The King of Pop & Promotional products VS Memorabilia

As the King Of Pop is brought to his final resting place we can only imagine how many factories are working double extra shifts to deliver humongous orders of Micheal Jackson promotional products. From watches to mugs to hundreds of different t-shirt designs, the number of promotional products dedicated to the Man In The Mirror is never ending. Right after the passing of this musical icon numerous people saw flourish "I love MJ" tshirts in every corner of pretty much every North American city. It ressembles what we called the Obamania but it might have an even bigger impact as it is, I think, much easier to profess one's love of pop than one's political affiliation.

As far as the Micheal Jackson memorabilia goes, it might not be a goldmine. While some tried to sell their tickets for the Memorial (held today at the Staples Center in LA) on eBay for as much as 3,000$ (before the website prohibited the sales), Msn money warns those that think that all thinks Micheal Jackson will go up in value. See the article below

" Michael Jackson had barely been pronounced dead on June 25 when the memorabilia market heated up. Copies of his best-selling album, "Thriller" -- worth about $10 that morning -- were fetching five to 15 times that much by nightfall.

A single Cheeto -- a cheese-flavored, finger-sized snack -- that purportedly resembled Jackson doing the moonwalk sold for $35.18 on eBay.

Prices for all things Jackson, from albums and tour posters to commemorative coins and more, popped and have shown few signs of coming back to earth. But they will come back to reality soon, most likely when Jackson's death stops producing hourly headlines.

For many fans of the King of Pop, buying Michael Jackson memorabilia is more about being a fan than an investor, but for anyone justifying a current purchase by assuming that today's trophy will hold its value tomorrow, that's where the trouble is.

Anyone thinking of Jackson memorabilia as an investment -- or with a spare copy of "Thriller" gathering dust in the basement -- may want to move it now because the market is never likely to be this good again.

Moreover, one way that collectors of art and wine avoided some of the down market last year was to pull items from auction; a collection's value can drop precipitously if it has to be brought to market suddenly. "Dealer risk" is enormous, as an item is only worth what a dealer will pay for it.

"Anything with Michael Jackson's name on it is selling ridiculously right now; people have come in and bought up all of the Michael Jackson records I had," said Erik Hansen, owner of Stax of Wax Music and Collectibles in Provincetown, Mass. "The problem is that someone is paying a high price now, and when they lose their job in six months or a year and go to sell it, they're going to find out that most of this stuff is not rare and that dealers -- and probably everyone else -- won't pay any more than it was worth right before Michael Jackson died."

Here's where the logic of the Jackson fan who grabs up something hoping it will maintain its investment value makes the big mistake. Jackson is one of the top-selling musical artists of all time, with his biggest hits produced years before CDs were commonplace. Logically, his albums are less scarce, meaning that the supply/demand equation will eventually reflect the fact that so many records were produced.(...)

The Jackson market may be sustainable for as long as the man's death is in the news. But once the reporters have moved to the next headline, the big value in a Jackson collectible will be that you like the music or the image, rather than the price it will get on the market." Source

So you might want to invest on MJ Promotional Products instead of MJ Memorabilia...In any case, might the King Of Pop rest in peace.

The internet is a great place

While doing some research on new exciting ideas I stumbled on this book, available for preview on its digital version.

Sometimes, when, like me right now, you lack new ideas to talk about, going back to the basics of what you need to make it happen is always good.
Here this book, The Power of Promotional Products tells us about "how to include Promotionally printed gifts and business products as part of a marketing strategy that motivates prospects, rewards performance, and created targeted promotions with residual value."
I haven't read it yet, so I do not know how great (or not) it is, but I would love for all of you who have an opinion about it after reading it to share it with us and start a conversation.
To all of you who are a part of the Promotional Products industry (as manufacturers, suppliers, distributors or even end users), I have been a part of a great debate about the future of the structure of this industry during the PPPC convention in January 09 and have further realized that the challenges faced by it make it even more interesting because it pushes its member (and especially the distributors like CC Promo) to be even more creative. But...like I said...it is sometimes very important to go back and reflect on the purpose and basis of using communicating with objects.

Here's the link!

5 Most Common Myths About Promotional Products

An article by By Patrick Black @ Perfect Imprints. All rights reserved.

There are many myths regarding the use of promotional products, the effectiveness of promotional products, and who from whom to buy promotional products. In this article, you will learn the truth about promotional products so that you can discard the many common myths about promotional products marketing.

Myth # 1: All promotional products distributors are created equal. 

This statement is definitely false. The majority of promotional product distributors are simply "order takers." The simple truth is that they take your money and offer no real guidance with your promotional products marketing campaign. There are so many different factors to consider when ordering promotional items so it is vital that you purchase your promotional items from a professional to help make your marketing campaign successful. Using a promotional products consultant expert cost you no more than using a fly by night distributor, so why not take advantage of the knowledge of a professional.

Myth # 2: Small businesses can not afford promotional products. 

This statement can't be further from the truth. The purchase of promotional items is an investment and NOT an expense. However, your promotional products marketing campaign must be well-planned with the help of a promotional products consultant. If managed properly with the guidance of a promotional products consultant, the return from a promotional products campaign can bring in hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of sales, even in a down economy. In the same way that small businesses spend advertising dollars on print ads, television ads, radio ads, and billboards, you can create a much more effective marketing campaign through the use of promotional products.

Myth # 3: You can't track the results of a promotional products marketing campaign. 

This statement is also false. Keep in mind there is a difference between promotional products giveaways and promotions. Giveaways are intended to be given out in mass quantities and help to increase brand awareness. When using promotional products as promotions, you strategically give away the items to select people and require an action. The action may be to come by for a free gift or it may have a promotional code that is good for a free product or discount. With promotions, you CAN track the results of your promotional products marketing campaign. Solicit the help of a promotional products consultant with help on this issue.

Myth # 4: During tough financial times, promotional products marketing should be cut before other forms of marketing. 

This is a classic misunderstanding and a big marketing mistake. Research has proven that promotional products marketing is much more effective than television ads, radio ads, and print ads. Using promotional products in conjunction with other advertising media increases the effectiveness even more. With any form of marketing, you must track the effectiveness of the advertising to determine what works and what doesn't work for your business. There is no single formula that fits all businesses.

Myth #5: Cheaper is better. 

This is usually false when talking about promotional products. Cheaper is typically not better simply because when a recipient receives a "cheap" promotional item, they usually discard it almost immediately. However, in contrast, when they receive something of value and something useful, they will keep that item, often for years. The longer the recipients keep your promotional product, the greater value it is to you or your business. Not only is that one recipient constantly seeing your advertisement, but everyone else around them is also exposed. Therefore, one item can influence hundreds or thousands of people. You don't have to use premium items; you should, however, use useful promotional items. The best promotional items are the ones that the recipient will use on a daily basis. This does take some forethought about your target audience.

In summary, promotional products can be a very beneficial marketing method if used properly. It is paramount that you speak with a promotional products marketing consultant who is knowledgeable and helpful. These professionals can help send your marketing campaign over the top and help increase your sales and grow your business. Remember that promotional products should be an investment and not an expense.

It is harsh but it's true

Again from the same blog a great post that says it all about the importance of making sure you work with the right people... Exactly the point we want to make at CC Promo. (And by the way it is probably not a typo, it is just a very bad font choice by the designers)

" According to their website, "The Rittenhouse Hotel is the most prestigious Philadelphia Pennsylvania hotel address. Consistently recognized not only as the premier choice of five-diamond Philadelphia luxury hotels, The Rittenhouse is also ranked among the world´s finest places to stay." I'm sure this is all true, which makes it even more surprising that they would leave these pens for their guests.

For starters, I think they could spring for a nicer imprinted pen. It could be worse: this pen doesn't say "Motel 6" but it doesn't really say "five-diamond" either. Second, I'm not sure if it's a typo or the bottom of the "h" running together, but either way the pen should not say "Pbiladelpbia." Buy from a company who has graphic designers who understand printing on products and double check their work for typos. It's not rocket science, but it is a really important part of not having promos that make you look silly.

Finally, say you are The Rittenhouse and you do receive these pens: if you are working with a promo company that won't take them back and redo them for you, give us a call. Even if they wouldn't redo them for you, toss them out. They probably cost less than your weekly ice sculpture budget. Don't taint the millions of dollars you've spent becoming one of the top hotels in the world with something so trival and easily fixed. "

Le congrès National du PPPC

L'ensemble de l'équipe de CC Promo a passé le weekend dernier, du 23 au 25 janvier à Toronto dans le cadre du Congrès National du PPPC: l'association représentant les Professionnels en Produits Promotionnels du Canada. Au cours de la journée de samedi nous y avons assisté à des séminaires sur la structure de l'industrie, ses défis et avons eu l'occasion d'échanger plusieurs idées avec partenaires existants, partenaires potentiels, fournisseurs, distributeurs et spécialistes variés. 

Nous avons, le dimanche, découvert les nouveautés présentés par les fournisseurs au Salon d'exposition et vous en présentons une tout de suite après ce post: le Poo Poo Paper!

C'était l'occasion parfaite pour développer nos liens avec les autres joueurs de l'industrie et pour alimenter le moulin à idées.

Des photos suivront!

KB

Why savvy companies turn to incentives during times of economic uncertainty

As released by the Incentive Performance Center (incentivecentral.org) and sent to us by our friends at Odenza Marketing.

5 fundamental reasons explain why incentive programs, unlike other sales and marketing strategies, withstand economic downturns:

1. Low fixed costs, high potential return
2. Ability to effectively target audiences.
3. Relative ease of measurement.
4. Flexibility.
5. Potential for both short-term and long-term results.

Long before the days of the Internet and database marketing, organizations turned to incentive programs to boost sales and productivity because they didn't need technology to identify the people most important to their business. As long as there was an economical way to deliver a message to the targeted audience, organizations over the last 100 years or more have used incentive programs to target offers, enhancements, or other engagement strategies to change behavior and subsequently, business performance.

Incentive programs are attractive during tough economic times because the cost of communicating with a well-identified audience of people is generally much less than mass-marketing programs, such as advertising, direct mail, and trade shows.

Why?

Because you have already identified the audience that can change your business outcome if they focus on what they can do to help you achieve those goals. In good times or bad, business results depend on the willingness of a key audience to do what they can as customers and salespeople to contribute to your business success.

Today, using a low-cost vacation incentive to draw consumers attention to your business is the best way to grab market share. If you believe you're that much better than the other guy, you should be able to pick up business.

Consider that consumers will still continue to spend, but they will be spending more wisely. Manage your marketing expenses carefully, plan correctly. Don't be an ostrich and put your head in the sand. Customers will expect you to do things a little differently at such times.

As companies make the shift from mass-marketing to target-marketing, they will ultimately turn to incentive programs as a primary solution rather than a secondary or complementary tool, for all the reasons outlined above. Each time an organization replaces a mass marketing technique with a one-to-one strategy, such as an incentive program, it will realize a ripple effect of benefits, engagement, satisfaction, and behavioral changes that will last over time.

The IPC is the corporate outreach arm of the Incentive Federation, an organization comprising associations, publications, trade shows, incentive providers, and others involved with all aspects of incentives, rewards, recognition, and promotional products. The IPC manages incentivecentral.org, a not-for-profit information portal providing comprehensive, objective information to help organizations improve the motivation, engagement, and performance of customers, channel partners, salespeople, and employees.

Promotional Marketing Lessons Mom Packed In My Lunch

An excellent article from Michael Crooks, Promotional marketing specialist from the US.

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Remember when you were a kid? Lunch time held a certain magic. What did mom pack? The anticipation … the apprehension … the delight — and sometimes the disappointment at finding your stupid apple had crushed your snack cake.

If you’ve been using the same approach with your customers and clients for very long ... it’s sorta like getting peanut butter and jelly in your lunch for 37 days in a row. It’s boring, predictable and memorable … for all the wrong reasons.

Lesson Learned: Keep your main offer fresh.

In today’s market, a fresh new approach can mean the difference between clients eating up what you have to offer … and getting your snack cakes crushed.

For example, I remember the day I opened my insulated bottle to pour my milk and out came CHOCOLATE milk! Mom had my attention. Yeah, making sure I had milk to drink showed she cared. And for a 9 year old that's all well and good. But chocolate milk? Well that just moves mom up on the list of "stuff that's swell". And from that day on, there was a little twinge of excitement when I opened my lunch drink. Problem was … it never happened again. After a while, the slight twinge of excitement that came with opening my drink … disappeared.

Lesson learned: Every now and then, you have to change it up to keep the excitement alive. Putting a different type of juice or chocolate milk in my lunch one day every three weeks would have done it.

By the same token, if you've been sending the same old postcard announcing the "Sale of the Month" … next month try sending the card in an envelope instead.

Better yet, send it along in an envelope with a 25 sheet sticky notepad with your logo, name and number imprinted on it.

Think about that for a minute from the receiver's standpoint. You've been getting a postcard from LMNOP for 2 years. SUDDENLY, you get an envelope from LMNOP. You'll open it with renewed interest. Why? Because you don't know what's inside. Something unexpected and out of the ordinary happened. But because the same old postcard in an envelope could be anti-climactic, you want to include a little "excitement enhancer" with an inexpensive sticky notepad.

Mom's lunches weren’t all bad, though. Part of effectively changing your approach is understanding that while an apple, an orange and a banana are all fruits … they are different fruits. Mom added variety to my lunchbox fruit course by constantly changing the fruit. She did the same with the veggies, alternating carrots, celery, sweet peppers, radishes and pickles. Similarly, a postcard, an envelope and a package are all direct mail, but they're different. The same way a pen, a note pad and a refrigerator magnet are all promotional products — yet different. Even with postcards, you can change the design while maintaining the integrity of your corporate identification.

And now the main course — the offer! Mom knew I would be ok with ketchup on bologna even though I preferred mayo. Mustard is fine on pork/ham. PB &J was fine. Egg salad would fly like a lead balloon, sandwich spread was great and I'd eat anything with cheese on it …. except PB&J, hold the cheese, please.

Lesson Learned: Want to keep your target relatively happy and interested? Get to know them, keep changing the main offer and give them what they like.

What do you know about your clients and prospects? Do you know what they like, how much they buy or how often they buy? For small retailers it can be as easy as utilizing a punch card program. Swipe type cards coupled with the right computer program can allow you to capture a lot of useful data. But even the smallest retailer can send/give a survey and reward respondents with a low-cost, high perceived value promotional item. This is an excellent way to start or expand a database.

For national brands, using mass media to effectively drive traffic to a website with the promise of logo'd merchandise for filling out a survey can work wonders. Another tactic is on-package or in-package directionals to the website.

Change the main offer. Even if all you sell are chairs. Change the featured chair, Tell why it's a great chair – features and benefits. Tell them something they don't know. Give them something they can sink their teeth into.

Finally, the treat! Whether it was a piece of candy, a snack cake or a fruit pie, I always looked forward to the treat!

Lesson Learned: Treat your clients, customers and prospects. Treat them to a mint (regular and sugar free) at the cash register, have fresh coffee and hot water for tea available, have stickers or waterless tattoos available for the kids. Train your staff to treat customers and prospects like they are welcome. Treat them … like your business depends on them.

Top 8 uses of Promotional Products

Why should your company use promotional products?

* 1. Promote goodwill/image

* 2. Reinforce marketing of existing products, services, facilities

* 3. Recognize employee performance

* 4. Generate sales leads

* 5. Promote trade show traffic

* 6. Introduce new products, services, facilities

* 7. Stimulate employee sales performance

* 8. Stimulate employee productivity

Promotional Products is being positioned more and more, not as a pure product, but as part of the promotion buyer’s promotional and communications mix. High speed information gives audiences a choice about whether they wish to be exposed to mass advertising. Promotional Products advertising has proven to be much more effective in its unobtrusive, targeted, personalized approach. Due to its useful nature, promotional products tend to be kept and used, leading to voluntary repeated exposure, recognition and retention of the advertiser's name and/or message. The use of promotional products is most effective when the target audience is specifically identified. Items can then be selected to appeal to that audience, creating a positive response and eliminating waste distribution. Which products to choose when there are tens of thousands of products to choose from? This task is most easily accomplished with the help of a professional promotional product distributor.

Source : PPAC and PPI Blog

Why use a Promotional Gift Company?

Source PPI Blog

Promotional gift companies have great ideas for promoting your business. Sometimes so many ideas that it is hard to choose what would be best for your company to give away. The promotional gift company that you want to choose should have a good customer service rep or salesman who can help you pick just the right product. Here are a few tips for when you are speaking with the promotional products company.

Explain in detail to the salesperson what type of event you are having. This will narrow down the products tremendously. For example if you your business is having a Christmas party you will not want to order in golf tees with the company name on them. Then again maybe you do. If you have a lot of golfers in your clientèle maybe you want to make a gift basket out of golfing items to say Merry Christmas with. So always give explicit details on the event itself.

Think about the type of customers that you are going to be giving this gift to. Are they business people or are they stay at home moms. Maybe they are sports fanatics or farmers but whoever they are you will want to make your gift one that they will use or one that they will see often. For example, a calendar for the computer puts your business name in front of their face all the time.

At this point you should have your gifts narrowed down to where you are going to have to get detailed. Choose your colors either to match your company or theirs. For example if you are giving products out at a specific school you might want your items to be in their school colors but with your logo.

Pricing is very important to your budget. You made be shopping for several items or just one item but either way your promotional products company should still be bending over backwards to help you. Do not be shocked though promotional products are not as cheap as what one might think.

Promotional give always need to be well thought out and that is what your promotional gift company should be helping you do. Make a list of questions before getting your customer service representative on the phone. This will save you as much time as it will the promotional gift company. You will go from a broad search to a much narrowed one which will make your choices much simpler. Remember sometimes we have to spend a little money to make more money. Everybody likes to get something for free so why not have your company’s logo on it.

Réussissez vos cadeaux de fin d’année!

Un article super intéressant du Blog Objets Promotionnels français écrit par Mathilde Carletti qui reprend quant à lui un article écrit par Nicola Tibbs au Royaume Uni, sur le thème de Noël et des cadeaux d’entreprise:

“Noël se rapproche à une vitesse fulgurante et il est grand temps de penser à récompenser vos clients les plus importants. Mais comment faire en sorte que votre cadeau sorte du lot?

Suivez ces 10 conseils pour que Noël soit un succès:

1. Ne paniquez pas!
Vous avez encore le temps de rassembler quelques idées cadeau ingénieuses…Et si vous suivez les petits conseils qui suivent, peut-être trouverez vous l’inspiration en chemin.

2. Bousculez les habitudes.
Le cadeau classique pour Noël: Vin et nourriture raffinée. Essayez de vous différencier en offrant un cadeau qui dure une fois les fêtes terminées. Un rafraîchisseur à vin, un ouvre bouteille tendance, ou des accessoires de bar sont d’excellentes alternatives et restent toujours utiles même après les fêtes.
Et n’oubliez pas: Noël ne veut pas forcément dire “tradition”- Un appareil photo numérique apporte une touche de modernité par rapport à un cadeau traditionnel et il vous donne la garantie que l’on se rappelle de votre message pendant longtemps.

3. Connaissez bien votre client
Un fan de Golf? Un amoureux de voitures? Un voyageur invétéré? Offrez un cadeau qui montre l’intérêt que vous portez à votre client et qui génère instantanément une image de marque très positive. Et pour que votre cadeau soit vraiment spécial, ajoutez une petite carte avec un “merci” écrit à la main, le tout emballé dans une belle boite cadeau.

4. Gardez votre logo discret
Un cadeau d’affaire est quelque peu différent d’un objet publicitaire que l’on offre pendant un salon! Le but est de montrer de la reconnaissance et d’établir une relation positive, donc tout ce qui pourrait ressembler à un objet pub criant pourrait desservir votre marque.

5. Eviter à tout prix les références à la religion
Peu importe que vous connaissiez parfaitement votre client, il est toujours préférable d’éviter cela. Mieux vaut envoyer une carte avec des paysages hivernaux, des collines enneigées plutôt que toute référence au Christ! .

6. Envoyez votre cadeau en retard
Pour que votre cadeau sorte du lot, pourquoi ne pas l’envoyer juste après Noël? Envoyez le pour le nouvel an ou pour le jour du retour au travail et l’impact sera encore plus fort.

7. Ne pas envoyer le même cadeau que l’année précédente
Cela parraît évident, mais je vous assure que certaines entreprises recyclent les mêmes année après année! Le but est de susciter de l’intérêt chez le client et non pas de le décevoir ou de ! Gardez l’excitation présente en ayant de nouvelles idées à chaque fois.

8. Restez dans votre budget
Etablissez un budget et ne le dépassez pas. De plus, les cadeaux trop tape-à-l’oeil, souvent n’ont pas l’effet escompté. Ils peuvent même donner une image négative de votre marque. Choisissez au contraire des cadeau de qualité mais peu coûteux.

9. Ne pas envoyer votre cadeau en dernière minute
Si vous envoyez votre cadeau par la poste, essayez de calculer votre délai de livraison en prenant une petite marge pour palier aux au retards imprévisibles.

10. Créez une image positive durable
Enfin, peu importe quel cadeau vous choisissez d’offrir, faites en sorte qu’il soit à la fois approprié et que l’attention soit délicate. Vous serez surement sur le bonne voie …