Free marketing campaign up for grabs in new competition with Canon

The Drum and Canon, along with a team of industry experts from Nutshell Creative, The Strategic Mailing Partnership, Join the Dots, Jicmail, Latcham, Royal Mail Marketreach and Autlay, have partnered again to launch ‘Creative Futures: the next chapter’ - inviting ambitious UK-based SMEs to apply to take part in a test-and-learn initiative to showcase the power of an omnichannel campaign, including programmatic print.

One lucky winner will be selected to be at the heart of this campaign, gaining free global exposure on thedrum.com and across Canon platforms. As well as being given the opportunity to run a live omnichannel marketing campaign (for free) in a risk-free test and learn environment across digital and print channels, they will get the chance to work with a team of industry experts across the supply chain to bring the campaign to life.

The Drum will be charting the journey from ideation to execution through editorial articles and more. The aim is for this campaign to serve as a best-in-class example to inspire the marketing and creative industries on what’s possible when brands take a customer-centric approach to planning campaigns across multiple channels – from email to personalized print, social media, and more.

But all entrants – even those who don’t make the final shortlist – will be given access to a resource pack with information on available online courses and qualifications, as well as ways to connect with local enterprise partners, print service providers (PSPs) and creative agencies.

From Class of 2021 to Creative Futures

The partnership between The Drum and Canon started with the ‘Class of 2021’, where we created a digital platform for students who missed their final year degree shows due to the Covid-19 pandemic to connect with the global creative community [watch the recap here]. Through this, we found that personalized print materials, triggered at different stages of the user experience, led to a 6x higher response rate when digital and print were combined.

In 2022, we took the project a step further with ‘Creative Futures’, inviting students and young creatives to design an omnichannel marketing campaign plan, including print, for youth charity YMCA. The campaigns were entered into The Drum Awards for Social Purpose with one lucky creative duo crowned the winners [spotlighted in this report here].

Now in its third year in 2023, we are looking to complete this journey with a live brand campaign, that showcases and proves how the clever combination of data, creativity, targeting capabilities and personalized print can be used in the marketing mix to deliver measurable impact.

“I am excited to continue this collaboration with The Drum and with such an experienced Creative Futures team that has their hand on the pulse of the industry,” says Cathy Bittner, strategic business development manager, Canon Europe. “This is such a unique opportunity, not just for the winning entry, but also for all entrants that take advantage of the resources of this program.”

To be eligible, your business must be established for a minimum of 3 years, have a minimum turnover of £1m and have your own in-house marketing provision to provide support when needed – although for the campaign itself, the business representative will only be asked to dedicate some spare time to participate, while receiving support and mentorship from the team of experts.

To start your application, visit here.