What's new for 2009 in Durable Advertising - A report from the PPAI show

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the PPAI show in Las Vegas. PPAI stands for Promotional Products Association International. This is the trade group for suppliers (factories) and distributors (advertising companies and sales people) who deal with durable advertising products. There were literally thousands of exhibitors there which brings to fore one of the biggest problems you have in getting great durable advertising products. Most of these items are sold to the end user by promotional products sales people.

At Arizona Cap we produce our embroidered and printed apparel in house so we see every step of the process. When you purchase a t-shirt from a promotional products sales person he or she likely never sees the product. They've never met the people who make it and they have no idea how it gets done. This can be a recipe for disaster and a good way to waste your money. But we can't manufacture everything in house so how do you get a good laser engraved pen or custom printed breath mints? The key is in dealing with a company who has relationships with top notch factories. At the PPAI show I must have seen 200 different suppliers of pens. How many do we deal with at Arizona Cap? THREE regularly and a handful more for special items. I know which suppliers have a consistently high quality product, deliver on time, and pay attention to detail. The average promotional products sales person simply looks in a stack of catalogs or uses a search engine to find you the color and style you requested and then picks the lowest price. What you all to often get is a pen from factory number #197 out of 200, someone who flubs the artwork, delivers late and can't deliver the same product again if it's reordered.

Unfortunately for you the end user, most promotional products sales people are amateurs. Like real estate and multi-level marketing, 10s of thousands of people get into and out of promotional products sales every year. Most are part-timers. There are a handful of professionals who know there stuff, and know the industry sources well and if you find one, you're lucky. There are an even smaller # of those professionals who have creative and marketing backgrounds. Durable advertising products work when used right. They can give you a great ROI. But if you are just buying (or being sold) something to give away without a plan then you might as well just be giving away money, your clients will always appreciate cash.

So that's my rant on promotional products sales people - what's did I see new at the PPAI show? There really weren't too many totally new items to the industry but there we're probably hundreds of ideas that would be new to your business. An increasing focus from almost all of the different kinds of suppliers was the eco-friendly niche. More and more products of every kind, clothing, pens, journals, toys, drinkware, you name it, are being made from recycled and renewable sources. One really neat idea I saw was a line of recycled, notecards, ornaments, business cards, bookmarks and other items made from recycled paper and with seeds embedded in them. the idea being that you can mail or give these items to a client with your message on it and then they can plant the card, bookmark, postcard, etc which grows into a variety of flowers, herbs, and garden vegetables. The creative marketing ideas for a product like that are endless.

I saw lots of new apparel made from performance fabrics. - Moisture wicking, UV protection, anti-bacterial, wrinkle free, something for every need. There are great packaging/combo options for durable advertising products and apparel, like compressed t-shirts, or t-shirts in a water bottle. I saw some beautiful high end laserengraved crystal awards. Available in single pieces they were stunning and made me wish someone would give me one.

All in all the advertising industry is not changing that much. What is changing is peoples focus on advertising and within their advertising. The current economic situation is forcing more and more of you to refocus on marketing and to seek a better return on your existing marketing. There is no better medium for that than durable advertsing.

Direct Mail - The Recession/Depression Beater

Recent statistics and surveys show that electronic media, print media, and even email marketing are seeing greatly decreased ROI. What are the two forms of advertising that thriving in this recession/depression? Durable advertising and direct mail. Multi-stream marketers have noticed an uptick in their direct mail response rates. Prospects have become jaded at electronic advertising, they tune out radio and TV ads a few seconds in, they filter online advertising, and their spam filters stop even legitimate email from their vendors. Because of this trend people are reading their snail mail again, and the best way to guarantee that a direct mail piece will get opened and not trashed is to include a durable advertising product. Postcards and #10 envelopes get a quick scan before the can but lumpy mail always gets opened. You can even forgo the envelope and mail durable advertising items like Frisbees and waters bottle with your message front and center. Lumpy mail easily doubles your response rate. So whether you are looking for instant sales, web traffic, or lead generation durable advertising and direct mail are a powerful combo. Some of our favorite durable items for mailing are at www.arizonacap.com but for best results call or email us to discuss your target market and your message/goals.

The Eco-Friendly "Green" Craze

Everything is going green these days and it's not just a fad for tofu eaters on the Left Coast. From rural America to the biggest cities people are seeking lower impact products. 80% of consumers today say that their product choice is influenced by environmental considerations. The durable advertising industry is undergoing a big focus on green impact. Why - well the big dirty secret reason is that half the products our industry sells end up in the trash the day their received. At Arizona Cap we can help you avoid those product mistakes and save the planet and your wallet. As whole our industry produces lot of junk. So instead of of concentrating on creative ideas to use durable products that won't end up in a landfill, the industry is making great efforts to produce environmentally friendly trash. The good news is that if you are using the right durable advertising products in the right way won't get trashed and you have a lot of options in eco-friendly products that show your employees, your clients and your community that you care. Some of the best eco-friendly options are oragnic clothing lines, and recycled bag and tote products.

What is "Durable Advertising"

Advertising is the non-personal way in which you promote your products, services and ideas. When you can't send someone personally to "sell" the idea (Salesmanship) you use advertising. In it's more common forms advertising comes via television, print media, radio, the internet, and direct mail. Durabable advertising is the use of imprinted products, logoed & printed apparel, and branded gifts to promote your message. What makes a printed t-shirt, refrigerator magnet, or engraved pen durable advertising is that it presents your brand and conveys your message long after it is paid for.

A 60 second television or radio ad is gone in ... well 60 seconds. Through repeated ($$$) airings you can hope to have that message embed in the minds of your audience. Studies vary in their assesments of just how many times you have to hear/see those ads before they stick, but they all agree that in today's increasingly busy and media filled world broadcast media is becoming less and less effective. We are increasingly tuning out the advertising in these media. With lower response to broadcast media it is all the more painful to know that when our 60 seconds ends our money is gone and so too is our message.

Durable advertising products offer you anotehr medium that is more permanent and lasting. Next week we'll all watch Super Bowl ads that will get lots of buzz. In 6 months we might even rembember one or two of them. Unfortunately for the companies that are paying $2.7 million for a 30 second spot surveys have shown that many can't remember what company aired the ad they liked so much. On the other hand your client will have no doubt recalling that it was Continental Window Cleaning that gave them the ruler they have on their desk. In fact, even though it was three years ago they still know Continentals phone # and website (because it's printed on the ruler!) So when the windows need cleaned who do you think will get the call?