Marketing with Promotional Products » Promotional Products

What Business Are We In, Anyway?

Jonathan Martin — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 16:44:03 +0000

There is an old sales axiom that points out that each year millions of drill bits are sold in spite of the fact that nobody really wants them. They want holes!

In a sense that’s how promotional products generally work–as tools for achieving an outcome. Of course, with hundreds of thousands of different items to choose from, it is easy to get seduced into thinking of our industry as just a lot of fascinating products to sell. However, to do so is to miss the true strategic value of what we have to offer.

At the most basic level we are in the recognition, communication, motivation, and promotion business. Our function is to help our clients solve business problems, to take advantage of business opportunities and to enjoy the results. To help us achieve our communication and motivation objectives we have hundreds of thousands of specialized tools at our disposal. These tools, by their tangible and useful nature, have advantages over many other communication media. For example:

• Ours is the most appreciated medium. It is the only advertising/promotion medium that people appreciate enough to thank the sponsor.

• Ours is the most lasting medium.

• Ours is the most targetable medium — even more so than direct mail alone.

• Our medium’s incentive nature makes it one of the most powerful behavior modification tools in business today.

• Our medium captures the power of tangible symbols in more ways and with more power than any other communication medium.

• Our medium has the potential of delivering the lowest possible cost per exposure to a pre-selected target.

• Our medium offers creative impact that other media simply cannot match, including: novelty, interactivity, appropriateness, usefulness over time, individual personalization, presentation interaction and third-party endorsements.

With these strategic advantages, our medium is ideal for giving people what they value most: (1) solutions to their problems, (2) ways of maximizing their opportunities and (3) a means of feeling good about these processes. Promotional products accomplish this through many varied programs which typically focus on some combination of:

• Communication

• Motivation

• Recognition

• Promotion

Virtually any business problem that involves motivating people can be solved with an effectively-designed program which implements one or more of these elements. Since our medium involves the distribution of promotional producs to individuals, once you define the audience it is possible to influence its actions in a profound way.

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Loyalty is slipping on many fronts.

Jonathan Martin — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 16:28:25 +0000

The loyalty of yesteryear, whether it be to one’s job, marriage or favorite brands, has slipped. The downsizing of the mid-1990s and today in the 2008 has hit middle management as well as hourly workers, causing increased discomfort and distrust of many large corporations. It has also changed the way that many people who have not been displaced have come to regard their job. Similarly, today’s divorce rate has a ripple effect on how secure and loyal Americans feel.

Perhaps nowhere is the trend so noticeable as brand loyalty. In a 1975 survey 74% of women and 80% of men indicated that they tried to stick with well-know brands. A decade later those percentages had dropped to 58% for women and 52% for men. According to the Roper Starch polling organization, by 1993 less than half of consumers knew what packaged-good brand they would choose when they entered a store to make such a purchase.

Loyalty Campaigns.

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New Launch, New Website!

Jonathan Martin — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 15:57:24 +0000

Andrews Promotional Products just launched their new website. They have a Promotional Product Blog, and some great articles on how to best motivate your employees through the effective use of Promotional Products.

Sister Sites

Why you should never hand out Candy?

Jonathan Martin — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:45:31 +0000

We had a staffing services company drop by our office yesterday. They were looking for us to hire them for our hiring and HR needs. She dropped of a regular manila folder labels Human Resources. It was filled with their contact information. She also dropped of a couple of candy bars with an address label for her company stuck on the front of the bar. Here is what they think of candy at the B2B Blog.

As I ate the candy bar on the way home last night I thought about her promotion. What was good about it and what wasn’t?

Well first her in-person approach was a hit. She walked into our small 6 person office and struck up conversation. This way we at least know she is not calling from an outsourced call center. While we don’t use outside HR, by stopping in she at least was able to make a good face to face impression.

The folder labeled Human Resources was GREAT. Easy for an office manager to file away and find again, possibly even by accident. If we rotated through secretaries, we don’t, a new hire might come across the file and think she was our source.

The candy bar was awful, not the taste, the idea. I ate the bar and threw away the labeled wrapper. No evidence she was ever there. If she had left a stapler or even a Post-it Caddy(Cheap and very effective promotional product.) She should have left an item that would actually stick around the office. One that would have her name and contact info in front of our office manager on a daily basis.

Looks Like I will be making a sales call at her office

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Here is a fast and easy thank you!

Jonathan Martin — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 14:57:52 +0000

For the Sales person walking in to offices and trying to get past the gate keeper at the front desk, these promotional emery boards are the best. Everyone uses them and the just don’t get thrown away. They hag out in the top drawer of the receptionists desk for months, the perfect daily reminder of your company.

Pharmaceutical reps have been using these for years to make that lasting impression, now it is your turn.

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Useful Items = Successful Promotion

Jonathan Martin — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 14:56:26 +0000

Something as simple as a light-up keychain can be a simple, inexpensive, and practical promotional item because it is just- simply useful. Consumers may use it in many situations, from an emergency, to lighting up a darkened stairway. Plus, even when the keychain is not in use, it is on their key chain, in their sight everyday. The repeated use of a useful promotional item like this ensures brand awareness in positive way, thus associating your brand with a good experience, helping to keep or create the consumer warm towards your brand. The next time they need a product that, you sell, they will remember you and be happy to call and place their order.

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50% of your advertising Dollars is wasted Money!

Jonathan Martin — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 14:48:52 +0000

The only problem is you don’t know which 50%! Or at least that is how the old saying goes. I often hear people rave about tracking systems and talk about how they can gather all of this statistical information about the marketing they use. That is great, I love statistics especially when they point in my direction. But why limit yourself to marketing campaigns that are trackable?

Place one phone number in the newspaper ads and another in the TV spots. Now that is an easy way to track which piece of marketing was that last to be seen before the call was made. If you are weighing the ROI of TV vs Print then this would be a great methodology for tracking the results. For the Internet you can compare click-through rates for different ad copies.

But what about Branding? This is a broader spectrum and more difficult to measure. How do you measure the effectiveness of the embroidered shirt on the Bank teller, your logo on a nice pen, or the goodwill generated by the holiday cards you send out every year? These have to be measured on a much more subjective level.

We work with one company who has shifted their entire marketing budget away from print and moved it to promotional products and flying their customers to nice resorts and holding golf tournaments. This way they have a captive audience and a happy client either way it shakes out. Sure, most businesses can’t operate in this fashion, but if you are selling large enough contract then this is the way to go. It is targeted and measurable. They either buy or they don’t

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Looking to make that Sales Appointment have a lasting emotional impact?

Jonathan Martin — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:47:50 +0000

We had a decision maker from a large aerospace client stop by our show room last week. This was her first time visiting us. Our goals was three fold: to spark ideas, show the limitless possibilities of promotional products, and make an emotional connection that will ensure we are their first choice for their marketing needs.

We had the appointment scheduled about a week in advance. This way we could have a gift personalized with her name when she arrived. Nothing leaves a lasting impression like a personalized gift. People just love stuff with their own name on it. We have found that even rather “lame products” imprinted with a persons name or initials make a significant impact.

We value this client and wanted to make this a memorable visit so no “lame product” here. We had a Cross Apogee Black Star Lacquer Ball-Point Pen, with her name deep cut engraved with her name in a beautiful script, waiting for her when she walked in. POW you could see the impact of this personalized promotional pen on her face immediately. She was excited and knew just how much we value her.

At a $95 dollar price point this isn’t a gift for just anyone who walks in. But who do you want your next client to be? Lots of small clients are great, but if you want to step into the world of larger accounts you need to make a different kind of impression. Money directly targeted to specific accounts is more effective for larger clients than casting a really wide net with other mass-media marketing.

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New Clinic New Look

Jonathan Martin — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:47:04 +0000

A brand new wellness clinic is opening and they are planning on handing out Promotional Water Bottles to guests. They are inviting referring physicians and nurses.

Starting with their Wellness theme, These great BPA free water Bottles are sure to be a hit.

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