One Giant Leap into Scotland Loves Local
Scottish firm BrawBand is set to inject thousands into the Scottish economy, switching from Amazon vouchers to Scotland Loves Local Gift Cards for customer incentives
Ultrafast Scottish Internet Service Provider (ISP), BrawBand, has shown its support for the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card initiative.
The Scottish firm, who operate in Glasgow, Inverness, Renfrewshire and Edinburgh, have chosen the Scotland Loves Local Gift Cards as its main ‘refer a friend’ customer incentive from summer 2022 onwards.
The company’s mascot, the Scots Spaceman, endeavoured down to the Chihuahua Café in Edinburgh to launch the partnership with the Scotland Loves Local scheme. The Scots Spaceman represents BrawBand’s all-Scottish, future-ready focus. He is prominent across BrawBand’s social media when they land in a new area, to deliver the best deals to all those willing to take that one giant leap towards rocket speed internet.
David Munro is the Director of Product at BrawBand and said the switch from Amazon was an easy one to make:
“BrawBand is a celebration of all things Scottish. Our customer service team is in Scotland too, manned by Scottish people giving honest, friendly advice.
“We had been using £50 Amazon vouchers as a thank you to customers for referring a friend. Gift cards or vouchers are popular with customers, but it doesn’t make sense for us, as a localised internet service provider, to use Amazon vouchers as a customer incentive. We wanted to do something more local, where the benefit would be felt by local businesses and were pleased to hear about the Scotland Loves Local Gift Cards for regions right across Scotland.”
Each BrawBand customer referring a friend, and the person referred, will receive a coupon code to redeem on their chosen regional Scotland Loves Local Gift Card online, with the gift card posted out to them at their home address.
“It’s common for organisations to use Amazon gift vouchers for their campaigns because they want choice for their customers,” added David. “However, we’ve now got a viable, local alternative for Scotland.
“The choice available with the Scotland Loves Local Gift Cards is strong; multiple national and local businesses across retail, hospitality, leisure, attractions and services. We’d much rather be supporting the Scottish economy with our customer incentives, and the choice on offer on where to spend the Scotland Loves Local Gift Cards makes it a win-win for us and our customers.
“We’ve experimented with using local incentives for customers in the past, say a £10 voucher for a local bakers. The Scotland Loves Local Gift Cards take that local sentiment, adds on the choice for customers, and make it easy for us as a business to support Scotland.
“We hope that customers will use their chosen £50 Scotland Loves Local Gift Card to explore their local area; to go kayaking in Argyll and Bute, to take a tour of the Highlands, to play golf in Moray, to go to the Chihuahua café in Edinburgh. Basically to use the gift card as a way to discover businesses which are hidden gems right across Scotland. As a proud Scottish company, the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card aligns with our values and we’re happy to support the initiative.”
Owner of the Chihuahua café in Edinburgh Tanya Salitura said: “The Chihuahua Café has been open for 4.5 years now and is an interactive animal experience. We’re part of the Edinburgh Gift Card because support for local is so important. It has been difficult for small businesses over recent years, and many businesses have completely shut down. Even now, overheads are so much higher and people choosing to support that tiny coffee shop or small store on a daily basis is what will keep that business open.
“We love getting involved with fellow small businesses and the more businesses start to focus on helping each other, the more the customer’s journey becomes easier and they feel like they are truly part of the community also.
“BrawBand taking a step like switching their rewards to Scotland Loves Local Gift Cards versus large corporation gift cards can start to cement these changes we all need.”
The Scottish Government backed the introduction of the regional Scotland Loves Local Gift Cards as part of a landmark move to give every region in Scotland the opportunity to introduce its own local gift card, delivered by Scotland’s Town Partnership (STP) and Perth based fintech Miconex.
STP chief officer Phil Prentice said: “For Scottish organisations like BrawBand to make the switch from online or single retailer gift cards, we have to give them a viable alternative, and that’s exactly what the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card represents. It’s a local option where the benefit stays here is Scotland, and that offers excellent choice and ease of use for the customer and organisation. We hope to see many more Scottish organisations making the switch to Scotland Loves Local Gift Cards.”
Colin Munro is the Managing Director of Miconex and said: “There are over 350,000 private sector businesses operating in Scotland, and the majority use rewards or incentives for their staff and customers. The value of gift cards given by organisations as incentives or rewards is valued at £2.3bn in the UK, and 20.7% of people have received a gift card as an incentive from a business. Organisations choosing Scotland Loves Local Gift Cards for their staff and customers will have a significant impact on the Scottish economy.”
Find out more about the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card initiative at https://scotlandgiftslocal.com
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Notes
- The Scotland Loves Local Gift Card is part of the Scotland Loves Local Campaign.
- Scotland Loves Local is managed by Scotland’s Towns Partnership (STP), with support from the Scottish Government. More details can be found at www.lovelocal.scot and by following #ScotlandLovesLocal on social media.
- STP is the national body for Scotland’s towns and all those who work to support the country’s towns and city districts; a hub to help people learn, connect, find practical support and advice, and share good practice and knowledge. The organisation’s deep rooted knowledge of the towns landscape and extensive range of services supports the Scottish Government's ongoing commitment to secure a positive future for Scotland's towns.
- More details about Miconex are available at https://miconexpartners.com/
- For more information about health protection measures you can take to protect yourself and others around you while at work or shopping, go to www.gov.scot/coronavirus.
