Press archive

Coca-Cola's UK head of loyalty Graham Horner has left the company after three years with the soft drinks giant. He has been replaced by HMV marketer Paul Sinclair, who joins as senior loyalty manager.

It is understood that Horner will be joining the Telegraph Media Group, publishers of the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, to help mastermind the media outlet's customer retention strategy.

At Coca-Cola Great Britain, Horner was responsible for the business' first digital rewards programme, 'Coke Zone'.

He joined the company in 2007, after spending five years working for Loyalty Management UK, former operators of the Nectar programme. At Nectar, he managed numerous direct marketing programmes, including the creation of the points update mailing.

He is also a former executive at loyalty specialist agency dunnhumby, where he helped to develop customer segmentation and insight strategies for clients including BT, Centrica and Orange.

Coca-Cola launched Coke Zone as its first reward scheme specifically for the UK in October 2007, shortly after Horner joined. Carlson Marketing - the lead agency on 'Coke Zone' - designed the new site, and oversaw the revamp, alongside digital design agency Flourish, with Sapient responsible for web integration.

Its aim is to build brand loyalty across its portfolio of drinks and it has worked with partners in the music, fashion and entertainment sectors including EA Games, The O2 arena an the Football League. Its most recent promotion has seen it offering free copies of Heat, Grazia, Closer and more! and Asos clothes, as part of a fashionista campaign running on packs of Diet Coke this summer.

Meanwhile, consumers drinking Coke will be rewarded with millions of 'Happy Prizes' on the site as part of its ongoing "Open Happiness" ad push. However, the random nature of the prizes has left some consumers expressing disappointment on the site, forcing Coke to explain the legality of the promotion.

A Coca-Cola GB spokesperson confirmed Horner's departure and said a replacement had been appointed in former HMV marketer, Paul Sinclair.

"Following the departure of Graham Horner, Coca-Cola GB are delighted to announce the appointment of Paul Sinclair as senior loyalty manager. Paul joins Coca-Cola from HMV, where he was responsible for implementing and managing many initiatives, including the successful launch of HMV's rewards scheme," the spokesperson says.

They add: "Coke Zone continues to be a strategic priority for us and is evidence of our commitment to deepening our engagement with consumers by rewarding them for their loyalty to us."

Save the Children has joined with the 'Daily Mirror' and 'The Paul O'Grady Show' on Channel 4 to encourage the public to donate clothing and accessories to its charity shops.

The 'Handbags and gladrags' appeal debuted this week in the paper, fronted by Holby City star Amanda Mealing. It aims to raise £30,000 for Save the Children.

It is part of the charity's Every One campaign, which launched on 5 October with outdoor and press ads as well as social media and cinema activity. The global campaign is intended to raise awareness of the plight of children around the world over the next five years and cut child deaths by two-thirds a year by 2015. It is estimated that £25bn is needed to reach this target.

Separately, the charity has launched its Diwali Wish List campaign with media planning and buying through All Response Media. The gift campaign, which has been created by creative agency Flourish, will involve an online marketing push with additional offline support.

Price comparison site BeatThatQuote.com has is mounting a credit-card campaign to boost its UK profile.

The campaign is the first marketing activity following the recent appointment of Flourish and All Response Media to handle all online and offline communications and media buying, worth approximately £8m.

The credit card campaign focuses on the range of balance transfer and low APR deals on offer. Flourish has developed a 'Money heroes' character that shows how BeatThatQuote.com can save consumers from a 'monstrous APR'! The banner campaign is set to run throughout September and November.

BeatThatQuote.com covers a range of financial products and services including mortgages, credit cards, loans and home and car insurance.

Betfair, the world's biggest betting exchange, is launching a campaign to promote its services during the Npower Ashes cricket series, which starts 8 July.

The humorous campaign, created by Flourish, plays on the fierce rivalry between the English and Australian fans, who exchange their views on the series. The work will be adapted to reflect the changing match situation during the five-day Test matches

The work will run across press, outdoor, email and event-based marketing, as well as a dedicated microsite.

Betfair is the official betting partner of the ECB.

Dollond & Aitchison (D&A), the high-street optician, has hired direct and digital agency Flourish to handle a series of acquisitions and marketing projects.

The agency has been briefed to drive footfall and increase sales at D&A's 400 branches. Its remit includes developing a win-back campaign for former contact lens customers, tactical mailings to existing customers and national door-drop acquisition activity.

In January, D&A merged with Boots Opticians, and it is believed that the D&A name will be subsumed into the Boots brand. It is not yet known whether Flourish will be retained by Boots.

Financial betting website, Tradefair, is launching an online campaign to promote its financial exchange product Hi Lo.

Betfair's sister company is promoting its new financial betting product, which allows punters to bet on the movements of the FTSE over a short period of time and will sit alongside its existing spread betting offering. Punters predict whether the FTSE will finish up or down over five or 20 minute time periods. Markets are also available on the DAX 30 and Brent Crude oil.

The online campaign, created by Bristol based agency Flourish, will include banners and emails, promoting the excitement and ease of betting on financial markets.

Tradefair head of marketing Ashley Mealor says: "This is a really important development for Tradefair. Hi Lo is a fun and exciting addition to our spreads offering. The current economic climate is a great betting environment. Volatility and uncertainty in the markets means excitement for the punter. Flourish has captured this in some great creative."

Flourish account director Rich Gundry adds: "Financial betting is a real growth market. Tradefair's success is down to simple products and straightforward marketing that cuts through the jargon and brings the thrill of playing the markets to life."

This new campaign introduces supporters to Scope Inclusion - a service provided by Scope to enable disabled people to become part of the community.

It uses a real-life story of four-year-old Amelia who has cerebral palsy and needs 24-hour care and her mother Angela. Scope Inclusion now provides nursing staff through the night, one day a week and every other weekend to support Angela and to give Amelia a happier, more fulfilled life.

The campaign, designed by dm agency Flourish, is targeted at Scope's entire warm supporter base. Warm cash supporters will be sent a direct mail pack encouraging them to send messages of support to disabled children by writing on the back of one of a set of paper chains included in the pack and returning it with a donation.

The chains will be linked together to create a giant paper chain that shows support for all disabled children at Christmas.

A test email campaign for supporters on the database who historically do not respond well to direct mail such as face-to-face or door-to-door recruits. This encourages supporters to click through to a 'virtual' paper chain area where they can complete a message of goodwill.

Committed givers will receive a Christmas card thanking them for their support and prompting them to go online and add a message to the paperchain.

Save the Children has hired direct marketing agency Flourish to create an integrated campaign for its virtual gift product, Wish List.

As well as online ads, the charity will send out a catalogue and other direct mail to registered donors.

The campaign will use the strapline 'It's more than a present, it's a future', to emphasise the fact that gifts bought through Wish List are sent directly to a child, or family, in need.

The campaign will run from 1 November to the end of the year.

Below are the final results from the 2008 Connect Awards. Congratulations to all!

[..]

Intelligent use of data in an email campaign

Winner
Camelot Group

Highly Commended
Identex for Best Western GB
Best Western GB traditional DM techniques /digital marketing combination

[..]

Intelligent use of data in a consumer campaign

Winner
Loyalty Management Group for Nectar Sponsors
Nectar Gold Mailing

Highly Commended
Camelot Group
Multi-Gamer Retain, Protect & Reactivate Campaign

[..]

Best use of email in a CRM campaign

Winner
Flourish for Camelot Group
MultiGamers Growth

[..]

Betfair, the online betting company, is targeting lapsed users of its website in a bid to encourage them to return to the site to bet on sporting events this summer.

The company has tasked direct marketing agency Flourish with creating the campaign to promote the opportunities for sports betting created by all the sporting events being held over the season.

The campaign, entitled 'Together We Make Summer Better', aims to make up for the lost earnings caused by the failure of any home nations to qualify for the Euro 2008 Football Championships.

It showcases some of the UK's other sporting events that punters can take advantage of this summer, including key horseracing events such as Glorious Goodwood, the Ryder Cup and the England Rugby tour.

Flourish has been appointed to create this campaign following a three- way pitch. The agency will now replicate the creative theme presented during the pitch across all online and offline material.

The new campaign will highlight Betfair's key unique selling point by focusing on the better value Internet users get from the website's peer- to-peer betting proposition.

Betfair UK marketing manager Matt Booth says: "The campaign allows us to collectively group what are key blue ribbon events over the summer months and reassert Betfair's value proposition."

Flourish account director Rich Gundry adds: "The campaign is designed as a celebration of this summer's sports - leaving the disappointment of not participating at the Euro Championships behind."

Earlier in the summer, Betfair was forced to focus its Euro 2008 marketing campaign on customers further afield. The pan-European drive, created by WDMP, targeted betters in Italy, Spain, Greece, Ireland, Finland and Sweden with the tagline, 'Join the home of football betting'.

Advertising luminary Dave Trott recently questioned whether or not 'being liked' was an imperative factor in creating work that sells. He uses the insurance brand esure as an example. The TV ads may have been voted the most unpopular ever, but they've pushed sales 'through the roof'. He argues that in an over-communicated society, being liked is not the job; it's about being noticed.

That may be true for the insurance market where memorable but broadly despised ads appear de rigueur. But what about things we want to buy? Like wine. Or organisations we want to be part of. Like charities. I think if people hate your ad, they also tend to dislike your brand.

Anyway, this week I've picked work that we all politely define as 'hardworking'. The sort of stuff that might get you noticed, but probably won't get you much further.

1. Laithwaites

The envelope encourages me to take a 'lucky dip' and save at least 40 per cent on a Mixed Mystery Case of wine. But once inside, that simple message was overwhelmed with a confetti of competing offers.

There were nine separate bits of paper in this pack. Laithwaites clearly has plenty of choice and lots of great offers but it missed the opportunity to offer reassurance to a keen but ignorant wine-buyer such as myself. With so much choice and a high price to pay if I get it wrong, I'd have liked a little more hand holding.

The invitation to a local wine tasting is nice, but the nearest one was in Salisbury and driving home may have been tricky.

2. Liverpool Victoria

Surprise, surprise! Cilla on a C5.

Liverpool Victoria sent someone here at Flourish a pack offering guaranteed life cover if they are over 50. Sadly, no one here at Flourish has reached the half-century yet, so the free digital camera, DVD player or M&S vouchers will remain unclaimed.

Aside from the Liverpudlian connection, Cilla is a good choice for the brand and the product. She's appearing in the TV ads too, so top marks for consistency.

It would have been nice to have seen a continuation of the 'Love' theme so nicely executed in some of its recent work. In such a predictable arena, it gave the company a positive, friendly feel - a quality largely missing from this pack.

3. RSPB

Prize draw packs baffle me. And I think they baffle charities too. In fundraising terms, they sit perfectly with the typical donor profile but less comfortably with the core activity of the charity itself - in this case the RSPB and its work to protect UK birds.

The letter does really well at bridging the gap. A generous slab of copy is dedicated to the work of the RSPB and the signatory is the head of species recovery (not a Tom Champagne in sight). I know enough to want to help and I'm left sufficiently motivated to start selling those tickets.

Of course, the problem with the prize draw approach is the level and depth of engagement. The real question is not just what will I give now, but what will I give next time?

4. Abbey

Despite the current financial doom and gloom, there's no apparent let up in the amount of credit card packs that fizz through my front door.

On the face of it, this one from Abbey doesn't get my pulse racing. The card is called Abbey Zero and with the help of the bold black and red art direction, the whole thing feels like it's selling a diet drink. Or is that the point?

Still, the letter did tell me something I didn't know. Unlike most credit cards, Abbey Zero doesn't charge a fee for doing things like withdrawing cash. The beautifully simple leaflet (the best bit in the pack) even claimed that it was 'the only credit card in the UK that charges zero fees'.

If this is the case, it's such a compelling line, I'd have put it on the outer.

National disability organisation Scope has appointed Flourish to handle its direct marketing account. Flourish won the account following a four- way pitch. The agency will focus on increasing support for Scope's flagship Time to Get Equal campaign that fights for equality for disabled people. The agency will be working with Scope to further align its fundraising messages with its campaigning, policy and service innovation work, with the aim of engaging an increasing number of supporters.

Scope, the charity promoting equality for disabled people, has hired Flourish to handle its direct marketing following a pitch.

The agency will be tasked with recruiting donors to the charity as well as increasing contributions from existing supporters. The agency has also been tasked with supporting Scope's flagship Time to Get Equal campaign. Its second Time to Get Equal Week begins on 9 June.

The charity had previously worked with direct marketing agency Archibald Ingall Stretton, but ceased doing so more than a year ago.

In addition to direct marketing, the charity also communicates with its donors through a monthly newspaper, Disability Now.

Scope's lead agency, The Gate, which has handled strategic, brand and advertising services for the charity since 2003, is not affected by the appointment.

Coca-Cola is supporting Coke Zone, its loyalty scheme for teenagers and young adults, with a £5m campaign that includes TV, online and in-store activity.

A 10-second tag is running at the end of all Coca-Cola, Diet Coke and Coca-Cola Zero spots on terrestrial channels in peak time, as well on digital channels including Sky One. The six-week campaign is being supplemented with a nationwide 96-sheet outdoor push.

A substantial digital spend is intended to raise awareness and encourage young adults to register with Coke Zone. The brand is taking over the Yahoo! Great Britain and Ireland home page during launch month and will also target 16- to 24-year-olds through other key media.

Competitions aimed at encouraging participation will offer prizes including a £1000 shopping spree at ASOS.com, a trip to the Billabong surf championships in Tahiti, a year's worth of downloads from iTunes and a VIP trip to Euro 2008 football final.

All branding, advertising and digital work was overseen by VCCP working closely with Vizeum, which handled all media planning and buying. Direct agency Flourish has also been appointed to develop a series of targeted emails that are designed to drive further consumer interaction among Coke Zone members.

Betfair, the online betting exchange, is launching a multi-channel marketing strategy to coincide with the Cheltenham Festival.

The campaign, created by Bristol based marketing agency Flourish, spans mail packs, CRM emails, online activity, scratchcards, merchandising, bill boards, sandwich boards, graffiti and TV ads. The TV work went live last week during coverage of the UEFA Champions League.

The betting brand is also converting a local pub into the 'Betfair Arms' for the duration of the festival, which concludes this weekend. The campaign has been overseen by Betfair marketing director Oscar Nieboer, who launched the brand's first TV creative in December last year.

Earlier this year, Betfair supported the launch of its new financial exchange and spread betting brand Tradefair with a direct marketing drive, also created by Flourish. The campaign spanned on- and off-line work.

Betfair is launching a new product, the Betfair Starting Price (SP), in a bid to make it the number one betting website for all horseracing.

A campaign, created by Bristol-based agency Flourish, will span Web, email and press advertising.

The Betfair SP aims to give punters better odds and a real alternative to the SP offered by traditional bookmakers.

Betfair SP will be introduced through the 'Betfair Stable' - a creative platform from which new initiatives and products can be launched - with Betfair SP being the first of many to launch in the run up to March's Cheltenham festival and the Grand National in April.

Befair head of retention Alex Hathway says/ "Flourish has demonstrated a real understanding of our customers and the market. It has worked closely with all areas of the business to deliver a fantastically insightful campaign. The horseracing industry is really taking note of what we're up to."

Flourish account director Rich Gundry adds: "The Betfair SP is set to turn the horseracing industry on its head and thanks to a series of teaser ads in the run up to launch, the new product was eagerly anticipated. We are following the launch with a series of comparison ads running in national press and the Racing Post."

I've always been a bit of a fan of First Direct's marketing materials, and the '1st to know' pack, informing customers of changes to their current accounts, doesn't disappoint.

From the weight of the outer stock to the silver embossed logos on the letterhead and leaflet, every piece reinforces First Direct's identity as a smart, sophisticated bank that does things differently.

The letter details the changes customers can expect - the most striking of which is an end to interest on current accounts. Hard to swallow, but what First Direct takes with one hand it gives back with the other; the leaflet gives details of better savings rates, free text-message banking and interest-free overdrafts up to £250.

The pack is beautifully art-directed, makes the most of the contemporary black, white and silver palette and is complemented by straightforward customer-centric copy that doesn't try to baffle the reader with jargon, but doesn't patronise either.

Given this pack's functional nature it was never going to be a 'Damn! I wish we'd done that' affair. But considering some of the account changes being suggested, it goes to show what a brand can do when it gets the tone just right.

Samaritans is aiming to tackle the teenage issues of depression and self-harm in schools by launching a direct mail donor appeal to raise funds for its volunteer support services.

The creative, produced by Flourish, uses the school blackboard to state the words "Suicide, Depression, Self-Harm" with the pay off "It's amazing what they learn in schools nowadays". This will be followed by a reminder mailing, which features a set of lines on a blackboard repeating "I WILL talk in class". The campaign is designed to highlight Samaritans' work to help children open up and talk to their teachers and friends at school.

It has been developed following the charity's DEAL (Developing Emotional Awareness and Learning) programme in schools across the UK and Ireland, which aims to improve the emotional health of children by showing teachers how to recognise and deal with emotional problems.

Richard Hatchard, Samaritans' senior marketing officer, says: "The packs have a real doormat appeal that we believe will engage our donors and help us raise vital donations to fund our core support services."

Shaena McGaw, account director at Flourish, adds: "We needed to make an issue, which has traditionally been received controversially, resonate with an older audience. The creative does that by challenging popular perceptions of the education system and showing the positive steps that are being taken by schools and Samaritans across Britain."

Veterinary charity PDSA is planning to overhaul the marketing strategy for its pet insurance product, Petsurance, and has appointed Flourish Direct Marketing to the brief.

The Bristol based agency has been tasked with developing a new approach and proposition for the insurance product to increase consumer awareness in a highly competitive market.

The charity aims to position itself as a veterinary expert, offering consumers pet insurance 'from the people who really know pets'. It will also target cold prospects and move away from its traditional route of encouraging consumers to switch insurers.

Tina Swan, product manager at PDSA, says: "Flourish has approached this with a fresh attitude and really identified where we can make the most impact. While we have historically concentrated on price or quality of products, this turns all that on its head and gets back to what people really care about; looking after their pets as well as they can."

Shaena McGaw, account director for Flourish, adds: "We wanted to create a benefit associated with PDSA Petsurance from the onset. Using snippets and advice from vet experts at PDSA helped make an immediate connection between potential customers, their pets and the value of the Petsurance product, while also establishing PDSA as the expert in pet insurance, given its veterinary heritage."

Camelot has appointed the direct marketing agency Flourish, following a three-way pitch. The agency has been charged with a brief to produce a campaign aimed at increasing player retention on Camelot's interactive services - www.national-lottery.co.uk, Sky Active and Play by Text.

When it comes to standing out on the cluttered doormat, first impressions count. Agency creatives pick four envelope designs that turned their heads.

In this age of consumer hostility to "junk mail", a major challenge for direct mail campaigns is getting material opened in the first place. One way to overcome this stumbling block is to use the right envelope.

The envelope is not just the address carrier and container for the mailer - it is the first stage of marketing communication.

"The role of the envelope is to create standout in a cluttered environment - to get someone to take notice and read the content," says Paul Tullo, board creative director at agency Tullo Marshall Warren. "A lot of what we do is trying to use this 'outer' in as engaging a way as possible."

Tullo adds that while the industry has focused on the fallout of Royal Mail introducing Pricing in Proportion (PiP), creatives have been forced to simply get on with things. And they have done so by adopting techniques other than scale to get noticed.

Direct Response asked four top agency creatives what they look for in an envelope. Here, they present their favourites, with each discussing the envelope that they believe has made the difference in a mailing and prompted a better response.

We also asked them to describe their ideal envelope, and what mailers should look for when choosing an envelope for a campaign.

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NEIL HECQUET, CO-FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR, FLOURISH

Campaign: Tidy your finances

Agency responsible: Flourish

Client: Chelsea Building Society

Objective: To push Additional Advances to existing mortgage customers

Print: Four-colour, special make, 115gsm matt- coated

Response: Achieved "a significant" return on investment (ROI)

Hecquet says: "In our post-PiP world, as our customers' doormats creak under the weight of C5 envelopes, how yours looks and what it says has never been more important.

"For me, the perfect envelope refuses to be ignored; it challenges the recipient not to open it. A different format can certainly help these days, but you still need an eye-catching design, an intriguing headline, an offer that's impossible to ignore - or all of the above.

"Chelsea Building Society's 'Doodle Pack' is a great example. Complete with coffee ring, the outer is designed to look like an envelope that someone has scribbled all over. The doodles are dominated by a hectic-looking financial 'Action Plan', but there's a reminder to call the garage and even a shopping list for added reality.

"The envelope achieves instant standout on the doormat and, by portraying the chaos of modern finances in a way that resonates with the audience, demonstrates real insight and empathy with the customer - after all, everyone's tried to make sense of their finances by scribbling on the nearest bit of paper.

"Turn over the envelope and the reader is hit with a hard-working line that ties the concept together: 'Could your finances use a little tidying up?' This is a useful technique - set up the concept on the front and pay it off at the point at which the recipient opens it - this certainly worked for Chelsea Building Society.

"The pack achieves impressive responses. The product is very good, but without the envelope, I doubt we'd have the results to scribble home about."

In the past 12 months there has been an acceleration in the shift in focus by direct marketing agencies from mail to digital work, according to Marketing's exclusive league table of direct marketing agencies.

Typically, digital now accounts for about 20% of agencies' total revenues; for some it is significantly more. This is the result of a shift in budgets for agencies of all sizes. Flourish, for example, a small but fast-growing shop, has seen the proportion of its budgets represented by digital leap from 2% to 20% in the past year. Further up the table, Partners Andrews Aldridge posted a 40% hike in its total digital budgets as clients such as AirMiles adopted a multi-channel strategy.

In contrast, figures from Royal Mail show that both mailing volumes and expenditure declined by 2.1% in 2006, to 5.03bn items and £2.32bn respectively.

Digital work offers direct agencies financial benefits. Margins have been squeezed on mailings as clients have sought their own production arrangements. Conversely, margins for online work are higher because production is often carried out in-house and new techniques are often used for which there is no precedent on price. Digital is also more cost-effective because it does not involve the added costs of print and postage, enabling clients to stretch their budgets further or, in many cases, to cut them.

The most common areas in which direct agencies will become involved in digital work are eCRM and email activity. These are natural extensions of offline work. Indeed, in the case of customer relationship work, digital often lends itself better to regular communication with a targeted database than mailings, and can be used to improve data capture. They are natural first steps for brands seeking to transfer some of their budget online. As a result, direct agencies have found themselves well placed to hold their clients' hands as they experiment with more sophisticated online techniques, leading them into areas previously the preserve of digital specialists.

Email and digital tend to work best in highly targeted communications, especially customer-retention work, which is a prime reason for its rapid take-up.

The area in which all these trends dovetail is data. Targeted communications and customer-retention work require good customer databases, and using digital channels can generate a raft of additional information to be processed and analysed.

As a result, both clients and agencies are scrambling to bolster their data-handling capacity.

Data has always been an important part of direct work, but it has not always been the agencies that have overseen the sort of customer information at the centre of CRM campaigns; in the past, many clients have handled this in-house. But the need for better data and more interesting analysis of it is providing broader opportunities for agencies. Earlier this month, for example, Boots launched a search for an agency to help it use the data from its Advantage Card more effectively. Like many brands, it looks to Tesco's Clubcard as the benchmark.

One emerging model is to combine digital and direct strength with data analysis, an offering toward which several agencies are moving. Over the past year Ben Langdon, former chairman of Euro RSCG London, has set up an agency grouping called Digital Marketing Group, which has been buying shops across a number of disciplines. Its choices have been significant: acquisitions have included direct agency Dig for Fire, telemarketing group HSM, online specialists Inbox Digital and Cheeze, and data-capability firm Jaywing.

It is not alone. Earlier this month Kitcatt Nohr Alexander Shaw, which already has ties with digital agency Under-wired, announced that it was to invest in the Huw Davis Partnership, a data strategy and analysis firm based in Singapore. Elsewhere, Archibald Ingall Stretton is building a data department after selling off its 40% stake in third-party data consultancy Tree.

'There is an appetite in the market for smart data solutions,' says Kitcatt Nohr managing partner Marc Nohr. 'Every agency is thinking about how it is going to deal with data.' His views are echoed by Mark Runacus, chief strategy officer at Hicklin Slade. 'If I were to push anything I'd want to invest in our business success, it would be data,' he says.

The investment required is worth it, according to Rapier chief executive Jonathan Stead. His agency has seconded one of its data analysts to Virgin Media, for which it handles direct and advertising work. He believes that as firms rely on data more, providing strong analysis of it can give an agency a strategic advantage over shops from other disciplines. 'If you're close to the data and analyse and interpret it appropriately, it means you understand far more about the value of the customers you are winning and losing, and are in a better position to advise clients on where to spend their marketing budget,' he says.

Samaritans has appointed Flourish to handle a direct marketing project designed to revitalishttps://phpmyadmin.1and1.co.uk/e its 'Warm Appeal' campaign, which targets its existiong donor database.

The agency will also launch a 'Committed Giving' campaign in January 2008 for the charity, a new acquisition appeal to recruit new donors, and will handle its annual winter campaigns. The appointment does not affect the charity's relationship with Kitcatt Nohr Alexander Shaw.

Samaritans' current winter appeal was created by Lunar Communications, part of AMV BBDO, and is supported by The Vodafone UK Foundation.

The campaign's 'doodle' style creative aims to show the charity is a confidential and non-judgmental service that can handle a variety of emotional issues - not just suicidal feelings.

In January, Samaritans appointed Dominic Rudd, former operations director at the NCPCC, as chief executive.

Children's Hospice South West has appointed Bristol-based agency Flourish to help launch its largest annual appeal, which aims to put stars on Christmas trees this year.

The campaign is inviting supporters to "celebrate a life" by making a donation and writing a message to a loved one on a Children's Hospice Memory Star.

The money raised by the appeal will go towards helping the Children's Hospice's Little Bridge House Hospice continue to provide medical and emotional support to children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions.

Emma Puckey, legacy and in-memoriam fundraising manager, said: "Memory Star presents a beautiful opportunity for everyone to celebrate the life of somebody special to them, while raising vital funds for Children's Hospice South West.

"Our children's hospice is entirely reliant on the generosity of the South West community we serve. To have the professional and friendly expertise of Flourish for such a significant appeal has been magnificent."

Flourish works with a number of charities including the Ramblers Association, The Princess Royal Trust for Carers, Notting Hill Housing Trust, Mammals Trust UK and People's Trust for Endangered Species.

Global travel company Explore is targeting adventurers with a direct mail campaign promoting its On Foot Holidays brand.

The campaign, created by Bristol-based agency Flourish, focuses on existing customers, along with walking enthusiasts selected from various lists.

Packs include brochure request forms, and carry the strapline 'Tread new ground', highlighting various trips.

Paul Bondsfield, marketing communications manager at Explore, says: "The creative is striking enough to provide standout on doormats, while getting core messages across in a concise manner."

Andrea Platt, senior account manager at Flourish, comments: "Explore demonstrates a real passion and commitment towards its holidays. We have tried to leverage that passion in our creative work."

TC&A Overseas Properties is meanwhile unveiling its Avanti brand through Flourish, offering incentives to agencies that recommend the service to clients.

Flourish will be responsible for building the brand and creating all communications for a marketing campaign, which is to include direct mail, point-of-sale activity and brochures.

Laurence Hicks, travel division managing director of Avanti, comments: "Flourish's work reflects our professionalism, integrity and turn-key solutions."

Canvas Holidays, the luxury mobile home and camping company, is launching a direct marketing barrage in preparation for the 2005 season.

The drive will target families and couples in the UK and Ireland with acquisition and retention activity.

The creative work for the campaign is to be produced by start-up shop Flourish Direct Marketing, which won the account after pitching against incumbent Target Direct.

The agency is looking to reposition the brand with the strapline 'Holidays without compromise', aiming to appeal to every family member in a different way.

Canvas marketing manager Elaine McBeath says: "To expand, we need fresh, dynamic ideas that are grounded in solid travel expertise. Flourish took the time to understand us, which is reflected in the creative."

Keith Nichol, co-founder and creative director of Flourish, comments: "We are really excited to be working with Canvas. We believe the brand, while strong among existing customers, could be pushed further."

The win is the latest in a series of leisure and travel accounts picked up by Flourish.