Next month there will be a promotional products industry awards ceremony. A few months after that, we’ll start talking to clients about ordering service and achievement awards they’ll present to employees at their year-end gatherings. In spite of how challenging it is to be in business right now, as you know, this type of recognition is especially important to continue.

But so is recognizing your clients. And if you can do it in an offbeat, unusual, and memorable manner, brownie points await you!

Chances are you and your peers have talked about clients who are easy to work with, amazing planners, incredibly prompt, or just plain nice at all times. Now imagine surprising these clients with an “award” for their outstanding behavior:

• A leather planner to the clients who are gifted at planning ahead
• A recycled product to the clients who have impressive green policies
• A fun food basket sent to the clients whose business is not only important but whose company you "truly relish"

If you like the concept, let’s brainstorm ways to celebrate the clients you treasure. Whether the “awards presentation” occurs by mail or face-to-face, this type of recognition is certain to generate talk (and maybe some laughs, depending how creative we get). 

As always, I’m here to help. Call or send me an e-mail if you want to talk about what’s on your agenda in the months to come.

Bobby Lehew
Email: blehew@robynpromo.com
Phone: 877.211.9711

August is around the corner and along with it comes the National Night Out Against Crime, scheduled for Tuesday the 4th, 2009. Sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch, the annual event in its 26th year promotes crime and drug prevention awareness.

What an excellent opportunity for companies and organizations to show support for their hometown by participating in local events. Last year, the NNO campaign involved over 15,000 communities from all 50 states, U.S. territories, Canadian cities and military bases worldwide. More than 37 million people – citizens to law enforcement officers and civic leaders to businesspeople – joined together.

Interested in knocking out crime this August? Here are a few ideas:

• Host a flashlight walk in your community, handing out imprinted keychain lights to employees and their families or to your local neighborhood watch association.
• Join with other businesses and retailers along your commercial corridor and throw a block party. Hand out custom imprinted glow sticks to customers during the evening or reflective safety stickers.
• Show your employees how much you care about their safety by giving them an imprinted security product such as a pocket/purse-sized personal security device. An easy tug of the pull top activates an alarm. A simple whistle also works for joggers or walkers who may find themselves in need of assistance.
• Send a company representative to your local school with logoed crime prevention coloring books for the children.
• Build excitement for the event in your offices with clever but useful items imprinted with theme-appropriate taglines. For example: scissors (“Cut crime. Create Community”), bat-shaped pens (“Strike Out Drugs”) or notepads (“Take Note of Suspicious Behavior”).

To explore ways to get your organization involved in National Night Out, call me or send me an e-mail.

A little bedazzle can go a long way. For your next event, meeting or mailing, consider products that light up and/or have sound. From light up cups and ice cubes to blinking pendants, it’s easy to give your audience something to smile and talk about.

There’s a famous promotional products case study about a business owner who sent personalized pizza cutters in custom-made boxes to a dozen key decision-makers that he wanted to get appointments with. The boxes, which contained the pizza cutters and a letter, were delivered just before lunch along with (and here’s the kicker) a real pizza from a well-known pizza chain. He liked to say that the whole promotion cost him “about $350, including the tip.” Result: all 12 called and scheduled appointments.

Why spend nearly $30 per recipient on a promotion? Why not send out 200 or 300 items that cost a dollar or two apiece and increase your potential response twenty-fold?

It’s a fair question. And there are good arguments supporting both strategies. In the case above, the recipients were marketing executives at local firms who had been specifically chosen because of their business potential. Of the 12 appointments he got, 10 firms ended up doing business with him. He generated about a half million dollars in revenue from that initial $350 investment.

My point is that a “blanket” approach isn’t always the answer. Most people think of logoed items in terms of sheer volume – thousands of pens or calendars, hundreds of mugs, calculators or t-shirts – and that’s fine, but it’s not the only way to spend your money. Sometimes it makes more sense to specifically target key recipients and spend a higher amount on fewer people. It’s the same budget, but the results can be dramatically different.

I hope you find this promotional concept helpful. Feel free to pass it along! If you’d like to talk about targeting a select group of prospects, call me or send me an e-mail.