Inspire Loyalty – Eat Your Heaties

 

This company decided to inspire loyalty within its season ticket holders by creating a buzz with unique packaging and promotions. Instead of the standard envelope with tickets, this minor league baseball team used a custom cereal box filled with fun items.

Wouldn’t receiving this fun package inspire you to get excited about the upcoming season?

Case Study – Inspire Loyalty

Create a Buzz with Unique Packaging

Cereal Box

Objective

Inspire loyalty among season ticket holders and create buzz for the upcoming minor league baseball season.

Strategy Execution

We began brainstorming ideas in November 2014 for a fun way to package season tickets. Previously used concepts included a custom home plate box, metal tin/lunch box, and a wooden cigar box all designed and printed with Dayton Dragons branding. We designed and presented an imitation of a Wheaties cereal box, using the Dragons mascot, Heater, on the front of the box and called it “Heaties”.

The box contained a sample of the Limited Edition cereal, season tickets and owner’s manual, magnet and pocket schedule, and a “free prize” (custom promotional keychains). The full-imprint on the box was jam-packed with information such as the opening date, Dayton Dragons social media icons, serving sizes (of fun!), alumni players, QR codes, “best if used by date” (the date of the last home game in the 2015 season), and six puzzles and quizzes. All the giveaway promotional materials were delivered by March for final distribution to the season ticket holder recipients.

Results

92% retention rate for season ticket holders. We kept the project within budget and delivered on time. The impression this promotion makes sets the tone for opening day and increases overall game attendance.

Inspire Loyalty Fun Product Ideas

  Cereal Box

Schedule Magnets 

Baseball Bat Key Ring 

Bagged Treats

Reinforcing Values – Making It Fun

Presenting your company’s core values, beliefs and mission can be a boring exercise, usually presented in a folder or marketing sheet. How can  you reinforce values and information in a fun, engaging way?

Take a look at how one company went outside the box to do just that:

 

Case Study – Core Values

A Fun, Engaging Presentation

Puzzle

Objective

To reinforce the company core values to the Wood Group Pressure Control employees.

Strategy Execution

Wood Group Pressure Control promotes a series of core values that are commendable…Customer Focus, Integrity, Excellence, Performance, Teamwork, Diversity and Accountability, to name a few. To make sure employees would know and remember the values, the company developed a custom cube puzzle that even used actual employee faces with the core values imprinted on the various surfaces.

The puzzles were distributed to employees and were accompanied by a letter from the president, reinforcing the significance of the cube and of the values it represents. The cube, while promoting virtuous ideals and beliefs…is also fun! Employees can’t resist flipping the cube open and discovering all of the hidden surfaces as they explore the mesmerizing design of the puzzle. This is also a terrific reinforcement of the values as it is easy to get lost in the puzzle while absorbing its messages.

Employees can’t resist flipping the cube open and discovering all of the hidden surfaces as they explore the mesmerizing design of the puzzle. This is also a terrific reinforcement of the values as it is easy to get lost in the puzzle while absorbing its messages.

Results

The puzzle cubes were a huge hit with employees. Many were taken home as employees, on taking a closer look at the company’s core values, found them to be important to reinforce with their families, as well.

 

Reinforcing Values Fun Product Ideas

Magic Cube

Promo Blocks

Rubik’s Cube

Wave Calendar

 

Packaging Included – Pop Your Promos

Packaging Included – that’s the latest trend we’re finding in the promo world. Many of our suppliers are now adding the option for fully customized packaging with select products.

Just think of the possibilities!

Hand out a tumbler, it’s just a tumbler with your logo. Add custom packaging and now it’s a fully integrated marketing piece.

With this new program which pairs packaging with the items, the additional cost for packaging is minimal. Pen sleeves start at just $.50 for full color, fully custom imprint!

But who’s going to create all that artwork? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. With your ideas, or even our own, we’ll create custom artwork that will make your product pop.

It’s time to take promotional marketing beyond the swag…. let’s work together to make it advertising at it’s best – packaging included!

 

Packging Included 2

Don’t just hand out a pen, make it work for you. Include a custom sleeve and now it’s a true marketing piece.

Packaging Included 3

Integrate the product into the packaging message.

Packaging Included 1

Create beautiful retail-inspired boxes.

Packaging Included 5

Even a simple coolie can become a marketing package, far beyond it’s normal use.

 

Creating Awareness of Products & Services

Creating Awareness of Your Products and Services

Creating awareness of your products and services can be a bit daunting. How can you spend your advertising dollars in a way which will create the biggest impact and return on your investment? Studies have shown that using promotional marketing in your advertising campaigns leads to the greatest recall of any other media.

promos create advertising recall

What is it about promotional marketing that causes it to create such an impact? Why do 82% of the recipients of a promotional product remember the advertiser, while only 27% of online ad viewers can do the same?

Because it’s tangible. It can be held. It can be experienced. It can create a trigger or a call to action. And if it’s the right item, with the right message, it can last. It can be reused or viewed or remembered. And all of that helps to imprint your message, brand, product and services into the recipient’s mind.

The case study below demonstrates how effective (and fun) promotional marketing can be:

 

Case Study – A Race to Success

Increased Sales by 250 Percent

creating awareness The Creative J

Objective

To increase awareness and sales of a new American General Annuity product by 100 percent.

Strategy Execution

Targeting 2,000 agents in one of its selected banking institutions, American General Annuity launched the highly effective “Race To Success” campaign.

The auto race theme was supported by a series of scheduled mailings consisting of items such as a race car tumbler, a race car shaped pen and sticky notes with racing graphics. The mailings also displayed several messages using racetrack terms and clever wordplays to explain the annuity product and its features.

The first mailing contained coupons that could be redeemed for the first and fifth sales of the product. The first sale coupon was redeemed for a 13-piece tool kit featuring the “Race To Success” imprint. The fifth sale coupon earned the holder a mini-maglite with racing graphics.

Results

The program, lasting only two months, generated enough interest in the product to increase sales 250 percent-well above the anticipated goal.

 

The right marketing campaign will create a connection with the recipient, building the foundation for a relationship. This is promotional marketing that works!

 

Racing Theme Product Ideas

April News – Safety Programs Can Return 6x Their Cost

Safety Programs Bring Returns:  Involving employees in safety awareness programs helps create better safety habits and reduces injuries.

Read about ways to incorporate promotional marketing into your safety and health programs.

Click Here to Read Our Newsletter…

 

March News – Customer Appreciation Builds Opportunities

 Show Customer Appreciation:  With every customer you have the opportunity to expand your reach and grow your business.

Provide a great product, demonstrate exceptional customer service or a solve a problem and word travels.

Click Here to Read Our Newsletter…

 

Thank Customers The Creative J

What Makes a Wise Promotional Product Choice?

Using the right promotional product for your marketing campaign will help you reap the benefits of increased business, loyal clients and appreciative employees.

The wrong item can at the least, be throwing your money away; or at the worst, a poor reflection on your company and it’s values.

For Example:

Poor Promo Choice–

You’ve got a trade show next week and suddenly realize you’re out of promo items to hand out. In a rush, you go online and order the least expensive pens you’re able to find and upload your artwork. There’s no time for proofing, so you anxiously await their arrival. When you receive the pens, you notice the imprint is small and hard to read, but there’s no time, so you decide to use them anyway. At the trade show, potential customers are taking your pens, but they are having a hard time reading the imprint. In addition, you’re finding out the pens aren’t writing well and have seen many of them in the trash.

Wise Promo Choice–

For this same trade show, another company is considering what item would be best to hand out to potential customers. Knowing they want this item to be used and kept by the recipients, they decide a pen will be their best option. They know on average, a pen is expected to be used at least 353 times by the recipient, if they like it’s quality and keep it. With the help of their promotional consultant, they are able to find a good quality pen and decide upon artwork that will effectively communicate their message. In addition, they decide instead of handing out only a pen, they will enclose it in a marketing card which details more about their company. The card also includes a coupon for their services, creating an incentive for the recipient.

 

After reading these scenarios, which company do you think will receive more results from their time at the trade show? What impression has each one created upon their potential customers? Although both companies use a pen as their marketing tool, only one of them saw the marketing value it presented.

People hold on to promos that are useful, relevant and memorable. Without any of those qualities, odds are, the item will either find it’s way to the trash or dropped in a drawer, or left behind. With purpose and goals in mind, we’ll help you make sure that doesn’t happen with your promos and that you get the most out of your marketing dollars.

 

promotional marketing card

Adding a marketing card to contain a smaller item is an easy way to get more information into potential customers’ hands.

MarketingPenCard

Small pen marketing folders are eye-catching and allow for more of your message to come through.

February News – Create Awareness

Promos are fun marketing!  Use promotional items to spread goodwill and create awareness for your brand. Some great opportunities are at sporting events, festivals and celebrations.
Try handing out frisbees at a Fourth of July parade, or providing bottles of water at a Fun Run.  Public relations can be fun, and fun things are memorable.

Click Here to Read Our February Newsletter…

Create Awareness

 

Character Marketing – An Emotional Connection

Character Marketing – We’ve all grown up with them, and see them in action nearly every day – mascots and characters representing a brand. Some, like the Aflac duck or the Geico gecko, have helped propel a company’s brand recognition. Others, like the McDonald’s Happy, a grinning Happy Meal box, came across as creepy, rather than fun and inviting.

Characters aren’t just for kids. They can appeal to a wide audience and help to strengthen the brand recognition and appeal.

A strong character or mascot can bring value to your marketing plan:

• Create media exposure and excitement

• Generate goodwill for your brand

• Provide a voice for the company’s social conscience

• Create a rallying icon for community identification

• Provide tie-in identification at point of sale and to sell products

According to Artistic Toy, a top supplier of plush characters, it’s important to develop an emotional connection to your character or mascot. This can be done by creating a story about the character. Explain it’s vulnerabilities, sources of conflict and connect it to your brand. Know what your character represents and use that to elicit an emotional response with your audience.

For examples of plush representations of brand characters, check out  Artistic Toy’s Website

Character Marketing

Click to read more on character marketing and how it can work for you at Artistic Toy — One of our preferred suppliers of plush.

January News – Build Connections at Tradeshows

Promotional products are a great tool to drive traffic to your trade show booth, build connections, and to keep your name top of mind after the show.
Using colorful displays, targeted pre-show mailings, and handing out useful, unique items helps make a memorable impression with potential new clients.

Click Here to Read Our January Newsletter…

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