodge, following the Hotel Revolution campaign of January 2006.
Travelodge's managing director Guy Parsons said the chain had spent the last three years reshaping the business to enable us it to steal share with a competitive price offer.
The campaign comes as rival Premier Inn runs press ads promoting itself as winner of the ‘most improved' hotel brand in the BDRC British hotel survey.
Now the web has dramatically reduced the time it takes to receive customer insight, marketers must use this data in an intelligent way to maximise message development.
Read on to find out how to tackle measurement and optimisation online, focusing on the return on investment.
Every day in Britain, more than 1,700 people reach the milestone of their 50th birthday. As the huge population boom of the post-war years begins to near retirement age and as advances in science and medicine increase our overall life expectancy fewer people are dying and more are reaching our golden anniversary. Dick Lumsden asks why advertisers don’t seem to want to tap into the ‘grey pound’.
The British Red Cross has launched a Pass The Parcel campaign site in a bid to drive donations from existing supporters and attract a new digital audience.
Pass The Parcel allows people to create their own version of the traditional Red Cross Parcel and pass it on to family and friends, who can add to the value of the parcel donation.
Visitors are then encouraged to donate the value of the contents of their box to the British Red Cross. The site was created by digital agency DCH.
Travelodge has appointed Doner Cardwell Hawkins (DCH) to handle its online advertising and email marketing activity.
DCH, which already manages Travelodge’s offline marketing, has been tasked with positioning the brand as the leading UK budget hotel chain.
DCH created a ‘hotel revolution’ campaign to support Travelodge’s relaunch in 2005. The digital account was previously held by Partners Andrews Aldridge, but was moved without a pitch following DCH’s merger with Squeeze Digital.
If there was ever a product whose time has come, Aldi it is. Six months – even six weeks – ago we might have turned our noses up. Today we turn our cars into its car park.
Paul Cardwell, Creative Director of DCH, tells his story.
Advertising agency Doner Cardwell Hawkins has merged with direct digital specialist Squeeze Digital, forming a new agency that will now simply be known as DCH.
The new agency brings together two rosters of clients to form a group of top brands across a broad range of sectors. The 21-strong DCH client list now includes the likes of Young’s, Fuller’s, moneysupermarket.com, Shell, Macmillan Cancer Support, Heart FM, Nikon, EA Games and The Economist.
DCH has been formed in part as a response to the changing ways in which consumers digest their media. Andrew Hawkins, who helped found Doner Cardwell Hawkins in 1995 and is now managing director at DCH, said: “The acquisition of Squeeze has obviously given the new agency a ready-made digital capability, but we are absolutely opposed to treating that as a separate aspect of our offering. Doner Cardwell Hawkins had already evolved way beyond the confines of a traditional advertising agency to embrace a media neutral approach, and DCH will continue that as an absolutely integrated, results-focused business.”
Nik Margolis, who co-founded Squeeze Digital in 2004 and will now become head of digital & direct at DCH, added: “We were looking for a partner to share our ambition, and we have been surprised at just how good a fit we’ve found here. From our offering to our culture, people and systems, it has been very easy to piece the new agency together. Clients from both sides of the equation will automatically benefit.”
DCH is based around the proposition of ‘Simple Truths’, essentially the seeking out and identification of the simple, compelling and universal truths that underpin and give value to brands, products and services. The agency methodology is described as ‘Truth and Prejudice’, and seeks to uncover both the reality of these truths and assist in dispelling myths, misinformation and confusion about those brands in its communication.
Hawkins continued: “These are exciting times for DCH. With consumers changing the way they live their lives and engage with brands, it’s essential for agencies to embrace all of the techniques and methodologies at their disposal.”
Margolis concluded: “While plenty of agencies call themselves integrated, we think we’re the first to present a genuinely integrated offering with such honesty and vibrancy. It’s already hugely exciting to watch our creative and planning teams working together, sharing ideas and having the ability to deliver communications across such a diverse channel spectrum.”
DCH, which now has just under 50 staff, is based in Emerald Street, in Holborn. Visit the agency website at www.dch.co.uk.
Doner Cardwell Hawkins is merging with Squeeze Digital to form an integrated agency. The move will see the agency rebranded as DCH.
The merger effective from Friday (October 31), will see Andrew Hawkins, co-founder of Doner Cardwell Hawkins, become managing director of the enlarged agency, with Paul Cardwell taking on the role of creative director. Nik Margolis, co-founder of Squeeze Digital, will take on the role of head of digital and direct marketing at DCH.
The agency will run out of Doner Cardwell Hawkins’ Holborn offices. There will be no job losses.
The merger brings together 21 clients from across the two agencies. Doner Cardwell Hawkins handles the advertising for brands including Shell Europe Oil, Sharp Electronics and Global Radio-owned Heart FM. Squeeze Digital’s roster brings a number of clients, including EA Games, Lexmark, Macmillan Cancer Support and the NSPCC.
Hawkins says: “The acquisition of Squeeze has obviously given the new agency a ready-made digital capability.”
Margolis says clients “on both sides” will automatically benefit.
Doner Cardwell Hawkins was founded in 1996 as the international headquarters for the US giant Doner Advertising. Squeeze Digital was independently launched in 2004, specialising in data-driven and intelligently-managed direct digital marketing.