Response to President Barack Obama’s “Mandate” against Imprinted Promotional Products
You may have heard, President Obama has mandated that government agencies stop using what he refers to as “swag”, a term that I myself have found to be typically used by people who have no understanding of the power of imprinted promotional products and what they can do for them. (To learn more about the power of promotional products Click Here)
Our President however, should know full well the power of promotional products, as they were a major part of his success in his first campaign and appear to be an even larger part of his upcoming campaign in 2012. The President’s campaign website is chalk full of “swag”. Imprinted items galore! Bags, buttons, stickers, lanyards, necklaces, drinkware, clothing, etc, etc.. Clearly these branded products are a massive part of his campaign strategy for 2012.
The bigger issue is when our government, or in this case, our President, makes decisions that they don’t fully understand. For example, did President Obama do any type of research before coming to this decision? If he had done the research, he would have learned that imprinted promotional products saved an estimated $85 million dollars on the last U.S. Census. Not only did it save those millions of dollars, but it also helped to provide better response rates then the previous U.S. Census done in the year 2000. In the latest census, over 72% of households had mailed back their census information by April 2010, compared to 67% total for the entire 2000 U.S. Census. Ref: ASI Press Release
So for a government that has always struggled to be effective in nearly everything they do, why would the President mandate something that he doesn’t understand the capacity of? Does he realize that there are over 500,000 people in North America that rely on this industry for their livelihood? Does he realize that many of these 500,000 people are in small businesses that are women and minority owned?
Does the President realize that Promotional Products cost just half a penny per impression, beating out prime-time TV, radio and print advertising as the most cost-effective advertising medium available, meaning even smaller companies can pack the advertising punch of multimillion-dollar companies. ASI studies show 83% of ad specialty recipients in the U.S. say they can identify the advertiser on a promotional item they own.
Mr. President, the products you used to get yourself elected and possibly re-elected in 2012 are far more powerful than you know sir. If you want to cut costs, I suggest you look into those $16 muffins that we’ve been hearing so much about. When you hand someone a functional branded product like the water bottles that you mention in your White House press release, your message is seen many, many times and your cost per impression is half a cent. On the other hand, when you give someone a $16 muffin, your cost per impression is $16 and in 5 minutes it’s gone! There is no long lasting impression because in 6-12 hours guess what your gift has turned into… Well, you get the picture.
Make decisions based off of facts and knowledge, not solely based on someone’s suggestion who sits at an administrative desk in DC.
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Half-a-Cent – Study finds that Promotional Products average a Cost Per Impression of only $.005
Beating out Radio, Newspaper and Television, Promotional Products score big with smart advertisers looking to make big time impressions on small time budgets.
A 2010 study was conducted with businesspeople in the New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, London, Sidney, Toronto and Montreal metro areas to determine the value of media and the cost per impression made with the target audience.
The Conclusion? Promotional products have a lower “cost per impression” than nearly all forms of media.
What is an “impression”?
An impression is created when a person sees or hears your brand image/message featured in some form of advertisement. Impressions are critical in the effort of creating brand awareness. The more a person sees your brand message, the higher the chance that they will one day do business with you.
Top 5 product categories which average the highest number of impressions..
#1. Bags – 1078 impressions per month
#2. Caps – 443 impressions per month
#3. Pens – 437 impressions per month
#4. Shirts – 344 impressions per month
#5. Calendars – 295 impressions per month
Calculating Cost Per Impression
Impressions are calculated by multiplying the number of times an item is seen/used by the number of people that saw or used that item and the brand message it carries.
As an example, let’s look at a branded Bic Pen costing the advertiser $.46 per per pen for 300 pieces, a total cost of $138.00 for this order.
Based on the findings of the study, writing instruments average 437 impressions per month, which would mean that this particular pen would have a $.001 cost per impression.
For the sake of argument, let’s calculate this example at half the amount of impressions, bringing it in at 218.5 per month. This equates out to $.002 per impression. Even at just 100 impressions per month, the cost only reaches 4 cents per impression!
So what happens if this advertiser gives out all 300 pens at an event and then decides to be conservative by calculating each pen at just 100 impressions in six months time.. This calculates out to 30,000 impressions at a cost of $0.0046 per impression. In 6 months time, the advertisers brand message was identified 30,000 times! All for $138.00 in branded Bic Pens!
What about that $35 branded shirt you’re wearing?
Did you realize that shirts average 344 impressions (views by others) per month? That equates to $.10 per impression after just one month. What happens to that number after 6 months? Your impressions average 2064 over 6 months and your cost drops to $.01 per impression.
Other findings from the study..
Top 5 types of promotional products used by those who participated in the study..
#1. Pens – 46%
#2. Shirts – 38%
#3. Calendars – 24%
#4. Bags – 23%
#5. Caps – 16%
Ability to identify the advertiser..
83% of those surveyed in the U.S. said they could name the advertiser on a promotional product that they had been given, with glassware (87%) and shirts (86%) having the highest recall.
Reasons for keeping an item..
75% of those surveyed said that the items usefulness is the primary reason they keep an item. The next highest reason was an items attractiveness, coming in at 27%.
Impressions of the advertiser..
41% of U.S. respondents indicated their impression of the advertiser was more favorable after receiving a branded promotional product.
Business after receiving a branded promotional product..
60% of respondents in the U.S. say that they have done business with the advertiser after receiving the branded promotional product.
Likelihood to do business in the future..
Among those who had not done business with the advertiser since receiving the item, 27% of U.S. respondents thought it likely that they would eventually do business with the advertiser.
Fate of items not planned to keep..
62% of respondents indicated that when given an item they do not intend to keep, they choose to give that item to someone else rather than throw it away.
Number of promotional products owned..
U.S. respondents have the most promotional products, averaging 9-10 items that contain and advertisers brand.
Importance of branded merchandise..
57% of respondents indicated that the brand name of a product is important, but only 18% consider them very important.
Gender & age marketing..
Males are more likely than females to own branded shirts and caps, while females are more likely to keep bags, writing instruments, calendars and health & safety products.
Those 45-54 years of age tend to keep the most items given to them (averaging 9.8 items) while those aged 22-34 tend to keep one less item than their more experienced counterparts.
The end result, promotional products not only have a great cost per impression, but they also get results. By using promotional products, small businesses are able to compete with their bigger budget competition and achieve a better result with less money.
Chris Morrissey is the Owner of Proforma Big Dog Branding, a premier provider of printing services, promotional products multimedia production and ecommerce solutions. To reach Chris: chris@bigdogbranding.com; http://www.bigdogbranding.com/.
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Do you know what this is?
If you don’t recognize it, maybe you will recognize the next picture…
Believe it or not, the first picture is of the first IBM 1 GB Hard Drive from 1981. Man how far we have come! It was just 30 years ago where we had a 1 gb hard drive that was the size of a Vispa (todays Moped) and now we can carry the same capacity drives on our pockets!
Technology is a great thing!
Chris Morrissey is the Owner of Proforma Big Dog Branding, a premier provider of printing services, promotional products multimedia production and ecommerce solutions. To reach Chris: chris@bigdogbranding.com; http://www.bigdogbranding.com/.
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Cotton prices reach the highest level since the civil war.
Cotton Chart
Valued Customers,
Increased cotton and other raw materials costs have prompted industry suppliers Gildan, Hanes, Port & Company and Jerzees to announce price increases. These increases will range from 5% on basic t-shirts to 10% on sport shirts and fleece. These prices will be effective Monday, Nov. 1.
Cotton prices are at record highs and we believe there will be more price increases in the coming months. We monitor yarn costs and supply daily and don’t see an end to rising costs in the next few months. It is truly an unprecedented time in global manufacturing and sourcing.
If you have an upcoming project involving apparel, please contact us so that we can find you the highest quality product for your budget.
Chris Morrissey – President – Proforma Big Dog Branding
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A Promotion To Be Remembered…
New Zealand Alzheimer’s Society hits a nerve with a memorable promotion:
ERASER USB FLASH DRIVE
The goal:
Design a memorable piece of communication that raises awareness of the disease’s early warning signs, like memory loss, as well as reminding everyday New Zealanders of the importance of Alzheimers New Zealand.
Concept: Actual working erasers were hollowed out and fitted with USB memory sticks. The message displayed on the top is: ‘Alzheimer’s erasers your memories. Save them’, with the reverse side featuring the Alzheimer’s New Zealand logo and website.
Results: Alzheimer’s New Zealand distributed these eraser/usbs amongst the public, various local organizations, as well as distributed them to local politicians, with a letter, in an attempt to raise awareness of the charity. Feedback has been very positive and they’ll hopefully continue to leave people with some sort of understanding of what people with Alzheimer’s go through everyday, and where they could turn for more information and support.
Recommendation: While I believe this was a very creative promotion, I would have liked to see a call to action with this promotion in order to help the organization achieve their ultimate goal of awareness as well as give them stronger, more measurable results.
Either way, I rate this promotion with an A+ grade because of it’s creativity and unique approach.
This promotion is a great example of how to take the ordinary and turn it into the extraordinary!
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Social Networking – Do you Poken?
Social networking just got easier! A lot easier!
Poken, the newest and coolest way to re-connect with the outside world once you get back in front of your computer.
Poken is your electronic business card that gives people everything you want them to know about you. When you meet someone and want to exchange information, you just touch your Poken to theirs and it automatically exchanges the data for you to retrieve later! No more wasting time finding a pen an paper or digging for your business cards. Poken makes it simple!
Click HERE to watch a video and get a better idea of the possibilities the Poken can offer you.
Poken is available in different shapes and sizes and can be customized to meet your needs. Question is, will it catch on? Give me your opinion on this new product by adding a comment!
Chris Morrissey is the Owner of Proforma Big Dog Branding, a premier provider of printing services, promotional products multimedia production and ecommerce solutions. To reach Chris: chris@bigdogbranding.com; http://www.bigdogbranding.com/.
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Polly Want A Bottle?
Polly Want A Bottle?
You’ve read it, heard about it on the news and from your friends and co-workers… That Polycarbonate bottle that you love so much is possibly leaching a chemical called Bisphenol A, into your body. While there is no solid evidence that it is actually happening to you, you have to admit, it gives you a very uneasy feeling knowing that the words “chemical” and “your body” are never good when placed in the same sentence.
As you stand above your recycle bin, ready to drop your beloved bottle in with the newspapers, aluminum cans and those Evian plastic bottles that you secretly put your lips to when you mistakenly forgot your favorite bottle at home… You suddenly remember that you gave out this same bottle at the company picnic, to all of your employees and customers! Yikes!
If your company has used Polycarbonate Bottles in your past marketing or internal efforts, you know first hand how much your customers and employees love your bottle! Now you find out that your bottle might just be doing more than you bargained for and you’re wishing you could go take them back.
While it is smart to avoid any future exposure to BPA, the good news is that you can still utilize water bottles in your marketing efforts! After all, they are one of the best promotional products out there with one of the highest ROI’s for the money!
Well now there is a better solution, one that will build your relationship with your customers, brand your company’s good name and let them know how much you care for their health and their business.
The solution… BPA Free Polycarbonate Bottles! They are here and in high demand! There are tons of colors and styles to choose from, but stock availability is in question because the demand is so high.
They are made from various safer plastics that are manufactured without the use of Bisphenol A and have been determined safe by the FDA. The bottom recycle code number is the key to knowing if your bottles or the bottles you are looking to purchase, are safe. According to the Institute of Agriculture and Trade Policy, the safe numbers are 1, 2, 4 & 5.
A simple way to remember it is this… Use 4, 5, 1, & 2. All the rest aren’t good for you!
Bottles with the number “7″ are the bottles that pose the most concern and have sparked the BPA debate.
So why not take a possible negative situation and make it a positive marketing effort that will strengthen your relationships with your employees, your customers and your prospects, building goodwill and appreciation for your brand.
No matter what company you choose to work with for your next order, make sure they are knowledgeable in the BPA controversy so that they can make sure to guide you to solutions that are truly BPA Free.
Proforma Big Dog Branding can show you many options in BPA Free bottles. Call us today for an e-mailed presentation of BPA Free Bottles.
For more consumer knowledge on the topic of BPA, please visit this link for an article from the Institute of Agriculture and Trade Policy.
http://www.agobservatory.org/library.cfm?refid=77083
Chris Morrissey is the Owner of Proforma Big Dog Branding, a premier provider of promotional products, printing services, ecommerce websites and eco-friendly marketing solutions.
To reach Chris: chris@bigdogbranding.com; http://www.bigdogbranding.com/.
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Case Study – Direct Mail Success!
Marketing executives know, up to 70% of direct mail messages get thrown away within seconds and many of them don’t even get opened. Higher readership ensures higher response rates. Marketing & sales messages must get immediate attention and create impact when the mail is delivered.
That was the dilemma facing the St.Louis Rams NFL team.
Wanting to create a “buzz” in the corporate community through the executive network, the St. Louis Rams wanted to market their upscale boxes and luxury seats to appropriate corporations.
They saw the Brandelope and immediately sensed this was no ordinary mailing envelope.
The high impact envelope
that gets results!
The St. Louis Rams were concerned that the message they spent many hours designing and printing would take a flap-first dive into the garbage can.
In fact…A recent analysis of response rates validated their belief that the largest percentage of direct mail campaigns remain sealed in a bland, typical bulk mail envelope.
The Brandelope is designed to get the attention that your company deserves which is exactly why companies like the St. Louis Rams are purchasing them!
If your mailing looks like it’s not important, then people don’t think it is important. Brandelope’s get opened which is the first and most crucial step in delivering your message.
Financial planners, Internet businesses, Magazines…Companies both large and small are turning to the Brandelope for their high impact marketing envelopes.
Direct mail is an important part of marketing any company. Can your company afford to develop, print and mail information that will remain unopened and be tossed in the trash?
Chris Morrissey is the Owner of Proforma Big Dog Branding, a premier provider of printing services, promotional products multimedia production and ecommerce solutions. To reach Chris: chris@bigdogbranding.com; http://www.bigdogbranding.com/.
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