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Having just notched up ten years in business, Unmissable continues to thrive through a combination of innovation and attention to detail. Managing director Justine Clement sets out the company’s stall.
Travel, they say, broadens the mind. However, regular travel also greatly increases the expectations of the traveller. Helping brand owners ensure to offer experiences and incentives that continue to enthuse a sophisticated generation of consumers is the key to the success of Unmissable, which has started its eleventh year of trading in strong form.
The business was founded in October 1999 as a dotcom start-up - www.unmissable.com. Justine Clement, now managing director, was part of the initial management team. “At first, we were totally consumer-focused,” she says. As the first major player into the ‘experience economy’, the aim was to cater for high-end consumers who wanted to maximise their limited free time, with Unmissable providing unique ‘once in a lifetime’ experiences which they would find hard to track down for themselves.
“Our parents’ generation were more passive in their travel choices,” says Clement. “We saw that consumers were becoming less willing just to observe, they were looking for genuine experiences.” The ‘swimming-with-dolphins’ generation had arrived.
Unmissable offered a broad range of experiences, mainly involving travel to worldwide destinations. While that initial business model was successful, it doesn’t take a member of the Dragon’s Den panel to spot one of the flaws in the plan. By their very nature, unique, once-in-a-lifetime experiences are not something consumers book that often.
Building up repeat custom was a challenge – at least when it came to the ultimate end user. The Unmissable team noticed that they were building up a loyal customer base among businesses which were offering its experiences as incentives and prizes.
“We became very popular with PR agencies, marketing agencies, and TV and radio stations,” says Clement. In 2004, Unmissable exited the direct-to-consumer market to focus purely on these b2b customers.
In the same year, the company moved from central London offices in Covent Garden to Battersea, and moved in 2008 to larger Battersea premises. With 13 employees including the board directors and at least two more recruits expected this year, Unmissable may also take on additional office space in its current building.
Since Clement took over as MD in 2007, the business has evolved into a market leader in bespoke prize solutions, as well as a large range of off-the-shelf prizes, working on b2b and b2c promotional campaigns as well as corporate incentives.
Unmissable has consistently grown its turnover and customer base, as well as increasing its employee headcount each year. During its tenth anniversary year in 2009 – a year when many operators would have been happy for business just to stand still – Unmissable’s turnover increased by 4% over its predictions, and profit was up 28% over forecasts.
A focus on customer service and attention to detail are at the core of the company’s continued success, believes Clement. “We start every brief from scratch. All incentives are tailored; we create a package that aligns with the brand. We aim to respond to a brief on the same day we receive it, and certainly within 24 hours.”
The offer is kept fresh, with new prize and incentive solutions continually in development. However, it is in the delivery of the incentive that the company adds real value. The nature of FMCG marketing is that by time prize winners are actually taking their prize, the marketers who developed it will have moved on to their next big idea.
“Fulfilment is important. If there are problems, it will impact on the brand. That’s where we come in. Every prize winner is allocated a manager. Some of the prizes we deliver are very complex, and making sure the consumer is looked after throughout the process is essential.” Unmissable has a dedicated, in-house handling and fulfilment team capable of managing everything from high volumes of incentive prizes to high value bespoke incentive travel prizes that require dedicated one-to-one handling.
With staff so important to its success, Unmissable is proud of its high employee retention rate, and aims to practice what it preaches in terms of incentives, seeing staff motivation as imperative to the continued growth of the business.
Relationships with B2B customers are also crucial. The company works with blue-chip UK brand owners and secured new relationships with several major brands’ procurement departments last year. Its repeat business rate currently stands at 91%.
One successful 2009 campaign, an on-pack promotion for a major confectionary brand, saw a 10% uplift in sales in the core target market area. Supermarket group Morrisons reported a 350% uplift in sales during the promotional period.
So how does Unmissable deliver such results? “It works best when we are involved from the beginning,” says Clement, “although quite often we will be contacted later in the process.” A brief such as “we want to give winners the chance to windsurf down the Zambesi” is often evidence of a marketing brainstorm session that has been undertaken with checking the practicalities. “We’d explain that wasn’t possible, but come up with something in keeping with the theme which could be done.”
While its B2B focus has helped Unmissable cope with the downturn, delivering value-for-money has become even more important. “We haven’t found that brands have stopped promotions, but there is undoubtedly an expectation that they will get more for the money. That is one of our biggest challenges – we may have to deliver the same wow factor within a much smaller budget.”
Despite these smaller budgets, as well as shorter lead times, Unmissable’s new business conversion rates were up 14% in 2009, “so we have weathered the storm well and found the market very buoyant last year, albeit the conditions were much tougher. Our position was also helped by the fact that we cover many areas, from experiences, to bespoke, to corporate hospitality, to incentive travel.”
The hierarchy of prizes typically starts with something as simple as a branded radio and moves up through more expensive consumer electronics to travel prizes. This is another area when Unmissable’s winner management experience comes into play. “Typically, you find the smaller the problem, the more grateful the winner is.” At the other end of the scale, there are serial competition entrants who are Unmissable ‘regulars’.
“They can be a challenge and will often be the ones looking for problems. One thing we’re very good at is drawing up terms and conditions to make sure there are no issues. The fact that every winner is assigned a personal manager is also crucial.”
The recent introduction of online winner’s videos and blogs has further improved the process. “It helps to retain the relationship with the brand and also gives the brand owners valuable feedback.”
This year sees the launch of Unmissable Experiences, a catalogue of 1200 unique experience days. The price range for vouchers will start from £25, and move up to £1000.
The company is also launching an e-brochure, branded Inspiration Bank. While each prize is tailored to the brief, the online brochure features themes and ideas which are designed to give brand owners and agencies a feel for the range of the products and possibilities available.
Other highlights this year will be a trade incentive worth £500k, with the chance to participate in chartered Zero Gravity flights, and a high profile football themed promotion for a major FMCG brand.
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