When it comes to promotional
items, “so little time is spent thinking about them, yet
so much money is spent on them,” says Marty Bear,
president of Professional Marketing Services Inc. in Fairfield,
Conn. “Everyone uses them,” he adds, “but very few people get
training on
how to buy them.”
Following are tips for selecting and ordering those ubiquitous
custom-made items that keep a company’s name in the limelight, help
orient attendees and provide a keepsake from a particular
event.
Choose a vendor
Only about 10 percent of promotional-product distributors (PPDs)
specialize in providing goods for meetings, according to Bear. To
find a good supplier, Bear and other marketing experts suggest the
following criteria.
Look for meetings know-how. Find a company that
works with meeting planners all the time. These companies usually
exhibit at meetings industry gatherings. Also, ask other meeting
planners for recommendations.
Some of the benefits of using good, meetings-focused PPDs:
" They know the details and pricing of their catalogs, as well
as what is in stock.
" When dealing with gifts or prizes, they will ask whether to
send them to the meeting or to recipients’ homes.
" They offer quick turnaround times. Once-standard turnarounds
of up to 120 days are not acceptable in today’s faster-moving
business world.
" They provide proofs of the product for your approval before it
goes into production.
" They have a good system of tracking items, and they guarantee
accountability.
" They understand the narrow window of time through which they
can send items to a hotel or convention center. Too early, and the
venue will not want to store the items; too late and, well, it’s
too late.
" They can demonstrate good value. This is not about who can
offer the cheapest price, but who provides high-quality products
with efficient and comprehensive service.
" They understand transactional issues such as drayage.
" They are willing to pre-stuff the tote bags with registration
information for large conventions.
" They have proven capabilities for processing digital
artwork.
Search out innovation. There aren’t a lot of
truly innovative items nowadays, says Bear, so try to find a
company that concentrates on discovering interesting new products.
Keep in mind, of course, that innovation ultimately is less
important than consistency and reliability.
Investigate fulfillment. Ask if the PPD has a
fulfillment house a warehouse in the United States where items are
packaged and quickly sent out. That helps if lead times run short,
says Michael McGurk, president of Greenwich, Conn.-based Classic
Sportswear & Promotions.
Better Gifts
If you’d like to give a nice gift, perhaps to thank a speaker or applaud an honored guest, promotional products probably aren’t the best choice. Gifts are intended primarily to please the recipient, rather than advertise a meeting, event or supplier. And they’re typically more expensive, too. Some gift-buying advice:
Will they really use it? Consider the demographic of recipients. Younger attendees might enjoy a designer T-shirt, whereas nurses might appreciate a high-quality retractable pen on a chain.
Splurge for good materials. Gold might be too expensive, but people will appreciate items crafted in fine silver or crystal.
Drop the logo. If a gift is really great, the logo will be superfluous; recipients will remember where they got it and they’ll be more likely to use it. If a logo is deemed necessary, make it small and unobtrusive. For clothing items, consider tone-on-tone embroidery in an inconspicuous place, such as on the back of a cap or the cuff, the lower left hip or the neck of a shirt, suggests Allison Rao-Lavigna, president of the New York City-based Focus Merchandising. -- J.V.
Build a strong relationship
Develop a rapport with your vendor, because you’ll need to
be honest about your budget and your promotional needs, advises
Marty Bear. Some important considerations:
Avoid one-night stands. While some suppliers
likely will be able to offer one-time-only deep discounts on items,
it’s more beneficial to return again and again to one vendor who is
a pleasure to work with and who guarantees quality each time.
Don’t steal ideas. While shopping among
suppliers, it’s unethical to take one vendor’s original idea and
present it to another, in order to find a better price. “You’ll
blow through good vendors,” warns Bear. “It’s business
suicide.”
On the other hand, it’s perfectly fine to ask a few PPDs how
they would fashion your promotional items. As long as the person
with the idea you choose gets dibs on the business, it shouldn’t
offend anyone, says Allison Rao-Lavigna, president of the New York
City-based Focus Merchandising.
Provide key information
Whether approaching a PPD for the first time or the 20th,
here are a few things the planner should bring to the table.
Know your goals. Be ready to explain the
specifics and objectives of your meeting. The feedback PPDs can
give will be much better, says Nancy Gudekunst, MAS, president of
the Portland, Ore.-based Marco Ideas Unlimited. Some critical
information:
" The meeting budget and promotional items budget
" Location of the meeting (island, small town, city, etc.)
" Theme and/or goals of the meeting
" The nature of attendees (Are they salespeople? Contest
winners?)
" Number of items needed
" Details about promotional products used at last year’s
meeting. Was the right number of items ordered? Were the items
appreciated? How does last year’s budget compare to this
year’s?
Be open to creativity. One thing you don’t need
initially is a firm idea of the types of items you’ll order. Allow
the PPD to be creative, says Rao-Lavigna. Even something as simple
as a tote bag, if designed with ingenuity, can wow attendees.
Have images ready. Logos and other artwork
should be in high-resolution digital format, deliverable via e-mail
and ready to be printed. Remember the end result cannot be better
than the quality of the images you provide. “Bad art doesn’t go
away,” jokes Bear.
Provide a shipping address. If the items aren’t
coming to you at your office, designate a contact person who will
be on the lookout for deliveries and keep track of items
ordered.
Start early. The more time, the better, says
Nick Topitzes, CMP, president of PC/Nametag, based in Verona, Wis.
It’s helpful to have enough lead time to see samples, discuss
options with other decision makers and still be able to use
standard shipping.
Select an item
With domestic and overseas companies selling thousands of
slightly different product lines, picking something as simple as a
tote bag might be surprisingly difficult. Following are some
considerations for popular promotional items.
Tote bags. If they’re just intended to hold
conference materials, the bags need only be the appropriate size
and shape, plus sturdy enough to get through the event and back to
the office. However, if the objective is to provide something that
will be used in the future, ask these questions:
" Is the material durable?
" Are there enough pockets?
" Are the straps long enough to sling around the shoulder?
" Is the color and design appropriate for all male and female
attendees?
Lanyards. To make these items more useful,
Topitzes suggests color-coding lanyards to indicate whether the
carrier is a speaker, an exhibitor or an attendee, for example.
Again, consider if they will be used repeatedly. People in the
securities and medical industries need good lanyards for carrying
badges. For these attendees, it might be wise to add a retractable
reel, so they can extend the lanyard length when swiping their ID
cards.
Badge holders. If the budget allows, order a
badge holder with a zippered pouch on the back. After the meeting,
attendees can use the pouch to hold valuables when visiting foreign
cities, going to the beach or working out at the gym.
Consider sponsors
Many organizations defray the cost of promotional items by
seeking sponsors. Here are some tips for getting the most
sponsorship dollars from exhibitors.
Be creative. Brainstorm possible activities
(and tie-in items) that will improve the meeting, says Bear. It
might be a fitness walk or a morning run, in which case a sponsor
might pay for sneakers or a logoed T-shirt.
Be flexible. Don’t approach potential sponsors
asking if they want to underwrite one particular tote bag, Bear
says. Instead, offer a dozen potential items for sponsorship.
Recruit the newbies. Approach new exhibitors
and tell them it would be
great if they could get involved, suggests Bear. Then ask how much
they can afford to spend.
Piggyback. If an exhibitor can’t afford to
sponsor an entire meal or a tote bag, ask a number of groups to
sponsor it together.
Ask the PPD. The promotional products
distributor might know of a company unaffiliated with the meeting
that wants to put its name in front of your audience, says
Gudekunst. Don’t forget to ask.
Name the event. When garnering sponsors for a
participatory sporting event, for example, call it the “First
Annual XYZ Corp. Competition,” says Michael McGurk. “It becomes
something they will appreciate more.”
Ask for more. Try to obtain enough money to
recoup costs and then some first, because the promotional item
might cost more than anticipated, but also because the value of the
exposure is often higher than the item’s cost.
Evaluate the conference. If attendance is
growing, price the sponsorship higher, says Bear. If it’s
shrinking, find other reasons why the sponsorships are valuable.
“Everyone’s budgets are being cut,” he says. “People are looking
for return on investment.”
Pitch it right. Explain to potential sponsors
that the item will be used again and again, long after the meeting
is over, giving sponsors lots of exposure, says Topitzes of
PC/Nametag. Lay out how the exposure will make them money.
Fine-tune the numbers. Sponsors would rather
spend their money on potential customers, Bear explains. Plan to
hand out tote bags only to attendees, and not to volunteers or
spouses.
Don’t overdo it. Beware of overcommercializing
an event, warns Nancy Gudekunst of Marco. Find sponsors only for
useful items.
Save money
“You might not have the budget this year for what you did
last year,” says Bear, “but it’s a buyer’s market. Prices are being
cut, so you can do better now.” Following are some tips for keeping
costs in check on promotional items.
Shop early. McGurk helps customers save 30 to
40 percent on items if they provide a few months of lead time. With
adequate time, he can order products from overseas and pay the
minimum for shipping. Rush delivery, on the other hand, can be
exorbitant.
Beware freight costs. An important factor in
choosing products should be weight, says Bear. A mug, for example,
can weigh up to a pound, and water bottles are surprisingly
expensive to ship and too bulky for many attendees to want to carry
home. Especially when meeting overseas, choose light products, such
as a polypropylene tote bag, which is durable yet weighs next to
nothing.
Ship in bulk. Nick Topitzes suggests combining
all promotional products for one meeting in the same shipment even
the same box to save on costs.
Manufacture locally. If heavy items like mugs
are required, ask that they be obtained from a supplier near to the
meeting to save on freight costs, suggests Gudekunst.
Order en masse. Meet with all those in the
company who might order promotional products, and figure out
exactly what everyone will need for the next six months, suggests
Bear. Then order all items at the same time, and request a discount
on the bulk order. This is especially important to avoid orders
under $500, which generally are not economical deals for either
buyer or distributor.
Keep it simple. Limit the number of colors in
the logo. Nowadays, simplicity is more trendy, anyway.
Seek bargains. If it doesn’t make a big
difference, use stock colors over custom colors. Also, ask if there
are any discontinued or overstocked items. Often, substantially
discounted items will fit the objectives of the meeting.
Get it right the first time. Decide what you
want at the beginning and stick to that decision. Last-minute
changes can be costly. Also, be sure to scrutinize the proof the
vendor sends you. “It sounds silly, but mistakes happen far too
often,” says Topitzes.