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Everyone’s
A Winner for Felix Corporation
Silver Award winner - Trade or Technical Category,
NW IPR Pride Awards 2005 |
INTRODUCTION:
Cheshire-based AIM-listed Felix Corporation is in the
product development stage for complex sales promotion
and marketing tool ‘Everyone’s A Winner’
(EAW). We were charged with raising profile and awareness
in trade press, particularly publications read by people
who could benefit from the machine - venue owners, brand
managers and others in the ‘gaming’ industry.
EAW is presented to the consumer
as a ‘game’ but is in fact a sophisticated
sales promotion and data capture tool. It guarantees
consumers a free prize worth at least twice the cost
of participation every time they play it – in
return for opt-in personal data. Prizes are either redeemable
immediately in the venue (i.e. a free bottle of wine)
or by issuing vouchers for high street retailers and
the leisure sector.
EAW had, in effect, created a new
sales promotion category - ‘Redemption Vending’
- and the challenge was to clearly explain to the media
what this was and why it was significant in many different
trade sectors.
It was important for shareholders
in the company to be able to see evidence through media
coverage of the business’s development.
OBJECTIVES:
- Raise media profile within target segments to create
awareness among those who could benefit from EAW
- Communicate the advantages of EAW to broad range of
target trade audiences; retail press, gaming, licensed
trade, technology, data management and marketing press
- Boost the credibility and reputation of Felix Corporation
to help secure future trials and product stockists within
the prize bank.
PLANNING AND RESEARCH:
SKV PR drafted a series of introductory press releases
aimed at each target audience explaining the concept.
Releases needed to be researched for potential stockists
and for prize bank suppliers.
IMPLEMENTATION:
We arranged interviews at ATEI (Amusement Trades Exhibition)
in January 2005 where Felix Corporation launched the
EAW terminals to the gaming trade. Needing to drive
interest and people to the stand, we positioned it as
the first in a new category and highlighted the almost
unbelievable fact that everyone who plays wins a prize
every time, managing to secure trade coverage in all
the attending gaming publications.
Coverage achieved:
- ABUK
- CoinSlot (pre and post show issues)
- Euro Slot
- G3
- InterGame
- InterGame online
We set about putting CEO Andy Egan, the founder of
Felix Corporation, forward industry comment interviews.
Sceptical journalists in trade sectors other than gaming
were sent the initial press clippings to help demonstrate
that this unusual new product was in fact a legitimate
invention with big ambitions.
CREATIVE INPUT:
Initial coverage was extensive but we needed to create
more angles and refresh the story for all target sectors.
Examples of this include:
- using player statistics to develop interesting socio-demographic
stories such as what type of prizes do women choose
as opposed to men
- responding to direct marketing industry issues about
the rising cost of collecting opt-in data with bespoke
EAW releases focussing on their ‘free data’
USP
- exploiting third party partnerships such as EAW’s
deal with BT agilemedia (famous for handling the SMS
voting for the UK’s top reality TV shows) via
news announcements
- regular announcements/updates issued regarding new
trials and new prize suppliers.
RESULTS:
Stand-out trade coverage: Retail Week, Morning Advertiser
and Incentive Today to CoinSlot International and New
Media Age.
Andy Egan has been established as a leading figure
in the gaming industry and a global PRS spokesman following
an interview with World Telemedia.
As a direct result of an article in The Publican, Felix
Corporation set up a trial with Punch Taverns (one of
the country’s largest licensed retailers) following
requests from landlords for an EAW terminal.
As a result of Spin Media’s work, EAW were helped
to scoop the prestigious ‘Most Innovative Product’
Award from Entrepreneur magazine and Felix Corporation
was listed in Real Business as ‘One to Watch’
for 2005.
EVALUATION:
A total of 57 articles in trade titles
Content Weighted Editorial Value £127, 204
Helpful Readership Value 1,774,891
.
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