Penguin UK
WHS Travel Stores to Sell Penguin Guides Exclusively
An exclusive 12-month deal was signed in June with W H Smith Travel that made Penguin travel guides the sole supplier of foreign travel guides in all of Smith's travel stores (which include retail outlets based in airports, motorway, railway and hospital shops.) The contract means that DK and Rough Guides will be the only foreign travel guides on offer at the 450 WHS Travel stores in the UK. W H Smith believe that this move will make travel guide shopping "easier for the customer," as travel customers are "extremely time pressed."
Anna Rafferty Wins New Media Age Award
At the prestigious New Media Age Awards, our very own Anna Rafferty won 'Greatest Individual Contribution to New Media' for her innovative approach to digital marketing — she beat off a shortlist that included Lord Carter (who has just produced the government's digital blueprint for the future), Channel 4 and the BBC — go Anna! She was commended, in particular, for her commitment to providing original and ground-breaking campaigns with minimal expenditure, demonstrating the impact of low-budget projects on a wide reaching audience and revitalising interest in Classic literature. Her work on our social media-driven initiatives, including Spinebreakers, BlogaPenguinClassic, BlogaHolidayRead and PenguinDating was recognised and the Editor-in-chief of NMA commented that "her enthusiasm, dedication and success have put Penguin at the forefront of digital media, with their online work going from strength-to-strength."
James Kelman Book Bags Scottish Book of the Year Award
James Kelman won the Scottish Book of the Year Award for Kieron Smith, Boy a book charting the life of a young boy in post-war Glasgow. James said it was "an honour" to win the award for the novel, which was described as a "masterpiece" by the judging panel.
Vintage Ladybird products were named Gift of the Year 2009!
The UK's Giftware Association has just unveiled the list of winners of its prestigious annual Gift of the Year Awards, revealing that Wild & Wolf is a Winner in the 2009 competition with their Ladybird products. The Ladybird Vintage tins, flasks, journals and plasters won the Branded Character Award and the journals won the Stationery Category Award. Gift of the Year Awards are only given to the latest, most original and innovatively designed products that can be given as gifts. However, entrants also have to demonstrate that the product is commercially viable.
Brands & Licensing
Camp Bestival Celebrates Enduring Brands at Lulworth Castle
The Marketing and PR team from Brands & Licensing were very happy campers in August after surviving the madness of Camp Bestival where 15,000 revellers gathered at Lulworth Castle in Dorset. The book tent went down a storm attracting huge crowds of over 300 children to every show throughout the three-day festival. The tent was constantly buzzing with families and children who enjoyed seeing their favourite characters including Peter Rabbit and Spot as well as racing Top Gear cars, attending an In the Night Garden Pyjama Party, having their photo taken with David Tennant (albeit in cardboard form at our Doctor Who Quiz) or just chilling out on the many Ladybird beanbags and enjoying a good book. Peppa Pig also greeted queues of children squeezing to get into the tent for a hug with the cheeky piggy making it a highlight of the weekend.
Beatrix Potter™ Green, Naturally Better, Takes to the Air and Opens Garden
The Beatrix Potter™ Green Award winners have been announced. We received hundreds of entries from children right across the UK, aged 5-11yrs. The standard was extremely high, with entrants telling us how they had become 'Green Champions' in their local community. Winners from two age categories won a digital camera, National Trust family membership, and £500 for their school to spend on an eco-project.
Warne joined up with the UK's second largest nursery chain, Asquith Nurseries, to launch a Peter Rabbit Naturally Better campaign focusing on gardening and outdoor play. 100 nurseries received gardening kits and packets of seeds, and the children were invited to record their gardening achievements in a project book. From all the projects received, one lucky nursery was selected to receive a special visit from the Peter Rabbit puppet show.
Peter Rabbit™ online gardening Flickr gallery 'My Patch' is going well, with people invited to upload their best gardening photos. A winner with the best photo was selected and won £200 worth of gardening vouchers: www.peterrabbit.com/naturallybetter/mypatch.asp
Peter Rabbit™ Organics fruit purees became part of children's meals on all flights from the UK with Virgin Atlantic from June 09.
Blue Peter's gardener, Chris Collins, officially opened the new Peter Rabbit™ Naturally Better garden at The World of Beatrix Potter™ Attraction in the Lake District in May. The garden brings Beatrix Potter's Tales to life, filled with the varieties of fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers that were sketched by Beatrix. The garden will be run using organic principles and the produce grown will be used in the attraction's cafe.