Recipients' Views on Advertiser

Global Advertising Specialty Impressions Study, V. 3
By ASI Research
For this section, we asked respondents whether they could identify the advertisers on the promotional items they currently owned. The result: Nearly nine in ten (87%) recipients of promotional merchandise can identify the advertiser on the item. This has been consistent since 2008. As the chart below reveals, of all major product categories, outerwear has the highest recognition of all promotional items: 97% of respondents who have logoed outerwear can name the advertiser on the items. Wearables as a whole maintain a very high advertiser awareness rate.

Gifts Are The Icing on the Wedding Cake

Engaging Concepts, strategic consultants to the wedding industry, gather the top tastemakers in wedding planning twice a year at the Engage! luxury wedding business summits. The events are famous for beautifully wrapped gift bags and branded merchandise, which incorporate function, fashion and fun. Attendees receive gifts before and during the three-day affair, including pre-arrival gifts that build buzz. Rebecca Grinnals and Kathryn Arce are the masterminds behind Engaging Concepts. "There are lots of wedding and event conferences, but most are targeted to specific groups like caterers, photographers or florists," says Grinnals, company founder and president. "At Engage! we bring together everyone who touches the luxury wedding market." Wedding and event planners mingle and network with high-end wedding personalities, including party planner Colin Cowie, bridal fashion designer Monique Lhuillier and cake maker Sylvia Weinstock. Gift planning begins five to six months out, since many products are custom designed. "We are willing to invest in our gift bags to keep the brand, event and story consistent," says Grinnals. Alison Howard, a San Diego-based wedding planner, was so impressed by the gift bags that she devoted a 10-minute videoblog to the bag she received at Engage! Las Vegas last summer. "This was the first time I'd done a swag bag blog," she says. It was one of her most popular posts. Each Engage! event has its own color story and logo, coordinated with the location. Engage!12 Palm Beach took place in December at The Breakers hotel. Its signature colors were "Tangerine Tango," silver and white. Two months before the event, Engaging Concepts sent out "countdown cubes" (photo cubes) to generate enthusiasm and mark the days until the conference. Three weeks before, guests received shoe bags and packing tags with suggested items to pack. The "bling ball," a signature giveaway at Engage! events, is a name tag bearing a silver chain with Swarovski crystal balls that indicate how many of the Engage! events you've attended. Orange Lucite clipboards, pens and notepads were given out at the opening session. Male and female guests received separate gift totes with gender-specific items. For example, men received shaving items, while women got makeup, nail polish, accessories and orange pashminas. Everyone's bag contained other items too, including a Tango Trio cocktail kit in a branded suitcase, snack tins and an assortment of cleverly labeled products such as a clear vinyl luggage tag with shoe shine wipes for men, makeup remover for women, sunscreen and stain-remover wipes. On day two, guests got a "Vitamin E!12" meeting kit in a customized orange juice box, with a custom USB drive, logo journal, eboost packet, logo microfiber screen cloth, and lip balm and striped pencil as a straw for the carton and more. The events generate lots of social media feedback, as guests blog, tweet and post photos that may be relevant and useful to their clients. Grinnals notes a boost in attendees' use of Instagram, with over 700 Instagram photos transmitted from the Las Vegas Engage!.

Fighting Hunger with the Help of Promo Products

Bentall Kennedy, one of North America’s largest real estate investment providers, was determined to make a difference in the communities in which its employees live and work. In Canada, food bank usage is on the rise, so leaders of Bentall Kennedy made it their mission to raise awareness about hunger in their communities and across the country. In February 2012, they launched the Fare Fight for Food Challenge, a national initiative that partnered their 19 shopping centers across Canada with local food banks. Bentall Kennedy created the slogan, and their distributor partner sourced useful products to showcase the campaign message in a highly visible way while aiding the teams with their mission. The initial goal was to raise a total of $75,000 and collect 20,000 pounds of food. From February until October, shopping center teams hosted special events and promotions. Teams competed to raise the most money, pounds of food and online supporters. The target audience consisted of all of the shopping center customers, Bentall Kennedy employees, suppliers and the general public. To launch the campaign, six fundraising street teams – including the entire Bentall Kennedy retail division – invaded downtown Toronto for an afternoon. Teams were given a survival kit that included donation cans, aprons, candy and a bottle of water. One team’s adventure generated $30,000. To enhance the competition, the top five teams overall received an additional $10,000 grant from Bentall Kennedy’s head office for their food bank. Promotional products printed with the Fare Fight for Food logo were created as practical tools to reinforce and support the campaign. Bags were given out at the store level and delivered door to door. Donation cans were used for the original launch and then reordered for individual stores, entrance tagging and 50/50 ticket sales. Aprons were worn by the Bentall Kennedy teams, retail partners, dignitaries and even the prime minister. Cookies were distributed to thank customers and to extend awareness of the campaign. Bentall Kennedy exceeded its original objectives halfway through the campaign. By the end of the campaign, teams raised $155,000 in funds and 150,000 pounds of food donations – more than double the amount of money and 7.5 times the amount of food projected. More than 19 food banks across the country are the beneficiaries of this campaign If you’d like to get involved with a community outreach program or some other charitable cause, contact A&A Specialty 888.548.4480 for advice and products for your campaign. www.aapromotions.com

Stuffed Dragon Drives Consumers to Enter Sweepstakes

Valpak, a leader in print and digital coupons, targeted families and savings in a national campaign, which aired in September nationwide. Valpak's traditional Blue Envelope, Valpak.com andValpak savings app all took center stage in the new Valpak consumer commercial, Coming Home. The commercial showed the story of a dad-daughter duo that used Valpak to find savings in unexpected places. The commercial was featured on digital and social messaging through October 31 and ran on Valpak-partnered television stations TNT and TBS in October.

The commercial also drove viewers to Valpak.com where they could watch "The Dragon Balthazar," a video that completed the commercial's story. Consumers could enter a sweepstakes to win the five-foot stuffed Balthazar dragon that appeared in the commercial. "There was a chance to win the mini Balthazar dragon and a $25 gift card each week, along with the grand prize of a life-sized dragon," says Marsha Strickhouser, public relations manager for Valpak. A total of 15 first-prize winners received the mini dragon and gift card.

Valpak also sent out a direct-mail piece to media, which included a press release and mini Balthazar dragon. "The smaller versions of the dragons were produced for the sweepstakes," says Strickhouser. "We also shared them with our employees and about 1,000 franchise owners and sales reps from around the U.S. and Canada at our national convention."

When done correctly, direct mail can be a highly effective resource for entrepreneurs and small businesses. Make sure to provide real incentives. Direct mail works by getting your prospect to respond to an offer. Whether that is a coupon, a sweepstakes entry or a special deal, make sure you're including an incentive. Contact your distributor for help.
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