We’ve expanded our product line to print media!

Product Ideas

Did you know that according to research done by our trade association, PPAI, that businesses that cutback in advertising during and after a rescession typically experience a drop in sales and profits, falling behind those businesses that maintain their pre-rescession ad spending?  Let us assist in keeping your name in front of your customer.  Here are more ideas from The Richey Company.

Open House — September 22nd!

Spotlight on Umbrellas

Umbrellas … whether you’re using them to keep out of the sun or to keep dry, there’s no mistaking their utility. Your clients appreciate and remember the promotion as they keep and use the umbrella, and your brand goes out on display rain or shine!

Target Market & Campaign Ideas

Used by just about everybody, umbrellas are a great cross-market item! Three specific markets for the smaller umbrellas are travelers, golfers and other outdoor sports enthusiasts, and commuters, each of whom are likely to see an umbrella as a highly useful item and use it regularly. The target market for the large umbrellas are business branding at trade shows and outdoor events. In shielding us from the sun and rain, the umbrella has come to symbolize protection. Umbrellas can be used as part of a golf or seasonal promotion, or as part of a promotional theme such as “Be Prepared” or “Fun in the Sun” or even “Singing in the Rain”.

Branding Options

The most common branding option for an umbrella is the canopy. Canopies come in every color and combination of colors and screen printing and heat transfer photo printing allow nearly unlimited customization. Some umbrellas include a nylon sleeve which has the same potential as the canopy and provides branding even when the umbrella is not in use.

Handles can also be customized using colors, imprinting, screen printing or custom shapes.

Terminology

The five basic parts of an umbrella are the shaft, the handle, the ribs, the stretchers and the canopy. Some umbrellas also include a sleeve. As the central support, the shaft needs to be strong, durable and (for handheld umbrellas) light. As the handle is the primary way that your clients will interact with the umbrella, the handle type and comfortableness must be considered when selecting a product. The canopy is most often made of nylon which is waterproofed and sewn together in panels. The ribs and stretchers support the canopy and connect it to the shaft. A sleeve is a cover (usually nylon) designed to fit over the umbrella to protect it from damage.

Types of Umbrellas

Golf: An umbrella with a wide canopy and a straight handle (see the blue umbrella above).

Telescoping or Folding: Designed to expand from a compact size, these almost always include a sleeve and can be easily carried in a purse, pack or glove box.

Vented: Allows wind to pass through the underside so that the umbrella is not damaged or pulled.

Auto-opening: Spring-loaded to open automatically with the touch of a switch or button.

Clamp-on: An umbrella with a handle that can be clamped onto a golf bag, chair back or other point.

Illuminated: Features an integrated light or lit shaft.

Bubble: Bubble umbrellas have a canopy that arches out and over, rather than just out.

Beach: A large umbrella designed to provide portable shade. Beach umbrellas generally terminate in a point to allow them to be pushed into soft ground or sand.

Garden or Patio: A large umbrella designed to provide outdoor shade from a fixed position, these are usually designed to fit in a socket in the center of a table.

Market: A very large garden or patio umbrella that comes with a stand and/or terminates in a point to be pushed into soft ground for outdoor shade.

Imprintable Cell Phone / I.D. Holder with Lanyard

Limited Time Offer — Expires 10/31/2009

Contact The Richey Company for additional information or assistance adding this to your promotional products reward program.

Introducing our Product Spotlight Series!

A common question from our clients is “what’s the difference between this and that product”. After a quarter century of answering that, we’re combing through our documents and experiences to create a series of articles that provide basic information on specific product lines. Each article will follow the general outline below:

Product Overview

Target Market & Campaign Ideas: Lists some of the groups most likely to retain and use the product as well as suggestions on how the product could be used

Branding Options: Lists and compares the different ways that the product can be branded

Terminology and Product Types: Briefly describes the product type and terms and lists and compares the range of product types available

We’re looking forward to presenting a lot of good information; contact us at socialweb@richeycompany.com with any topic ideas or requests!

Next Product Focus: Umbrellas!

Making the Most of Your Marketing Budget

The economy has caused all businesses to rethink their budgets, and Marketing Vox: The Voice of Online Marketing had this to say about on spending trends in the communications industry.

“As the economy took its toll on companies throughout the year, VSS found that spending was reigned in on all fronts. This directly affected business-to-business promotions as well as outsourced publishing. Spending on business-to-business promotions, including promotional products and travel marketing incentives, fell 7% as budgets were cut and fewer salespeople were in the field calling on clients. Declining profits, layoffs and trimmed expenses all lined up to hinder growth in the business-to-business promotion market, and spending in the top promotional product category fell by double-digit rates. During the 2008-2013 period, the business-to-business promotion market is forecast to show a 2.9% annual decline.”

Source: VSS Forecast: Comms Spending to Top $1 Trillion

Whether they’re in communications or just need to communicate, when budgets shrink, every business owner needs their available funds to
s-t-r-e-t-c-h just as far as possible. Here are 5 tips to help do just that:

1. Network! Get out there and meet people! Find out about their business and let them know about yours, particularly what makes each of you special. Effective networking requires time and consistency, but a good group is worth its weight in gold.
2. Write! Write about what you know and publish the content on your blog, your website, your newsletter, and article sites. If you don’t have a blog or newsletter, start one!
3. Talk! Be an expert in your field. Contact your business organizations (chambers, professional groups, etc.) and offer to be a speaker.  If you don’t have a 10-20 minute presentation, look through your written content.
4. Collaborate! Identify your target market, then identify businesses that also target that market. Partner with compatible businesses to pool advertising dollars so that you and your partner(s) get more bang for your bucks.
5. Evaluate! Remember the difference between “cost-efficient” and “cheap” — saving a few dollars on a product or service that then costs money to fix or doesn’t do what you need isn’t a savings (of time or money)!If the product or service is something you are very familiar with and able to evaluate to get the best deal, great! However, if you don’t have that level of expertise with the product or service, find an expert provider and work with them regarding what you want and need. You’ll save time, aggravation and money by letting a professional consultant find the best solution for your requirements.

The economy has every business out there evaluating their bottom lines. Businesses that cut marketing to the bone find themselves stalled out and having to ramp back up when the economy rebounds. By continuing to market and build your business, you are positioning yourself to rebound along with the economy, giving you a head start advantage over stalled competitors!

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Job Offer — Sales/Account Executives

The Richey Company has immediate openings for innovative, motivated and experienced promotional products sales or similar professionals. Immediate openings are also available for experienced individuals with promotional product sales experience that may be considered for base plus commission.

We offer a generous commission program; finance your orders, full sales support, professional atmosphere, and in house art services.

We are a Certified Women’s Business Enterprise celebrating our 26th year in the industry; our long term associations provide us with excellent vendor discounts.

Ideal candidates will have a minimum of (3) years experience in call center/telemarketing, sales, advertising/marketing/PR.

Please forward resume in word format to david@richeycompany.com or fax to David @ 972-470-0234.

Applicants can call for directions and more information @ 972-470-0800.

Let’s Fight the Invisible War

We have all heard the news.  Flu season is just around the corner.  The Richey Company can deliver items to help keep nasty germs away from you and your customers. Click on the image below to view the full promotional products flyer.

Become a fan of The Richey Company at our Facebook page!

“Tiered Promotions Become The Champ”

By Josh Vasquez
Advantages: 2004SEPTEMBER

It takes time, timing, meticulous execution, persistence and planning to maximize excitement. And that means repeated hits, reinforcement and relevance. From a few days to a few months to a year, extended promotions offer you the ability and opportunity to power your point across and keep money flowing into your pocket.

When it comes to building buzz in this industry, extended promotions work. They can snowball your client’s promotional message and put it in the spotlight. They work by building on themselves with each successive hit as they create anticipation, set a mood, tone and theme, and do so with persistence.

By definition, these promotions involve more than one product given or sent with the same promotional goal in mind. Each promotion has a set objective and timeframe and produces measurable results. We pulled together some experts and asked them how it’s done.

Location, Location, Location

Before you even start, you need to know where these promotions belong. “This kind of marketing isn’t for safety programs,” says Carol Smith, art director for Post No Bills Inc., (asi/297376), a division of CorpLogoWare LLC (asi/168827). “It’s good for movies and for events like product or service launches - even bank-service promotions.” It’s also, she adds, a matter of timing. “This kind of promotion is only possible when you have enough time to plan and execute, like we do with our animated feature promotions. Since these movies take so long to produce, we can plan for the promotion and put it into action over a year before a movie’s release.”

Though it is a limiting factor, time is not the only deciding factor when it comes to choosing a prolonged promotion. “An extended program is for any campaign that has a long lifespan,” says Michael Londe, director of sales at Summit-Nevins (asi/339129). “If you have something like a sales contest going on for four to five months, I think you actually need that extended program because the constant reminders keep the impact of the contest alive.”

Do The Math

“Dun and Bradstreet once stated that a person doesn’t mean ‘no’ until they’ve said it five times,” says Bert Williams, president of Williams & Associates Ltd. (asi/360450). “What that means to us is if someone sends a one-shot promotion and the recipients don’t respond at first, it may take two, three, four or five times before they really mean ‘no.’ It’s worth it to keep at them even if only a few eventually say ‘yes.’”

Others cite similar findings. “I’ve heard that in the insurance industry, the magic number of getting someone to respond is four different communications,” says Karen Dobbs, director of marketing for Epsilon, a database marketing company. “That’s just to get them to respond.”

And this makes sense to her, as does the industry’s age-old adage, repetition breeds awareness. “It’s the general principle that the more impressions you get, the more developed your communication will be and the better relationship you’ll have,” she says. “Direct marketing is the same way; it often takes multiple hits to get a good response rate.”

Hit Them With Your Best Shot

Just because you send out a plethora of mailings, however, doesn’t mean they’ll be noticed. “Typical top-level executives receive about 175 pieces of mail a week,” says Ernest Nicastro, marketing consultant and copywriter for Positive Response (asi/297383). “So the biggest challenge isn’t the number you send - it’s making those mailings stand out.” After all, as the saying goes, “You can tap dynamite with a pencil all day long, but hit it with a hammer and kaboom!”

Thus, the nature of what you mail may be even more important than repetition: “You could send all the #10 envelopes out that you want, but until your mailing has dimension and a point, they’re just going to sift right through it,” he says.

And getting someone’s attention is only the beginning. You also have to show why it’s important to them, and how the product or service fits into their business world. “It has to be relevant,” says Williams. “Find a way to make your message relate to the recipient and then reinforce that with follow-up products.”

E Pluribus Unum (From Many, One)

Once you’ve found what’s relevant to your audience and promotion it’s time to decide on one, unifying theme for your multiple products/mailings. “You need a theme; that’s what keeps the promotion consistent and the consistency is what will establish it in people’s minds,” says Smith. “It’s what ties it all together, what keeps people interested in it, what people remember.”

But finding a theme isn’t as easy as it may sound. If you’re lucky, it’s easy to see and a ton of time is saved. You’re even luckier (according to some) if your client brings the theme with them. If they don’t, it’s your job to dig for one. And often, dig more.

“When I met with a client of mine it took two lengthy meetings to finally get to the foundation of the message and put that into a plausible theme,” says Williams, though he freely admits to enjoying the process. And he’s not alone in relishing the involvement.

“We love when we get to develop the theme ourselves,” says Londe. “It allows us to show our creativity. The problem is it rarely happens.”

Once the theme is established, it’s time to pick the relevant products. And though there are thousands of different products to choose from, one thing’s for sure: the first mailing is everything.

“The initial product has to set the tone,” says Smith. “It has to be the most profound and most theme-depicting of the products chosen; otherwise, the theme may never have the chance to catch on.” Post No Bills/CLW has provided some of the most creative extended programs for Dreamworks, including promotions for the clay-mation feature movie Chicken Run and the upcoming animated Shark Tale.

Is The Third Time The Charm?

Much like your teachers told you when it came to writing papers, you need to press the point. “It’s a matter of telling them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you just told them,” says Londe. “It’s a one-two-three combination.”

And according to some, three’s the charm. “We always try to do three touches,” says Dobbs. “Though I don’t know if I can say that three is a magic number.”

Adds Londe: “I can’t show any empirical evidence, but three just tends to be the number that reinforces and keeps the promotion in the forefront of people’s minds. It seems to be the standard.” He says it works like this: The first hit establishes temporary name recognition; the second extends the recognition time; and the third completes the message with the completion of the theme. It’s then that it clicks and people say, “Wow, I really need to pay attention to this.”

… Not Always

When there is more time and (gasp) more funds for promotions, you need not be limited to three hits. “We don’t limit ourselves to three,” says Dobbs. “We’ve done four and five hits and actually do a significant amount of two-hit promotions. And they can be just as effective - as long as they build anticipation.”

Londe too, who won’t dispel the myth of three, often does longer programs and has reached as many as 10 hits in 10 weeks.

But Smith takes the cake, having twice done year-long promotions, starting with a strong, tone-setting product and following with another each month. So don’t limit your extended promotions scope to three when building up themes, messages and anticipation. Let your creativity flow and see where it takes you.

“It’s different in all situations,” says Nicastro. “I treat all situations individually and decide according to the needs of each. I think that’s what made me successful with these promotions.”

The timing in sequential promotions is as important as product and number of hits and is a fundamental part of planning. And while some stick to rigid time rules, the possibilities are as varied as the products or services promoted.

According to some, getting timing right is a formula. “It’s easy to figure out timing when you have five weeks and five products - you do it every week,” says Londe. “But when you have five weeks and three products, you need to do a little math. You need to work them into evenly spaced intervals. It doesn’t work to have three products one week and not another for three weeks. It breaks the rhythm and momentum.”

Distributing product too close together can sap your promotions’ strength as well. “When you get to doing a promotion every day, you no longer let the anticipation build,” he adds. “Then they begin to expect it, too, which is something you really don’t want.

“There’s a lot of room for overkill, too, when it comes to frequency of product, like when someone is getting promotional products too often. When that happens they either ignore them or get bored of them.”

Too long between hits, however, and you’re tempting memory’s fate. “Anything longer than a month is too long,” says Smith. “Then the momentum has run out by the time the next products come.” What’s more, you’ll be lucky if they even remember the theme.

Since timing and means of delivery are so important to the success of sequential promotions, this element should not be taken lightly and it could pay off to spring for a better delivery service. “Whenever I need something delivered in a timely and reliable manner, I never trust regular mail,” says Dobbs. “I always use Federal Express or UPS or a similar delivery company. That way, there’s more guarantee it will arrive on the right day and, sometimes, at the right time.”

Breaking Up

There are other situations where multiple hits are helpful. “If you have a product or service that has multiple features or benefits, often it’s too much information for your audience,” says Dobbs. “And this is one way you can get it across - break it into sections, divide it up. That way they’re not overwhelmed.”

Londe also believes in this approach: “Getting a lot of information at once is intimidating to anybody. Who wants to read a 25-page explanation of what some company says they can do for them?”

Nobody.

Josh Vasques is assistant editor of Advantages.

Used with permission of The Advertising Specialty Institute copyright 2005