Activation & Engagement Action Group

The Activation & Engagement Action Group covers direct marketing and all activity designed to drive sales, from on-pack promotions, via field marketing to large-scale promotional campaigns across all media. The group has a strong history of close ties with the ISP and last year sponsored an award for creative excellence at the ISP awards (won by ISBA member Diageo’s Smirnoff Diamonds campaign).

The main issue of 2007 was the implementation of the Gambling Act which, among its more headline grabbing provisions, radically altered promotion law in England, Wales and Scotland. The group had tracked the Act from white paper to implementation, lobbying in advertisers’ best interests at all stages and highlighting the last-minute revelation that it would not apply in Northern Ireland. ISBA hosted a members’ seminar in October 2007 with the Gambling Commission to give some practical and legal advice, bringing some well needed clarity to many issues surrounding the Act.