Sunday, November 7, 2010

Make it a Date to Remember

Thousands of organizations and Presidential Proclamations set aside specific days, weeks and months for political, cultural and historical events and causes. Many of these occasions offer you an opportunity to promote your business, organization or product.

December

December 1st – 7th is Cookie Cutter Week

Hold a contest for new cookie cutter designs or other uses for cookie cutters besides cookies. Draw people into your place of business to pick up entry forms and again for the awarding of prizes. Use imprinted kitchen items as prizes.

Use cookie cutter week as a backdrop for business-to-business promotions based on the negative connotation of cookie cutter. The idea is that your product or service isn't "cookie cutter." Include shapes appropriate to your industry or business or have custom shapes made to be sent in direct mail pieces.

Some other designations for December that you might be interested in are:
  • AIDS Awareness Month
  • National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month
  • National Safe Toys and Gifts Month
  • National Tie Month
  • December 1st: Apple Krinkle Day
  • December 2nd: Play Basketball Day
  • December 2nd - 9th: Hanukkah
  • December 3rd: Let's Hug Day
  • December 4th: Cracker Jack Day
  • December 5th: Play Hookey Day
  • December 6th: Saint Nicholas Day
  • December 7th: Pearl Harbor Day
  • December 8th: Bad Hair Day
  • December 9th: Night Gown Day
  • December 10th: Get a Poinsettia Day
  • December 11th: Say Hi To Your Neighbor Day
  • December 13th: New Calendar Day
  • December 14th: Buy a Tree Day
  • December 15th: Bill of Rights Day
  • December 16th: Sleep Comfort Day
  • December 17th: Cookie Cutter Day
  • December 18th: Play Bingo Day
  • December 19th: Chocolate Pizza Day
  • December 20th: Crossword Puzzle Day
  • December 21st: Fore Fathers Day
  • December 23rd: Popcorn Popping Day
  • December 24th: Family Caregivers Day
  • December 25th: Christmas
  • December 26th: Boxing Day (Canada)
  • December 27th: Fruitcake Forever Day
  • December 28th: Eat Chocolate Day
  • December 29th: Pepper Pot Day
  • December 30th: Bicarbonate of Soda Day
  • December 31st: New Year's Eve
January

January is National Personal Self-Defense Awareness Month. Encourage self-defense awareness among both your customers and your employees through the use of promotional products like flashlights and personal alarms. For more ideas, check out the 'Alarms and Protective Devices' category in our Product Search!

Some other designations for January that you might be interested in are:

  • Celebration of Life Month
  • National Thank You Month
  • National Get Organized Month
  • National Glaucoma Awareness Month
  • National Volunteer Blood Donor Month
  • National Personal Self-Defense Month
  • National Book Month
  • January 1st: New Years Day
  • January 2nd: National Science Fiction Day
  • January 3rd: Festival of Sleep
  • January 4th: Tennis Day
  • January 5th: Take the Cake Day
  • January 5th: Bird Day
  • January 6th: Apple Tree Day
  • January 8th: World Literacy Day
  • January 8th: National Clean Off Your Desk Day
  • January 9th: National Static Electricity Day
  • January 9th: National Apricot Day
  • January 10th: Volunteer Fireman's Day
  • January 11th: Amelia Earhart Day
  • January 14th: National Dress Up Your Pet Day
  • January 15th: Hat Day
  • January 16th: National Fig Newton Day
  • January 17th: Ben Franklin's Birthday
  • January 18th: Martin Luther King Jr. Day
  • January 19th: National Popcorn Day
  • January 20th: Basketball Day
  • January 21st: Hugging Day
  • January 22nd: National Blonde Brownie Day
  • January 23rd: National Pie Day
  • January 24th: National Peanut Butter Day
  • January 25th: First Winter Olymics Began
  • January 26th: National Peanut Brittle Day
  • January 27th: National Chocolate Cake Day
  • January 28th: National Blueberry Pancake Day
  • January 29th: Carnation Day
  • January 30th: Franklin D. Roosevelt's Birthday
  • January 31st: Jackie Robinson's Birthday
February

February 14th is Valentine's Day

Send your salesforce out with logoed boxes of candies to leave with clients on this day. Create a promotion that delivers balloons, cards and heart shaped candies to your clients.

Some other designations for February that you might be interested in are:
  • National Black History Month
  • American Heart Month
  • American History Month
  • National Dental Month
  • Chocolate Lover's Month
  • National Bird Feeding Month
  • February 1st: National Freedom Day
  • February 2nd: Groundhog Day
  • February 3rd: Chinese New Year
  • February 4th: Rosa Park's Birthday
  • February 5th: World Nutella Day
  • February 6th: Babe Ruth's Birthday
  • February 7th - 11th: International Networking Week
  • February 8th: Boy Scouts Day 
  • February 9th: Toothache Day
  • February 10th: Umbrella Day
  • February 11th: White T-Shirt Day
  • February 12th: Lincoln's Birthday
  • February 13th: Get a Different Name Day
  • February 14th: Valentine's Day
  • February 15th: Susan B. Anthony Day
  • February 17th: Random Acts of Kindness Day
  • February 18th: Pluto Discovered
  • February 19th: US Landed on Iwo Jima Anniversary
  • February 21st: President's Day
  • February 21st: Love Your Pet Day
  • February 22nd: Washington's Birthday
  • February 23rd: National Dog Biscuit Day
  • February 24th: National Chili Day
  • February 26th: Carnival Day
  • February 27th: International Polar Bear Day
  • February 28th: National Tooth Fairy Day

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Why Use Promotional Products

WELCOME!

Our mission is to provide you with the best promotional products possible. We work with premier Suppliers, and are dedicated to providing you with top quality promotional products to help ensure the success of your business. We are ready to take on your marketing needs. No matter what your budget is, we have a solution for you!

Why Use Promotional Products?

Promotional products give you the most BANG for your buck when it comes to your advertising needs. Getting your information in the hands of potential customers is what it's all about, and nothing does the job better than promotional products.

Studies have shown the promotional products outlast most any type of advertising, such as classified ads, radio commercials and TV spots, and have the ability of staying visible to your customers for years to come. Best of all, there are 1000's of unique promotional products to choose from, and price ranges to meet any financial plan. Whether your budget is $10 or $10,000, we have a vast array of products for you to choose from to accommodate your needs.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Promotional Ideas From Kennedy Advertising: Charmin's Social Bathroom Breaks

Promotional Ideas From Kennedy Advertising: Charmin's Social Bathroom Breaks

Charmin's Social Bathroom Breaks

Sometimes a great event is one that shows customers how your product can solve their problems, and there are few problems as pressing as the need to find a public bathroom in a big city. That was the thinking behind Charmin's Restrooms, which the brand has been bringing to New York's Times Square for the last six weeks of the year since 2006. The company rolled out comfy, clean bathrooms similar to what individuals would have in their home, with not only sinks and toilets, but televisions and iPods.

Since the event takes place over several weeks, the people at Charmin want to be sure that there are new things happening often. In the last event held at the end of 2009, there was a cause promotion with four celebrities including Mario Lopez and Martina McBride painting special toilet seats, which customers could use by donating a dollar to the charity of that celebrity's choice.

There was a graffiti wall where users could write messages, and a "confessional" where they could record video that would be uploaded to Charmin's site. Branded boxers, T-shirts and other souvenirs were also available for those looking to take home a memory of the event.

"With any brand, especially those in a very low-involvement category, it's about showing up at the right place and making a difference, having the benefit of your product come to life," said Jacques Hagopian, brand manager for Charmin.

For last year's event, the brand also recruited five bathroom enthusiasts to act as the Charmin "Go Team." The five ambassadors greeted and entertained guests at the Charmin restrooms and around the city, while also blogging, Facebooking and tweeting about their experiences and the nuances of "going."

"The brand didn't lead us there, our consumers did," said Hagopian, who emphasized that it was consumers who had first begun putting up Youtube clips or Facebook posts about their Charmin Restroom experiences in previous years. "You gain fans and friends as a result of what you do, you don't have to actively recruit them."

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Bringing the Brand Home to the Consumer

To really connect with customers on a personal level, you can bring the event directly to their home. That's just what Purina did recently, hosting 1,000 "house parties" where individuals, their friends and pet dogs got together so the dogs could sample the Chef Michaels' K9 Creations line of dog food.

"It was our first dual-species event," joked Kitty Holding, CEO of House Party, which organized the Purina events and specializes in consumer-hosted in-home parties. "House parties are all about passionate consumers, and it's tough to find something that people get more passionate about than their pets."
For these "Sunday Supper" events, House Party conducted an initial promotion to get a list of qualified hosts together, reaching out to its own mailing list and the client's until it had 1,000 individuals that fit what Purina was looking for (in this case, women dog owners).

Once they settled on the list of hosts, House Party created an interactive website for the three weeks or so leading up to the event, where hosts could get suggestions for how to host the party, what games to play and food to make (for the people). "We want to give people lots of ideas and suggestions, but we want people to have the kind of party they are good at having," said Holding. "Consumers are so savvy anyway, and if you're going to have a party with your friends, you don't want me to tell you how to have your party."

For the event itself, each host invited 12 friends and their dogs over, and used the promotional products and supplies provided by Purina. Besides the Chef Michaels food itself, hosts received branded serving plates, tablecloths, napkins and even food-shaping tins that could put the dog food into a bone or a heart. Every guest received a gift bag that included coupons, recipe books and other goodies.

There were a total of 12,000 human participants, and 7,500 canine participants, with what House Party calculates to be over 50,000 hours of brand engagement (from the humans, that is). The events also greatly boosted the brand metrics, which House Party measures, including awareness, favorability and intent to purchase.

"It becomes a really personal, intimate experience with the brand," said Holding. "That experience last so much longer, so that when they are at a critical moment of purchase or recommendation, that favorable view is really cemented in their mind."