BOMBARDIER BEER

For brewers Charles Wells we created The Bombardier Book of Famous English Quotations. The books were used as competition prizes in the on-trade and tied in with a campaign to make St George's Day a national holiday. Bombardier is positioned as "the patron pint of England", so the brief was simple: keep the quotes pithy or amusing and ensure all the people quoted are English! The 96-page paperback was created from scratch in six weeks.

HSA

HSA, the health insurance company, asked us to source a family health guide that could be personalised and used as a retention gift. We proposed Dorling Kindersley’s Home Doctor, which contains self-help treatments for over 150 common conditions (from measles to motion sickness) plus an extensive emergency first aid section. The book was printed with a branded cover and a foreword explaining the benefits of being a HSA member.

YOURS (BAUER)

Yours, Britain's leading magazine for the over-50s, asked us to recommend a cookbook for use as a subscription gift. From a list of eight short-listed titles they chose TV chef James Martin's The Collection, a bumper hardback containing 300 of his favourite British recipes. The book, published by Mitchell Beazley, was sourced from stock.

SFX (FUTURE)

SFX is the world's No 1 sci-fi and fantasy magazine, with a strong TV and movie bias. So, when we learnt SFX were planning a special Doctor Who issue, we suggested they ran a subscription offer that gifted the shooting scripts from the first Russell T Davies series. They jumped at the idea. The book, published by the BBC, was sourced from stock.

SO-GOOD

FREE cookbooks worth £18.99 were offered by So-Good to boost trial of their Soya Chocolate drink. In return for two proofs of purchase, buyers had a choice of three titles from Reader's Digest's Eat Well Live Well series. Reader's Digest provided the books free of charge and handled the redemptions. Discover how the Eat Well Live Well series might work for you.

GUINNESS/THE INDEPENDENT

Books4Promotions also source and create audio books on CD. This bespoke compilation of stand-up comedy extracts was produced in association with Laughing Stock Productions for The Independent and Guinness - to mark St Patricks Day and to tie in with the brewer's sponsorship of the Jongleurs Comedy Clubs. The compilation, featuring the likes of Eddie Izzard, Sean Hughes, Milton Jones and Jock Moloney, was given away with copies of The Independent.

GOLF MONTHLY (IPC MEDIA)

IPC's best-selling golf magazine requested an instructional guide covering all aspects of the game. It also needed to be covermounted to an issue that tied in with the British Open. We proposed a book that offered practical advice by 15 previous winners of the British Open including Ernie Els, Nick Faldo and Jack Nicklaus. We sourced the material from a wide range of existing titles, agreeing a permissions deal with each of the copyright holders. We then edited the text, added new link material and delivered the tailor-made premium in under six weeks.

ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND

To promote their invoice financing facilites RBS used the No.1 bestseller, The Dangerous Book for Boys, in a b2b mailing aimed at financial directors with a “Just William” streak. The response was excellent. The Dangerous Book for Boys is published by HarperCollins. It was sourced from stock.

BIRD WATCHING (BAUER)

For Bird Watching's subscription gift programme we proposed the Collins Bird Guide, rated by many as the best bird guide on the market. Whether you're a novice or a dedicated twitcher, it's a must-have title. So since 2004 it has been a key gift item. And, although other items have been tested and used, it continues to pull in the subscribers. The book, published by HarperCollins, was sourced from stock.

ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

We were asked by the RPO to redesign and edit their bi-annual magazine, The Orchestra, which is sent to Friends of the RPO as part of their annual subscription. Working to a very tight budget, we delivered a quality item that could be appreciated by the RPO's supporters both in the UK and overseas.

DAILY TELEGRAPH

In the run-up to the 2004 Olympics, the Daily Telegraph was looking for a subscription gift that would offer a humourous slant on the Games. Having failed to source a suitable UK title, we cast our net wider and imported The Olympics Most Wanted from US publishers Brasseys. This jaw-dropping chronicle of inept athletes, embarrassing performances and outrageous cheaters fitted the brief perfectly.

DIGITAL PHOTO (BAUER)

The UK's biggest-selling digital magazine needed a subscription gift that complemented its editorial offering. We proposed The Photographer's Guide to Photoshop, a jargon-free title that is specifically tailored to the needs of the photographer and reveals the essential techniques of Photoshop in a refreshingly simple, easy-to-follow way. The book, published by David & Charles, was sourced from stock.

MAXWELL HOUSE

Maxwell House used novels by best-selling authors for a mail-in promotion on their 200g jars of instant coffee. In return for one proof of purchase and a contribution towards postage and packing, consumers received three novels in one volume - worth £15.99. There was a choice of three volumes, all taken from Reader's Digest's Of Love and Life series. Reader's Digest provided the books free of charge and handled the redemptions.

THE FIELD (IPC MEDIA)

The Field, IPC's upmarket hunting and shooting magazine, asked us to create a covermount that would help generate trial. Having taken careful stock of the magazine's readership profile, we recommended a humorous approach and proposed an abridged paperback edition of The Twelfth - a classic and considered by many to be the funniest story in fieldsports literature. Quiller Publishing provided the material.

ASTRA ZENICA

In a bid to increase diabetes awareness, pharmaceutical company Astra Zenica gave away copies of Diabetes For Dummies to UK pharmacists. The 384-page book was reprinted with a branded cover and handed out by Astra Zenica reps. More>>

JUNIOR (FUTURE)

Junior, the up-market parenting magazine aimed at ABC1 mums with pre-school children, asked us to source a prestigious subscription gift that was nonetheless affordable. We recommended a five-book set of Dr Seuss titles that included The Cat in the Hat and Fox in Sox. Dr Seuss is published by HarperCollins. The books were sourced from stock.

GARDEN ANSWERS (BAUER)

A guide to over 400 plant nurseries in Britain and Ireland proved a winning covermount concept for Garden Answers – and helped boost sales and trial for the magazine. Books4Promotions worked closely with The Royal Horticultural Society on selecting material from the RHS Plant Finder (published by Dorling Kindersley) and created the 96-page paperback in under five weeks.

YOUR HORSE (BAUER)

Emap's Your Horse magazine requested a techniques book that would help boost rider confidence amongst its less experienced readers. The book was to be used as a covermount. We researched this specialised subject, located an excellent source book (published by David & Charles), extracted some 20,000 words and created a 96-page paperback, all within a tight budget.

PRUDENTIAL

Jamie Oliver's best-selling Happy Days with the Naked Chef was used by Prudential as an incentive in a direct marketing campaign targeted at existing pension customers. The book, published by Penguin Books, was sourced from stock.

BASS IRELAND

Belfast agency GCAS Sales Promotion asked us to source three quiz books for a Bass Ireland quiz promotion in the on-trade. The books were to form part of the prize fund. We proposed Carlton Books' The Best Pub Quiz series. Packed with specialist rounds ranging from film to football, each book was graded into three categories of difficulty and contained over 7,500 questions - enough to excite even the most world-weary pub-quiz compere!

MAXIM (DENNIS)

We've put together three covermounts for Maxim, including this collection of rock 'n' roll's more bizarre statistics, stories and soundbites. Material was sourced from The New Book of Rock Lists, which came courtesy of a small US publisher. Readers of lads magazines are particularly hard to target but this winning little know-all title hit exactly the right button.

3M HEALTH CARE

3M required a premium that would encourage multi-purchases of their children's plasters through Boots. Given the nature of the product and retail environment, we proposed a book on how bodies work – targeted at 5-10 year olds. A full-colour, highly illustrated, 64-page paperback was sourced from Anness Publishing and reprinted with a 3M cover.

YACHTING WORLD (IPC MEDIA)

Extracts from four great seafaring books formed the basis of Yachting World’s first covermount promotion. Selections included extracts from Ellen MacArthur’s bestseller, Taking on the World, and Bernard Moitessier’s classic, The Long Way. Books4Promotions handled rights negotiations with the publishers concerned and put the book together in four weeks.

CHANNEL 4

For Channel 4 we created a garden planner to help publicise their gardening programmes. The 420mm x 393mm sheet folded down to a pocket-sized 131mm x 105mm and contained a planning grid on one side with design and planting notes on the reverse. It was given out at "road show" events. Text and line drawing were specially commissioned by Books4Promotions.

YOUR DOG

To help generate trial for Your Dog magazine we put together a collection of doggy tales featuring mutts who have hit the news headlines. Based on stories compiled by newsreader Martyn Lewis, this 128-page paperback featured dogs of every sort – from the lovable and ludicrous to the brave, bizarre and barking mad. Readers loved it!