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Able Promotional Products Catalog
Promotional Strategies
Promotional products are the only medium that engages all five senses. Customers can see, hear, touch, taste and even smell them. Plus, promotional products are easily affordable; yet their impression is long-lasting and readily measurable. Make promotional products an integral part of your marketing mix and watch clients grab onto your message.
Promotional products will:
- Drive traffic to your tradeshow booth
- Improve response rates on direct mail campaigns
- Increase referrals
- Improve return business
- Improve employee morale
According to a recent study, 76.1% of respondents could recall the advertiser’s name on a promotional product that they had received in the past 12 months. In addition, 75.4% of respondents said they kept their promotional product because it was useful. By coming to this site, you’ve taken a significant step toward growing your business. Within this site you’ll find out how to locate products, as well as how to find a qualified consultant. Take advantage of an advertising medium with a proven track record, one that easily out shines its competitors.
2007 Case Studies
Business-To-Business Programs—Less Than $10 Per Recipient
GOLD
Client: Fibrebond© Corporation
Objective: To introduce a new product line into the high school market and develop that target market to represent 10 percent of the overall company sales.
Strategy & Execution: Promoting a line of pre-cast concrete school buildings may seem like a non-glamorous assignment, but that only made this lively, creative campaign that much more of a surprise and a success. Since apples (for the teacher) are so closely associated with schools, and since the client’s message is “We’re different,” the concept of comparing “Apples to Oranges” was a masterstroke. A series of citrus-themed promotional items supported the message. Orange-shaped stress balls, orange slice magnet pens, orange-colored embroidered polo shirts and orange-shaped mouse pads were only some of the brightly colored, smile-inducing items presented during sales calls, distributed at tradeshows and shipped to prospective clients. The seemingly disconnected theme (“Why ‘oranges’ when you’re talking about school buildings?”) gave sales reps a perfect opening to talk about the product and its benefits. The orange-theme made for a most “a-peeling” campaign.
Results: During the campaign months, 352 buildings from the new product line were sold. This represented 20 percent of the company’s overall sales and exceeded the target objective by 10 percent.
Consumer Programs—Less Than $10 Per Recipient
GOLD
Client: Cotton Incorporated
Objective: To create awareness and increase the use of cotton fabric products among college students.
Strategy & Execution: If a campaign promoting cotton fabric and clothing is going to build excitement and attract the attention of college students, it better be fun. That was exactly the mood surrounding a series of live events as “The Cotton Dirty Laundry Tour” kicked off a nine-campus tour of colleges across the U.S. The primary promotional item, a full-size cotton laundry bag, was given to every student who attended the event. Several game and contest type attractions during each event attracted crowds and generated participation. Students couldn’t resist playing games such as “Wheel of Cotton” or “Pop A Shot” (shooting basketballs into an open washing machine). Additional promotional items—denim picture frames, denim printed notebooks, cotton baseball shirts and bandanas—just to name a few, were distributed at the event. Cotton Care facts, printed on the laundry bags, reflected literary references such as “Seize The Laundry Day” and “Weathering Brights.” This was an ambitious, multi-tiered campaign that required tremendous expertise in terms of coordination and planning. Promoting and staging a live event (nine live events) is not for the faint of heart, but the campaign was an overwhelming success.
Results: Student participation and reaction to the events was overwhelmingly positive with a dramatic spike in website hits following the tour. The company decided to repeat the campaign, increasing the tour from nine campuses to 14 the following year.
Consumer Programs—$10 or More Per Recipient
SILVER
Client: Colorado Rockies Baseball Club
Objective: To create a memorable package with which to deliver season tickets to ticket owners, building goodwill and inspiring renewal of the seats for the following season.
Strategy & Execution: Season tickets carry no small price tag, so the Colorado Rockies Baseball Club wanted to so something special to show appreciation to these valued fans. Season ticket holders for the 2006 season received a complete owner’s package housed in a custom wooden box. A pewter inlay of the Rockies’ logo is embedded in the lid of the box, creating a lasting and attractive gift that any fan would be delighted to own. Inside the box, recipients found the season tickets, parking passes and individual Game Day tickets for the entire season. A nice touch was how precisely the contents of the box fit. Not only was the box designed to house the items perfectly, but, upon opening the box, ticket owners could immediately see everything inside without first having to remove any of the contents. The overall impression was a creative and carefully designed gift that demonstrated genuine and sincere appreciation for the loyal season ticket holders.
Results: In addition to an extremely positive response from the recipients, the Colorado Rockies also reported a season ticket renewal rate of 98% for the 2007 season.
Employee Incentive Programs—Less Than $10 Per Recipient
GOLD
Client: Nike IHM, Inc.
Objective: To encourage employee attendance and avoid costly shutdowns due to insufficient workforce.
Strategy & Execution: Without enough workers on the line, production must shut down, which can cost the company tens of thousands of dollars per occurrence. At the beginning of each quarter during the one-year program, coffee mugs (a different color and inscription each quarter) were presented to workers with perfect attendance. Different mugs each quarter gave workers a renewed sense of competition to earn the mug unique to the current quarter. In addition, the company created the “Just Do It” awards to recognize individuals who demonstrated positive acts in the workplace, going above and beyond the basic job description. The award was a logoed and screened t-shirt, compressed into the shape of a running shoe as well as a bright yellow lunch cooler. The items, including the coffee mugs, were all presented by management on the factory floor in front of the workforce, increasing the competitive aspect of the program.
Results: The company experienced no line shutdowns for the entire length of the campaign, the first such occurrence in three years. Attendance improved 268 percent with every facility reporting record attendance.
Employee Incentive Programs—$10 or More Per Recipient
GOLD
Client: Massey Energy Company
Objective: To increase awareness of safety habits in the workplace, improve workforce safety performance and reduce absenteeism.
Strategy & Execution: At Massey Energy’s 15 different coal mining sites, safety is a moment-by-moment concern. This year-long campaign served as a constant reminder to work safely and develop safety-conscious work habits. The campaign kicked off with the posting of a banner at each mine, the distribution of compressed t-shirts and the presentation of “Masseyopoly,” a Massey-customized version of the board game, Monopoly. This last item made a huge splash with the workforce. The campaign also introduced the character of “Raymond,” a safety mascot who appears on all of the program’s communication pieces and promotional items. Every month, the mine sites received a new and different item, among them, beverage insulators, hats, emergency flipper kit, pocket watches and hard hat decals. A new banner arrived every quarter to keep the program fresh and safety awareness foremost in the minds of employees.
Results: During the program years, the company saw its Loss Time Accident Ratio decrease by 47 percent, recording the two safest years in the company’s 90-year history.
Not-For-Profit Programs—Less Than $10 Per Recipient
GOLD
Client: Arizona Department of Health Services
Objective: To generate community awareness of the risks of second-hand smoke, particularly as it affects children.
Strategy & Execution: The campaign, first introduced with T.V. spots and brochures in the surrounding Phoenix area, got a PR boost when it generated newspaper articles. Additional exposure was achieved through the distribution of two ingenious promotional items. First, restaurants who supported a non-smoking policy received baby bibs to present to diners who came in with infant children. The bibs bore a custom imprint, phrase, “I am in a designated non-smoking area.” In addition, bottles of soap bubbles were distributed at community events, such as fairs, workshops and women’s expos. A message on the bottle label made humorous reference to the Surgeon General’s tobacco warning…“My Cause: Joy, Laughter, Smiles and Excitement; Not: Asthma, Pneumonia or Cancer.” The program received tremendous support and sent a valuable message about the dangers of second-hand smoke.
Results: In a follow-up evaluation of the program, it was determined that the important message reached more than 100,000 local residents.
Sales Incentive Programs—$10 or More Per Recipient
SILVER
Client: McKenzie River Corporation
Objective: To create top-of-mind awareness of a unique malt beverage product and build on-premise sales by 100 percent.
Strategy & Execution: Testing the promotion in Northern California during a spring and summer season, the McKenzie River Corporation placed a custom point-of-purchase display item in selected on-premise drinking establishments. The item is a countertop, oversized replica of the company’s caffeinated malt beverage. The display item, when turned on, creates the illusion of lighting strikes and sparks inside the “can.” The effect is impossible to ignore, especially in an environment where the lights are slightly dimmed. The display never fails to attract attention—or generate sales!
Results: Establishments where the electrifying point-of-purchase item was placed reported a dramatic increase in sales—between 200 percent and 500 percent—easily topping the projected goal of 100 percent.
Tradeshows And Exhibitions Programs—Less Than $10 Per Recipient
GOLD
Client: TeleVox Software Inc.
Objective: To generate interest in a product for orthodontists during the introduction of a national tradeshow and drive attendees to the tradeshow booth.
Strategy & Execution: For 10 weeks, TeleVox Software conducted a direct mail campaign inviting recipients to the company’s booth at an industry tradeshow. Arriving at two-week intervals, five direct mail pieces promoted T.LINK, a TeleVox online software product. The mail pieces also introduced the product’s mascot, a caped dachshund, and promised the trade-show appearance of four six-foot versions of the T.LINK dog. The fifth and final mailing included detailed tradeshow information, the location of the TeleVox booth and a final reminder to come see the giant stuffed dogs! The dogs would be given away, one per day during the four days of the tradeshow. During the event, booth visitors who participated in a free demonstration of the software received a small version of the T.LINK dog. TeleVox maintained interest in the promotion beyond the tradeshow by publishing pictures of the winners with their dogs in the company newsletter. Reaction to the campaign was unanimously positive. Even other vendors at the tradeshow wanted to know who had won the giant dogs.
Results: Exceeding the company goal by 20 percent, T.LINK sales for the year were up 115 percent from the previous year, a figure the company directly attributes to the “Super-Flying-Weenie-Dog” campaign.
Tradeshows And Exhibitions Programs—$10 or More Per Recipient
GOLD
Distributor: Atlanta Promotional Products, LLC
Client: News University (NewsU)
Objective: To create awareness of News University and extend the reach of the organization.
Strategy & Execution: “NewsU” is a nonprofit entity that provides online training for journalists and journalism students. The campaign targeted college journalism professors attending an annual journalism education conference. NewsU contacted attendees with a pre-conference mailing, inviting them to register at newsu.org, print out their registration form and redeem it at the NewsU Café for a free gift. On-site at the conference, pre-registered Café visitors who had pre-registered were allowed to choose a free gift from among three different imprinted items: a stainless steel coffee mug, a magnetic memo stand and a journal book and pen. As attendees and professors left the registration area, they received their own NewsU memory band, a bright orange rubber bracelet containing a working 64 MB USB flash drive pre-loaded with NewsU marketing material for registering at the NewsU website and signing a pledge card, promising to talk to their journalism students about the benefits of NewsU.
Results: The 768 attendees who completed an on-line registration represented 47 percent of the total conference attendance! This became News U’s largest ever one-week registration drive. The campaign, generating 505 signed pledge cards, exceeded the client’s “in my absolute, wildest dreams” goal of 500.
Article from ppa.org