Steam celebrated in style at their Christmas party this year by taking the 25 staff members to a secret location in the beautiful Gloucester village of Tetbury. Black tie and poker was the brief.

A huge house was rented to fit us all in and no sooner were we inside the door then the champagne corks were a poppin’ and Secret Santa got his sack out. Mini table tennis sets, gold blusher and blow up dolls were given along with an Aladdin’s Cave of other stuff bought for a fiver.

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Valassis – global leaders for redemption, settlement and analysis of promotional offers – presented a seminar on greater promotional effectiveness, new consumer and marketer insights, market trends and exploring the future of couponing, i.e. technology and digital innovations.

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The number of adults reading at least one of the top ten national newspapers in the UK has fallen 24 per cent in the last decade, led by drops of 54 per cent and 49 per cent at the Daily Express and Daily Mirror respectively. The figures by the National Readership Survey are as a percentage of the adult population and have been submitted to The House of Lords for its inquiry into media ownership and the news.

Despite the dramatic drops, the House still believes ownership of the press remains an important issue and plans to go ahead with its investigations into how the press is regulated in the New Year. Lord Fowler, chairman of the Communications Committee, said: “These figures show an overall decline in the number of people reading a national newspaper. However, they also show that more than 21 million people in Britain still read at least one of the top ten national daily newspapers on an average day. With 45 per cent of the population reading one of the top ten national newspapers on an average day it is clear that ownership of the press remains an important issue. In the New Year the Committee will be looking in detail at whether media ownership is appropriately regulated and how the public interest can be upheld.”

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Alcohol marketing has improved drinking habits, watchdog claims. Alcohol marketing is improving the nation’s drinking habits, according to industry watchdog the Portman Group. A survey has revealed that responsible drinking messages, and the web address www.drinkaware.co.uk, appeared on three billion drinks containers and £150m worth of advertising in the last year alone.

This comes alongside statistics from the Government’s latest alcohol strategy published in June this year showing the number of adult harmful drinkers has fallen since 2001, with fewer 16 to 24 year-olds binge drinking. David Poley, Portman Group chief executive, has welcomed the news but stressed the importance of educating drinkers. “Producers are improving the nation’s drinking culture by promoting responsible drinking messages across their marketing,” he said. “This commitment to responsible business and consumer education is helping to create a better, healthier drinking culture.

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You only have to go into your nearest supermarket to find that promotional activity is now in full swing as retailers seek desperately to grab as many sales as possible (regardless of margin it seems) over Christmas.

I suspect there won’t be a consumer in the land who ends up paying top dollar for their alcohol this Christmas. It is more difficult to find a beer on full-price than it is one on a whacking great promotion. When the BOGOF first hit the market it did wonders for sales of products that needed a bit of a push but today such mechanisms are ubiquitous. Many shoppers are now unwilling to pay full-price for products such is their addiction to promotions. Their choice of product is determined only by what is on promotion – their only loyalty is to these promotions and not to any specific brands.

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A recent study of US and UK business executives by the Keller Fay Group found that word of mouth is far more influential than any other communication channels in B2B purchase decisions. On average, word of mouth has twice the influence of advertising, direct mail or press coverage in B2B circles.

The study also found that personal experience with a brand or service is by far the biggest catalyst for recommendation, with 86% of the executive’s word of mouth based on first-hand experience. 60% of word of mouth conversations include advice to buy try or consider a brand. The results clearly demonstrate that the value of face-to-face conversation and brand experience is as strong in the B2B world as it is in the B2C sector.