Seasonally Minded...

Thanksgiving Day was last week in Canada, which explains why I took a week off from writing this blog :). Now that I think about it, there are at least one major seasonal event on every month of the year. Some of these seasonal event may be universal (ex. Christmas Day, Valentine's Day), others are more local and unique to a specific region (ex. British Columbia Day).

I think as marketer, we should be extensively aware of these seasonal holidays and events. These themed-days provide opportunities to do a communication, or a touch point, to connect with clients and potential clients. We may not necessary need to plan something for every single one of them, but note that it may become a gateway to a dialog for future business opportunities.

Our office usually does something for Halloween every year and this year is no different. The #PromoProduct of choice is a custom carved pumpkins with our clients' name/logo/message on them. It is not so much a promotional-oriented effort, it is more of a special gift for our key clients. Once again, a touch point generated by a seasonal event.

Be Creative By Design

Business runs on budget planning and proper expenditure execution. Marketing, being one of the business functions, cannot escape the fate of the limitation by a certain budget. To put this into context of purchasing #PromoProduct as a marketing means, these goods of supporting promotional goal(s) are drawn from the overall marketing budget.

So here's a thought, we easily get caught up finding the right #PromoProduct within a certain budget. Focus on items that have a price point near the maximum of the predetermined budget level, then slap a logo on these theme-fitted, functional products in hoping the end user would keep and use them. 

Without a doubt, this model does work. But a couple questions pop up immediately: What stopping your competitor to do the same thing, promo the same way? How can you differentiate your brand by choosing items that are easily accessible by everyone?

There is a solution to both of these questions - Be Creative By Design, in terms of the imprint. Shift some of the focus from the item to the design; having a little bit more that just a plain logo. Design a theme that will work with the overall branding of a logo, then integrate it in #PromoProduct that allows for such creativity. Select items that allow different decoration methods (transfer, deboss, laser, etc), have large and multiple imprint areas, support full color printing capability. For wearable, position the artwork away from the common areas such as left chest and right sleeves. At the end of the day, be different!

I did come across a project this week that support this Creative by Design model. It is a square acrylic paperweight for the University of Alberta - Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences. A prime example of a stunning full color design on a simple #PromoProduct.