The IPM winners for 2024 have been announced and what do the winners tell us about brand promotions as a whole? Here’s the rundown on some of PromoNow’s favourite promotions and the awards they won.
Notable FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) and CPG (consumer packaged goods) Activations
Winning the biggest award of the night and one of the few retailer activations that was featured and won awards was Aldi for their Rosé Degrees Billboard. This activation won:
This promotion was launched in Manchester during the ‘perfect weather’ for rosé wine. The retailer offered their best-selling rosé from the Rosé Billboard and within the 2 days this experiential sampling campaign was live, 4,200 glasses were served. The promotion received media attention from news outlets and the radio as consumers rushed to get a glass. The billboard was built to be highly shareable and for social media - the stand-out all-pink design grabbed the attention of the public and drove engagement and interactivity.
It seems discounters are making their stand in the brand promotional space - discounters, like supermarkets, have been pushing brand promotions in-store through POS and on-pack promotions but it’s been fairly minimal. This exciting experimental activation sets a precedent for supermarkets and discounters in engaging consumers with fantastic experiential activations.
So far, many retailers’ most successful promotions have been focused on sampling - including another successful promotion by Aldi - their Aldi’s Pigs in Blankets Restaurant which won Silver in the ‘Best Sampling Activation Award’. This is also the case for Tesco and their 'Tesco Finest Relaunch' which won Bronze for the ‘Best Trial and/or Acquisition Campaign’.
Another rare, yet impressive retailer activation is by Tesco for their Christmas Grottos which won:
In a heart-warming activation, during Christmas 2023, Tesco created and built Christmas Grottos in and around Tesco stores in a classic Christmas Grotto style so that families from various economic backgrounds could have a Grotto experience for free in a season where many consumers were no doubt, struggling financially, not only due to the expenses of the season but also the cost-of-living crisis.
This activation has not focused on any particular sales incentive and instead, was done to boost love for the brand and give back to the community during the festive season. Overall, the experience was very successful, with 21,500 families visiting the Grottos.
With the most accolades, Weetabix’s Weetaboxpark activation dominated at the IPM 2024 Awards. The activation won:
This promotion by Weetabix rebranded Boxpark in a wholesome transformation - serving close to 1000 breakfasts. The BBC and SKY News broadcasted live from the Weetaboxpark during matches and were featured in plenty of press, generating a reach of 427 million. A social media campaign was also run to generate more engagement and traction for the takeover of Boxpark, using user-generated content and pushing the hashtag #WeetabixCelebrationDance to improve shares and engagement.
Not only was the Weetaboxpark transformation an impressive feat but the activation was also released alongside an on-pack promotion at retailers, focusing on supporting women’s football in particular. To revitalise Weetabix’s branding, they’ve been heavily targeting football fans with their promotions and partnerships. This promotion was also supported with a promotional website, otherwise known as a microsite.
In the drinks sector, 19 Crimes’ Find the 19th Cork promotion did well, winning:
This promotion was a treasure-hunt instant win promotion - 19 Crimes hid 400 limited-edition corks in the UK, with each cork printed on it, ‘WINNER’ and an 8-digit unique reference code.
Through the winning 19th cork campaign, we are striving to provide our customers with memorable and engaging experiences that push the boundaries of the wine category and encourage our consumers to discover more. The 19th cork campaign is unique and we are confident it will drive visibility of the 19 crimes brand.
Ben Blake, Marketing Director at Treasury Wine Estates
This year, alcohol brands have dominated the podium. Another notable winner is JOY Wines with a launch that sells a bright and exciting image of wine to a Gen Z audience. With their launch earning them:
As the only soft-drink brand winning an award in the beverage category, Dr Pepper Zerooo’s Try More Weird Experience won:
Dialling in on the quirky and grungy visuals, Dr-Pepper brought to life a pop-up that targeted Gen Z and Millennial ‘misfits’ - focusing and reflecting individuality, authenticity, and being unique as the drink itself.
The promotion featured something new and experimental room after room at the pop-up in Chavasse Park: playing with proportions to create great photo opportunities; offering bizarre foods and tasting experiences; all rounded off with a can of Dr. Pepper at the end of the pop-up experience.
Dr Pepper has a very loyal fan base, and we want to celebrate them with a big come-back campaign! Try More Weird is a new take on our iconic ‘What’s The Worst That Could Happen’ campaign, updating it with a positive spin that encourages people to let go of their inhibitions and give new things a go. This is all about joy and adventure and embracing your individuality with confidence. Following the introduction of our new and improved formula last year, we are taking Dr Pepper a step further with a new design that better reflects our brilliantly bonkers brand.
Charlotte Walsham, Dr Pepper’s Brand Manager
Horlick’s Find Your Happy Place promotions similarly performed quite well in the awards, winning:
With its ‘everyone wins’ type of prize draw, many participants left the promotion feeling like they've won thanks to Horlick’s collaborative partnership with Happy Place, a wellness app.
Another partnership promotion that made an appearance at the award was Trek x Decathlon’s Everybody Active partnership which won:
The chocolate iconic for its pyramid-shaped chocolates, Toblerone launched The Toblerone Diamond Truffles Vault activation which won:
To announce and introduce their new diamond-shaped truffles to consumers, Toblerone went all-out in creating The Toblerone Diamond Truffle Vault experience. As a play to their new shape, Toblerone simulated an experience at a premium jewellery shop with high security in Piccadilly.
Outside of the FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) and the CPG (consumer packaged goods) industry, we’ve also seen iconic kids brad Play-Doh launch their Play-Doh Restaurant of Imagination campaign which won:
This pop-up restaurant, although short-lived, generated over 200 press mentions and millions of views through media coverage. For this activation, Play-Doh also worked with influencers to bolster their social media presence around this campaign.
This colourful and memorable campaign focused on letting children explore, choose and get involved in their meal - creating a Play-Doh food creation before a set of professionals would re-create these creations into a nutritious meal for the children to enjoy.
Continuing with the theme of brands outside of FMCG and CPG, Currys launched an activation called Perks Family Fun Days which won:
To encourage loyalty and reward active members of Currys’ Perks. The promotions incentivises sign-ups to Currys Perks, Currys’ mailing list which contains news and offers - and even for a one-time buyer who is making the most of the deal, it allows Currys to get into customer inboxes, offering other deals which may encourage recurring purchases from Currys.
