The Rocket Marketing Group have created a brand new bespoke membership programme exclusively for sit-up channels – The Privilege Savings Club.

The club has been fully branded in line with the look and feel of sit-up’s home shopping channels, and has been designed specifically for their viewers.

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The start of Autumn can be a pretty depressing time of year. The evenings begin to draw in, there is a definite chill in the air, and that two week break in the sun is soon just a distant memory as you settle back into the daily grind of work.

Sound familiar? If so, a short hotel break in the UK may be just what you need to beat the end of Summer blues, while providing a fantastic opportunity to see Britain’s Autumnal beauty in all its glory.

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The Rocket Marketing Group have filed end of year results for 2009 showing an impressive 35% increase in turnover from £3.7m in 2008, to over £5m.

In a further year of terrific growth, Rocket’s pre-tax profits have also increased by 55%, proving that Rocket’s commitment to efficiency and business processes is reaping rewards.

Rocket has worked hard to expand on its success over the last three years, and has seen the results of new revenue partnerships with Living TV, Flying Brands and iSUBSCRiBE, as well as securing a further long-term deal with sit-up channels.  (more…)

With VAT set to rise to 20% in 2011, the retail sector will welcome the news that online sales jumped by 22% in May, compared to 2009 levels.

The online market has become a key sector for businesses, in part due to the financial limitations imposed by the recession. Companies have found marketing and selling their products online to be a very cost effective way of generating revenue and attracting customers, with the latest figures showing that shoppers spent £4.5bn online during May alone.

The research, conducted by the International Media Retail Group (IMRG) found that companies who utilised a range of sales channels had the most success. For example, retailers with both physical stores and online facilities saw year-on-year sales rise by 28%, compared with a rise of just 1% for online-only retailers. (more…)

Brands have been queuing up to align themselves to the World Cup, as spending on marketing campaigns looks set to top over £1bn by the end of the tournament.

But is this money well spent? While promotional tie-ins have long since provided a golden opportunity for advertisers to tap into the public’s interest, it seems companies are ignoring basic marketing principles in their haste to capitalise on the tournament.

With this in mind, The Rocket Marketing Group present three examples of common ‘Own Goals’ to avoid when promoting your product during the World Cup. (more…)

One of the more positive trends to emerge from the recent recession is the advent of the discount dining culture. Where regular meals out used to be the preserve of the rich, it now seems that restaurants are opening their doors to a new breed of clientele who are only too happy to eat out once or twice a month, if there’s a discount involved.

Research from comparison website Moneysupermarket.com has revealed that restaurant vouchers are now the most popular of all vouchers claimed online, with diners saving an estimated £3bn in the last year alone.

The number of people in the UK eating out using vouchers has increased by 30% in the last year, with more and more restaurants offering discounts online and through loyalty clubs and reward programmes. With the number of people eating out once a month or more also increasing by 11%, it appears that the stigma of using a voucher to help pay for a meal may be a thing of the past. (more…)

As the UK’s airports begin to tentatively open their doors to the public following a week of travel chaos, experts are beginning to calculate the cost of unprecedented disruptions to British air travel.

While it’s clear that the airlines have lost huge amounts of money (around £1.1bn according to the International Air Transport Association), the cost to British tourism may yet prove to be negligible.

In fact, many industry experts believe the UK’s visitor economy may actually benefit in the long term, as the delays, cost, and discomfort suffered by stranded holiday makers may cause people to think twice about holidaying abroad in the future. (more…)

Companies throughout the UK are reaping the benefit of partnerships with Rocket Marketing. Both Butlins and Haven have reported a substantial increase in revenue at the start of 2010 having joined with Rocket to offer customers up to 50% off the price of their holidays.

Butlins have seen an extra 155 bookings as a result of the promotion, which has generated over £67,000 worth of income since they became part of The Big Savings Club in October 2009. Haven’s involvement with Rocket has resulted in an additional 34 bookings being made to its parks in the first two months of 2010, generating over £9000 worth of revenue. The company has also seen an increase in web traffic to its site following the implementation of its promotion with Rocket. (more…)

As published in The Argus, Tuesday, February 23rd , 2010

2009 was challenging to say the least for a lot of businesses as the grip of recession took its toll. The new year has started with signs of recovery but a lot of the same challenges remain – a recent report stated that in certain areas of the UK one in five shops on the high street are now empty. So despite the green shoots of recovery that exiting the recession brings, there is still a long way to go. The question now is what are the tasks for businesses that have survived the recession and now face a transition period? Are marketing options such as sales promotion through rewards and discounts or loyalty and membership programmes going to lead the way or will there be yet more changes in the way consumers spend money? What next for the marketers? (more…)