Many, many people buy promotional products from us and it's clear they usually just don't realize the powerful marketing tool they have in front of them. They'll setup at a show somewhere, put the pens in a cup and give them out like candy. Then, hope eventually someone will see their information/offer on a pen and give them a call … well yes sometimes it does work like this but wouldn't you like to be in better control of your marketing results? Of course you would!

So what we're going to do in this section is start educating our clients, by sharing with them actual "Success Stories" on companies that have successfully used promotional products in a brief, concise format. The company names have been omitted for confidentiality.

One of the keys to any successful promotional campaign is getting your message to the right target audience. A while back a friend of mine, an avid golfer, received a beautiful mailer promoting a weekend horseback trip at a special, low, low price. Well the way Ted explained it to me: "I was on a horse one time in my life and as I recall I was thrown off. So why did they send me this mailer?". Ted knows I am in marketing so when he receives things like this, he let's me know. Obviously there was a problem with the mailing list, in some way.

I have another story about a "RIGHT" handed golfer buddy who received a closeout offer for "LEFT" handed golf gloves. The point of these stories are clear … the best offer in the world made to the wrong audience is a waste of time and money.

If after reading these stories, you have any questions, want us to research a product for you or you need help creating an actual campaign for your own marketing objectives, just give us a call. We're anxious to help!

1. TYPE OF COMPANY: 100 year old toy manufacturer from Japan with a national office in Southern California.

OBJECTIVE: They signed up for the large annual 3-story toy show in Chicago after the deadline. When they found out their booth location they learned it was a booth was in the basement. A place which historically did not receive much traffic. In trying to move it they learned nothing else was available so they were stuck. Their boss wanted them to show and make sales. What could they do to attract traffic to their booth? They called us!

STRATEGY/CAMPAIGN: The first thing we did was asked them to put together a list of 100 buyers who they knew were going to the show … or almost always do every year. Then we developed a series of oversized postcards with their most popular toys on them. These toys are famous. So when a toy buyer sees one of these toys today, made famous in 1940, 1950 or 1960, it catches their attention.

On the postcard we displayed the product and how many were sold and some other information. These cards were almost a collector's item. At the bottom of each card we played up our new line (soon to be a best seller) was going to be on display at the upcoming toy show in Chicago at this location (booth number) We made up four of these cards and started mailing them six weeks before the show, each a week a part, to the same audience of 100 buyers.

We did one last mailing (a fifth) to arrive at each buyer's office three days before they left for the show. This was a small box that had a battery inside along with a printed brochure showing them the 100 year calendar/clock that they will give them FREE, just for dropping by their booth. The battery fit into the 100 year multi-function calendar/clock (which if you didn't get it, was the same number of years as the company). The campaign was complete. They also had more batteries there for the buyers who came by but forgot to bring their battery with them. It's important for prospects to get what you promise them.

RESULTS: Out of 100 buyers, 53 came by the booth and picked up their gift. That's just over 50% and was considered to be a very successful program for a last minute challenge.

2. TYPE OF COMPANY: Fast food restaurant

OBJECTIVE: To increase sales at their new drive through service in an area that was mainly industrial.

STRATEGY/CAMPAIGN: When selecting promotional items, you need to know there are some items that are for long time use and others that are basically disposable (single use). Personally we like to use the giveaways that tent to be around a while. We believe you receive better return on your investment. But sometimes the others work well too, in a high impact campaign.

So we pointed them in the direction of a BAG CLIP, which was used only on the bags of food that was ordered to go. So when their order was complete, instead of just folding the top of the brown bags, we attached a BAG CLIP. On the BAG CLIP was the link to their new online ordering website. Historically we know that people do not tend to giveaway BAG CLIPS. And they tend to use them on dog food, opened bags of chips and other items.

Every time they look at this BAG CLIP, they are reminded of the easy online ordering and the drive thru service.

RESULT: After three months, people were actually asking for the BAG CLIP and there was a line every day for lunch at the drive through. Mostly from online orders.

3. TYPE OF COMPANY: Real estate agent

OBJECTIVE: He was new to the business and his pockets were empty. So while he could have started farming like everyone else in Los Angeles, it was too long of a process for him.

STRATEGY/CAMPAIGN: We brainstormed locations where lots of people came through and came up with this. He was Chinese. So we printed a number of household giveaway items and he took them to LAX in a tote bag which was strapped around his shoulder. He went there every afternoon for a month and passed them out to people just getting off the plane from China at the International terminal.

On the items we printed. "If you need any information about LA or assistance here, just give me a call anytime." Suddenly about a week later he started getting a call here and a call there, until he got so busy that he had to stop going to the terminal. Obviously, yes he helped them but then talked to them about their Real Estate needs … of their local families. And he kept in touch.

RESULT: He was very happy and still buys items from us.

4. TYPE OF COMPANY: A local auto repair shop.

OBJECTIVE: He has just bought the business which had been a little neglected. It needed a few more clients.

STRATEGY/CAMPAIGN: What we had Oscar do is make up a list of all the companies in the area where people visited daily for services like laundry, shipping and others. Then we printed up 2500 pens in the first batch and 72 coffee mugs. On each 500 pens we printed a different offer. One was a discount on an oil change, another a tune-up, tire rotation, etc. Then Oscar went to each business that used pens every day when their clients came into their business and offered to supply an assortment of pens free. He told them he would come by every week or so and fill up the mug. Business owners said fine (because they now always had fresh pens available on the counter).

RESULT: Over the next quarter, Oscar saw his business grow as he picked up many new customers and brought back many old ones that were glad to see the business had changed hands. Oscar was very happy.

5. TYPE OF COMPANY: Mega Church.

OBJECTIVE: Encourage kids to sign-up for Summer Vacation Bible School at a Mega Church. This year's Vacation Bible School was starting right in the middle of the summer, on Fourth of July weekend. Always a tough sell.

STRATEGY/CAMPAIGN: In order to encourage kids to attend, the program needed to relate to them and their desires. The theme of the program focused around 10 popular super heroes like THE FLASH, WONDER WOMAN, SPIDERMAN and others. Full sized standing cutouts were created, some up to 9' tall and placed around the campus. In the "Jump Start" program, all the potential kids received a postcard in the mail which emphasized each super hero, the theme and how what they could receive.

In addition key chains were printed and distributed. After each week's activities, the kids would receive a trading card for one of the super heroes. They would get to show the card and receive a temporary tattoo of their choice (tattoos donated by a member). Due to the Holiday, they expected only a few walk-in students, on top of those who already registered.

RESULTS: 33 NEW kids showed up. It went over so well with the kids in kindergarten through 4th, they decided to use a similar program for other age groups.

6. TYPE OF COMPANY: P&C Insurance agency

OBJECTIVE: The agency wanted to start a sales promotion to increase sales through it's agents for next quarter.

STRATEGY/CAMPAIGN: This agency had created many sales campaigns before and it was plain to see that a standard approach was not going to work. So we decided to get their spouses involved. We created a mailer which offered a wide variety of household items. Then we started the program by mailing a package to each of the agent's homes (not the office). The idea was to get their spouses involved in what their husband or wife could win. We included items like microwave ovens, washer and dryers, three day weekends and more. We hoped that the spouse would motivate them to work a little harder to win one of these items.

RESULTS: The program was very successful. It became their second best promotion in the 17 year history of the agency. Now the wives are calling and asking when the next program starts?

We hope by reading these "Success Stories" on how companies have used promotional products successfully, it has given you a couple of ideas on creating your own campaign. If you need help finding the right promo item, want to find something cheaper or you want to create a new sales promotion from scratch and you need some help, just give us a call @ 714-773-1105 or toll free 888-422-6722.