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The shortlist for Marketing Week’s Engage Awards 2013 has been revealed and field marketing agency Gekko are once again in contention with their experiential work with Freeview.

Gekko are delighted to have been shortlisted for this prestigious award in the Experiential and Events category. Gekko’s entry focussed on the Control the Choir roadshow that visited leading shopping centres in the run up to Christmas 2013.  Aimed at driving advocacy and sales of Freeview+ products, the experiential activity featured a stage modelled as a Freeview+ set-top box. A professional quartet sang live Christmas carols to get visitors in the Christmas spirit.  To generate fun and engagement, Freeview put shoppers in control by giving them a giant remote control with which they could pause, rewind (sing backwards!) and record the choir and in doing so highlighting some the benefits of Freeview+.

The campaign generated some fantastic publicity with special appearances from Denise van Outen and Out of the Blue from Britain’s Got Talent at the launch event at Leadenhall.

All will be revealed at the Engage Awards ceremony on Tuesday 21st May being held at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London.

Marketing Week’s panel of experts discusses the role of technology when utilising field and experiential marketing.

The Panel:
My Ly, senior marketing manager at YO! Sushi (MY)
James Coad, marketing manager at ASUS (JC)
Hena Chandarana, shopper marketing controller at United Biscuits (HC)
James Chambers, retail marketing manager, Freeview (JCh)
Sara Trechman, marketing manager EMEA Glanbia Performance Nutrition (ST)

Marketing Week (MW): How are you using field or experiential marketing?

Hena Chandarana (HC): Last year’s Oddities biscuit launch is a good example of the connection between driving trial and sales. It was one of our most successful launches – achieving the fastest retail distribution for any product (79 per cent in five weeks) – driven significantly by field and experiential activity through our shopper marketing and activation agency Dialogue. We’ll be doing much more sampling this year to launch new flavours.

Sara Trechman (ST): Experiential will be crucial for our brands BSN and Optimum Nutrition. We plan our events around Europe’s biggest shows such as the public Body Power Expo at The NEC, Birmingham in May. We will also be at rugby events where players can sample the product and get sports nutrition advice.

James Coad: (JC): We’ve had several different campaigns and all of them tie in with our above-the-line campaigns. This will be the same tactic in 2013. We are running a ‘slacklining’ experience (the art of balancing on a strip of webbing tied between two anchor points, similar to a tightrope) in Bluewater, which iD Experiential designed. It features people doing incredible things with our laptops.

My Ly (ML): We’ve always had lots of fun with field marketing. The brand lends itself to people to dressing up as geisha girls, sumos and quirky Japanese game show hosts. Field marketing will also be an important part of our local marketing strategy. We use YO! Sushi sumos to give away free miso soup vouchers redeemable at the nearest restaurant. We can create a buzz, engagement and fun while tapping into the quirkiness of Japan and our brand personality.

MW: How does field marketing fit into the marketing mix for your brand?

ST: We spend around 25 per cent of our total marketing budget on experiential and this is growing every year.

James Chambers (JCh): Within our category, one of the challenges is the misinformation and confusion over how products and services differ. There is a need to educate as well as entertain, so experiential activity plays an important role in engaging directly with our audience.

If you want to truly connect with your consumers in person, a creative, integrated approach is needed that joins up with the above-the-line activity, social and in-store. Our latest experiential roadshow ‘Control the Choir’ was a concept created and executed by field marketing agency Gekko and House PR to promote the Freeview+ service in the run-up to Christmas.

JC: It’s important for ASUS to engage and educate consumers on the brand itself. High-value technology products must be demonstrated so consumers see as much of our range as possible and the fundamental differences between them. The difference can be as simple as showing the benefits of a tablet for casual media consumption or a high-end laptop while creating an immersive experience that brings the brand to life.

ML: It’s a core part of our local and national marketing. It enables us to try new things and, crucially, engage our own restaurant teams in the marketing campaigns as much as our customers.

HC: Field marketing and experiential have been invaluable in disrupting shopper behaviour in-store. Oddities is a snack product merchandised in the cracker aisle – not a natural place for most shoppers to look for bagged savoury snacks. To drive trial and purchase, we prioritise sampling in or near stores, because it is most effective when people are already in buying mode. We also used experiential to bring Oddities’ fun nature to life at supermarket head offices and at trade shows.

MW: How important is data collection?

JC: We don’t focus our data collection on generating sales as we want to create brand awareness in the UK. When we do gather data it tends to be focused on how the experience has influenced that awareness. The data we collect measures consumers’ perception before and after the experience. By using a similar approach at each event we can see growth in brand attribution over time.

ML: YO! Sushi has market intelligence systems tracking every promotion at an individual redemption level. Field and experiential marketing shouldn’t be restricted to return on investment. Brands need to be brave enough for ideas to fail occasionally, otherwise we become overly cautious, predictable and ultimately a boring shadow of the brand that captured people’s imaginations in 1997, when it was founded.

HC: Understanding return on investment is important, so we work closely with retailers and their data agencies to understand the effect on store sales where activity takes place in the immediate, short and medium term.

ST: This is crucial for us. We have people on our stands capturing data on iPads and handheld terminals and this information feeds into our CRM programme. We see peaks in sales around public shows. We also carry out surveys before, during and after events to gather views on the brands.

JCh: Data collection allows us to gather information about individuals to enhance subsequent engagement and to assess the effect of a campaign. However, if the data collection process is onerous, it can quickly compromise a positive brand experience.

For Control the Choir, Gekko provided a team of six brand ambassadors who were on hand to discuss Freeview+ with shoppers, answer any questions, encourage them to enter a free prize draw and capture their details on tablet devices. We spoke with 67,000 consumers over four weekends.

MW: How do you measure the activity? Can you track the people engaging with a branded experience?

HC: The closer your activity is to the decision-making point, the more effective it is. When we did sampling with Oddities we could track our activity precisely from retailer take-up to sales.

JCh: We’re not about the hard sell, but creating empathy and understanding of the brand. It’s the uplift in positive sentiment that we look for. The Summer of Sport campaign in 2012 is an example of how we measure such an effect. After the activity, Freeview jumped from 20th to 14th in the YouGov Brand Index bi-annual league table.

ST: We track sales through our website and work with e-retailers, who know when we will be at an event and carry out experiential activity, and they report on sales numbers. Social media is also important to assess the conversations people are having about our brands.

ML: We can track everything efficiently and effectively but sometimes we may choose not to. For example, we’d rather let people dance with a life-size Ramen [noodle] pot because it brightens up their day without always feeling like we need to thrust a leaflet into someone’s hand and demand an email address or postcode.

JC: It can be difficult to track return on investment as we don’t sell direct. We therefore measure the activity with the customer engagement from brand ambassadors who will be effective in communicating the brand along with marketing collateral delivered.

MW: How are you using technology to enhance users’ experiences?

ML: During our sumo-themed miso soup promotion, we used Twitter on location to ask local businesses to tweet us if they wanted us to pop into their offices with free goodies.

We were instantly bombarded with requests. This meant we could engage with people in a fun way and move around the area visiting local businesses once the peak traffic had died down at the high traffic commuter locations where we started. For the businesses that we couldn’t get to, we followed up their request with a visit the next day.

JC: We want the focus to be on our products with ‘hands-on’ demos with consumers. Last November, we activated a two-week nationwide roadshow targeting students to promote our ZenBook laptop. The concept was that the ZenBook provides a stress-free working environment. Our experiential stand allowed consumers to tweet to receive mugs of herbal tea, while interacting with the laptops.

JCh: When creating an experiential campaign, it must be rooted in certain fundamentals: the location, the people and the activity itself. We’re using technology to ensure that the engagement we have with consumers is as seamless as possible, while fully integrated. Gekko’s brand ambassadors utilised tablets for quick and easy data capture, which could then be used to inform the promotional activity occurring in-store. Brand ambassadors were also able to ‘click & reserve’ products for our customers.

MW: What other new techniques are evolving in field marketing?

HC: It’s often less about ‘new techniques’ evolving and more about understanding

what works really well from a sales perspective, while still building the right amount of brand story into your activity. It’s interesting to leverage retailer data to understand shoppers and connect with the right ones at the right touchpoints, for example issuing coupons at the till.

JC: Mobile will continue to be a key trend. Experiential is uniquely placed to capitalise on this because it provides useful experiences for consumers and takes advantage of the increasingly sophisticated, networked technology that consumers carry around in their pockets. There is also an ongoing trend towards more photo and content sharing sites that are becoming increasingly popular.

ML: With the growing importance of social media, there will be a stronger partnership and integrated approach between this and field or experiential marketing as brands continue to experiment and test ideas.

MW: How do you make sure that what you do has a lasting effect?

ML: By doing it regularly, constantly innovating as well as surprising, delighting and rewarding customers and ensuring it is always part of our thinking and strategy for every campaign.

JC: The experience element will have a lasting effect if we ensure the product is the focus but it ties in with a great experience that will stick in consumers’ minds. Shoppers remember if they go shopping for a pair of jeans and end up slacklining across Bluewater.

HC: With the Oddities campaign we used the right prompts and messaging in-store to give the brand the best possible visibility in the aisle and in secondary siting. We also used online sampling and blogger engagement to ensure the brand was introduced to people who do not frequently go physically shopping. A repeat campaign this year will ensure we build on this.

JCh: Creativity, fun and imagination must be at the heart of a campaign to achieve that initial engagement. If the activity isn’t interesting, consumers won’t take part. Once you have their interest, effective and efficient integration across all possible touchpoints will foster a lasting effect. Christmas campaigns can be the most challenging with the added stress of the season.

With Control the Choir, our priority first and foremost was to create a fun way to distract them and alleviate that stress. It was a form of escapism. The ability to pause and rewind a live choir with a giant, novelty remote was a head-turner and a unique experience.

MW: What will your challenges be this year?

JC: As a technology brand, our market is evolving rapidly. This year we are seeing a focus on touch products including tablets and touchscreen laptops together with the already launched Windows 8. Our challenge is that people will need to get ‘hands-on’ to differentiate our touch experience from the competition. Another challenge is always how to get consumers engaging with the product.

We cannot hand out hundreds of laptops therefore any experience must really relate to the product.

JCh: Shopping is still a family activity and people genuinely want engagement and entertainment. The challenge for brands is to offer something creative and interactive without becoming too hung up on traditional forms of measurement.

ST: We want to replicate in the UK the growth we are seeing in markets such as Germany. Experiential activity will help us achieve this.

ML: One of our challenges is to address the misperception that YO! Sushi serves only raw fish and cold rice. We will trial simplified point of sale materials to help new customers feel less intimidated about trying our sushi for the first time. There will be a quick visual guide explaining our four simple steps to dining at one of our restaurants.

See more at: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/trends/field-of-brand-marketing-dreams/4005923.article

Daniel Todaro, managing director of Gekko, takes a look at the challenges ahead as the nation prepares for the digital radio switch-over – from public awareness campaigns, to ensuring the auto-mobile industry is backing the plan.

In late 2012 the Government announced its commitment to turning off the FM signal. They have also insisted that the analogue switch-off would not happen until digital listening reached 50%; slightly delaying the process from the original expectations to beyond the 2015 target date.

Nevertheless, the benefits of DAB have been compared to the switch over from AM to FM as the preferred medium; digital radio offers greater choice to the listener with better reception and superior sound quality. From the public’s perspective, reactions have ranged from sheer embrace, indifference to outright resistance with the digital listening figure currently standing at 31.3%.

However, even though the move away from FM signal is proving a slower process than anticipated, Digital Radio UK has gone to great effort to get the ball rolling with a national communications campaign to boost public awareness. Now with government backing, the switch-over will no doubt prove a success.

It can be argued that the slow response from the public towards the radio switch-over is down to the fact that people simply don’t quite ‘get’ digital radio. However, given the learnings of the TV switch-over, this isn’t such a difficult obstacle to overcome for DAB.

People didn’t understand the TV process either; at first many viewers questioned why anyone would need more than five channels and was their television really not going to work after the change?

But through teams of highly trained specialists offering in-store advice and demonstrations, experts manning a call centre for extra support, and a national marketing campaign, the public were able to understand and embrace the process successfully.

‘D Love’, the digital radio ads airing currently on the BBC, aim to follow in the same footsteps as many the mascots which advocated new services to TV viewers, such as Digit Al and ITV digital’s ‘monkey’. Executing this campaign undoubtedly has got the ball rolling to spread information about the radio switch-over.

It’s vital to have an advertising and marketing campaign in 2013 to reach as many radio listeners as possible, educating them about the imminent changes ahead. This also applies to brands that can also push the cause forward. For example, radio manufacturers and retailers also need to be encouraged to champion the switch-over and aid that point of realisation amongst the public, underpinned by the D Love character and messaging.

Automotive marques have a large opportunity here too in getting on board early with the digital switch-over. It was recently announced that BMW is to now offer DAB radio as standard across its entire range from January 2013.

The car manufacturer is also offering owners of older BMWs the chance to upgrade their vehicles with a new digital radio. It cannot be understated what a significant move this is for the digital radio switch-over movement considering the previous reluctance of brands to drive the switch-over campaign; largely due to a fear of alienating consumers.

To have BMW on board at this early stage is a serious coup for Digital Radio UK and its senior marketers, who surely played a crucial role in recruiting the car-maker. This move will further promote digital radio and potentially drive a whole generation of car owners that will only know DAB, in turn applying the technology to their homes.

The triumph of the TV switch-over proves that while change is unsettling and the outcome unknown, in this context it’s a positive and proves that the public can embrace new systems if correctly guided. Yes, some people don’t like change, but the radio switch-over will successfully take place when more than the 31.3% listening figure exceeds 50%; this is evident after the slow insistence to adapt to digital TV. Today people can’t get enough of pausing and rewinding shows, on demand, and even 3D TV.

Through effective advertising, shop floor training and raising public awareness, we can say from previous experience with the TV switch-over that the model works. And so, with a renewed emphasis and investment from the authorities, the digital radio switch-over can be galvanised into further action to push DAB radio forward for a successful switch-over ahead of the planned 2015 deadline.

Read more: http://mediatel.co.uk/radio/news/2013/02/25/the-radio-digital-switch-over-a-marathon-not-a-sprint/

Canny marketing can make change desirable, says Dan Todaro

The government is committed to turning off the FM radio signal, but there will be no analogue switch-off until digital listening reaches 50%. At the moment that would likely miss the 2015 target date. Nevertheless, the benefits of DAB have been compared to the switch from AM to FM as the preferred medium: digital radio offers greater choice to the listener with better reception and superior sound quality.

Public reaction has ranged from embrace to indifference and outright resistance; digital listening currently stands at 31.3%.

Digital Radio UK has gone to great effort to get the ball rolling, with a national campaign to boost public awareness. Now with government backing, the switchover will no doubt prove a success.

It can be argued that the slow public response is down to people simply not quite ‘getting’ digital radio. However, given the lessons of the TV switchover, this isn’t such a difficult obstacle. People didn’t understand the TV process either; at first, many viewers questioned why anyone would need more than five channels – and was their TV really not going to work after the change?

But with teams of trained specialists offering in-store advice and demonstrations, experts manning a call centre and a national marketing campaign, the public understood, and finally embraced, the process.

Digital mascot D Love follows in the footsteps of the advocates of new services to TV viewers, such as Digit Al and ITV Digital’s Monkey. Executing this campaign has undoubtedly helped to spread information about the radio switchover. It is vital to have a marketing campaign in 2013 to reach as many radio listeners as possible, educating them about the imminent changes ahead.

This also applies to brands, which can also push the cause forward. Manufacturers and retailers also need to be encouraged to champion the switchover and aid that point of realisation among the public, underpinned by D Love and messaging. Significantly, BMW now offers DAB radio as standard across its entire range and owners of older models can upgrade.

It cannot be overstated how much of a coup this is for the switchover movement considering the previous reluctance of brands to drive the campaign, largely due to a fear of alienating consumers. Now, potentially, a whole generation of car owners will only know DAB and will in turn apply the technology to their homes.

The triumph of the TV switchover proves that, while change can be unsettling and the outcome unknown, in this context it is a positive and proves that the public can embrace new systems if guided correctly. Yes, people don’t like change, but the radio switchover will nevertheless take place when the listening figure exceeds 50%. And now, after an initial lack of enthusiasm to adapt to digital TV, people can’t get enough of pausing and rewinding shows, on demand content and even 3D TV.

The TV switchover was achieved through effective advertising, shop-floor training and raising public awareness. With a renewed emphasis and investment from the authorities, the digital radio campaign can be galvanised into further action to push DAB forward for a successful switchover ahead of the 2015 deadline.

Dan Todaro is managing director of marketing agency Gekko.

http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/

Dan Todaro, MD of tech field marketing agency Gekko, explains how field marketing can boost toy sales

Recent Gekko research shows that almost a quarter (23%) of shoppers say they would be very unlikely to purchase tech-led products, like kids’ tablets, without having some kind of in store interaction or demonstration beforehand. What’s more, 44% of respondents said they would like more interaction with brands in store and the same number (44%) said that it would tempt them to spend more on related accessories and products.  In such a tumultuous economic environment, brands would be foolish to ignore such obvious cries for attention from consumers.  Properly trained, dynamic brand ambassadors, who can give detailed demonstrations and showcase the toys’ key features, are vital when the consumer reaches that point where they decide either to buy or to walk away.

As is the case with most industries right now, toy manufacturers are feeling the pinch as consumers tighten their belts and look for the best deals out on the high street. Hasbro recently announced a 40% increase in TV, social and online advertising budgets, due to a 12% drop in boys’ toys sales.  The company is putting this down to a lack of screen time promotion, with no film or TV tie ups to boost merchandise sales. However, brands should not be so quick to assume the reasons why sales may have dropped, or indeed that the solution is to increase investment in ATL and online channels.

An additional investment in field marketing activity can be hugely impactful for toy brands, and if done correctly, can reap massive rewards without putting a big dent in marketing budgets.

There is no doubt that other marketing channels have a huge role to play throughout the festive period, and it’s not surprising that Hasbro is investing money in TV, social and online.  However, the sales can be hugely boosted by well trained, knowledgeable brand representatives, who can make a connection with parents and leave them with a memorable impression of both the product and the brand.  After all, an impressed, engaged parent means a purchase is likely, leading to a happy child, and ultimately, a successful brand.

Daniel Todaro, managing director of field marketing agency Gekko, on the future of the high street and why so many big retail brands get it wrong

So, HMV has been handed a dramatic lifeline by Canadian restructuring firm Hilco. Along with potential support from no end of major labels (Universal Music, Warner Music, Sony, 20th Century Fox, Universal Studios, Warner Brothers) all seemingly willing to club together, there may just be a light at the end of the tunnel for the embattled retailer.

However, while we allow ourselves to be swept up in the sentiment and nostalgia around HMV and the subsequent delight at this proposed rescue package. We can’t ignore the events that led us to this point, nor the fellow high-street retailers that seemingly will not be as lucky to find their white-knight investor.

With Comet, Jessops and Blockbuster also calling it a day, we can’t lose sight of the fact that some serious errors in management led to the dark days the retail sector is currently experiencing.

How did these brands get it so wrong?

Once upon a time, HMV had a culture of cool. No place more so than the flagship Oxford Street store in London, to which a visit provided a sense of wonderment unrivaled on the high street – a unique haven of entertainment.

The browsing experience was an event in itself: a destination shopping trip for the whole family. Like the best in-store experiences, it could be legitimately considered a reward or a special treat (if the kids had been good, of course).

But cool is fleeting, particularly with management so out of touch with consumers. What’s particularly frustrating is that HMV offered consumers the opportunity to engage with enthusiastic staff that were passionate about what they sold.

They were authorities on music, film, gaming and tech, helping consumers make informed purchasing decisions. Instead, in what was probably the most symbolic epitome of HMV’s problems, management banned long hair and tattoos and told staff to smarten up. What better way to suck the personality and character out of your brand advocates on the shop floor, and the store as a whole.

Retail is a journey, one that must engage the consumer with above-the-line marketing and through to the shop floor experience. What many of these failed brands (perhaps Blockbuster aside) did not recognise is that with so much choice from competitors across the retail spectrum and online, they did not connect a desirable product offering with a unique customer experience that made people want to keep going back.

If HMV is to make the most of its ‘second chance’, it has to start with people. It’s time to remove heads from the sand, and work on getting that ‘cool’ back. I find it incredible, still, how the vast majority of high-street retailers are too afraid to give their in-store staff just a bit of freedom to go out and express themselves a bit on the shop floor. HMV has a great platform to re-launch from, it just simply cannot revert back to its vanilla retail proposition.

The onus isn’t just on HMV, however. We all have a role to play in restoring the brand to its former glory. Not just for HMV, but for high-street retailing in general.

It’s all well and good lamenting these retailers’ entering administration, but I imagine many of us are guilty of taking the easy option and bowing to the global mass-merchant online retailers far too often.

As a nation of shoppers, in the UK we’re blessed with choice, choice to purchase from a specialist focused on a specific category. If we don’t make the most of that opportunity, it’ll be gone before we know it.

In austere times, we do want value, but just be careful what you wish for. Bigger isn’t always better, and the possibility of shopping solely through mass merchants will lead to less choice within a category, less expertise and less fun.

Nothing can replace the in-store experience, whether it be a local butcher, the Sunday market or even a multinational entertainment retailer. The speed and accessibility of etail is great, but a world where only shopping is entirely confined to online?

Give me a horse burger any day…

It’s a Happy New Year for some but not for all this 2013. Whilst Sainsburys and the like revel in increased year on year growth, the reality is that niche retail as we know it is potentially dying. Some call it evolution of the high street. But is it survival of the fittest? Or something more sinister?

With Comet closing pre-Christmas and now HMV, Jessops and Blockbuster calling it a day barely a month after Christmas, the big question seems to be whether they were murdered by mass merchant competition and online propositions, or did they simply fail to adapt to the changing needs of the consumer?

As a nation of shoppers, in the UK we’re blessed with choice, choice to purchase from a specialist focused on a specific category; a USP that Apple amongst many others work to amazing effect. So how did these brands get it so wrong?

Retail is a journey, one that must engage the consumer from ATL to the shop floor experience. What many of these failed brands did not recognise is that with so much choice from competitors across the retail spectrum and online, they did not connect a desirable product offering with a unique customer experience that made people want to keep going back.

Jessops stores on the whole were tired, poorly positioned and uncompetitive, but offered highly valuable impartial advice worth paying that little bit extra for. HMV failed to make the transition online to support their huge retail overhead (the beating heart of the business); the misplaced focus on live venues allowed a tired retail format to become stale. As online brands thrived by reducing the transactional process to a matter of minutes, HMV never developed its proposition to promote the joys of the browsing experience and entice the busy shopper on their lunch break. Amazon, despite all the negative tax press, never once suffered a PR onslaught from HMV to appeal to those who love shopping online over to their e-commerce site, or even attempt to change perception to entice consumers back into an HMV store to feel the difference, a lost opportunity.

Once upon a time, HMV stores had a culture of cool, a sense of wonderment in this unique haven of entertainment; unrivalled on the high street. But cool is fleeting, particularly with management so out of touch with consumers. Like Jessops, it offered consumers the opportunity to engage with enthusiastic individuals who on the whole loved music, film, gaming and tech to help consumers make informed purchasing decisions. Instead, management decided to ban tattoos and long hair amongst staff.

In austere times we do want value, but be careful what you wish for. Bigger isn’t always better, and the possibility of shopping solely through mass merchants can mean less choice within a category, less expertise and less fun. In fact, the prospect of buying that chart dvd nowadays makes those horse burgers look quite appealing by comparison…

Daniel Todaro, MD, Gekko

Marketing’s ‘Agency of the Year’ publication, now in it’s 12th year, saw more than 80 agencies battle it out across 13 categories. Judged by an independent panel of experts, they are heavily skewed towards effectiveness.  In the field marketing category, Gekko is very pleased to have been classed as one of two ‘Best of the rest’ agencies:

Another strong performer was Gekko, shortlisted last year, which increased its turnover by 26%.

This growth in turnover was attributed to the retention of existing client accounts including Epson, Freeview and Samsung, and new business wins, such as John Lewis and YouView. The agency delivered training for John Lewis’ broadband proposition in its stores and provided product training and merchandising within the retail channel to support the launch of YouView, the digital television platform.

Notable campaigns in 2012 for existing clients included an awareness-raising drive for Freeview, based on its high-definition (HD) proposition. ‘The Summer of Sport’ roadshow gained significant cut-through for the brand.

Gekko commissioned the build, booked the venues, and managed staff and logistics for the roadshow. A survey showed a 25% increase in spontaneous awareness of Freeview HD, with 89.1% of respondents saying they are much more favourable toward the product and 73% agreeing Freeview offered value for money.

The agency also supported IT and communications provider Acer at the Olympic Park, co-managing its Experience Centre, with a dedicated team. This year it has placed significant emphasis on and made investment in the personal and professional development of its staff.

Its ‘Fit for Gekko’ programme is a training initiative aimed at enhancing staff skills and developing talent, with topics including account management and delivering effective presentations.

For more information visit: http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/news/1163331/aoty12-Field-Marketing-Agency-Year—Best-Rest/

Field Marketing agency Gekko has once again excelled at the annual Field Marketing & Brand Experience Awards held at the Marriott, Grosvenor Square on 22nd November. Having been nominated in six categories Gekko were very happy to walk away with 4 awards at the ceremony compared by TV and radio personality George Lamb. Gekko’s tally of Gold, Silver and two Bronzes came in the following categories:

Gold – Team of the Year
Gekko, Acer

Silver – Business partner award
Gekko, Digital UK

Bronze – Most effective sales demonstration or sampling activity
Gekko, Epson

Bronze – Field Marketing Agency of the Year
Gekko

This year each category has been more hotly contested than ever and in winning these awards, Gekko has demonstrated just adept it is at delivering campaigns of the highest quality for our clients. The Gold award in the Team of the Year category is a first for Gekko and recognises the effectiveness and exceptional dedication of the Acer Training Team. As a Worldwide Olympic Partner, 2012 has been an especially important year for Acer and the field team have found themselves at the forefront of the brand’s Olympic activity.

Check our facebook page for more photos from the event