Back in the 80's when my hair was much, much shorter than today, I was issued with a shiny black book from the Institute of Sales Promotion, when I joined the ranks of an agency called Marketplace. London's first proper integrated marketing agency went on the become the engine room of integrated communications capability at No 1 ad agency AMV, many twists and turns later, but by then I was long gone to pastures new.
Anyway, the book was called 'The Manual of Sales Promotion' by John Murphy.
I remember it as a bible. A black shiny bible with black and yellow type. Always within arms reach at my desk in the early days of Farringdon and its connection to the creative industries.
A brief would arrive from the likes of Sainsbury's or Nestle or one of Unilever's many food divisions and the book would be taken out to be fervently consulted for its exhaustive compendium of the tools, techniques and latest schemes that might be deployed to drive sales, along with technical details of their operation and the legal implications of getting things wrong. And many things could and did go wrong with a piece of sales promotion designed to appeal to very large numbers of consumers, on behalf for household names in British food manufacturing and retailing. But get it right and the results could be spectacular.
Back in these heady days of the 80's, when SP was King, the underlying mechanics had to be right but so too did the imaginative theming and often garish presentation on pack and at POS. To a generation who lived and merrily shopped their way through this decade, there is a retro appeal to the kind of promotions that ruled the supermarket aisles. And it's an appeal that here at Humbug we recognise and wish to capitalise on your behalf.
So, if you're too young to remember the 80's and SP's heyday, but are blessed with a customer profile biased towards baby boomers, and you're keen to engage them in some classical retro SP campaigns let us know.
For those of you wanting to benefit from boomers' altruistic tendencies, we've used all our experience and expertise over decades of marketing practice to create a brand new genre of Sales Promotion combining sales and altruism, infused with a heavy dose of retro appeal.
Talk to any of us Humbugs, because we were there in the battle hardened aisles when SP was King. Building sales without devaluing brands with a confidence that appeals to the baby boomer generation we know, understand and exist to represent, through the more the insightful and imaginative branding and communications we deliver today.