Last week I had the opportunity to speak to almost 500 end-user buyers about the power and value of promotional products. While I do quite a bit of speaking within the industry, it’s always refreshing to share my passion for promotional products to people outside of it. As I was preparing for the presentation, I had what I call a “lightbulb moment,” but more on that later.
To this group of promotional products buyers, I wanted to make sure that I shared how advertising has undergone a radical shift in the past 10 years. With a tip of the cap to technology, consumers are no longer forced to sit through commercials to enjoy the content: television spots, radio jingle earworms, or even a printed ad can all be essentially bypassed by the target audience without any impact to the content they are consuming.
Due to this, it’s more difficult than ever for brands to capture the imagination of their chosen audience. The days of “Where’s the Beef?” becoming bigger than the hamburger chain it advertised are long since gone. This is what keeps executives at conventional advertising agencies up at night – and it should.
Given the decreased reach and effectiveness of traditional advertising, how can promotional products help clients inspire the emotions of their target audience and drive them to action? This is where the aforementioned, “lightbulb moment” comes into play.
Create promotional products that encourage the target audience to steal.
That’s right, give the target audience permission to take the occasional five-finger discount – here’s why: people love to receive promotional products for three simple reasons:
- They are useful
- They are kept
- It doesn’t “feel” like advertising
Think about an average tradeshow: countless attendees are walking around with a bag filled with all manner of products that they received for free. The savvy exhibitors not only allow people to take promotional products, but they encourage them to take more than one. With a wink and a nod, they will whisper in hushed tones with regards to the vent mounted cell phone holder to, “take one for each of your cars.” The attendee walks away feeling they got away with a small misdemeanor while the exhibitor knows she just doubled (or tripled) the reach of her marketing.
This translates far beyond a tradeshow: the restaurant happy to see a cool pen disappear after the diner signs the check, the grocery store that gladly looks the other way when a shopper doesn’t return a logoed umbrella after use, or the package store that allows patrons to take a dozen branded can coolers for their fishing trip. These people understand that the dollar value of the stolen product is far less than the long-lasting advertising impact the thievery creates.
Helping your clients create a cost-effective solution is a good starting point – and just about anyone in our industry can provide that service. If you want to add value to your clients by helping them make a positive and memorable impact, however, you have to develop solutions that create a feeling of desire and want in their target audience.
When want and desire are present, the target audience of your client will covet promotional advertising to the point where they will do just about anything to get it – even committing a little petty theft.
Bill is president of PromoCorner, a digital marketing, media, and advertising agency, and has over 19 years working in executive leadership positions at leading promotional products distributorships. A featured speaker at numerous industry events, a serial creator of content marketing, president of the Regional Association Council (RAC) board, and PromoKitchen chef, Bill has extensive experience coaching sales teams, creating successful marketing campaigns, and developing branding that resonates with a target audience. He can be reached at bill@promocorner.com.