I was informed early on Saturday morning of the opening weekend at Brands Hatch that last year it was t-shirt and shorts weather. So hopefully the remainder of the 2013 season doesn’t spring too many nasty surprises upon us, particularly on the track – as it was freezing this time around. Unusual for Kent at the end of March…

Beneath the thermal hats and gloves which we adorned for a weekend’s racing, there was a warm buzz of excitement about not only Tom Ingram’s Ginetta GT Supercup title challenge for 2013 as he chases a third drivers’ title in four years – but also for our own sponsorship arrangement.

SKYCIG have agreed a deal for a second year with the 19 year old from High Wycombe to become title sponsors, giving Tom the platform which his racing talent richly deserves. In addition to this, we have enlisted the help of experiential specialists Nugget (www.wearenugget.com) to execute a sampling and promotional campaign at all 10 British Touring Car Championship race meetings in 2013.

The deal gives us exposure to average crowds of over 30,000 people per race meeting. Spectators can participate in our augmented reality experience, where you choose your own personalised number plate and have your picture taken with our very own SKYCIG Ginetta G40R (http://ginetta.com/g40r_new). This can be then be uploaded to share with friends on Twitter, Facebook or sent directly to your e-mail address.

If you are attending a BTCC race meeting at any point during the season, come and visit us to find out how you can win multiple prizes, including the Ginetta G40R itself. Come speak to our promotional girls and find out more.

On the track, I am confident Tom Ingram will scoop many honours on the way to the Ginetta GT Supercup this season. The return of defending champion Carl Breeze to the series will ensure some stiff competition for Tom. But with a full season in 2012 and a great pre-season preparation in the G55 car, it would be hard not to discount him from the front runners come October.

We are looking forward to welcoming him to Knockhill, our home race (and you could say ‘home’ advantage for him too!) where he has a point to prove after an unfortunate accident on the grid in the final race of the weekend last season.

Brands Hatch resulted in 5th, 4th and 1st place finishes for Tom, leaving him 2nd in the championship standings going into this weekend’s rounds at Donington Park, the scene of his maiden G55 victory last season. You wouldn’t bet against him coming away from the Derbyshire circuit leading the standings, as we’ve still to see him at his very, very best this year in competitive racing.

Let’s hope for good fortune weather wise!

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SKYCIG Football Masters is a brand game where you simply predict the correct outcome for all English Premier League fixtures in one week – a win for home team, away team or a tie – and you could win the £1000 jackpot!

The SKYCIG Football Masters is completely free to enter. Just log into your SKYCIG account at www.skycig.co.uk/football to take part. Your predictions will be posted to the e-mail address registered on your account for your reference. Once the final whistle has been blown winners will be announced and the £1000 could be yours.

SKYCIG Football Masters will keep you up-to date with all the news and results so keep an eye on our and webpage so you never miss a minute.  Join the conversation on our Twitter and Facebook pages to have your say! No catches, just predict the matches!

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March has been a busy month for SKYCIG with press features in over 22 publications including The Scotland on Sunday, Scottish Daily Mail, Metro, The Sun and many more…

For our National No Smoking Day campaign we conducted a study of 1,000 people across the UK with Behavioural Psychologist Jo Hemmings on the smoking habits of both male and female.  Our findings suggested a variety of different things, including the interesting concept that females are more likely to use a cigarette as a reward for handling stress whereas males are seen to use cigarettes in more social situations. The findings were a clear hit with the media with The Scotland on Sunday, The Scottish Sun, The Metro and The Scottish Daily Mail and many other titles publishing the story!

Furthermore, The Sunday Times , the largest-selling British Sunday paper for the first time within its Style supplement magazine published a featured on the growing e-cigarette industry. Style Magazine published an article on electronic cigarettes titled; ‘Having an E-fag‘ stating: “…suddenly they have taken off; clubs, bars and even restaurants are stuffed with people puffing away”. The article further states how the industry has suddenly become one of the fastest growing industries, stating: “Britain’s love affair with e-fags show no sign of abating; about 650,000 people use brands such as SKYCIG“  Style Magazine also state the growth in popularity is due to the amount of Hollywood celebs who have taken them up including Kristen Stewart, Leonardo DiCaprio, Katherine Heigel and Johnny Deep!

BBC One Show also looked into e-cigarettes for National No Smoking Day, revealing the huge growth in the industry. The One Show looked into a variety of different brands, including SKYCIG  stating: “700,000 users of e-cigarettes in the UK with the market growing fast”  The smoking rate has considerably dropped, stated by the The BBC One Show in 1948 82% of adults were smoking which has now dropped to 20%.

To take a look at all our press coverage click here.

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Its been over a week since National No Smoking Day and we are delighted to share with our customers the success of our National campaign!

SKYCIG doubled its orders and tripled its sales on the UK’s official National No Smoking Day. March 13^th 2013 marked the biggest sales day in the company’s history, with £123,000 worth of sales placed online versus the £40,000 achieved on the same day last year. In addition, 3,300 individual orders were placed versus last year’s performance on the same day which saw 1,500 orders placed.

This achievement is the most recent addition to the tremendous success which SKYCIG has experienced in a very short time. The £123,000 revenue equates to replacing a phenomenal 1,200,000 cigarettes on National No Smoking Day alone. The smoking rate in England is predicted to go below 15% by 2016, meaning the e-cigarette industry is one which will continue to grow significantly; it is estimated to be worth £250m by 2014.

SKYCIG were also featured across 22 publications throughout the UK regarding the survey which was conducted with the help and advise of TV Psychologist Jo Hemmings. If you missed our campaigns surrounding No Smoking Day click here to find out more.

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The Sunday Times is the largest-selling British Sunday paper and for the first time within its Style supplement magazine a feature was published on the growing e-cigarette industry.

Style Magazine within the popular broadsheet paper The Sunday Times, published an article on electronic cigarettes titled; ‘Having an E-fag‘ stating “…suddenly they have taken off; clubs, bars and even restaurants are stuffed with people puffing away”.

The article further states how the industry has suddenly become one of the fastest growing industries, stating: “Britain’s love affair with e-fags show no sign of abating; about 650,000 people use brands such as SKYCIG“ Style Magazine also state the growth in popularity is due to the amount of Hollywood celebs who have taken them up including Kristen Stewart, Leonardo DiCaprio, Katherine Heigel and Johnny Deep!

The post SKYCIG featured in The Sunday Times Style Magazine appeared first on SKYCIG Blog.

SKYCIG are starting their second season with Tom Ingram and fully supporting him in his quest to become Ginetta GT Supercup champion in 2013!

As he targets the conquest of a third car racing crown in just four years, KX Akademy protégé Tom Ingram has unveiled the SKYCIG-backed Ginetta G55 that he will campaign for JHR Developments this season in the BTCC-supporting, ITV4 live-televised Ginetta GT Supercup, at the championship’s annual media day at Silverstone.

How do you feel about the new season starting soon?
Tom Ingram – “I’m super excited to get the new season started. The pre season testing has gone very well we have learnt loads and have tried all, and more of the changes we were planning over the winter. It’s great to be in a position to get some pre season testing in as it’s always been something I have never been able to do”.

What are your expectations for this year – have your goals changed since last year?
Tom Ingram – “My expectations and goals are simple, win the championship! After the pace we showed last year I think it’s achievable, also with the progress we have made so far it’s looking good”.

You have had a new design for the car, tell us a bit about this and are you happy with the outcome?
Tom Ingram – “We have the newly designed car which just looks awesome, the front of the car is light silver and makes the SKYCIG branding really visible. Torque did a quality job if the design and it took Tom from Torque and I a long time to finalise it as we both had so many ideas for it! I’m thrilled with the outcome and we’ve had some great feedback from it as well”.

Do you have a specific game plan for this year to secure the title?
Tom Ingram – “The game plan is to make the most of our testing and get a gap at the start of the year and just focus on staying consistent and fast all year. I WILL be fighting extremely hard for this, and I really want to get this championship for SKYCIG! Bring it on”!

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BBC One Show looked into e-cigarettes for National No Smoking Day, revealing the huge growth in the industry.

 
On March 13th 2013 it was the 30th National No Smoking Day and The BBC One Show looked into the alternatives to smoking traditional cigarettes in an urge for people to stop smoking.

The One Show looked into a variety of different brands, including SKYCIG which contains none of the harmful chemicals tobacco cigarette do nor does it produce second hand smoke, stating: “700,000 users of e-cigarettes in the UK with the market growing fast”  The smoking rate has considerably dropped, stated by the The BBC One Show in 1948 82% of adults were smoking which has now dropped to 20%.

To view the feature on SKYCIG and the e-cigarette industry on the BBC One Show click here.

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The Scottish Daily Mail was yet another title to cover National No Smoking Day and featured the SKYCIG survey with TV Psychologist Jo Hemmings.

The feature titled: ‘Why lighting up is a real treat for women’ discussed the different behaviours in males and females in relation to smoking after SKYCIG conducted a survey of 1,000 people across the UK.

The Scottish Daily Mail revealed that ‘Edinburgh-based firm SKYCIG found that men were much more likely than women to smoke when out drinking and socialising in pubs and club’  with TV Psychologist Jo Hemmings stating: ‘This divided behaviour suggests smoking is seen as more socially acceptable for men and could be indicative that women potentially attribute an element of shame to their smoking behaviour’

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SKYCIG teamed up with  Behavioural Psychologist Jo Hemmings for National No Smoking Day to conduct a survey on the behaviours of smoking, here’s what The Scottish Sun have to say on the findings…

The Scottish Sun released the story “Women Shamed by Cigs…Secret habits revealed” prior to National No Smoking day which discussed the SKYCIG survey results. The article looks into the gender differences in behaviours associated with smoking suggesting that females are more likely to use a cigarette as a reward for handling stress. Jo Hemmings TV Psychologist states: “This could indicate women potentially attribute an element of shame to their smoking”.

To read the full article published by the Scottish Sun on our findings for National No Smoking Day click here.

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The Scotland on Sunday were the first national paper to release the results of the SKYCIG survey with Jo Hemmings ahead of National No Smoking Day.

Titled ‘Why stressed women are no quitters’ the Scotland on Sunday revealed the findings of the SKYCIG survey with TV Psychologist Jo Hemmings. The article expressed the gender differences in smoking habits, further explaining why women find it more difficult to quit than men, Jo Hemmings suggests: “Women often use cigarettes as an emotional crutch, which can make it harder for them to give up smoking” further stating “One in three female smokers mainly smoke when stressed, compared with fewer than a quarter of male smokers”

To read the full article on the Scotsman website please click here.

The post Scotland on Sunday first to release SKYCIG survey! appeared first on SKYCIG Blog.