“The road to creativity and innovation is rarely short or straight” – Matthew Bywater
Creative without strategy is called art, creative with strategy is called advertising. Jef I. Richards, Chairman University of Texas Advertising Department.
Have a well-defined marketing calendar – What is the company’s objective and proposed outcome? What is its proposed marketing budget for each event?
Brand Positioning
1) What is the desired company (not including individual brands here) brand positioning – (innovator, follower, R&D, low-cost supplier, convenience, high service etc)?
2) What is the desired product brand positioning?
- Be consistent across all your branding mediums
Putting Personality into Promos
Is there something quirky or different we can work with, if you sponsor racing cars, why not look at toy replicas with full branding? The right product can also help shift a perceived company image – eg a staid image can be lightened up with fun or new tech products.
Timing
You need to be in front of prospects when they need your offer. This is either when they are about to make a buying decision or in a position to make a buying decision. This means your results will not always be instant and you must tailor your marketing to be a sustained campaign, to be there when the customer is ready.
Having your details, phone, email, web, etc makes it easier for the client to contact you – after all our job is to make it easier for the client
Look for opportunities to display your smarts as an organization by reacting quickly to external events. In the UK when the Swine Flu epidemic was prevalent smarter organizations were using hand sanitiser as a promotional medium. The same has happened with COVID-19 with custom-branded sanitiser, face masks, etc.
Look for opportunities to create buzz by using teasers. For example, Champagne Stoppers as a teaser to a bottle of high-end champagne. Send out mini footballs with the bait being to full-size retail custom branded balls and /or finals tickets etc.
Industry Specific Marketing
Does it symbolise the industry?
Make it particular to the target industry, particularly those fields where people have a passion (or education) eg IT, Agriculture, Sports – if you make the promo look like it is specific to their industry they will identify with it and are more likely to use and show it off to other people.
Retail Packaging
Generally, promotional products are bought at a lower cost than what is available at retail, but the recipient will naturally compare it to the retail pricing that they would pay. Retail packaging gives a higher perceived value. A few cents or dollars can make a $12 product look more like $30 – isn’t this the kind of perception we want to create?
PITA Factor
Any product works well when it solves a PITA factor (Pain In The Arrears) for the user. Some good examples here are cord organisers for smartphones/laptop cables. Sunglass holder for cars. If you can solve a problem you help the user, you want the user saying – that’s smart!
Change Behaviour
Promotional products can be used to change peoples behaviour by the utlity value of the promo product itself or the strategic placement of the promo product.
For example, smartphones and tablets are known to carry large quantities of harmful bacteria, antibacterial wipes to clean these surfaces promote a change in behaviour. A branded sanitiser bottle at an office entrance encourages greater hygiene.
Occasion Marketing
Xmas end of financial year gifts are a great time to thank clients. If you take some to a corporate box, make sure they remember the occasion for years to come (branded footballs, scarves, beanies, box sets). In the book Brain Rules by John Medina – they call this an Emotionally Charged Event – in this state humans are more likely to remember something
Christmas is a great occasion to thank clients and employees. One thing I always careful is sending a subconscious message of what they are worth to you. Christmas cards have an uncanny way of doing this. They cost little to nothing for the sender but cost the receiver time with no reward. It kind of displays what you think the customer is worth! – Show your customers how much you think they are worth – send a $4 Xmas card. This is further exacerbated with e-card’s!
Message Related Products
You gain further impact when the promotional product directly says something about the product/company/service. When the Clean Plumber introduced Boot Socks it showed the clients the cared about not leaving a mess, Tex Mex restaurants put eating instructions on their Branded Napkins.
It’s in the Name
Make the client feel special by placing their name (or nickname) on the item, eg are mugs, pens, polos, drink bottles can not only be custom branded with your business name, we can apply individual names to many promotional product (VDP – Variable Data Printing).
Research has shown that the left hemisphere of the brain shows increased activation when someone hears their own name – it makes them feel good.
Marketing Mix
No single event will build a brand, must a have multifaceted approach. Anytime you can build an ongoing theme than this increases the likely-hood your message will be absorbed.
Positioning
Look for products that fit your desired company image – if you want to be seen as modern up to date – pick the latest products (eg iPad tools etc). Use confectionery, toys etc to give a softer edge to a serious business.
Commemorative Value
When entertaining a client at a events (eg football), by giving them a memento of the night they will not only remember the night but who paid for them to be there.
Don’t Be Selfish – think Win Win
You can advertise and be selfless at the same time. An example of this is when you buy a car – the dealer is always willing and able to whack on their branded number plate holder which adds no value to the client but freely advertisers the dealer – what is in it for the person who just spent tens of thousands of dollars? A dealer thinking of the consumer would look at items like car tissue boxes, car air fresheners, first aids kits, flashlights – all of these can be branded but they are of use to the customer.
Matthew Bywater
