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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.

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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“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

Promotional Products Work As Employee Awards And Incentives

Awards and incentive programs can improve performance and motivate employees to increase sales, reduce accidents, boost productivity and give customers better service. In 1994 Baylor University randomly surveyed 1,500 people, asking their opinions regarding employee awards and incentives.

FINDINGS

Survey recipients were asked to rate how most employees feel about awards and incentives. The TRUE statements are those with which respondents agreed; the FALSE statements are those with which they disagreed.

True

• Employees like awards and incentives.
• Employees are motivated to win the awards.
• Employees work hard to win the awards.
• Employees encourage each other to work toward awards and incentives.

False

• Employees are not interested in the awards or incentives, so the program has no impact on their behavior.
• Employees do not believe they have a chance to win an award or incentive, so they don’t even try.

Survey respondents also listed the reasons they believe award and incentive programs sometimes fail. The top two reasons for program failure are:

• Employees are not involved in the planning process - just managers.
• Employees lose interest in programs because they are not given timely feedback.

This indicates that effective employee award and incentive programs will feature high employee involvement during the development of the program and timely feedback to employees during the contest.

Objective:

To motivate truckers to drive safely and complete their log books correctly.

Strategy & Execution:

Drivers at the trucking company’s two terminals in Atlanta and Tampa had a perfect record: None had ever completed a month without at least one breach of safety or had ever correctly completed their log books.

“Seems like something had to be done.”

Imprinted merchandise was used in an incentive program to improve safety performance. The items selected were high-quality, embroidered wearables intended to draw peer envy.

Eighty driving hours without a nicked fender or traffic ticket earned employees a polo shirt and hat embroidered with a Walpole logo. Continuing safe performance was rewarded with a black satin jacket. By driving safely and correctly completing their log books, driving could also win watches with the corporate logo.

Results:

Fifteen percent of the drivers qualified monthly for the awards, and the company’s insurance premiums dropped by $250,000.

From Promotional Products Association International, copyright 2005.

Want to see this kind of improvement in your business? Contact one of our promotional product consultants today!

The Magic Of Promotional Products

When used effectively in a creative and enticing marketing campaign, few things can add an “abracadabra” to your response rate like logoed specialties…

There was scene in Godfather II, near the end, when Michael Corleone visits Cuba. There’s a meeting with all the Cuban dignitaries and American industrialists to celebrate the partnership and growth plans of the new alliance. The chairman stops the meeting to thank American Telephone and Telegraph Company for their gracious gift, a gold-plated telephone (no doubt embellished with the AT&T logo).

The gift, like the millions of other business gifts given before and after, is the cornerstone of the promotional products world; a creatively chosen, tastefully decorated product that serves as a reminder and everlasting expression of the benefactor’s wishes. It’s no wonder that “business gifts” top the chart of most popular uses of promotional products, according to recent industry estimates.

But as I will soon reveal, promotional products are much more than a business gift with a logo. Promotional products are the nucleus of an ever-growing industry that’s often misunderstood and worse yet, underutilized.

While most people concentrate on the promotional products available and the sale prices attached to them, I think we need to go deeper. So join me in my mystical quest as we look to uncover the magic of promotional products.

America Loves Promotional Products

In America, the proliferation of symbols, tokens and mementos are everywhere. Early Americans branded their cattle. That was our currency. Branding was taken so serious, that taking an animal that carried someone else’s brand was a capital offense. Championship fights are centered on the transfer of the belt. The World Series is played every year for the coveted ring. Hollywood bows to a golden statue called Oscar™. Our military goes into battle in proudly decorated uniforms that are adorned with badges, medals and ribbons.

Remember how powerful and intimidating General Swartzkopf looked in his uniform on TV briefs during the Gulf War? It’s hard to imagine him in checkered shorts, a white crew neck T-shirt and black socks up to his knees. Is it the uniform that makes the man? Many times yes, but it’s also the badge, button, pin, emblem and ribbon as well.

What is the first thing we do after a baby is born? Take footprints. Bronzed baby shoes and personalized blankets are promotional products that celebrate life’s most precious gift. Promotional products are everywhere.

Picture This

Ever think about the phenomenon of pictures? Our obsession with capturing a moment in time has built billion-dollar industries in photography, art, film, processing, paper, printing, etc. And what is a photo, really? A piece of life, captured onto something we can hold, collect and treasure. And even though the industry is now all but digital, the phenomena continues even more so. Why do we get excited about watching a video copy of what we just experienced in real life? Because we love capturing, saving and showing life.

Polaroid’s dominance during the ’60s and ’70s has been hugely eclipsed with the digital revolution. Most people think this is proof of how antiquated processes are naturally replaced by high-tech methods that are much faster and cheaper. This is true. But my point goes further. It goes to the real difference, or better yet, similarities between your Dad’s Polaroid and your daughter’s digital cell-phone camera.

Polaroid’s success was built on our human need for immediate gratification, the ability of a consumer to instantly turn a moment in time into something that could be held, saved, framed and kept for a lifetime. But it’s most unique virtue was the fact that it was instant.

We are addicts of life. All of us. We want memories captured in the highest resolution, able to reproduce on a key chain as well as a 40 ft. wide banner, but we want it saved on a disk smaller than a half dollar. But why do we want it saved? Why do we want it to be of the highest resolution? To be shown, displayed, printed, embellished, copied or hot-stamped onto something. And as soon as we do that … magic happens. This magic can turn a pickle jar into an ice-tea jar. How? By taking a plain generic pickle jar and imprinting a drawing of the sun accompanied with two words: “Sun Tea.”

The Art Of Promotional Products

A promotional product is a tangible item; an otherwise ordinary product that many times is a simple consumer commodity. But when that product is carefully chosen to fit your target audience and decorated with a powerful message, magic happens. Whether they’re treated as useless trinkets or the coveted ring is all in the perception and the usage.

My suggestion is that you don’t take them lightly. If you agree that American people are an extremely symbol-crazy lot, then you’ll begin to see the huge potential in promotional products. The ability to choose either a common consumer product or a highly creative new creation, choose your target audience, carefully craft your message and execute the plan is an art. That art is not only the basis of the promotional products industry, but is the basis of any great marketing plan.

Let’s get back to our photo. As it is, this photo is nothing more than one of billions of pieces of paper or film that capture a moment in time. It’s something that may be kept or captured, but more likely to be filed in a photo box or the infamous circular file. But, surround that same print with a 37-cent custom-imprinted magnetic photo frame and ta da …you have created a promotional product.

Yes, it costs less than a buck, is readily available and not the latest and greatest thing, but don’t let any of that fool you. Unlike a picture, it’s rare that a magnet (however plain or unimportant) ever gets tossed. Imagine this hard working little magnet surrounding your client’s or employee’s loved one. If you’re in the consumer business, I must think that having your targeted message on the homeowner’s refrigerator every day, wrapping your message warmly around their daughter’s picture from her first school play, wouldn’t be a bad marketing play.

Now let’s take that same item, a photo frame, and step it up a notch to a B-to-B friendly use. Let’s make it a nice wooden or acrylic frame that costs less than $10, and most business people would find useful and attractive on their desk or credenza. Now, imagine this frame containing a picture of a resort in the Bahamas, the location of your next sales contest vacation. What do you think the effect would be on a participating sales person who stares at this unique reminder every day when entering and leaving her office? I think you get the picture … literally.

It’s not the product or the price attached to that product. That gets way too much attention in our industry. It is your recipient and the behavior you desire from them, that should drive a successful promotion. Once you have clearly defined these factors to your professional consultant, you’re on track for success. Does budget count for something? Of course. But as I have briefly shown, many ideas can be translated into very affordable products that can produce noteworthy results.

Promotional Products Vs. Other Advertising

I can’t think of any other advertising medium that is victim to as much misunderstanding, misuse and miseducation than promotional products. Notwithstanding, it’s one of the fastest growing, most effective forms of advertising being utilized today. It’s no secret that during 2001 and 2002, the U.S. economy suffered huge set-backs. The promotional products industry saw declines as well. However, while many conjecture that an industry abounding in “giveaway” products would be devastated in the wake of corporate belt tightening, the opposite is true.

While common forms of mass advertising suffered 20% to 40% decreases, the promotional products industry (now nearing $17 billion in annual sales) shrunk by single digit numbers and has already returned to positive growth.

Why has this industry fared so well even in the most uncertain economic times? One main reason is that promotional products work. Yes, in the arena of advertising, promotional products successfully compete with radio, television, newspaper and outdoor media as an extremely cost-effective way to reach a target audience. But this is a very important differentiator: Where radio, television and other mass media leave off as purely advertising, promotional products are just getting started. What if I told you promotional products can save lives?

Using promotional products to their highest potential starts with cost-effective, highly targeted advertising, but can result in:

• Motivating prospects to try your products and services;
• Thanking new customers and loyal clients;
• Attracting, hiring and retaining the best staff;
• Doubling the results of your next mailing or attendance at a trade show booth;
• Rewarding and motivating a sales staff to peak performance;
• Saving lives! It’s a proven fact that a carefully chosen promotional product that serves as a safety achievement award and/or continues to remind high-risk workers to work safely can reduce accidents, injuries, and yes, even save lives.

When you think of promotional products in those contexts, it’s amazing that some business people still consider them useless trinkets.

As a matter of fact, when you look at all promotional products can do for your firm, you begin to see them as an important part of a comprehensive business plan. For those who have the imagination, vision and desire to get outside their marketing vs. sales vs. production “box,” you’ll open yourself up to a powerful new advertising medium.

Outlast And Outperform

Let’s start with marketing. If marketing can be defined as your overall brand strategy, you’re way to transform suspects into motivated prospects, think of the ways you can raise your brand awareness and tempt prospects to come into your client fold with a branded product bearing your targeted message.

The way you recruit and train your employees, quite frankly, is a contest. A contest between you and every other company on the planet to find, acquire and motivate the smartest, hardest working employees. The way you build a team of dedicated, loyal employees is to reward and thank your people. With promotional products this can range from an item as informal as T-shirts for the company picnic to esteemed awards recognizing years of loyal service.

In sales, the never-ending questions are: “How do I encourage top performance?” “How do I turn salespeople who ‘reach their quota’ into superstars who outsell and outperform all of their competitors?”

As with all employees, recognition plays a vital role, but salespeople typically need more. Usually, they’re competitive and driven to succeed by many stimuli. The promotional products world abounds with highly creative, compelling items that can drive a salesperson to succeed and exceed previous goals.

Client retention: How do you transform fickle customers who are always looking for the best price into loyal clients who rely on you as their business partner? By differentiating yourself from your competitors. Not by saying you care, but by showing it. A promotional product’s flexibility to accommodate any budget makes them great solutions to positively amplify every step of prospect, customer and client contact.

If you’re ready to look at all aspects of your business and examine real ways you can reach your goals, you’re ready for promotional products. America’s smartest companies, after all, use promotional products to propel and keep their companies at the top.

Why Does The Magic Remain A Secret?

Using promotional products can be difficult without a plan. Work with your promotional consultant to plan an effective campaign that employs creative imprinted products designed to elicit a phenomenal response.

If you sell machinery, you visit the manufacturing department. If you sell copiers, you go to the office manager. But try to figure out who should use promotional products. Well, show me someone who is growing, hiring, celebrating, changing, moving, building, opening or launching nearly anything and I’ll show you great potential for hard-working promotional products.

Even if you’re not in a highly competitive field, promotional products give you the ability to quickly raise your products and service awareness at many levels.

You hold in your hands a publication that can continually help you build your business. Through a detailed analysis of usage and products available, you have been blessed with a plethora of business-building strategies. While relatively low in circulation compared to a Fortune or Business 2.0, this publication can be your secret weapon in fighting the ever-growing war for new customers, dedicated employees, motivated sales people and loyal clients.

Use it wisely and thank the person who gave it to you. What a magical gift it is.

“The Magic Of Promotional Products” by J. R. Roren;
Reprinted with permission of Successful Promotions, copyright 2005

Not All Promotional Products Companies Are Created Equal

A single Google search can find hundreds of sites that can sell you a product with your logo or other image slapped on it. Your most important decision when developing a promotional products campaign to between using a promotional products consultant or just a promotional products supplier. A consultant helps you determine which products to use and how to use them, where a supplier simply provides the product you request. The sheer number of promotional products available makes it necessary to have someone dedicated to staying on top of the product line, keeping you aware of new items and trends and finding the very best product for your campaign; it makes sense (and cents) to work with a consultant!

Bottomline Reasons for Using a Promotional Consultant

1. You are dealing with a recognized business professional. Like many industries, promotional products consultants adhere to professional standards that protect both the industry and the customer.

2. Promotional consultants understand the big picture. These consultants are not just order-takers; they are available to provide marketing direction. Promotional consultants can help you clarify your objectives, provide consistency and integrate your promotional products as key components in your marketing communications programs. Promotional consultants can become an important part of your creative team.

3. Promotional consultants are exposed to a broader reach of products. With special products sourcing tools like UPIC and ESP (industry-supported databases that include thousands of products and suppliers) distributors are able to locate unique items not available to the end buyer, receive the best pricing and order products quickly and efficiently.

4. Experience. Promotional consultants know what works and what doesn’t. These consultants are able to quickly identify and recommend products that best represent your organization and its message.

5. Promotional consultants understand the technology. Often times, the type of product and method of printing affect the price and quality of the product. They can recommend the type of imprinting to be used on the product. In addition, consultants will guide you on the artwork specifications and get imprinted samples for your review.

6. Receive best pricing. Promotional consultants have strong relationships with a variety of suppliers. Smaller promotional consultants might be a part of a buying group and larger ones certainly have the clout to push for “end-column” pricing, meaning the lowest price without the quantity demands. These savings are passed on directly to the end buyer.

7. Promotional consultants can help develop a distribution plan. Purchasing products does nothing for marketing campaigns unless these products are delivered to recipients in a timely and interesting manner. Promotional consultants can help devise and execute a timely distribution plan for your products.

Source: PPA Promo Solutions