About Us

We are the leading online source of news, reviews and in-depth features and analysis about all aspects of the brand activation industry in the UK.

The site is owned by the IPM, one of the UK marketing industry trade bodies. Please view our Privacy Policy here.

The IPM is a member of the Advertising Association and a stakeholder in the Committee of Advertising Practice, the body which writes the CAP Code, the rules which govern advertising and marketing in the UK under the self-regulatory system.

SUBMITTING CONTENT

We welcome news content which has a brand activation/promotional marketing element or which is relevant to a promotional marketing audience. We will feature the following;

• Behaviour change marketing campaigns
• Stories which have a promotional element, which means a marketing campaign has to include some kind of offer or reward to get people to do something
• Rewards or incentives where people can win something, collect for something, get something for free or involves samples given out for attending an event
• Charity campaigns, for example where the reward is triggering a donation to a charity
• Experiential marketing, including ‘stunts’, roadshows, immersive digital experiences,  sampling tours, pop-up shops, activity at events, festivals, sports grounds etc
• Employee, staff and channel incentive programs
• Loyalty programs
• Partnership marketing, including film/TV/IP, sports, and charity partnerships
• Content marketing, where free content or product of some kind is the reward or incentive (perhaps via an influencer)
• News stories about companies or personalities from the promotional marketing industry
• Research which is relevant to our topic areas

We are also interested in hearing from anyone who would like to contribute;

• Industry comment and opinion pieces
• Research
• Other content relevant to brand activation/promotional marketing

Please make sure you have read our GUIDELINES (below) and please understand that we will exercise editorial control over what we publish. In all cases, the first step should be to write an email with a brief description or synopsis relating to the content to the editorial address.

We will not publish content which we deem to be pure advertising in nature, unless it is carried as and identified as paid for content or advertising. If you wish to find out more about advertising rates, sponsorship or other commercial opportunities, please visit our ADVERTISE page where you will find detailed information.

Editorial contact: Gurgina Sandhu (email: news@promomarketing.info)

GUIDELINES

News

• Must be new and feature something that we classify as promotional/brand activation (see definition above).  We will consider company or industry stories (agencies or suppliers recruiting new staff, opening new offices, adding new services).
• Stories can be B2B, B2C, charity, employee/staff engagement, loyalty, social/content marketing; they can involve free gifts, prize promotions, money-off coupons, sampling, experiential marketing, partnership marketing, loyalty marketing, charity links etc.
• They must be about something that is about to happen, has started and is still running.
• If a campaign has just finished, it will most likely only be featured if there are particularly interesting results that can be shared.
• If about a campaign or activity, it should include a description of what the campaign/activity involves, when and where it is happening, and who is behind it (client, agencies, suppliers etc).
• A comment from the client/agency/supplier (if there is a client) gives a news story more weight eg: about the market situation, what the campaign/activity objectives are, the target audience, how the activation delivers against those objectives.
• Stories must not be defamatory, libellous or offensive, and any claims made should be capable of substantiation.
• Campaigns, activations, techniques etc put forward for coverage in news stories: must not be illegal; must not break the CAP Code, the Experiential Marketing Code of Conduct or the Portman Group Code or any similar regulations; must not infringe copyright or similar IP rights.
• We will consider running stories about activity which is illegal, against regulatory codes or infringes IP rights if the purpose of the story is to highlight what people are doing wrong.
• Please supply hi res jpeg images to go with your story. At least one of these images must be landscape (preferably 1600 pixels wide x 776 pixels high). Tables and charts are welcome, so long as they are of high enough resolution.
• Images supplied must have copyright or similar clearance before we can publish the story
• Supply your contact details for someone at the client, agency or supplier so we can follow up with additional questions.
• THERE IS NO CHARGE FOR PUBLISHING A NEWS STORY.
  

Industry comment and opinion pieces 

• Should be about topics which are relevant to and of interest to promotional marketers.
• Comments should be objective. They are not to be used for pure sales content. Contributors should aim to establish themselves as experts in their field and ‘thought leaders’.
• Authors can mention something their company has worked on, but should balance any such content by also mentioning similar campaigns or activations created and run by other companies.
• Any ideas for comment pieces will be reviewed and responded to.
• It is advisable – but not necessary – to submit ideas first before writing anything.
• We will consider comments which have appeared elsewhere previously, such as on company blogs. However, please ensure you have the right to submit the content and can give us the right to use it.
• Personal opinions are welcome, but comment pieces must not be defamatory, libellous or gratuitously offensive, and any claims made in them should be capable of substantiation.
• Campaigns, activations, techniques etc. put forward for coverage in comment pieces: must not be illegal; must not break the CAP Code, the Experiential Marketing Code of Conduct or the Portman Group Code or any similar regulations; must not infringe copyright or similar IP rights…
• …unless the purpose of featuring activity which is illegal, against regulatory codes or infringes IP rights is to highlight what people are doing wrong and promote ‘best practice’ in promotional marketing.
• Any paid-for comment and/or opinion pieces published as part of a sponsorship or advertising deal will have to be clearly identified as such (for example, with the words ‘PROMOTIONAL FEATURE’) in order to conform to the CAP Code.

Press releases, news items and ideas for industry comment and opinion pieces should be submitted FAO Gurgina Sandhu at news@promomarketing.info

WE RESERVE THE RIGHT NOT TO PUBLISH STORIES, COMMENT AND OPINION PIECES AND WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO EDIT STORIES, COMMENT AND OPINION PIECES.