Alcohol Story of the Week
Following the launch of the brand’s sustainable vodka, Sapling Spirits has added a climate-positive British gin to its range. The gin is being launched at the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition (22nd September 2021 — 2nd January 2022) via the Sapling Greenhouse Bar. Available on the Sapling website from November, the gin will enter into the on-trade in January. The London Dry Sapling Gin is 40% ABV and retails for £34.00. Sapling Spirits, founded in 2018 by Ed Faulkner and Ivo Devereux, aims to create sustainable change in the drinks industry. Sapling uses extremely local ingredients and suppliers to accurately track environmental impact and reduce transport emissions.Digital Story Story of the Week
Digital adspend surges by 42% compared with pre-pandemic levels. Digital advertising spending in the UK has recovered to levels higher than those seen before the pandemic, the latest data from the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) has shown. Spending on digital advertising totalled £10.5bn in the first six months of 2021 – a 42% jump compared with the same period in 2019 when spending reached £7.3bn, according to the IAB. The slight dip in digital adspend during H1 in 2020 – down to £7.1bn and covering the initial lockdown period – has given way to a 49% increase in 2021. This represents the biggest ever jump recorded by the IAB. Experts behind the data analysis said the latest figures are “really encouraging”, considering spending is now higher than it was before Covid. The adspend data, collected biannually by audit firm PwC, is taken from the IAB’s members and other sources, including from the World Advertising Research Center (Warc).Food Story of the Week
La Vaquita’s used programmatic marketing to develop an insights-driven campaign using a drive-to-store platform to reach target consumers, with a dual purpose of increasing brand awareness and driving incremental store visits to supermarkets in the Houston area. To effectively reach consumers, a custom mobile campaign was created targeting relevant audiences with engaging mobile ad units to convert mobile impressions to in-store visits by combining demographic data, location and online behaviour. Target consumers were also given a limited-time promotion with an in-store coupon at a well-known grocery chain. The strategy generated over 90,000 incremental store visits across La Vaquita retailers.Tourism Story of the Week
Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, has announced a simplified system for international travel from the UK. The current traffic light system will be replaced by a single red list of countries and territories, with changes coming into effect on October 4th. Testing requirements will also be reduced for eligible fully vaccinated travellers, who will no longer need to take a PCR test when travelling to England. From the end of October, eligible fully vaccinated passengers and those with an approved vaccine from a select group of non-red countries will be able to replace their day two test with a cheaper lateral flow test, reducing the cost of tests on arrival into England.Diversity Story of the Week
The BBC’s preschool TV channel CBeebies has appointed George Webster as its first presenter with Down’s syndrome. The 20-year-old will join the channel as a guest presenter from the CBeebies House, hosting segments and links between programmes from Salford’s MediaCityUK. An actor, dancer and ambassador for the disability charity Mencap, Webster was announced as a presenter on Monday. In a video posted on social media, he said: “I feel so proud and I’m feeling so excited to start”, adding that he was looking forward to cooking and dancing in his new role. Webster, who is from Leeds, previously appeared in an educational video for the BBC’s Bitesize strand on misconceptions around the genetic condition.Property Story of the Week
Searches for homes near train stations jump as UK returns to the office. Rightmove sees a rise in house hunters seeking homes with good transport links to major cities. The move back to the office following the lifting of coronavirus restrictions has prompted a surge in searches for homes for sale close to commuter stations, according to property website Rightmove. Between June and August, searches for homes near Chelmsford station, a 35-minute commute from London’s Liverpool Street station, more than doubled, Rightmove said. Searches for property around Sittingbourne station in Kent, about an hour’s train commute from London, were up by 47% over the same period.Social Media Story of the Week
Brands are estimated to flock to TikTok influencers this Christmas. When a video of a single Leeds United goal gets more views than four top retailers' Christmas ads combined, change is in the air. We’ve seen mass and luxury brands jump on the TikTok bandwagon for their influencer marketing campaigns in recent months. They’ve signed celebrities, comedians, dance troupes, make-up artists and even lamb farmers. But the big boom is still to come with Christmas 2021 set to be the year of the TikTok influencer campaign. Last year, Pret A Manger gave us a glimpse into the power of TikTok as one of the only UK brands to produce a Christmas campaign. Its #JoyWithPret Challenge led to a staggering 1.5 billion views. Yes, 1.5 billion. It’s clear that the early adopters of the platform, such as Pret, are already reaping the reach rewards – and since then we’ve witnessed an almighty rise in British branded TikTok content strategies. TikTok has made other strategic decisions, such as increasing the maximum video duration to three minutes (with live streams lasting up to 60 minutes). As a result, TikTok is already reporting a longer dwell time than rivals such as YouTube.