John Donovan, managing director of Don Marketing, an agency specialising in promotional games, says he has supplied more than a billion game pieces without any problems. He counts Shell's Make Money game (said to have raised sales by 25%) and the Great Guinness Challenge (which boosted sales by 30%) among his biggest successes.
Don Marketing
UP TO SCRATCH
This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website,
johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net,
are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
SHELL STOLE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, ALLEGES DON
Don evolved Shell's legendary 'Make Money' promo back in 1984 (still the benchmark by which the success of forecourt promotions is measured) and the relationship between the two companies - now sadly soured - spans thirteen years.
DON MARKETING STEPS-UP ITS ATTACK ON SHELL
Don then formed a Shell Corporate Conscience Pressure Group and mailed Shell dealers and institutional shareholders accusing the oil giant of a cover-up involving a "flawed promotion".
Shell is back making money
Shell's retail advertising and services manager Mike Beach: 'We could not find anything better, and we finally accepted the argument Don Marketing had originally put to us in its favour as much as two-and-a-half years ago.'
Chambers’ move in promotional games
Last summer's Great Guinness Challenge, recently nominated for an ISP award, was developed by Don Marketing and was' coordinated by Chambers at ABM. This promotion is believed to have increased sales of draught Guinness by up to 30 per cent in the 22,000 participating pubs and clubs. The current 'Pint Size Guinness Book of Records' promotion was the result of a similar successful link-up.
Don Marketing Bottle Label Game: CINZANO INSTANT ROULETTE
CINZANO drinkers could be in for a bonanza this Christmas in a £100,000 prize promotion. A breakthrough, by promotional games specialist, Don Marketing, has created what is claimed to be the first ever scratchcard competition to appear on a bottle label.
The legal dispute between Shell and Don Marketing… has become a public feud
The legal dispute between Shell and Don Marketing over the origin of two promotions has become a public feud, with both sides adopting hardline positions.
Shell seeks guarantee over costs in Don case
"Shell is doing all it can to stop these cases coming to court and using its financial weight against a small firm," says Don managing director John Donovan.
ROYAL DUTCH SHELL TRACK RECORD IN LEGAL PROCEEDINGS WITH THE DONOVAN’S
At the commencement of the mediation, Shell Legal Director, Richard Wiseman, grandly announced that he had been asked to apologise to us on behalf of Shell UKs board of directors for the way we had been treated.
Donovan issues Shell libel writ
Promotions & Incentive Magazine: Donovan issues Shell libel writ
May 1995
Picture Caption: Shell: stands by statement
Don Marketing founder, Alfred Donovan has issued a High Court writ for libel against Shell UK after it failed to retract a press statement of March 17 of this year (P&I April ’95).
A spokesperson for Shell said, “Shell intends to see matters through in court.”
Don Marketing’s separate legal action over Shell’s Now Showing and Nintendo promotions can now proceed after a Royal Courts of Justice judge ruled that £10,000 would provide adequate security against costs for the discovery stage of the case.
Pressure group to target Shell
Mr Donovan senior said that he felt compelled to set up the pressure group after his son found it necessary to issue High Court writs to Shell.
Marketing Week: Don claims first round in Shell libel action
Shell UK was ordered to pay costs for a preliminary hearing at the High Court which took place earlier this week. The libel case will be heard before a jury and Don Marketing will have the power to subpoena top Shell UK management, including chairman Chris Fay, to give evidence.
Irate Don hits Shell investors
Don has issued three high court writs and county court proceedings against Shell, alleging the wrongful use of retail promotions developed by Don Marketing.
Shell fails to block agency’s legal action
Shell, it has been claimed, has failed to block a legal action mounted against it by one of its sales promotions agencies, writes Jonathan Bracey-Gibbon. The claim was made by sales promotion agency, Don Marketing...
Incentive Today EDITORIAL: SHELL SHOCK
The claim, for £350,000, is being made against Shell UK by Don Marketing, a sales promotion agency which alleges that its client of 13 years has repeatedly used the agency's concepts without permission and sometimes without payment.
Shell Make Money and Shell Mastermind 1984
The decision to go for a promotional game had been prompted by the persistence of Don Marketing, the Essex based promotional games company, which had, for more than two years, been pressing on Shell the potential of a game to boost sales. Any doubts that Shell may have harboured about the popularity of the game with motorists were quickly dispelled when the promotion received massive press and television publicity, and sales at many petrol stations soared by more than 25%.
Shell action abandoned
Forecourt Trader: Shell action abandoned
August 1999
The long-running and acrimonious dispute between Shell UK and sales promotion agency Don Marketing has ended following a statement released by both parties last month. The dispute centred on Don Marketing’s claim that Shell stole its idea for the Smart loyalty scheme. John Donovan, managing director of Don Marketing, took legal action against Shell claiming breach of contract and misuse of confidential information. Shell counter-sued him for breach of confidentiality.
Incentive Today: Don and Shell end Smart row
Article being added to our Online Archive
Incentive Today: Don and Shell end Smart row
July-August 1999
After a bitter six year legal battle with Shell UK John Donovan has abandoned his claim against Shell UK. Donovan alleged that Shell stole his ideas for the Shell Smart loyalty scheme and initiated court proceedings in 1993.
Both parties issued a joint statement saying, “John Donovan has abandoned his claim against Shell in relation to the Shell’s Smart loyalty scheme. He has acknowledged that these claims are without foundation and should not have been brought.
Oil giant stole my promotion idea, alleges businessman
OIL-giant Shell's successful Smart card customer loyalty scheme was "pinched" from a confidential idea put forward by the man behind many of its earlier promotions, a High Court judge heard yesterday.
Shell faces court battle on its Smart scheme
Shell will this week defend a multi-million-pound law suit from sales promotion agency Don Marketing, which claims Shell stole its idea for the Smart loyalty scheme.
Sunday Business: Donovan takes Smart case against Shell to court
To highlight his current grievances, Donovan has mounted a high-profile campaign including the creation of an anti-Shell web-site, picketing of Shell HQ and annual meetings. He has also placed ads in the trade press warning Shell Smart partners that they, too, could face legal action.
DON’T GET MAD GET EVEN
And so to Mr Donovan, director of a marketing company whIch used to think up ideas for Shell. Convinced that some of his ideas seemed to have been adopted by Shell as its own, he started to complain to the company.
RESEARCH: ENSURING THE RIGHT RESPONSE
The first scratch-card promotion to appear on-pack has been one of the most innovative promotions of the past few years. The game, on the back of a Cinzano bottle label, gave consumers the chance of winning a share of £100,000.
Daily Telegraph: Donovan’s beef with Shell on-line
Daily Telegraph 11 June 1998
Donovan’s beef with Shell on-line
HIGH court writs have been filed against Shell UK by independent marketing man John Donovan. Through his company, Don Marketing, he claims that in 1989 he was the brains behind Shell’s Smart Card scheme.
Donovan is alleging a breach of confidence and breach of contract and has also filed a separate writ for libel. He is talking of “multi-million pound” damages.
Suffolk-based Donovan is publicising his gripes on two elaborate and colourful internet websites, don-marketing. com and shell-shareholders.org. He has also decided to book adverts in the marketing press.
Marketing Week: SHELL SMART LEGAL NOTICE
SHELL SMART LEGAL NOTICE
MARKETING WEEK: Shell: Don is more than ‘disgruntled’
MARKETING WEEK MAGAZINE
LETTERS
Shell: Don is more than ‘disgruntled’
Picture Caption: Shell: Don Marketing’s battle over the Smart concept is its fourth High Court action against the UK company
I am writing in response to Alan Mitchell’s article about the key to loyalty card survival (MWMay 14).
He mentioned Shell’s aspiration to reach 8 million members within a year “legal battles with disgruntled sales promotion agencies permitting” – a reference to our High Court action against Shell. “Disgruntled” is not the description I would choose.
Marketing Week: ASA dragged into Shell UK Smart battle
Having been caught red-handed stealing our intellectual property, Shell settled by making a substantial payment to us. Frankly we were shocked at the arrogance, lies and subterfuge.
Shell in legal row
"Any impartial assessment of the evidence would show that the case is indefensible on Shell's part," says Don Marketing managing director John Donovan. "This is a matter of principle. One of the largest companies in the world shouldn't need to steal ideas from promotional agencies.
Sales Promotion Magazine: Shell in legal row
Sales Promotion Magazine
May 1998
Shell in legal row
SP agency’s claims over Smart Card cause troubled water for oil company
A promotional agency is suing Shell (UK) for allegedly breaching copyright on the concept idea Shell used to create its multipartner Smart Card loyalty scheme.
The allegation follows two previously unpublished out- of-court settlements which were kept secret as part of the agreement reached by the two sides.
The legal dispute between Shell and Don Marketing could delay the card programme even further – its launch was originally planned for the end of last year before partners failed to agree on a date.
Donovan brings new Shell writ
John Donovan, the sales promotion agency managing director who is suing Shell for copyright infringement over its Smart Card loyalty scheme, has served another writ on the oil company, this time for libel.
Marketing Magazine: Donovan brings new Shell writ
30 April 1998
Marketing Magazine: Donovan brings new Shell writ
John Donovan, the sales promotion agency managing director who is suing Shell for copyright infringement over its Smart Card loyalty scheme, has served another writ on the oil company, this time for libel.
Donovan, whose agency, Don Marketing, has already brought three copyright actions against Shell, is suing over a press statement the oil firm released in response to his latest copyright writ.
Shell responded to the writ, served two weeks ago, by saying it was satisfied that “the claim … is entirely without substance”.
Below-the-line agency Don Marketing is taking Shell to court
Marketing Magazine
23 April 1998
STOP PRESS COLUMN: Below-the-line agency Don Marketing, which is taking Shell to court over the copyright of the Shell Smart Card, is booking full-page ads in newspapers over the next two weekends to alert Shell shareholders to its dispute with the company. The ads will direct people to a specially set-up Web site, on which the agency has posted full details of its claim that Shell stole its ideas for the loyalty scheme.
Don Marketing booking full-page ads to alert Shell shareholders to its dispute with Shell (Original Article)
Shell UK Oil and Don Marketing
Debrief Newsletter
October 1995
Despite meetings between Shell UK Oil and Don Marketing in an attempt to reach settlement in their long-running dispute over alleged theft of promotional concepts (Debrief, 3-63), the parties are agreed on only one point – that the matter should go to court.
http://www.shellnews.net/PDFs/DebriefNewsletterOctober%201995.pd
Shell UK Oil and Don Marketing
Debrief Newsletter
October 1995
Despite meetings between Shell UK Oil and Don Marketing in an attempt to reach settlement in their long-running dispute over alleged theft of promotional concepts (Debrief, 3-63), the parties are agreed on only one point – that the matter should go to court.
http://www.shellnews.net/PDFs/DebriefNewsletterOctober%201995.pd
Shell has confirmed that its senior management will hold talks with Don Marketing
Shell has confirmed that its senior management will hold talks with Don Marketing to resolve legal actions between the two.
Shell has confirmed that its senior management will hold talks with Don Marketing
Marketing Magazine
25 May 1995
STOP PRESS: Shell has confirmed that its senior management will hold talks with Don Marketing to resolve legal actions between the two. Don has issued a libel writ, a high-court action and a small-claims case against Shell in a two-year struggle over two disputed promotions.
Shell has confirmed that its senior management will hold talks with Don Marketing (Original Article)
Marketing Week Magazine: Shell faces libel action as Don’s founder issues writ
Article added to our Online Archive
Marketing Week Magazine: Shell faces libel action as Don’s founder issues writ
21 April 1995
Alfred Donovan, a founder of sales promotion company Don Marketing and the Shell Corporate Conscience Pressure Group, has issued a writ against Shell UK claiming damages for libel.
This latest twist in the long-running legal wrangle between Don Marketing and Shell comes as the two companies prepare to meet in court over Don’s accusation that Shell used the agency’s ideas in a series of promotions without permission or payment (MW February 24 and March 31).
Forecourt Trader: Shell speaks out over Don
Article being added to our Online Archive
Forecourt Trader: Shell speaks out over Don
April 1995
Shell has broken its vow of silence and issued a strongly-worded statement to defend itself against what it sees as “the growing number of untrue and often offensive allegations being made by Don Marketing”.
Shell is defending legal actions which allege that it wrongfully used two forecourt promotions devised by Don Marketing. Previously, the oil company has remained silent, preferring to “resolve the dispute in the courts which Shell believes is the proper forum for a commercial dispute.
Don Marketing and oil giant Shell UK’s latest round in their continuing legal battle…
ARTICLE BEING ADDED TO OUR ONLINE ARCHIVE
Marketing Week News 24 February 1995
Marketing Week: Don Marketing and oil giant Shell UK’s latest round in their continuing legal battle…
ARTICLE BEING ADDED TO OUR ONLINE ARCHIVE
Marketing Week News 24 February 1995
NOTICE TO SHELL DEALERS!
We have issued a number of High Court Writs against Shell
NOTICE TO SHELL DEALERS!
Published in Forecourt Trader and Forecourt News February 1995
NOTICE TO SHELL DEALERS!
We have issued a number of High Court Writs against Shell relating to proprietary rights to the following promotions
“MAKE MONEY” “NOW SHOWING”
THE SHELL NINTENDO GAME
If willing to complete a questionnaire which may assist us in our legal actions against Shell UK Ltd, please kindly fill in, detach, and return to us your Station details in the panel below. We will then provide you with confidential background information which you may find quite intriguing.
Issued by:
Don Marketing UK Limited
Debrief: DON MARKETING STEPS-UP ITS ATTACK ON SHELL
Article being added to our Online Archive
Debrief: DON MARKETING STEPS-UP ITS ATTACK ON SHELL
February 1995
IN A SCENARIO that increasingly resembles the rousing Hook Advertising vs Barclays Bank saga, promotional consultancy Don Marketing is piling the pressure on Shell UK Oil in an effort to obtain redress for alleged theft of its intellectual property [Debrief, 2-113].
Don claims Shell used three of its promotional concepts without authorisation or payment and has taken the unusual step of placing a half-page ad in Forecourt Trader asking Shell dealers if they are “willing to complete a questionnaire which may assist us in our legal actions”.
Marketing Week: Don Marketing, the sales promotion company in a legal dispute with Shell UK
Article being added to our Online Archive
Marketing Week
20 January 1995
Don Marketing, the sales promotion company in a legal dispute with Shell UK, is taking an advertisement in Service Station Magazine. The ad asks for people who are concerned about the ethical conduct of Shell to join a Shell corporate conscience pressure group.
Link to Original Article
http://www.shellnews.net/PDFs/MarketingWeek20January%201995.pdf
Forecourt Trader Magazine: Promotion wrangle
ARTICLE FROM 1995 ADDED TO OUR ONLINE ARCHIVE
Forecourt Trader Magazine: Promotion wrangle
January 1995
Forecourt Trader uncovers the background to the legal dispute between Shell (UK) Ltd and promotions company Don Marketing UK (Ltd)
A legal dispute between Don Marketing (UK) Ltd and Shell UK (Ltd) is now spilling out into the public arena following the placing of advertisements in the trade press by Don Marketing, requesting information from Shell dealers.
The following is an attempt by Forecourt Trader to uncover the facts behind the dispute – from both sides.
In total, Don Marketing has issued three High Court writs and a County Court proceeding against Shell, alleging wrongful use of retail promotions developed by Don Marketing. Shell has already settled one of the three writs out of court.
Debrief: SHELL STOLE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, ALLEGES DON
Article being added to our Online Archive
Debrief: SHELL STOLE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, ALLEGES DON
November 1994
SHELL UK OIL is being sued for over £350,000 damages for alleged use of promotional ideas without permission or, in some cases, payment. In a writ issued at the end of September, Bury St Edmunds-based sp consultancy Don Marketing accuses Shell of repeatedly using ideas put to it speculatively and in confidence. Don cites Shell’s July ’94 “Now Showing” promo and a Nintendo promo in 1993 – the latter the subject of a previous writ served last April and settled out of court by Shell for “a substantial sum”.
Incentive Today Editorial: SHELL SHOCK
ARTICLE ADDED TO OUR ONLINE ARCHIVE
Incentive Today EDITORIAL
Nov/Dec 1994
SHELL SHOCK
IT HAD TO HAPPEN – although it would be naive to think that it hasn’t happened before because out-of-count settlements have usually kept the quarrel well out of the industry’s gaze. An agency is to sue its client not, as I say, for the first time, but the issue is one that is close to the heart of all marketing consultancies: the agency claims that the client has stolen (let’s not beat about the bush) promotional concepts which were presented by the agency speculatively and confidentially.
PROMOTIONS & INCENTIVES MAGAZINE: UP TO SCRATCH
Article added to our Online Archive
PROMOTIONS & INCENTIVES: UP TO SCRATCH
JUNE 1993
Picture Caption: Having shelved its Collect & Select promotion, Shell’s 1991 Star Trek scratch card campaign featured the first Star Trek series. It coincided with Star Trek’s 25th anniversary, Paramount launching a new series and BBC screening the original 1979 episodes
EXTRACTS FROM THE ARTICLE
But while there may have been a few disasters, there have also been countless successes. John Donovan, managing director of Don Marketing, an agency specialising in promotional games, says he has supplied more than a billion game pieces without any problems. He counts Shell’s Make Money game (said to have raised sales by 25%) and the Great Guinness Challenge (which boosted sales by 30%) among his biggest successes.
National lottery takes its chances
Promotions & Incentives Magazine: National lottery takes its chances
April 1992
Is a national lottery necessarily a good thing? Or is it too early in the game to predict a result?
A national lottery looks set to make a reappearance in the UK by 1994, after an absence of 166 years. We find out what the experts think.
John Donovan
Managing director, Don Marketing
“Compare this country with California, which is about the same size as Britain, and it gives some indication of the likely effects of a national lottery here. California has had a state lottery for about ten years and there are now more promotional games running than ever before. Another development has been the move by television networks into promotional activity.
“A National Lottery Board would decide who will have the franchise. The Pools Promoters Association must be very much hoping that they’ll be asked to run the national lottery. I think that’s fairly likely – after all they have the existing organisation and public confidence. But lots of US companies that supply electronic equipment in Europe for lotto-style cards have been lobbying as well.”
Will Shell’s intergalactic experiment pay off?
Will Shell’s intergalactic experiment pay off?
Cover story plus coverage on 7 pages with extensive colour piks: Promotions & Incentives Magazine July-August 1991
MAIN ARTICLE
Hang on! I’ve got a new idea… …said Don Marketing when the agency sold Shell its idea for the Star Trek promotion, neatly persuading the oil giant to abandon its catalogue scheme promotions. Case study by Anne-Marie Crawford
“Promotions run in a cyclic mode. With our catalogue scheme we had reached the end of the cycle and run into stalemate,” says Alan McNab, national promotions manager at Shell UK.
Hence, faced with a moribund market, Shell decided to change tack and launch its Star Trek game.
Collect and select schemes, points equal prizes, have long been stalwart forecourt promotions among the leading petrol companies. The familiar catalogues from which consumers choose different items when they have collected a certain number of points are almost synonymous with buying petrol.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
MORE DETAILS:
A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
