The Rocket Marketing Group creates loyalty and membership programmes which offer discounts on major brands, to its members. The company has enjoyed huge growth over the last 3 years, and has gone from employing 12 members of staff to over 50, across all areas of the business including call centre, fulfillment, technical, marketing and creative.

Rocket has also increased the variety of loyalty and membership programmes it offers, working with new key clients and partners. The company now operates 7 clubs and a number of great rewards such as the exclusive Blockbuster 2 for 1 Movie & Game Rental Card, giving more and more members fantastic discounts on their favourite brands. The range of clubs include The Home & Garden Club, The Entertainment Club, The 241 Hotel Club, The Big Savings Club, The JML VIP Club, plus more on the horizon.

Alan Saunders, Operations and Business Development Director comments: “We have always believed in the importance of quality and this is what Rocket’s products and service have been built on. Our discount clubs offer consumers great value for money, clients a fantastic marketing opportunity and partners incredible incremental revenue. It is great to see that all of our hard work, attention to detail and quality is paying off. I look forward to Rocket’s bright future, having now established itself as a leader in the field of Sales Promotion.”

Rocket looks forward to a great 2010 and growing the business even further.

This timeline charts Rocket’s milestones over the last 3 years:

July 2006 Sign Agreements with sit-up.tv

October 2006 Alan Saunders joins Board as Operations & Business  Development Director

January 2007 Rebrand as Rocket Marketing Group & set growth strategies

February 2007 Become members of the Direct Marketing Association

March 2007 Introduction of AVAYA IP Office Telephone System

April 2007 Introduction of SAP Business One CRM and Business Management

April 2007 Become members of the Institute of Sales Promotion

May 2007 Launched The Entertainment Club

July 2007 Launched The Midweek Dining Club with Tio Pepe

August 2007 Moved Head Office to Enterprise Point to expand & allow further growth

January 2008 Sign Agreements with HSBC for new Merchant Services Facilities

June 2008 Accredited by British Standards Institute as ISO:9001 Quality Assured

August 2008 Sign Agreements with JML, and develop our first white-label product, the JML VIP Savings Club

October 2008 Launched The Home & Garden Club with HBOS

November 2008 Established Rocket Rewards to own and manage our own stand alone promotions

January 2009 Sign Agreements with New Image TV to market the Big Savings Club

February 2009 Sign Agreements with Guthy-Renker to market the Big Savings Club

June 2009 Expand offices and create a Marketing Suite

July 2009 Welcome Ashley Faull to the board

August 2009 Sign Agreements with Blockbuster. Conception of and Exclusive rights for a new product the Blockbuster 2 for 1 Movie & Game Rental Card

August 2009 Started selling The Home & Garden Club with sit-up.tv

August 2009 Sign Agreements with Flying Brands to market The Home & Garden Club

September 2009 Sign Agreements with iSUBSCRiBE, to develop and manage Rocket’s first online club

October 2009 Launched the 241 Hotel Club

November 2009 Sign Agreements with Harvest Media & Virgin Media

November 2009 Create and launch The Living VIP Club

November 2009 Reached over 50 staff

December 2009 Joined Brighton Chamber of Commerce

Contact Us for information on sales promotion and implementing a discount for your brand or reward for your customers. We operate a number of loyalty and membership programmes that offer members discounts, giving the brand access to a large membership base of loyal customers. This helps businesses to drive loyalty retention and revenue.

The Wise Marketer recently reported the rise in coalition marketing as a sales promotion technique. Sales promotion has become more prominent in the last year in a blanket effort to get people  to spend their money less cautiously. It has become important to reward consumers for their loyalty so that they continue to spend money at a time when people are trying to cut back. Encouraging reluctant consumers to spend money continues to be the number one priority for brands at the moment and sales promotion is a proven way to do this. We are at the point where now it is an essential tool to remain competitive, particularly on price.

Sales promotion through consumer incentives and brand coalition is not a new or reactionary concept dreamt up as a recession solution. This has long been the bread and butter of companies such as The Rocket Marketing Group who put companies together in loyalty and membership programmes/ discount clubs and create rewards for staff or consumer incentives. The lure of big brands working together can be a powerful solution for potential rewards and an attractive consumer incentive whatever the state of the economy. All the current climate has done is to highlight the importance of sales promotion to consumers, making it now essential for all brands.

The ideas of brand coalition are the principles that loyalty and rewards programmes or discount clubs and consumer incentive rewards were built on. With loyalty and membership programmes/ discount clubs a member joins a club and then becomes eligible to redeem discounts at various retailers. The joint venture of big and small brands work to validate each other and produce a community of customer centric brands that members become loyal to because they can rely on them to understand their needs/ interests. These loyalty and membership programmes or discount clubs can be categorised to target certain markets such as entertainment, home & garden or white-labelled to match particular brands who want to sell the clubs as non-core products and earn incremental revenue.

The idea of high profile sales promotion has now become an integral part of the consumer shopping experience, so it likely to continue in some guise or other even as the economy improves.

Contact Us to discuss the possibilities of developing consumer incentives and brand coalition solutions through loyalty and membership programmes or discount club for your brand.

The Rocket Marketing Group has produced an exclusive offer for the Natwest bank. Customers of this popular bank can now buy the Blockbuster 2 for 1 Movie & Game Rental Card for only £19.99. With this special price, Natwest customers could save money on Blu-ray, DVD and game rentals, anytime and for an unlimited number of uses for 12 months.

This fantastic offer is being featured in the Natwest Sense Magazine from November 2009 to January 2010. Sense magazine has a circulation of over a million copies and so offers a great opportunity. This is the first time the Blockbuster 2 for 1 Movie & Game Rental Card has been sold directly to consumers, but it has proved to be very popular with members of The Rocket Marketing Group’s loyalty and membership programmes.

Contact Us for more information about the Blockbuster 2 for 1 Movie & Game Rental Card.

At this time of year there is only one thing that people are thinking about – all the chores they have to do for Christmas. As a business or employer understanding the pressures of the people who work for you or buy your goods/ services can help you reward these people with a staff or consumer incentive. Christmas doesn’t have to be stressful for anyone really, whether they stay at home or travel away from it all there’s always an opportunity to enjoy those tasks that are written off as chores. Looking forward to a break makes Christmas more exciting and gets everyone into the spirit of the season, and happy staff/ customers are more likely to reciprocate the goodwill. With the range of deals available such as the 241 Hotel Club (which gives members 2 nights for the price of 1), a hotel staff/ consumer incentive can be presented as a lifeline at this hectic time of year. Here are few ideas of Christmas tasks that can be made fun by turning them into a short break through a hotel club:

Shopping

Buying gifts for every friend and family member can be a daunting task but is a great opportunity to visit a new city. The range of different shops will keep anyone interested and could even inspire some presents that loved ones will be pleasantly surprised with. The evenings can be spent relaxing and having fun so the whole experience feels like a treat rather than a chore.

Visiting loved ones

This can be the most stressful element of Christmas – being trapped in a house with every member of family and possibly in-laws too, it’s just not natural. Situations like this across the country are responsible for many a Christmas time bust-up. So how can people avoid this awkward situation? Stay in a hotel! Just because people spend all day together they don’t have to spend all eve/ night together as well. Holiday Inn is currently running a promotion – offering a 25% discount to put the in-laws up this Christmas. We’re sure that the 241 Hotel club is going to give many members’ families 2 nights for the price of 1 this Christmas and make the festivities run a lot more smoothly.

Cooking

Going on a cooking course ensures making a delicious meal is made enjoyable again. It can help to inspire cooks and make them excited about putting the Christmas dinner together by trying out all new skills that have been learnt. Family members will appreciate the tasty change. Using a hotel club for this kind of break can make a really unique but practical get-away and fantastic opportunity for some quality you-time whilst on the course.

Keeping everyone entertained

The Christmas break is often a long one particularly if there are kids that need to be kept entertained. There are only so many hours the toys will keep everyone occupied before there’s a need to break free from the same 4 walls. Theatre breaks are great and there are so many fantastically magical shows on at this time of year from funny pantomimes to spectacular West End shows. There is sure to be something for anyone’s interests and won’t break the bank, particularly when they get 2 nights for the price of 1.

There are so many interesting and beautiful places to stay in the UK and Ireland so people don’t have to go far for a holiday that can make them feel better, whatever they’re into.

Anyone interested in purchasing a reward such as the 241 Hotel Club as a staff or consumer incentive or partnership marketing reward please Contact Us. The club enables members to enjoy 2 nights for the price of 1 at over 300 hotels throughout the UK and Ireland, so is a great staff or consumer incentive for anyone.

As we approach Christmas and the new year comes ever closer, retailers’ attentions whilst fixed on the issues of Christmas revenue, are also looking at the changes that are due in the new year. The lower VAT rate of 15% will rise again to 17.5% little over a year after it was lowered. Will this encourage consumers to spend more money before the prices go up again, or will they even notice a difference? Sales figures have been up on the same period last year but surely has more to do with the rise in consumer confidence. The Nationwide’s Consumer Confidence Index shows that there was no improvement last month in consumer confidence but the previous months’ increases have meant that year on year the increase has been significant. There does seem to be hope on the horizon as other major economies have recently exited the recession and companies such as Sainsbury’s and many more are reporting higher profits once again.

It’s hard to tell if the VAT reduction has really drastically changed things for consumers or businesses. To consumers it seems to have been more of a gesture, as on small every day purchases the 2.5% only equates to pennies. In general consumers have been responding positively to sales promotion techniques – many not leaving the home without a voucher or their loyalty and membership programme or discount club guide in hand. From a consumers’ point of view the discounts found in in-store sales, loyalty and membership programmes or discount clubs usually offer far more value than 2.5% and so eclipse the good of the VAT reduction. These discounts can knock profits but also generate loyalty, retention and even revenue if businesses sell the loyalty and membership programmes or discount clubs to its existing customers.

It could be argued that traditional sales promotion techniques have done more in the last year to promote consumer spending than the lower VAT rate. A discount or reward is something that consumers instantly recognise as value for money and can put into context. By employing sales promotion techniques a lot of businesses have managed to stay competitive during difficult times. As the sales and discounts continue into the new year it’s debatable whether consumers or even retailers will notice a massive difference when the VAT increases to 17.5% again.

Contact Us for information on sales promotion and implementing a discount for your brand or reward for your customers. We operate a number of membership and loyalty programmes that offer members discounts, giving the brand access to a large membership base of loyal customers. This helps businesses to drive loyalty retention and revenue.

Earning incremental revenue from an external source can be seen to be a vital element for any business in the current climate. The recession in many cases is responsible for cutting businesses’ potential earnings from their core products/ services, to a minimum. In a recession that is as deep as the current one, the need to resuscitate business incomings is vital. So in many cases, to maintain a healthy profit margin companies have been looking to expand their current consumer offering.

One such way to introduce an extra incremental revenue source is to work with an external company offering additional products/ services under the umbrella of your brand. By upselling other products such as a loyalty and membership programme or discount club to existing customers there is the potential to encourage them to spend more at the point of purchase.

If this product is tailored to the existing customer’s interests in relation to the business’ products, the success rate is likely to be higher. For example, The Rocket Marketing Group operates the JML VIP Savings Club – a loyalty and membership programme/ discount club, which focuses on Entertainment, Fashion and High Street, Health and Leisure, Freedom to Shop, Travel, Toddler and Baby, Motoring, plus 10% off JML’s entire range of time-saving ideas. These sections reflect, complement and expand on JML’s existing products. The Club is then offered to customers when they call the company to order one of JML’s core products. This not only gives JML a second chance to upsell, but it gives them the opportunity to offer non-core product/ services, enhancing their consumer offering.

This model can be applied to a number of companies, whatever the core products/ services are. When the non-core products are offered through an external agency a range of existing clients can be put together to create a loyalty and membership programme or discount club suitable for the brand’s target market.

There are a number of ways to create incremental revenue and should all be seriously considered by companies who don’t want to rely on the revenue generated through their core products/ services or resign themselves to consolidating the business during tough times.

Contact Us if you are interested in earning incremental revenue and driving customer retention through a loyalty and membership programme or discount club.

In Britain we are currently experiencing the longest recession since records began and it is becoming increasingly hard for some businesses to continue trading. Retailers have been using numerous sales promotion tactics – encouraging consumers to spend money by offering discounts and rewards to customers who shop with their brand. With Halloween and bonfire night just passed and Christmas plus New Year on the horizon, there are many marketing and sales promotion opportunities coming along, perfect for targeting customer retention. But how valuable is it to offer seasonal discounts and what are the best ways to distribute them to the kind of customers who are likely to respond?

The changing seasons and special events such as Halloween and Christmas give consumers a reason to spend money. In the current economic climate consumers have become more cautious about spending money – often only buying the things they need. So the job of businesses and marketers is to make sure that their product is seen as a necessity. This is why seasonal discounts can work – it is seen as a special, limited time deal that everyone should get into the spirit of. The deal gives consumers the excuse they want and the sense of urgency needed to prompt an impulse purchase.

There are many reasons people respond to seasonal discounts, mainly using it as an excuse to treat themselves as well as others or merely trying to wait until the best deal is available. The element that all these reasons have in common is that the consumer is responding to a prompt – giving them permission to make a purchase even though times might be hard. These purchases range from the smallest of knick-knacks to big purchases such as furniture or electrical goods, so any retailer can benefit, given the right marketing strategy. By becoming a port of call for a seasonal discount this then showcases your complete consumer offering and encourages customer retention.

To make your seasonal offer work and ensure your message reaches a responsive audience your business needs to sufficiently highlight the seasonal discounts. This also gives you a reason to refresh your customer communications, giving them a new reason to listen to what you are selling and highlighting the brand benefits. This process should start before the event. By having a run up to an event and renewing the message as the days countdown, it gives consumers the chance to engage with the offer and consider using it.

It is also good to draw consumers in to the fun element of the season or event so they are engaging with your brand on a social level. Show insights into their lifestyle and be seen to offer to help them out with your products/ services. For example how about suggesting gift ideas at Christmas, costume ideas at Halloween or ideas for keeping kids entertained during the summer holidays? The value is in knowing your customer then showing that you understand their mindset and offering them what they want in a way that is mutually beneficial.

As well as in-store and point of purchase offers you can also offer a saving and subsequently a seasonal discount through a third party agency. There are a number of sales promotion agencies that have a substantial loyal customer base to who you can offer your discount to. The special offer you offer will then be distributed to the established customer base who respond to discounts and seasonal discount through regular e-shots, driving customer retention.

There are definitely benefits in offering seasonal discounts and some would even argue that they are still essential for retailers in the run up to Christmas, but as with anything it is essential that they are managed properly to get the best results.

Contact Us if you would like to discuss the customer retention and sales promotion opportunities for your business, by creating an exclusive discount, reward or seasonal discount for a loyalty and membership programme/ discount club.

The Rocket Marketing Group feels that The Royal British Legion’s charity work through the Poppy Appeal is an important cause to support. The Rocket employees will be amongst millions of people across Britain, observing a two minute silence on 11.11.09, to remember Britain’s fallen war heroes.

In support of The Poppy Appeal, Rocket has made a donation to this worthy cause. The money goes to the work The Royal British Legion does to help the service and ex-service community. This year The Poppy Appeal is emphasising the need to help a new generation from the armed services and Rocket hopes its contribution will help to make a difference.

It is clear what the benefits of sales promotions are for consumers – and they know it. Demand for rewards and consumer incentives have grown immeasurably in the last year and it’s now what consumers expect wherever they shop. On the surface it would appear that this is a one-sided relationship in which consumers are holding businesses over a barrel. Sales promotion shouldn’t and mostly isn’t something that businesses are forced to resort to. Managed properly and thought out thoroughly, sales promotion can be mutually beneficial – particularly in the current economic climate. So what are the benefits of consumer sales promotions for businesses?

Consumer retention

In the long-term a loyal customer is worth far more to a business than an occasional high purchaser. When a customer is recognised as loyal the emotional involvement with the brand is increased. Showing recognition by offering consumer incentives for loyalty stands to solidify the idea of staying loyal to the brand. Loyalty can be rewarded in a number of ways from offering a coupon at the checkout to points collection cards.

Create positive brand associations

Working together with another brand creates a sense of corporate validation and helps your brand to tap into new loyal customer bases. Whatever you trade in there are sure to be a synergistic brands for you to work with, for example hotels and theatres or gyms and sports clothing retailers. It can also work well for pushing you brand’s image in a new direction by moving away from the logical partnerships, for example if you want to raise your green credentials how about teaming up with environmental brands such as The National Trust?

Increase brand recognition

Brand recognition is essential for enticing customers to buy your product/service over another. The authority recognition gives your brand offers consumers confidence in your product/service, as they know what to expect. Increasing brand recognition comes from offering your sales promotion to a wider audience than your regular customer base. A good example of this is featuring a consumer incentive or exclusive discount in a loyalty and membership programme or discount club. These programmes are usually a free marketing option, managed by an external agency that have an large existing customer base.

Reach new consumers

Sales promotion can be one of the most effective ways to catch new customers’ eye.  The best ways to offer a discount or consumer incentive is through a loyalty and membership programmes/ discount club or a chance to win a grand prize. By doing this you are giving consumers a reason to stray away from the brands they are usually loyal to. Competitions are an instant way to catch people’s attention but loyalty and membership programmes or discount clubs go out to an established customer base and can sustain a lasting message.

These rewards are useful to any business and however you want to represent your brand there is a sales promotion answer for your business, that can be effectively integrated to compliment any marketing plan.

Contact us if you would like to discuss how one of our loyalty and membership programmes/ discount clubs or consumer incentive and rewards can benefit your brand.

Over the last few years the rise in the use of sales promotion in the form of vouchers and discount clubs, has led to a culture of consumers not leaving the home for a meal/ day trip without one. Because the vouchers and discount codes accompany so much cash into the tills, it is as if the voucher has become a form of legal tender.

In order to compete for customer retention is it therefore essential that retailers now adopt sales promotion techniques and trade/deal with vouchers plus exclusive discounts, even in the run up to Christmas?

Companies use sales promotion by offering discounts, and accept them against payment for a number of products and services. The rise in the voucher is not only specific to the people who you would traditionally associate with bargain hunting, but most people now have used a discount in some form or other. Nielsen online reported that 9.8 million Britons used a coupon or reward site in 2008. In 2008 coupon and reward websites were the second fastest growing UK online sector according to YouGov. And most tellingly of all, 48% of shoppers were more likely to use retailers who offered voucher codes (Nov 2008).

Consumers are now programmed to look for discounts, if one shop isn’t offering a discount then the next one will be, so it is therefore not surprising that retailers are using sales promotion tactics by offering vouchers or exclusive discounts to members of loyalty and membership programmes or discount clubs. By doing this retailers are not only bolstering their presence on the high street but encouraging increased redemption online as well. And as internet shopping becomes the norm for many people, it’s increasingly important for retailers to establish their brand online – where it is even more important to be competitively priced, as other retailers are only one click away.

Contact Us if you are interested sales promotion for your business. We can discuss rewards for your consumers or an exclusive discount to offer members of a loyalty and membership programme or discount club.