Event Organisers Update ISSUE 82 January/February 2011

PIE IN THE SKY? Some recent developments in airship technology coupled with the high cost of travel could see giant craft carrying thousands of passengers, and…

LIES, DAMN LIES AND REVIEWS Hotelier and TV dragon Duncan Bannatyne is campaigning against untrue and negative reviews placed on TripAdvisor…

MORE REVIEWS Meanwhile some other hotels have been getting some bad press in the Telegraph…

FINE FOR ROYAL HOTEL The Royal Hotel, Ashby, Leicestershire has been fined £80,000 after a 78-year-old man was hit and killed by a reversing taxi at the hotel’s…

FINE FOR MARRIOTT Marriott Hotels have been fined a total of £20,000 for failing to protect contractors after a visiting consultant fell 2.5 metres through a closed…

CARLSON AD MISLEADING A complaint against Carlson Hotels Worldwide has been upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)…

MEAN STREETS According to a Times Online survey the Reperbahn in Hamburg, where the Beatles cut their rock and roll teeth, is Europe’s sleaziest street, with all its…

PAY UP AND SAVE OUR JOBS  Peel Airports, the owners of Durham Tees Valley Airport have introduced a “facility fee” of £4 for adults using the airport and £2 for…

OVERKILL FOR EMAIL Those marketing into the events sector are killing the effectiveness of email to event organisers by the over-use of it…

DISCOUNT FOR APRIL EVENT IN MANCHESTER  A 20% discount on its £35 day delegate rate is offered for event bookings at the University of Manchester’s flagship…

BOOK THE PENTHOUSE One interesting option at the new 48 bedroom Varsity Hotel and Spa, Cambridge is to book the Penthouse Suite, which could accommodate 8-12…

NEW IN CHESTER The new Abode Hotel, which overlooks the racecourse, offers 85 bedrooms, inclusive three sixth floor suites…

MANCHESTER IN LONDON Manchester Live is a showcase for 35 venues and attractions taking place at the Kensington Roof Gardens on Wednesday 2 March…

BUSINESS TRAVEL  The Business Travel and Meetings Show (BTMS) takes place at Earls Court, London, February 8/9…

VENUECHECK – CHANCELLORS HOTEL, MANCHESTER Judging by our recent visit the three-star rated Chancellors Hotel and Conference Centre, off Moseley Road…

SLEAZY MARKETING AT LAND ROVER

Land Rover have paid 40 celebrities to write about their Range Rovers on social networking site Twitter.

According to Marketing magazine the sad celebs received a free vehicle for their spontaneous and honest endorsement and included fashion designer Henry Holland, model Daisy Lowe, editor of GQ magazine Dylan Jones, and presenters George Lamb and Ben Shephard, all based in the UK. Outside the UK the paid brand ambassadors included models, actors, presenters, journalists, editors, and chefs, who will all be doing some well-paid twittering in 2011.

The ill-conceived arrangement has undermined the integrity of Land Rover, Twitter, and the celebrities involved and will reduce consumer confidence in the marketing sector, as well as positioning celebrity endorsement as completely valueless.

QUICK SELL

Advertisers are developing TV ads that can be understood if run at up to 12 times the normal speed.

The move is in response to the growth in digital video recorders (DVR’s) which allow viewers to fast forward through the ads between the recorded programmes. Also fuelled by the DVR boom is the charging of premium rates for the last ad before the start or re-start of a programme, which media experts say has the highest recall.

TV TURN-OFFS

Meanwhile the rise of reality TV shows is one main reason why 70% of over-55s claim that TV today is not worth the licence fee (YouGov poll).

Many also feel that the product placement in programmes due this year can only further reduce the quality of output.

SUPERMARKETING

Savvy shoppers are learning that their perception of larger packs being cheaper is costing them money.

Asda, Tesco and Sainsburys have all been found to offer larger packs that cost more than buying several smaller ones, the latest being Tesco that were selling a multi-pack of three tins of tuna for £1 more than the cost of buying the three tins individually.

The supermarkets claim that the examples revealed are human error, rather than cynical pricing.

CUSTOMER CARE FROM TRAIN OPERATOR

Southeastern Trains have been accused of cancelling hundreds of trains during the recent cold weather, to avoid paying the compensation to their customers that is due if trains are late.

The company now charges more than £5000 for an annual season ticket to London from Hastings, Rye or Tonbridge and contributes significantly to making train fares in the UK the highest in Europe.

TIGER AD A TURKEY

Gillette have dumped disgraced golfer Tiger Woods and a multi-million dollar sponsorship deal with him.

A TV ad featuring Woods with the strapline “SHOW THE WORLD HOW PHENOMENAL YOU CAN BE” won the Campaign magazine’s “Top Turkey” award in December 2008.

Woods still receives $40 million a year from Nike, and payments from computer game company Electronic Arts.

Rumours that the next Nike campaign will use the strapline NIKE. YOUR SUPPORT WHEN YOU’RE PLAYING A ROUND should, in our view, be dismissed as jolly funny.

WORLD BEATER

One way of saving on the marketing budget is to produce a product or service that demonstrably outclasses everything else around.

The Cornish Cheese Company of Upton Cross, Cornwall, will be finding this out, their Cornish Blue cheese having taken the top honours at the World Cheese Awards. It beat 2,000 other entries and is the first British winner in the last ten years.