- Trade Show Giveaways
- Rewarding Referalls
- Direct Mail
- Fabulous Fashion
- Using the code
- Social Media Marketing
- Gamification 101
- Cooler Products
- Sustainability...a Mirage
- Eco and tech
- Wearing Green: Eco Friendly or sustainable
- Peter Wagner - Work & Play
- Eco Showdown
- Which side of the fence?
- Gourmet Gifts
- Corporate Wine Gift-Giving
- Identity Crisis
- Are you Ready?
- Inspiring Safety
- Health In Hand
- What Women Want.
- Recognition - How To Reward and Recognize the Class of 2010
- Canadian Pride - Show Your Canadian Colours in Your Promotions
- Funk It Up - How to Make Your Logo Stand Out
- Winning Promotions.
- Survival of the Fittest.
- Olympic Memories - Keep the Games Alive.
- Canada Believes - A Simple Promotion Goes Gold.
- Canada: Hands Up!
- Custom-Made Thanks.
- It's all in the details.
- Olympic Excellence, Pride & Passion - How the Olympic sponsors....
- Olympic Sponsors' Promotions: From coins to wine, how Canadian companies are creating Olympic buzz
- How well do you know your client? Building Lasting Relationships
- Virtual Contests - Legal and logistical challenges related to onine contests
- Click to Enter: How to streamine your online contests
- Recession-Proof: Motivation and Inspiration

Trade Show Giveaways Make Lasting Impressions

by Carol Phillips

What do trade show visitors recall the most at a show? The giveaways. In a sample of 264 trade show professionals surveyed, 95 per cent reported using promotional products as a giveaway at trade shows. Seventy-one per cent found them “extremely effective” or “effective” in accomplishing their goals of increasing name recognition, booth traffic, sales revenue and customer retention.

Why are they so effective? It’s because promotional products have staying power, bringing advertisers a return-on-investment not seen in other, more fleeting forms of advertising. And, don’t forget: everyone likes getting a free gift. And when the gift is useful, unique or fun, it will be used repeatedly, creating more exposure to the advertiser’s name or message — not only by the user, but to everyone around the person using it. Imagine an embossed golf divot tool. When the user takes it out to repair the green, the logo is seen not only by the user (again), but by every other golfer nearby.

Visitors at trade shows expect promotional gifts. You see them walking around with bags of goodies sticking out (sometimes literally) from the many flyers and catalogues that they collect. Curious, other visitors will head over to see that clever exhibitor who gave out the gift. More visitors mean better exposure for the exhibitor and more contact information collected for future sales.

Trade show giveaways also improve a company’s image and generate goodwill. 52 per cent of people who receive a promotional product say they would do more business with that company. Keep in mind, however, that the product you give away is a reflection of your company. What impression would you be leaving if your product is flimsy and falls apart after one use; or if it leaks and stains the recipient’s clothing? You want people to associate your giveaway with your company, so you want an attractive yet quality item that will stand the test of time, just like the product or service you are selling at your booth.

Promotional products are also effective as door prizes or props for your booth. People dropping their business card or contest coupon into your decorated draw box will be exposed to your logo or slogan. Your logo on show banners, carpets, tablecloths and staff uniforms will enhance your presence on the show floor, all working in conjunction with your giveaways to create that “wow” factor for your booth.

And recipients who like your giveaways will inevitably spread the word. After the trade show, visitors bring their promo gifts back to their office. Seventy-four per cent of 1,005 consumers surveyed reported having at least one promotional product in their work space; 91 per cent reported having at least one promotional product in their kitchen and 82 per cent had between two and 11 or more. Even when the recipient has no use for the product, 36 per cent said they would give it to someone else.

Eighty-nine per cent of therespondents from the same survey were able to recall the name of the advertiser on a promotional product they received in the past two years. The most commonly-used promotional products at trade shows are (in order of preference) writing instruments, wearables and bags.

But thousands of other products can be used to attract attention. How do you find the right products for your needs? Start by visiting pppc.ca, PPPC’s website, where you can browse over 375,000 products. When you’re ready to order, or if you find the selection overwhelming, contact your PPPC distributor.

A PPPC distributor is a professional who will work with you to help you find or develop the best products for your trade show or other promotional needs. Beyond sourcing products, they can also help you develop slogans, create artwork, advise you on decoration technique, work out a distribution plan, implement it and help you measure results.

Best of all, working with a PPPC member distributor gives you access to the largest and best-run promotional products trade show in Canada, TOPS+, PPPC’s Traveling Optimum Promotional Show is coming to a major city centre near you this August and September. The schedule is on page 26; we’d love for you to visit our trade show.

Attendance is free. All you need is an invitation from your PPPC distributor. If you’re not currently working with one, visit our website, pppc.ca, and click on “Find a Distributor.” See you there!

Rewarding Referrals - Finder's Fees are not the only way to say "Thank You" for Referrals

by Michelle Morra-Carlisle

In some businesses, referrals are everything. They are the entire premise behind networking groups like BNI (Business Network International), where people get together for breakfast once a week and must — as a prerequisite to staying in the group — drive business to one another via referrals.

Although referral gifts aren’t required, BNI founder Dr. Ivan Misner himself admits to the value of referral incentives such as flower bouquets from an esthetician or purses and money clips from a financial planner. In a survey published in a book Misner co-wrote with Robert Davis, Business By Referral, incentives are one of the most important methods of generating referrals for successful business professionals. Referrals are great business boosters so you really want to acknowledge, and encourage, that behaviour. A 2005 study conducted for Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) and the Incentive Performance Center at the Manship School of Mass Communication, Louisiana State University, found that accompanying a request for referrals, an offer of a promotional product incentive, or an offer of a promotional product incentive plus eligibility in a sweepstakes drew as many as 500 per cent more referrals than an appeal letter alone.

The fitness industry highly relies on referrals to continually find new members or participants. Snap Fitness in Plaquemine, Los Angeles gives people who refer a friend to the club a choice between a $35 gift card or a Snap Fitness T-shirt. Peak Performance Swim Camps across the United States, leading up to their 2011 season, gave a free logoed Nike gym bag to anyone whose friend signed up for the elite five-day program.

For two months of every year, the YMCA in Calgary has a “Lead a Friend to Health” promotion, encouraging members to share the fitness experience with friends and family. Susan Moorman, general manager of Member Service for the four Calgary branches, says that although everyone is aware that gyms exist, getting them through the doors is the tough part.

“Gyms can be pretty intimidating,” she says, “which is why relationship-building is so important. Once they get here they see that the Y is different. Our regular members get to know our staff on a first-name basis.”

She says the YMCA has a high member referral program. And while many gyms and other fitness facilities offer membership-based rewards — waiving your membership fee for a month if you refer new business, for instance — the Calgary Y offers promotional products.

While Moorman prefers not to divulge specifically what rewards they offer, she said it might be apparel, or other items featuring the YMCA logo. Other times, it might be intangible gifts. She says the gifts are always changing. “If people keep on giving us referrals, they don’t want to receive the same gift every time,” she says.

One advantage of the friendliness and accessibility of the Y frontline staff? On occasion, Member Services asks them to ask members, in passing, what type of incentive reward they would find appealing.

While referrals are crucial to the fitness industry, the stakes are much higher in the large transactions of real estate and finance. One referral can lead to a sizeable return from a new client’s investment portfolio or home purchase.

Cash vs. Carrots
In the world of finance there are huge opportunities for referrals, and Tracy Piercy believes advisors should spend more time building a referral program. “People focus on their core business and forget that the person they deal with is talking to other people about aspects of their finance.” As founder and CEO of MoneyMinding International Inc., Piercy says a good chunk of what the company does is educating financial advisors on marketing and referral marketing.

Promotional products are a good way to avoid the legal complexities surrounding cash or other big-ticket gifts. People in these sectors must use cash with caution. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA), for example, is a public watchdog that mandates that realtors always make referees and clients aware of referral incentives the realtor will give or receive (realtors often receive referral incentives from mortgage experts, for example, whether it’s a dinner out, cash, or a trip).

“The realtor is best to err on the side of disclosing as opposed to running the risk of monetary and licensing punishment by BCREA,” says Brian Niles, a Multi-year MLS Sales Award Achiever at Sutton West Coast Realty.

There are rules and regulations in the financial industry. “In an insurance and investment business,” Piercy says, “in some jurisdictions you’re not allowed to pay a percentage of commission to a non-licensed person.”

Promotional products can remove the danger of going overboard, as in recent times when a mutual fund company offered up expensive trips as rewards to advisors who promoted their funds to clients. “If one company was offering better incentives, all business was going to that company,” Piercy says. “The industry clamped down on that.”

Still, promotional products are in competition with cold, hard cash, which might be perceived as comparable in value to the business generated from referrals. What to offer besides money? The hard part is trying to put a dollar value on the goodwill of the person that you’re recognizing.

“If you’re getting a referral from an accountant that’s going to pay you $1,000 in commissions,” Piercy says, “what’s in it for the accountant, especially if the rules say you can’t pay a percentage of your commission? What can you give them? A bottle of wine? Gee, thanks.” Actually, in an article about referral incentives, Dr. Ivan Misner wrote about a bottle of wine that did do the trick. A realtor he met in Northern California who, for almost six years, offered a $150 finder’s fee to anyone giving him a referral that led to a listing or sale. In that time period he only gave out about a dozen finder’s fees.

Finally, the realtor tried a new idea. He was already growing grapes in his own vineyard, so he started processing the grapes and bottling his own vintage wine, attractively packaged with a custom-designed label. The wine was not for sale. The only way to get it was to provide a bona fide business referral to the realtor. He gave away dozens of cases in the first three years.

Perceptions of the value of a gift can be surprising. Monetary worth is not always as important as knowing someone was thinking of you, gave you special consideration, remembered and appreciated you. Humour and personality, too, go a long way to making a lasting impression. Cafepress.ca offers a whole line of cotton T-shirts specifically for real estate referrals. With messages like, “I love my real estate agent” and “My heart belongs to a real estate broker,” they don’t even have to be subtle.

There are three key times in a referral: when the referee gives you the referral; when the referral contacts you; and when the referral officially becomes a client and/or closes the deal. Some business people make sure to recognize the referee at every stage, even if the first stage is simply a handwritten “thank you” (don’t knock it — the mere act of putting pen to paper shows you took a moment to personalize the sentiment rather than stamp your name on it).

The business of personal finance is one where it takes time to earn a client’s trust, and word-of-mouth is everything. Lantern Investments, Inc. in the United States had a promotion in late 2010 that rewarded referees with a gym bag, shirt, mouse pad or pen, all branded with the Lantern Investments logo.

The “mortgage tune-up company” Home n Work advertises a referral incentive program on the websites of many of its agents, which works according to those three referral stages. If the referee provides three names of potential homeowners that may ask Home n Work for a free mortgage tune-up evaluation, the referee receives a $25-value Cineplex Odeon reward. And when a referral becomes a client, the referee can choose either a day at the spa, dinner and theatre, a golf package, or a hotel getaway, worth up to $150.

Niles sends a hand-written thank you card to people who provide him with the name and contact information for a potential client, along with a gift card to a local business or service worth $10 to $20. But once the referral turns into a client and buys or sells a property using Niles’ services, Niles pays the referee a $500 referral fee. And if a referee provides him three referrals that all buy or sell within the calendar year, the reward is a weekend getaway, usually in nearby Vancouver or Seattle, worth approximately $1,000.

In the past, Niles has given out logoed note pads and pens as well as personalized gift baskets, memberships to local attractions or concert tickets. He has also given out cash rewards but prefers gifts that people can enjoy in the future — the kind that will fondly remind them of his business.

“Ideally I would like to know I created a positive experience for the referee — compliments of providing me with the referral.” Offering referral rewards doesn’t cost anything until you get a new client, unlike paid advertising, which you pay for regardless of success. And giving a nice gift to the referee costs far less than paying commission to a sales team.

The study for PPAI found that over time, business from referrals obtained from promotional product incentives is likely to surpass the cost of promotion; as long as the referrals are good ones and the marketer follows up on leads.

Asked if incentives are worthwhile investments, Niles says, “Yes, most definitely. I believe in rewarding people for thinking of me when there are 1,300 other realtors they could refer to in this market.”

Direct Mail .... Making a Huge Comeback

by Danielle Vickers-Tjalsma and Terie Vickers-Craig

In our fast-paced, current-to-the-millisecond electronic business environment, reaching loyal and potential clients with your important message is daunting. There are countless studies highlighting the ineffectiveness of scattered e-marketing campaigns that can translate into millions of wasted dollars, as spammers continue to destroy the opportunity to “be seen” through email. So how can you ensure that they are reading your message?

Your reality as an e-marketer is that only about 20 per cent of all unsolicited email ever gets opened, and considerably less than that actually gets read. Business people are inundated daily with hundreds of corporate emails addressed and cc’d to them. Then there are those from friends, colleagues, and family – after which, everything else is deleted so your fabulous offer may go quickly by the “unread” wayside.

On the other hand, about 80 per cent of all hard copy mail gets opened. Even more striking is that 98 per cent collect their mail the day it is delivered and up to 77 per cent of that mail is opened immediately. Recipients are in a much more relaxed mode when they sort through mail and the difference in receptivity is incalculably important. This tactile interaction with physical mail versus the distance and instantaneous delete-ability of mail greatly increases the chance of your message being absorbed and acted on. Direct mail can potentially engage all the senses if you play your marketing cards right!

And that’s just mail – paper in envelopes – but what about lumpy mail? Enter promotional products to up the ante on this resurgence of an age-old marketing medium. It is human nature to feel excitement when receiving a package in the mail. The good feeling that accompanies being “gifted” has been prevalent for centuries, and is no different now, even in our technological world.

Insert a small flat gift into a standard #10 envelope and, without much additional postage, your message is infinitely more desirable. Increase the envelope size slightly and your choices include larger, more intriguing options, and if your budget allows for sending a box — then your options are limitless.

A direct mail campaign can be a one-time initiative or involve multiple sends with teasers and incentives leading up to an event, launch or date of action. Did you know that a second installment of a direct mail campaign will draw in over 50 per cent of the initial send-response rate? That is an exceptional “open rate.”

Selecting the right promotional product for a direct mail campaign is as important as it is fun. This is the opportunity to get creative and provide the recipient with an attentiongetting, memorable gift that will stay with them in a place you want to get noticed. The product you pick should be one that is interesting and useful to your target market, and one that is related to the product or service you are promoting.

It appears that the best marketing to keep customers engaged is a combination of contact forms, including email, which is cost effective and can reach many with the click of a button. A content-first strategy that offers multiple points of contact is the key to creating an active customer list rather than a prospective client list. To maximize the potential of a direct mail campaign, consider sending out a pre-mail e-blast, followed by the direct mail campaign in one or multiple hits, and concluded with an email or phone call follow-up.

The format would look like this: A “something’s coming” message, then a direct mail piece(s) announcing the promotion, baiting the hook, driving them to your website or asking for action — sent via traditional mail or courier — and then wrapped up with a “Did you receive it?” or “Thank you” email or phone call.

Here are some tips for success:
• To defer costs and to secure the time and resources to do proper follow-up, send out smaller numbers of the campaign weekly or bi-weekly, rather than all at once. Only 20/week garners 1000/year;
• Make a compelling offer — one that they can’t refuse (free gift, free goods, free shipping, free information, free registration, money back guarantee, referral fees, etc.);
• Stand “slightly” above the crowd, by using a #12 envelope or larger;
• Implement a trackable “call to action.” Make sure you can measure results. This is quite easy using web analytics if your call to action is to visit a website or web page;
• Choose a promotional gift that is functional, interesting, has perceived value and that can be imprinted with the information relevant to your campaign. It should also be “immediately” useful to engage the recipient while you’ve got their attention.

Direct mail is your best bet for driving your target market to your interactive website and social media pages. The direct mail piece will intrigue and motivate them to connect with you through platforms that are updated continuously and expensively. Make sure any direct mail includes QR codes, website addresses and social media links.

If you want to create a successful direct mail marketing campaign, consider the new 80/20 rule in your planning. Reach out to your target market with effective, intriguing and motivating “lumpy” packages, designed to motivate them to follow you in cyberspace.

For professional campaigns that get results, contact a distributor member of the Promotional Products Professionals of Canada (PPPC).

Fabulous Fashion - adding jewellry to your look

by Roger Gingerich and Lauren Shirreffs

When a company gives away a piece of jewellery, it sends a clear message: you count. “People don’t use it for a short time and then throw it away,” says Pini Abecassis, president of CNIJ, based in Toronto.

If it’s an anniversary for years in a company, it means: “I’ve spent so many years of my life with this company and I don’t want to throw this in a drawer. This piece of jewellery reminds me of that great company and the people I worked with.”

From traditional items such as rings, cufflinks, bracelets and watches to less traditional items such as belt buckles and dog tags, corporate jewellery is something that is making a big comeback and a grand statement for those high-achieving or important moments in your clients’ and employees’ lives.

Abecassis adds that it’s often not just one piece of jewellery, but a series of additions to one piece over years of employment that are popular — think of a charm bracelet or a ring. This can include adding different coloured stones for each milestone in the company. “People see it as not only something to collect but it’s a stepping stone — ‘look what I have achieved.’”

And while traditional might be considered too old school, many traditional items are getting a facelift and an update.

A shiny piece with a custom logo can tell your client a very different message than a $15 polo. Your voice and communication is illustrated by the effort you put into each piece. Unlike a practical promotional item such as a USB or pen, where you might have an office drawer full of these items, with a piece of jewellery, these are often one-of-a-kind pieces that are not redundant. With that in mind, tradition is coming back — big.

“When the economy isn’t good people look to buy more traditional items such as rings because they last — people start thinking longer term about their jewellery,” says Michael Drechsler, of Michael Drechsler Jewelry, based in Vancouver. “When times are good people are more creative — less traditional.”

Drechsler says there is a return to traditional rings - signet and gemstones — because they also solidify a relationship. “People move companies often but they still have this ring as a reminder.” Rings, even though they are perhaps old-fashioned, are still about an employee’s story and relationship with that company, he adds.

This also applies to cufflinks. Abecassis explains that a client had one set of cufflinks made into the shape of a bar of gold, while another set had the logo on both sides of the sleeve — replacing the clasp.

As for bracelets, linked bracelets are more popular than bangles. And even if charm bracelets are not new, they can be creative. One cosmetics company has each link related to their products: a lipstick, a nail polish bottle, etc.

Changing up the materials also makes for a unique gift: bracelets, necklaces and rings in stainless steel — even pins and dog tags — are more modern when made from this fierce-looking metal.

And belt buckles are not just for cowboys. “They used to be very popular with clients in the West, but we have sold more in the last two years than in the previous 10 years — they’re everywhere,” says Abecassis.

Timepieces may be traditional, but they continue to rank among the most popular items for consumer promotions, sales and dealer incentives, recognition programs, and more. They have always been a desirable and smart choice.

Because of their universal appeal and utility (a wonderful combination of “need” and “want”), timepieces are a winning choice for any number of initiatives.

Watches, embossed with a personal message or name, are a popular gift-giving option in the corporate world, especially for recognition. What about a Swatch or one that is funky? Or maybe one that tells time in different time zones for that employee who travels everywhere.

“A stylish, brand name watch has cachet,” says Michelle Edwards, national sales manager of special markets for Bulova Canada.

Corporate jewellery also symbolizes success and achievement — it’s meant for special times. With this in mind, take time to consider the style and material of jewellery you want to give — ensure that it’s going to sit proudly on someone’s wrist, hand or neck. You want the recipient to think of all that effort and time you’ve spent working together. It’s a proud time for you both.

When it comes to corporate jewellery, it can be worn with or without branding. In long term service programs, jewellery is a popular choice among recipients whose recipients don’t want a logo on their jewellery. The reality is: they know why they are getting it, and who they are getting it from. But for others, it’s bragging rights: ‘I just won the ‘President’s award for sales’. They’re proud of their accomplishments and they want it showcased on the largest billboard around, even if the billboard is the size of a watch face or a ring.

Using the Code in Marketing

by Alex Morin

If you’re not using QR codes in your marketing mix, you’re missing an opportunity to connect with over 2.5 billion smartphone users, as research companies predict global sales of mobile smartphones will reach that number by 2015. If you’re not incorporating QR codes into your promotional advertising, you’re missing an opportunity to turn static advertising into dynamic advertising. And if you’re not using QR codes yourself, you’re not seeing the big picture.

This article isn’t designed to be a tutorial on QR codes. There are plenty of great writings you can easily find on the Internet that will explain the history of QR codes and how they actually work. Instead, this article focuses on the practical applications of QR codes in our industry, the evolution of the technology, and a glimpse at how sci-fi concepts will infiltrate your marketing world in the near future.

Assuming you know that a QR code is a two-dimensional matrix barcode that can be read by smartphones — it stands for quick response because you can scan the code with your smartphone and go immediately to text, a URL, vCards, and tons of other data — the marketing implications are stunning.

The key to using QR codes to their fullest is to direct the scanner to a dynamic part of one’s website. Instead of just going to your site, direct them to integral parts of your website, or parts that have updated information or areas that drive revenue. For example, if you were a mortgage broker, you’d want to direct clients to your updated mortgage rates. One simple scan and your clients are informed. If you were an airline, you might consider pointing the QR code to the online check-in page of your website. Or, you could point your QR code to an unbelievable weekly deal on a sun destination. What if you were a recruiting agency? Perhaps your QR code goes to daily job postings. Whatever the case, visiting one’s home page is seldom the best spot to direct smartphone users since home pages tend to be more static than a weekly deal page or say a golf course’s weather report page.

Now that we understand where to point QR codes, it’s worthwhile to understand how to use these codes to generate income. Imagine this: Your city, municipality, or region decides to produce tote bags to give away at community events. They produce 10,000 tote bags (not a huge investment whatsoever), and decide to have a wonderful community image produced on both sides of the bag, with a QR barcode that says underneath it, “Scan here for weekly deals.” From experience, I’ve actually received recycled tote bags at our community events. But by simply adding the weekly deal QR code, I might scan the QR code in the first week and find out that if I bring my tote bag to such and such restaurant, I get a free appetizer when I order an entree.

I then continue to use my tote bag for grocery shopping for the rest of the week and decide to scan the bag again the following week. Interestingly, the new weekly deal tells me to bring my tote to the local movie theater and receive a two-for-one movie ticket for the weekend matinee. Hypothetically, the program could get so successful that the municipality that distributed the bags could now go to local merchants and ask if they’d be interested in running a weekly deal for a specified cost. The only thing that has to be done is to determine what the weekly special is and then upload it to the URL associated with the QR code.

And given that we can analyze how many people are hitting the weekly deals page, the community sales people are armed with valuable information that make their sales calls very attractive. Now, we are generating revenue by simply adding a QR code to a simple product solution like a tote bag.

Use this method for fundraising and/or campaign awareness. “QR codes are a way of branding and marketing is more forward thinking than any of our previous marketing campaigns,” says Cindy Perri, marketing director of Charcoal Group in Kitchener, which owns a group of restaurants.

“They are more widely accepted by our target market who are tech savvy — they know their stuff. We also felt that it’s a great way to grab their attention: when they see the code, immediately there’s a mystery to it — you don’t know where it will take you.”

Perri and her team used this reasoning for their new promotion at Wildcraft restaurant.

In the past the company has used the codes to direct guests to their menu or their current promotion. But their most recent promotion was near and dear to their hearts.

As long time supporters of the Ride with Lance event that raises money for Livestrong, Armstrong’s cancer fundraising organization, the restaurant offered catering for the event for the past three years.

“Being as this might be the last year, we wanted to make sure we did something special.” Launching in mid-May, servers at the restaurant will be wearing T-shirts with a large imprint of a QR code; the servers will also wear the bright yellow Livestrong cancer bracelets. “When the servers are walking around in the bar people will stop them and ask about the codes.” The guests can also take a picture of the QR code (and if they have the software on their phones), they can go to the site that has information on the Lance Ride or buy a T-shirt.

“We’re hoping they will purchase the shirts or give them the incentive to purchase at the restaurant. It’s also just a great conversation piece to get people talking about the ride that will help raise money for the cause.”

What intrigues me most about our industry is that often times the medium is the message (to borrow from the great communication theorist Marshall McLuhan). For example, silicone bracelets are now synonymous with charitable cause fundraising and awareness. But by using our mobile phones to read QR codes, the medium is not only the message but it becomes a portal to additional information. Thus, to coin a new term, “the mobile is the medium.” Inexpensive ways to enter the mobile/smartphone world have made wireless phones among the fastest growing consumer products in history. Chances are pretty good that your household owns more than one mobile device. So, as advertised at the outset of this article, if you’re not using QR codes yourself, you’re not seeing the big picture.

Have you ever wanted to know if you’re getting the best possible price on a consumer good? With an app designed to compare prices from other retailers, a quick scan will give you the big picture. You can even monitor your calorie intake by scanning barcodes on food packaging. This is big picture stuff folks! The reality is that the future is here.
Speaking of reality, do you remember watching sci-fi flicks as a child and seeing hologram images? Remember the famous hologram image of Princess Leia in Star Wars as she says, “Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi”? Those sci-fi ideas are no longer fictitious. Without a doubt, holograms will become a mainstream way of decorating promotional products within the next ten years. Concepts like augmented reality, in which one’s perception of reality is enhanced, is a year to two away from being a routine way of advertising. One has only to look at Esquire Magazine’s December 2009 edition that allows the magazine itself to interact with a PC via webcam.

It won’t be long before our promo products allow the same type of interaction! But we’re halfway there with QR codes. The interaction between QR codes on promo products and our mobile phones is enhancing our access to information and our ability to create marketing messages that are more thorough and carry more value. So as sales people, it’s our duty to know this technology and inform our clients on how it can benefit their businesses. Here’s a great tip: The next time you are selling a promotional product, simply ask your client the following question: “How would you like your promotional product to point your target audience to a favourite part of your website?” By taking 17 seconds to create a QR code (believe me — it’s that easy), you’ve just enhanced the usefulness of your promo product exponentially.

These days, QR codes are found everywhere, from billboards in Times Square, to newspapers and magazines, to car wraps, and even tattoos (yeah — that’s not a typo). The QR code is revolutionizing the way we market. Other interesting scanning options include Microsoft’s Tag technology, where the Tag Manager can actually manipulate the URL address in the middle of a campaign, or Jagtag’s powered QR codes that enable smartphone users as well as standard phone users to access this technology.

Incorporating QR codes into your marketing mix is essential. Spending a few minutes a week investigating new technologies and theorizing on how these technologies can sync with your marketing mix is even better. It’s an exercise that can potentially lead to ground-breaking discoveries and new ways to market. So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and start your own technological revolution!

Social Media Marketing - A new way to transform customers into fans

by Julia Rosien

Coca-Cola tapped into the power of social media in 2009 when it sought out “Happiness Ambassadors” in more than 200 countries. Charmin challenged Twitter influencers to join their potty party and compete to become one of five bathroom ambassadors in Times Square. Although not everyone won the big prizes, lots of entrants were rewarded with coupons and branded promotional products. Brand awareness spread like wildfire.

From diet pills to Botox, we’re obsessed with the quick fix. The new face of PR — Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. — can sound like the same kind of promise. With no added investment, your company can enhance your existing promotion or contest.

Social media speeds up the effects of word of mouth, but it doesn’t replace the hard work that goes into making those conversations happen. Social media isn’t free, but it’s the most effective and quickest way to reach potential customers and turn them into fans of your promotion, contest or incentive.

Think of social media as a personal shopper for your target audience. Swiss Chalet dedicates an entire TV channel to their rotisserie chicken with daily coupon codes redeemable on Facebook. By directing customers from TV to Facebook and back to the restaurant, they fuel conversations about their brand while getting taste buds salivating.

As a social media strategist, it’s my job to increase a company’s likeability online. Natura World Inc., a Cambridge mattress manufacturer, had a website but not much more when I joined their team in 2009. Within a year, more than 4,000 people on Facebook and 7,000 on Twitter followed the company. We did it by targeting the busiest group online today — moms.

We talked to influential bloggers, sending them signature products to experience with their families: a pillow, blanket or mattress topper. Because Natura’s product line is so unique, communicating differentiators became our biggest hurdle and our sweetest reward. Once our bloggers understood the message, they shared it with their readers by holding contests.

Readers of the blogs were asked to visit the Natura site and report back to the blogger which product she liked best. One of our bloggers received more than 700 comments. The rise in traffic was impressive but the brand engagement that carried over to Natura’s Twitter and Facebook steams spread the message further than any PR engine could ever accomplish alone.

Natura also held monthly themed contests. Fans on Facebook and Twitter were invited to share pictures and stories for a chance to win trademarked products — for use in rooms other than the bedroom. For example, a uniquely scented air freshener is perfect for the bedroom, but winners were encouraged to use it in other rooms and take it to the office.

Of course, after-contest engagement helped spread the message further. Asking fans to post pictures of the products helped potential customers see themselves using the contest winnings.

Make the message sticky

The average Canadian is exposed to more than 400 marketing messages each day and getting your message to be “sticky” in that onslaught is almost impossible. Almost. Reaching past the clutter and providing relevant information that improves people’s lives deepens the relationship and keeps your brand top of mind.

And through using social media, you can get your customers to spread the word about your contest for you.

Tracie Wagman, Publisher of Help! We’ve Got Kids, says parents of young children are unbelievably distracted. She uses her social media platforms (Facebook and Twitter) to ignite conversations between parents and brands. Questions like, “At what age do you leave your kids at home without a babysitter?” spark information sharing — and sometimes feisty debates.

Take that one step further and use Facebook and Twitter as part of the contest process. This is what Volvo did when it wanted to build momentum for a contest to promote its new Volvo S60.

Wanting to brand the car as the “most athletic car,” Volvo paired the car with basketball, specifically eastern U.S. college basketball. The www.mybigeastvovlo.com contest wanted fans to compete using social media to gain followers: the superfan with the most followers on Twitter and Facebook would win a trip to the giant Big East Championship in Madison Square Gardens.

The contestants were tasked with using as many social media outlets as possible to build the strongest online presence. Some used them to discuss the reasons why they should win, and their team devotion; contestants also used live Twitter feeds to prove their love of the game. At last count the Facebook page pulled in almost 6,000 followers. These are now 6,000 followers that have a vested interest, even if indirectly, in your contest.

In the end, participants must vote on their favourite fan — the one whose social media presence eclipsed all others. Targeting college students, who already use social media daily, was also a logical way to target the contest participants. They’re online anyway!

Facebook tips When people “like” or “follow” brands or contests on social media, they’re giving that brand permission to join an inner circle. It’s called permission marketing because you’re no longer interrupting a TV show or a song. You’re an invited guest into the conversation. Understanding how to do it and measure it are keys to success.

• Develop a brand voice — funny, hip, philosophical, informational. Stay true to it.
• Diversify your social media conversations. Does the contest or promotion remind you of an old commercial,or a song? Make these seemingly “extraneous” conversations part of the discussion. Don’t make it all about the contest per se.
• Make your content sharable. Put a “like” button on product and information pages on your site.
• Use analytics on Facebook to tweak when and what you post.
• Use Google Analytics to get a better picture of traffic patterns from your social media platforms.
• Invest in social media across your entire organization — each department can play a role.

Simple social media strategy

Launching a social media contest or reward campaign that involves logoed merchandise requires listening, planning, strategy — and smart execution. These tips will help you incentivize your influencers to share your products with their communities.

1. Use a tangible thank you. Choose easily sharable promotional products you’re going to send to winners or influencers. Wagman (from Help! We’ve Got Kids) says consumable products like tickets to shows or restaurant gift cards involve the whole family and can lead to picture sharing on social media.
2. Build the buzz. Volvo’s March Madness campaign didn’t make fans wait for the grand prize to be announced. They rewarded loyal contest participants throughout the contest with secret promo codes, discounts and branded products.
3. Carry the message further. Engaging in conversations is key to a successful campaign. When someone redeems a gift card and Tweets about it, ask about the service, the food, the ambiance — a picture of dessert.
4. Manage negativity. When there’s a problem with service or if a promo product breaks, choreograph the conversation and get a phone number. Then fix the problem. Quickly.

Define and measure success

If you promote your contest using simple print materials, ROI is often hard to determine. In steps social media can help. However, while social media can feel more measurable, it’s a long-term play and measuring it can be tricky. We’re building relationships, remember?

Dwayne Welch, vice-president for Hickory Springs, a foam and springs manufacturer in North Carolina, says jumping into social media is a monumental task for his 66-year-old conservative company. In 2010, Hickory Springs launched their Earth Care Inside label and along with it, a social media campaign that asked people if they were eco-chic or ecooblivious. They asked people to load a video on their Facebook, Twitter or YouTube channels. The winner received $1,000-worth of furniture from one of their partners (the furniture sported the Earth Care inside logo).

“We wanted to be a participant in the conversations online, not merely an observer, because we have a story to tell our retailers, which they can tell to the end consumer.”

The challenge for businesses like Hickory Springs is tocontinue the conversations between contests. Welch is the first to admit that they’re still in the learning stages and that with social media some of that learning takes place in a very public forum. “We feel it’s better to be in front of this movement than jump on the back end and try to catch up,” said Welch. “Our long-term end goal is for consumers to ask for products that carry our foam inside.”

Gamification 101: How to turn game dynamics into serious business

Game designers have known for years how to incent and motivate players to participate: appeal to people’s innate desire for things like rewards, status, achievement, self-expression, competition, and altruism.

When these “game dynamics” are applied in a non-gaming context with the goal of motivating people to behave a certain way, engaging customers, building loyalty, or incenting employees and partners to perform, it’s called “gamification.”

Understanding how and why gamification works, in what contexts it is most effective, and what its limitations are is the key to developing a winning strategy in this emerging space.

We’re all “gamers” deep down.

People have been playing games in various forms since the days of the caveman. Fast forward to today, where we have an immensely popular and tremendously profitable gaming industry (on the order of $60 billion per year), and you can make the argument that, deep down, we’re all “gamers.”

Now, combine the universal love of games with ubiquitous Internet access and thousands and thousands of mobile apps, and it’s really no surprise that people are coming to accept gamemechanics in other parts of their lives — including things like frequent flyer programs that you might not think of as games at all.

This growing trend makes gamification a powerful tool through which organizations of all kinds can teach, persuade, and motivate.

Gamification drives participation, participation drives value.

Integrating key concepts from a number of related areas, including game design, customer loyalty programs, behavioural economics, and community management, gamification is a powerful way for organizations to engage users, encourage them to join a community, and drive active participation, including sharing with friends outside the community, and even recruiting friends to join.

In short, gamification enables you to turn customers into fans, and fans into evangelists — if you can get people to participate and engage, your business wins.

Many marketers look to leverage online social networking as-is to encourage participation, but the results have been mixed. Forrester analyst Jeremiah Owyang concludes that “many brands are wasting their time, money, and resources to reach communities in social networks without first understanding that the use case is very different than a microsite campaign."

What are “game mechanics?”

Game mechanics are the rules and rewards that make up game play –– the aspects that make it challenging, fun, satisfying, or whatever other emotion the game’s designers hope to evoke.

Points: People love points, which makes them incredible motivators. Points can be used to reward and drive different behaviours within the same site or application. Points can also be used to unlock content or to “buy” virtual goods or gifts.

Levels: Like different classes in frequent-flyer programs, coloured belts in martial arts, or job titles in industry, game levels indicate that a player has reached a milestone and should be afforded a certain amount of respect and status.

Challenges: Challenges give people goals to work toward. You can configure challenges based on actions you’re tracking, and reward users with visible trophies or badges (like real-world scouting merit badges, coloured credit cards that indicate high spending limits, or coloured frequent flyer cards that indicate member status).

Virtual goods: For a game economy to be effective over time, it should allow players to spend points, provide an incentive to earn more, and offer the ability to customize something that reflects a personal identity. Virtual goods help achieve all of this and are a great vector for creativity, competition, and self-expression in the community.

Leaderboards: The most successful games ever created have “high-score” tables. In the context of gamification, leaderboards are used to track and display desired actions, using competition to drive valuable behaviour.

Competitions: Competitions let users challenge each other to win rewards. This is great for “multiplayer-enabling,” one-player games and other single user-experiences. For example: “I just scored 500,000 points at Asteroids, I dare you to beat that!”

Motivating behaviour.

Wherever there are people, there are people to be motivated.
• Incent sales people and channel partners to grow revenues and focus on desired product mixes via competition and challenges.
• Motivate call centres and customer support organizations to deliver superior customer service through a customer feedback mechanism or other metrics.
• Motivate employees to pursue optional training initiativesthat enhance their careers and make them more valuable to the company.
• Incent patients and health insurance customers to adopt and stick with healthy lifestyle choices that extend their lives and reduce healthcare costs.

Building your brand — and your profits.

In the long run, the goal of marketing is to maximize the lifetime value of a customer base by increasing the average selling price and frequency of purchase. Using gamification, marketers can help increase brand awareness, affinity, and purchase intent; you can drive the audience to spend more time on a website or related social media property and come back more often. The more users interact with a site, the more valuable and loyal they become and the less incentive they have to click away to another source.

Driving engagement through loyalty programs.

Loyalty programs can be significantly more effective using gamification to add intrinsic motivators to the “earn” aspect of the experience. Earning points mimics the elements of a game, including competition and the pursuit of a goal. Fun, compelling, and addictive game play generates exciting emotions that add to the player’s experience, whether the competition is solitary or involves others.

Adding leaderboards and tiered-achievement levels enhance the gaming aspects because people want the challenge of working for a reward. Essentially, the right level of challenge arouses and excites the brain. Setting and hitting milestones result in a repeated sense of accomplishment and boosts self-worth, leading to the ultimate satisfaction of reaching the goal and “winning the game.”

Are you ready for gamification?

We’ve laid out a basic framework for gamification here: what it is, why it’s powerful, and how you can use it now. So what’s next? As with any significant undertaking, you should first ask yourself some fundamental questions:

Is my offering compelling enough? No matter the quality of the gamified experience, it is only a wrapper around your core offering. Gamification cannot make an unloved property into a hit, but it might provide the tipping point that helps a good product find a larger audience, or turns a hit into a cross-channel smash. Gamification works best when turning an exciting, attractive product into a richer, more participatory one.

What is the context? Will your audience discover your campaign on TV, in real-world stores, through social media channels, in print ads, or somewhere else? Just as savvy advertisers connect multi-channel campaigns, consider how to extend your gamification reach into other avenues.

Am I willing to commit? Gamification is a long-term strategy, not a launch-and-forget-it one. You can create a rich experience from the outset, and evolve the experience over time to draw experienced users deeper into the game.

How quickly do I need to go to market? How soon do you need to gamify your site or application? What kind of expertise do you have in-house to make it happen? Do you have the resources to support, operate, and enhance your gamification solution over time?

What is success? Most important is to have a clear sense of what your business goals are and how you’ll go about determining if you’ve achieved them.

A leading computer manufacturer created a gamified Facebook application that offered college students a chance to win a $5,000 scholarship and a free PC for a friend. Six weeks after the launch, program participation had increased ten times.

• 1 in 6 participants wrote and submitted an essay
• Almost 1 in 5 made the student laptop their profile picture on Facebook for a day
• 1 in 4 recruited their friends to help them
• 1 in 3 checked out the student laptop reviews
• 1 in 3 promoted the Facebook application
• 1 in 3 posted their award and new level
• 1 in 3 visited the educational computing site
Article reprinted with permission by Rajat Paharia, founder and chief product officer for Bunchball, pioneers in the field of gamification.

Cooler Products

by Jack Hancocks

It’s a beautiful, warm summer day. You’re on your deck, soaking up the sun. You get the urge for a cold one, but that means that you have to get up, go inside, go to the fridge, get one out, open it and then go back outside to that idyllic world. What a hassle. There must be a better way, other than finding someone else to do all of this for you! There is. Your life of leisure could be complete with one of these really neat coolers beside you on the deck. Check ’em out!

Coca-Cola Bottle Fridge - A bit of nostalgia with a useful purpose
SPECS: Unit can chill to approximately 16°C/29°F below ambient temperature or heat to approximately 55°C/131°F. Not designed to heat cold foods, but certainly can keep pre-cooked foods and drinks warm. Another great feature: it runs on 110 VAC or12 VDC. This enables you to take it on the picnic or tailgate party as well as use it on the deck or patio. The only downside: you can’t co-brand it with your client’s logo as the marque owner doesn’t like that kind of thing.
BUY IT: Ask your distributor for DezineCorp product # IBC10 – from $224.45. www.dezinecorp.com

Mini-Keg Cooler - A unique product sure to get comments from your friends
SPECS: A unique three-litre drink dispenser that you can order with a stainless steel or plastic interior. It’s a great piece for any beverage company to promote their particular brand or as a conversation piece for the deck or rec room. The unit has a threaded spigot to ensure no leakage and it sits on a wooden stand (included with the unit) which allows you to place a glass underneath the tap for easy dispensing. It’s more appealing than a traditional glass or plastic pitcher.
BUY IT: Ask your distributor for pricing as it is dependent on choice of interior materials and quantity. www.aztecwoodproducts.com

Igloo Cool Fusion 40 Icy Tunes - Perfect for cool drinks and cool tunes for your next BBQ or camping trip
SPECS:Not just a plain old cooler. This unique product is a portable music player too. The audio components consist of a two-speaker music console with an MP3 connection, AM/FM radio, bass and volume control and an LED power indicator. All you need to add are four AA batteries and you’re good to go. The unit also includes a plastic base for durability, a dry storage area, handles and a locking telescoping handle for the heavy loads, a reinforced bottom, drink holders, external storage, and wheels to navigate corners. The cooler is deep enough to hold a two-litre bottle upright and has an actual capacity of 38 L/40 Qt. That’s big enough for 58 cans for those of you with an unusual thirst.
BUY IT: Ask your distributor for the Win-Leader product # 00045512 – MSRP $159.99. www.winleader.com

Sustainability...a Mirage

by Alex Morin

Sustainability is a buzzword these days. The philosophy is catching on with governments, corporations, households, and individuals alike. In theory, the concept of sustainability sounds relatively simple: do things, produce things, and consume things that better our environment in an enduring and sustainable way. Yet what many fail to realize is that the concept of sustainability is rather like an ecosystem. If one part of the system is broken, every other part is in jeopardy.

At Debco, our company deals in hard goods. We sell an awful lot of tote bags. In a utopian version of sustainability, our bags would be produced using renewable and sustainable materials. The manufacturing facility would be powered by clean energy, and wind-powered vessels would transport the goods across the ocean. Consumers would use the bags until they naturally biodegraded and the cycle would begin again. In a magnificent example of the fragility of an ecosystem, the slightest variation in ocean temperature, due to global warming, will have devastating effects on ocean life. Similarly, the notion of sustainability, when it comes to eco-friendly tote bags, is undermined by the slightest variation in lead-time management, global economics, and even commodity prices. For example, the decision to delay offshore ordering, necessitating the use of air freight as opposed to ocean freight, serves to increase one’s carbon footprint rather than diminish it. In 2011, anticipated labour shortages, difficulty procuring raw materials, and economic factors resulting in increased costs in the Orient will force importers to explore less industrialized manufacturing nations where sustainable practices are still in their infancy, thus further deflating the notion of sustainability. Is it a losing battle? Is true sustainability but a mirage? After all, we haven’t even begun to explore the perils of packaging and the masses of paperwork associated with each overseas order. But the sweet melody of improvement is always more compelling than the cacophony of status quo and destruction. In the nineties, pollution ran rampant in China. Fabrics and inks were laced with lead, PVC vinyl was the norm, and factories belched pollutants into the atmosphere. Today, of its own volition and due to world scrutiny, the Chinese government has made great strides in curbing environmentally destructive practices. There’s still a long way to go (as there certainly is in North America) but the voice of positive change is making a considerable difference.

The promotional products industry has long been a fertile ground for imagination, creativity, and innovation. Over the years, some of the brightest minds in our industry have created ad campaigns that are stunning in every way. We’ve come up with decorating methods, once believed to be impossible. We’ve forged innovative trade routes that have revolutionized the whole supply chain. It seems that whatever challenge we’ve faced has been overcome with creative intelligence. We must now turn our collective forces to the creation of sustainable product solutions and sustainable practices lest we drain the resources of our planet and end up with a barren desert landscape, a result of our short-sightedness and apathy. Companies like Banner Pen are rising to the challenge with revolutionary offerings such as their new Rock Paper line. Ash City is also leading the way by incorporating soybean protein and bamboo charcoal nano-particles into its yarns. Our own company, Debco, has partnered with Unifi-Repreve, a North American company that uses North American pre-consumer and post-consumer waste in its fibres. In fact, many of our distributor partners are pushing us to continue sourcing and procuring sustainable product solutions. This type of distributor/supplier partnership is the impetus to positive change as one challenges the other to source and to sell these types of sustainable solutions. As suppliers, distributors, and end-users, it’s our duty to educate one another. An understanding of the variables affecting overseas production will result in better planning, which will, in turn, minimize the need to use less efficient methods of transportation. Direct shipments will minimize the usage of fossil fuels. Understanding which suppliers have developed relationships with progressive and more sustainable factories will minimize one’s carbon footprint. Partnering with suppliers that use the latest in-house toxic metal detection devices will ensure that we are not putting contaminants into our children’s hands. Even the act of using a supplier that’s transitioned its heavy flow of paperwork to a paperless system can have a tremendously healthy impact on our environment.

One of the pleasant surprises to come out of the recent global recession was the social media explosion. Forced to market in less expensive ways, coupled with a realization of the power of viral marketing, social media marketing rocketed to prominence. With the ability to touch tens of thousands of clients in an instant, a drastic decrease in the amount of hard-copy flyers and catalogues was realized overnight! Today, that trend continues with social media marketing becoming a more prevalent instrument in the arsenal of marketers everywhere. (But this topic deserves an entire volume of analysis). Suffice it to say that new marketing has spawned another eco-conscious way of doing business. In the nineties it was virtually unheard of to use third-party agencies to certify sustainability, safety, and compliancy practices. Today, that exercise has become the norm instead of the exception. The consequence is that the entire supply chain is being forced to examine how it can be part of the solution instead of the problem. End-users are asking better questions, distributors are partnering with conscientious suppliers, and conscionable suppliers are forcing their overseas partners to be accountable.

Sustainability is industry’s ecosystem. We are an integral part of that ecosystem and our actions, as inconsequential as we may believe them to be, ripple across the seas in both positive and negative ways. We are influencing the tide of positive and sustainable change but we can do better. Consider whom you partner with. Consider what steps you can take to enact a more sustainable solution. Consider ways to improve. But please consider considering.

Eco and tech

by Jack Hancocks

We found three products that marry these two seemingly contradictory elements.

1) ESP’s Fun Cube USB flash drive was one of the winners of the Most Creative New Products at the PPPC Image Awards

SPECS: USB version 2.0. The case is constructed from hard, durable, shockresistant plastic.

Tier 1, grade-A quality flash memory chip (Tier 1 is the highest quality and most reliable chip available, uploads the fastest, lasts the longest and has the least error/defect rate).

Ninety-eight per cent or better actual capacity of memory (the highest); available in 1 GB and 2 GB capacities.

Factory warranty for one year against manufacturer defect.

The USB blocks appear as twist cubes or a puzzle that make you want to play with it.

ESP is offering a four-colour process, cut-out sheet decal system. Developed to decorate 12 locations on each drive economically (one set-up).

Used as building blocks, interrelated departments or pieces of a puzzle, it has more message “space” than other USBs.

BUY IT: Ask your distributor for ESP product #0153. Priced from $14.25 per unit with a one-colour imprint. www.esppromo.com

2) Ever been on the road using your Bluetooth-enabled cell phone and your phone starts to beep? You reach for your CLA adapter (car charger) and you realize it isn’t in your car! What are you going to do?

SPECS: The solar carabiner charger and power bank has adapters to fit almost any kind of device that you could imagine, even BlackBerrys and iPhones. Leave it on your dash, hang it from your backpack with the carabineer or plug it into your USB port.

Built-in Li-ion polymer battery is chargeable using either the built-in solar panel (eight hours for a full charge) or the USB charging connection that comes with it (four hours for a full charge).

Included adaptors: USB Cable, USB U3, iPhone port, Mini USB (older BlackBerrys use these) Micro USB (newer BlackBerrys use these), Samsung S2, Samsung S3 and an LG L1.

The branding area on this device is exceptional with multi-colour imprinting available.

BUY IT: Ask your distributor for Leed’s product #1693-09 priced from $45.48 per unit with a one-colour imprint. www.leedsworld.ca.

3) Ever wonder how much energy your computer is consuming each day in cost and in kilograms of CO2? The Buzline EcoButton will not only drive home how much it can cost, but it also gets your name out to your clients, both existing and prospective.

SPECS: This device plugs into your USB port and is downloaded free from the ecobutton site. www.Buzline.com. When initiated, it puts your computer into the most efficient sleep mode.

The splash screen is available in three sizes, depending on price.

Available as an ecobutton or ecobutton hub, which is an ecobutton with three USB ports built into it.

Once you are ready to use your computer again, touch a key (the On/Off button on laptops) and it revives the screen with a message: the amount of money and CO2 that you have saved today, and cumulatively, since its installation.

BUY IT: Ask your distributor for Buzline’s product #1043982 ($9.47) for the EcoButton or #1044770 for the EcoButton hub for $14.19. www.buzline.com.

Wearing Green: Eco Friendly or sustainable

by Roger Gingerich and Charmaine Joseph

Is the apparel industry trying on a new trend or getting fitted for a long-term adjustment to its wardrobe?

What makes a product “eco-friendly or sustainable?” Can buying a locally made product versus foreign contribute to saving the environment? How resourceful is a shirt that’s made from bamboo or recycled pop bottles if it exhausted various resources and energy to ship to the customer? These are questions that your supplier or distributor should be asking and as an end-user, you should know the answers.

With companies’ wishing to lighten their carbon footprint, it is becoming more common to see top suppliers in apparel feature eco products. Do you think apparel is really intended to work in harmony with nature? Or is “going green” simply the new black? We discussed this topic with Christine Hadvick, the marketing and public relations representative for STORMTECH Performance Apparel.

“Years ago, many of our eco-friendly initiatives startedwith our employees who took it upon themselves to create greener alternatives to combat the environmental impacts of our business. As time passed, we realized that we had the ability to create eco-friendly products and transform our own environmental policies.” Not only does the company comply with all applicable environmental regulations and laws in the countries of their production, they have created their own ethical code called “STORMTECH Our World.”

The STORMTECH Our World production code ensures that no materials used in the production of STORMTECH gear contain any substances that are harmful to the environment.

“This philosophy is adopted into almost every facet of our business from our production facilities in areas of air, water, and noise pollution to recycling.”

The global apparel industry is one of the largest contributors in the world’s economy in terms of employment, revenue, trade and investment. The apparel industry is also quite unpredictable, depending on global trends. Based on 2006 statistics, Asian-Pacific countries accounted for 82 per cent of worldwide apparel production, yet, they do not dictate how that fabric is made — they only produce what is in demand. If the majority of apparel production is done offshore for the North American market, and if eco products are the new demand (whether temporary or not) then how environmentally friendly are the products if they are using energy and resources to ship them?

We asked the president of Trimark Sportswear Group, Will Andrew, if he thought eco-friendly or sustainable products are a fleeting trend.

“Two years ago we experienced a high level of interest in our EVOLVE Collection, which is our recycled and organic collection. However, the price points required were anywhere from 10 to 20 per cent higher than standard products. As a result, the volume did not reach the forecasted demand. At the moment it has been a focus for us in development but not in our current collections. I think this is in large part due to the recession and need for lower price points and now because the manufacturing overseas has been hit with an unprecedented number of issues, from surging cotton and fabric prices, wage rates, labour shortages and dramatic increase in domestic demand within China.”

Andrew predicts that it will be another year orr two for these types of garments to surface in a significant way. He adds that some companies are environmentally progressive. Companies such as Coke have made it mandatory to use RPET (Recycled poly ethylene terephthalate) fabrics.

When many think of eco products they tend to associate them with fabrics that are “natural,” most commonly, cotton. However, the production of a simple 100 per cent cotton T-shirt requires as much as one third of a pound of pesticides. Cotton cultivation covers more than 2.4 per cent of global arable land, involving about 30 million farmers. Cotton is produced in more than 65 countries worldwide. The sad part is that the commercial production of cotton requires an incredible amount of resources and leaves a staggering degree of pollution behind. According to the World Bank, “Cotton accounts for 16 per cent of global insecticide releases — more than any other single crop.”

However, there is also a rationale behind cotton being the number one fibre in the world, including the promotional world: demand and price. We all have a cotton T-shirt or have worn one in our lifetime. They work with all body types, are comfortable and come in crewnecks, V-necks, mocks, tanks, short sleeves and long sleeves; we could go on and on. And as much as we mention agricultural land being used for cotton production, it cannot go unmentioned that apparel is also one of the three basics of life: food, shelter and clothing.

From a durability angle; cotton is, unfortunately, susceptible to shrinkage and wrinkling which is why many suppliers provide many polyester options. Polyester, from an engineering standpoint, is built to last forever.Try to picture a plastic straw; the construction and shape of a straw is pretty much an enhanced view of a polyester strand. The strand does not breathe naturally; it requires a finish or coating to assist in becoming a “moisture management” piece. Polyester is made from petrochemicals via a process of refining crude oil, whose pollution wake is extensive. Polyester is nearly indestructible, which is great for the customer who is looking for a T-shirt that will last for a few years, but in a landfill, polyester can take hundreds of years to break down. We could discuss some amazing advancements in bamboo, corn, hemp, soy, and used coffee grounds, but since 80 per cent of fabric used is either cotton or polyester or a blend of the two, it’s best to work with what’s used. We still have a long way to go. Let’s support the apparel suppliers that are open to a variety of fabric choices and production.

The pressure to go green in the industry is evident, says Andrew, who adds that they do have a few styles for companies willing to pay for green fabrics, but for the majority, the price to go green is too high. “We are workingtowards highly effective processes that will reduce the impact to the environment, but have lower price points. It may take time, especially with all the issues currently facing the apparel industry in Asia.”

And for all the challenges that providers of apparel face in 2011, including various consumer demands and special interest groups behind global pollution reduction, manufacturers are doing what they can to meet consumer demand. Ultimately, it is the corporate buyer and the enduser that will either support or ignore the future of sustainable apparel.

Peter Wagner - Work & Play

A coffee bodum might not seem like a conventional environmentally friendly promotional item, and that’s why it makes the perfect tool to promote an eco heating and cooling business. “Solar panels on a roof, driving a hybrid — these are easily recognizable as eco, but most of our services are invisible,” says Peter Wagner, managing director for Eco Home Technologies based in Kitchener, Ont. “You step into a home and it’s warm or cold and you don’t know whether the house is using sustainable methods or fossil fuels.” He says giving the bodum as a promotional item works on the same premise: “It’s a badge that can ignite a conversation.”

The bodum isn’t overtly eco friendly but since it only requires hot water and not percolation from an entire coffee maker, it’s a step in the right eco direction. It’s sending a message that is aligned with the company’s brand and mandate. But finding these types of promotional items is not easy, he says.

“We’re constantly looking for items consistent with our message and that don’t require the person to change the way they behave, so that it eases into their lifestyle,” he says, adding that most of their customers are already mindful of their environmental impact. Therefore, the company wants to give items that suit this lifestyle.

“In the spring we’re looking to do small food waste containers that sit in the kitchen because how does one manage taking the compost from the house to the green bin outside? We want to make it easy for them. We want to make something that facilitates their bit for the environment.”

It’s the same philosophy for their customers’ heating and cooling needs: “We work with customers to determine how committed [to the environment] they are, how long they are going to live in the house, how big the house is, where it is and how their changes will fit in with their budget.” For example, putting in an entire geothermal system for homeowners only committed to living in a house short term isn’t necessarily the best decision.

So then, what are the more economical and eco ways to retrofit their homes? Wagner realizes that everyone’s environmental commitment can’t be the same — but a little is better than nothing.

PLAY
“It was one of the most electrifying nights of my life,”Wagner says of watching bobsledding at the 2006 Torino Olympics in Italy. When Pierre Lueders and Lascelles Brown took home the silver, the vibe was intense. “The beauty is that you can literally be two feet away from the sled without barriers and you can walk up and down the track…you don’t get to see it for very long but the speeds are amazing. You can watch from the screens and there’s always timed updates.” Spectators went wild, says Wagner. Predominantly a European sport, bobsledding doesn’t have the same following in Canada. Wagner wants to change that.

As the vice president of recruiting for the Bobsledding Association of Ontario, he wants to show Canadian athletes that sledding is attainable. “Bobsledding isn’t even on the radar in Ontario because there’s no tracks.” One way to get around that is association trips to places such as Lake Placid that do have tracks. “There’s a hot bed of talent and we’re trying to get exposure…two years ago I went and did a bobsled race called “fat and 50” in Lake Placid — participants got to see the best people doing it. This sport iss just crying for athletes that we already have in our midst in Canada.”

And from someone who has seen how promotional items enhance his business’ image and message, Wagner sees the value of promo items to promote the sport. “We use promo items to say this is attainable; instead of just being a spectator, get involved.” In the past, Wagner has used backpacks, boot bags or paraphernalia or jacketsembossed with the name of the event on the back. When someone sees the phrase “boards, bobsled and beer tour” on the back of the jacket, they ask questions.

“A parent at a university game shows up wearing a jacket and if the footballer is interested, they might try it. It’s helping get bobsledding on the radar of good athletes.”

Wagner has been on bobsled runs many times. Some, such as those in Lake Placid, are very technical with violent turns, where tracks like Calgary are like the Autobahn, “Just a real body rush to feel the g-forces (almost 4 g’s),”says Wagner. “The best description I can come up with is that it’s a roller coaster without rails — on steroids!”

Eco Showdown

by Jack Hancocks

As the old saying goes, never discuss religion or politics. I think that we should modify the saying to include the environment. To some, the environment is the new religion.

I still don’t quite know how but I recently found myself in a discussion on the eco movement, with a non-industry individual, and how it has affected the promotional products industry over the past few years.

This person is suspicious when it comes to the motivation of the industry promoting “eco-friendly” products. Perhaps his mother was scared by an eco-Nazi. Anyway, the discussion began, quite harmlessly, because of the following few phrases that he saw in some old catalogues.

“I used to be a water bottle;” “Contains 6-12-24 water bottles;” “Contains used coffee grounds” (this one intrigued him). “All of the foregoing,” I said, “translate to: I am eco-friendly! I am a good corporate citizen! I care and am trying to make a difference.” “Sure,” says he, “God help us if we run out of plastic or coffee.”

“Coffee? Who thought of that one as an eco garment?” my friend says sipping his Starbucks mocha latte. He continues: “Just how many coffee grounds must be collected to make their addition to plastic fibre (polyester) worthwhile? How are they collected? Oh, and they’re not just any old coffee grounds. No siree, they are high quality coffee grounds.”

Sarcasm?

Now of course, since he has thrown down the gauntlet, I haveto pick it up and defend my industry. So here is how I start out.

“Well”, I say, “Coffee has astringent properties, that can’t be found just anywhere, and as a result, adding it to fibre enhances the wicking and antibacterial qualities of the fabric.” I go on. “I also think that finding a use for a waste product is the responsible thing to do. The alternative is trucking them to a landfill. Kudos to the manufacturer who came up with the idea.”

Round one to the Good Guys. Maybe.

“Pop bottles, water bottles, coffee grounds,” he quips back. “Aren’t all of these things used? Oh, now we call it recycled but so what, it’s used. Pre-owned as they say in the automobile business. So, I have to ask myself: if it is used then why am I paying more? It almost seems that the way to sell things these days is to call them eco-friendly. But really, what is eco-friendly?”

I wonder about another eco issue: plastic bags. They are the black sheep of the eco world these days. So much so that cities, provinces and states are banning their use; we’ve all seen the propaganda pieces by Greenpeace and Al Gore. I get it, but it seems to me that anything that can be re-used is being touted as ecofriendly these days. For instance, grocery totes, aren’t they sort of heavy plastic bags? But, they’re considered eco-friendly because they’re reusable. Damn, folks, where do they come from? Why, the Orient. How do we get them here? Planes or ships. How do the planes and ships get here? They use fuel. What does the burning of fossil fuels do to our environment? Eco-friendly? Well, they’re certainly reusable!

Eco-friendly means reusability; but aren’t automobiles ecofriendly because they are reusable. My coffee-sipping friend pipes up: “Hah! Makes about as much sense as saying that opium is a natural product. Of course they aren’t eco-friendly; we all know that but perhaps we should be less enthusiastic about jumping on the eco-bandwagon.”

“Now, just a minute,” I say. “How can you attack the motivations of a group who are just trying to do the right thing? Sure, all of the things that are labelled as eco-friendly aren’t biodegradable, don’t have a zero carbon footprint and won’t necessarily not eventually end up in a landfill, but the motivation of the industry is to reduce, reuse and recycle and I believe that they are accomplishing their goals quite well.”

“Humph,” he says. “Point taken.” I believe that is two for the Good Guys.

“I know that I seem to have a rather jaded view of the ecomovement,” he says, but he attributes it to a bit of marketing hype. I agree. Why do we need to consume our non-renewable resources to produce “reusable” products? What’s wrong with renewable raw materials? We could use cotton, hemp, bamboo, or corn, for example, to produce many of these so called petroleum-based ecofriendly products but we don’t. Why? Economics.

The industry and infrastructure just aren’t there to mass produce consumer products to satisfy demand at a reasonable cost; we’re not willing to pay a premium for sustainability. How many people do you know who would pay more for a product just because it augments the environment? I don’t know many. Oh sure, we all do it sporadically. But, when was the last time you approved the purchase of $10 cotton T-shirts instead of the $4.95 poly/cotton ones?

Round three to the Good Guys.

Really people. Just how much are you reducing your energy footprint in the dead of our Canadian winter? Are you walking or biking to work instead of taking your car or bus? I highly doubt it. Why? Quite simply: it’s inconvenient. It is freezing cold and you don’t want to get up an hour earlier to get there on time. Hey, I don’t blame you one bit. I won’t do it either. But don’t bitch about the motivation of our industry when you only participate in sustainability initiatives that are convenient and comfortable. At least we are attempting to walk the walk nd talk the talk. Are we there yet? Not necessarily but we are at least on our way. Are you?

I know that every little bit helps. I agree that doing something is better than doing nothing, but please, don’t preach to me about saving our forests and all things natural just to reveal your green altruism to the world. Live it every single day as much as you can. Promote it through your actions not your indignation. Not only will you make a difference and motivate others to follow your lead; you will also contribute to the lessening of noise pollution as a side benefit. Bet you never thought of that, did you?

What side of the fence are you on?

by Michelle Morra-Carlisle

We are a reactive society. Though we didn’t listen to tree-huggers in the seventies, Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth in 2006 made some of us start to pay attention to our consumption habits. Then an increase in natural disasters jolted many of us into thinking the planet just might be in trouble. Finally, peer and government pressure have caused responsible purchasing to be “in” and products harmful to ecology or to humans "out".

In November 2010 the New York Times cited U.S. reports saying reusable bags, mostly made in China, contained potentially unsafe levels of lead. Whenever lead makes the news, massive promotional products supplier Debco hears from concerned distributors and endusers wanting proof that their products are leadfree. The company was hearing so much concern — Debco has about seven million bags in stock — it invested in a Niton XLT analyzer gun a few months ago. The “gun” shoots waves at a product and records data based on what it’s programmed to look for, then generates a computer report listing the product’s chemical ingredients. It’s an immediate way to ease people’s minds.

Stan Gallen, senior VP of sales and marketing for Debco, says eco products are as popular as ever but that “eco has become less of a pronounced reason for the continuation of buying them.” His observation, lately, is that distributors and end-users want to avoid the embarrassment of a lead scandal. They want to know there is no lead in tote bags that hold their food, or in reusable water bottles they put their lips to.

Gallen says reusable tote bags, once the darling of the eco movement, continue to be popular because they are inexpensive, inordinately lightweight, and compact. Another popular “eco” product Debco offers is woven, laminated bags, the ultra decorative ones found at grocery stores, with a four-colour process that makes the graphic possibilities limitless.

“The woven laminated bag was brought in under the eco guise,” he says, “but it allows you to do these breathtaking renderings...and the cost to do this is half a buck. The value is beyond astounding.” These reusable bags are considered eco friendly because they reduce the use of plastic bags. All of them, however, are made in China.

Running a business from an ecofriendly slant isn’t easy, given that so many factors need to be in place — locally produced, made from recycled/sustainable materials, recyclable or compostable, and affordable. It seems there’s always a trade-off, and the “buy local” part of the equation may be the toughest to achieve. Not only are recycled PET bags made in China but so are most of the bamboo products on the market, as well as stainless steel water bottles.

Gallen once owned a manufacturing plant that employed about 100 employees and made several types of promotional products. A combination of increasingly varied importers and their offerings, accessibility of the United States to Canada, increasing labour rates and a rising disparity between domestic and import, however, made it impossible to survive as a local manufacturer. The company went bankrupt.

“If you asked somebody, ‘Would you prefer Canadian- or U.S.-made?’ they would say, ‘Absolutely.’ But if you told them the cost to do that, all of a sudden you’d see they wouldn’t put their money where their mouth is,” Gallen says. According to a report by Global Sources, China’s $5-billion promotional products industry is growing 10 to 20 per cent every year — its main products being wearables, bags, keychains, USB accessories, calendars, drinkware and watches.

“The greater the labour component of a product, the more bells and whistles and labour steps, you’re drawing on the labour force in Canada versus the labour force in China,” Gallen says. “And the difference is still huge, really huge.”

Some end-users and distributors don’t mind paying for “green” features as long as the orders are manageably small enough. “A lot of times we’re willing to pay a little bit more if it means the product is sustainable and/or fair trade and really matches our mission,” says Emily Judem, senior marketing and communications associate at Root Capital, a nonprofit social investment fund that finances grassroots businesses in rural areas of developing countries. Judem admits it’s a challenge to find products that are both not made in sweatshops, and organic or sustainable.

Because Root Capital is dedicated to helping the rural poor, the company likes to give away promotional products made by its clients, such as a T-shirt that features the Root Capital logo and comes with a small card about the small Nicaraguan start-up that produced it. Root Capital does buy from promotional product distributors as well. One popular giveaway at conferences was a lapel pin made of reclaimed beetle-killed wood, from Earth Imprints.

“People liked them a lot, and they liked the story behind them,” Judem says.

Earth Imprints is owned by the husband and wife team of Courtney Driver and Craig Davidiuk who “commute daily” to their basement in Squamish, B.C. They feel that the promotional products industry has been slow to respond to the green movement, so they comb through their supplier pool and source local craftspeople to pick out “the duds that claim to be green but are not.”

Earth Imprints offers the whole gamut of eco products, from pens to USB drives to organic cotton or bamboo apparel, but Davidiuk says the lapel pins from beetle-killed wood are the only product they offer that truly meets all eco criteria, including a local source.

“Before real change can be made, we’d have to revert back to smaller, local manufacturers,” says Davidiuk. “About the only thing that can be done right now is for our Chinese manufacturers to start using biodegradable packaging and wrappers.”

Until local distributors can offer the perfect, optimally virtuous product, buyers opt for the next best thing. The University of Saskatchewan has published a “Sustainable Purchasing Guide” that includes, as one option, considering alternatives to promotional products — such as access to services or events, or consumable products that support local agriculture. The university does continue to purchase promotional products, however, and lists as its first option “products made with re-usedcomponents or from post-consumer content where input materials are post-consumer waste.” The next best option, says the guide, are products made or pre-consumer waste such as scraps from manufacturing that are recycled into new products. It also recommends natural and organic fibres, and reusable, recyclable or compostable products — provided that local facilities are in place for the recycling and/or composting.

At professional services firm Deloitte, promotional products are a very small facet of business, but they do give every new hire an update on their greening process and a reusable lunch bag, reusable lunch kit and a recycled pen to underline their commitment to sustainability. When selecting a sustainable product, Deloitte looks at a cradle-to-cradle approach. “We not only want to know where and how something is made, we also want to know what happens to it at end of life,” says Andrea Kronshage, Deloitte’s associate partner, finance and administration.

It’s good news that eco-conscious companies are still interested in product giveaways for incentives and promotions. Choosing sustainable products covers the “what” of this industry’s green movement, but really making a dent in the climate change crisis may require something more drastic — a total rethink of the “why” and “how.”

Marketing 101 Saves Planet?
The Natural Step is a company that helps companies, municipalities, academic institutions and not-for-profit organizations worldwide with their sustainable decisionmaking. Chad Park, director of programs and strategy and principal sustainability advisor, would like to see buyers of promotional products get out of a situation where they feel there’s a trade-off, and find an effective way to communicate their efforts.

“That’s where promotional products can be a means to an end,” he says. “They can be a visible reflection of whether you are or are not committed.”

Giving away mass quantities of products destined for landfills will not meet the test, he says, so he encourages companies to look at creative ways to align their promotions with their commitment to the environment. In other words: getting down to marketing basics.

Multiple award-winning marketer David Betke sees promotional products as powerful media, but as both a passionate environmentalist and marketer he has a major pet peeve. He says the focus of the promotional products industry has moved more towards the medium (the product) instead of how the medium can be used to lead to action steps. Betke, who co-owns Edmonton-based Avatar Brand Management with wife Andrea, says that without a proven process that leads to action steps, greener products only lead to greener deskfill.

“Many organizations simply buy logoed items from a promotional products salesperson to ‘get their name out there.’ The problem is: How do you measure getting your name out there?” Betke says.

Rather than a commodity — picked out of a catalogue by the same staff who purchase office supplies — Betke suggests that promotional products deserve better. They are an effective tool, when used strategically as part of an overall marketing or advertising campaign. Otherwise, well-meaning companies will not only create environmental waste but waste large budgets on promotions with no forethought and no measurable results.

Davidiuk of Earth Imprints also has a marketing background and would like to see clients consider him as part of their marketing team. Instead, he says, “We always talk only at the end of the project.”

Much of the environmental waste Davidiuk sees has to do with needless jet fuel being burned because of lastminute orders that might otherwise have been shipped by truck. For that, he says, some consumer education might help. A large portion of his business is rush orders, which cost the customer a lot more not only because of transportation but because the distributor has to hustle to source enough product so quickly.

“Most of the time they look at us as a commodity depot, Davidiuk says. “People who Google us might assume we have this giant warehouse with all this stuff waiting for them, but only about one per cent of distributors in Canada have that.”

Promote This
For anyone who still needs environmental motivation — something to react to — there’s always the fact of the world’s depleting water and other resources, and that species continue to be endangered, whether or not they make front-page news. Greener promotions may seem a small solution in the global scheme of things, but here’s to those who do it anyway.

How to help the planet and your balance sheet -

Promotional tips for end-users

Reduce waste. Consider delegating the selection of promotional products to your marketing/advertising team, not to materials management or the receptionist. Or hire an agency that can create a well-targeted, well-executed campaign that uses useful incentive products that lead to action steps. By no longer giving away deskfill with no purpose you will save your money and create less landfill.

Re-use the swag that is gathering dust in your cabinet. Enlist the help of someone who can develop a program that leverages the incentive value of these items; someone who can create strategy, write compelling copy, develop metrics, help you set reasonable goals and provide the action steps to get there.

Recycle content. If you have developed compelling content that has worked with other media, share it with your promotional marketing people so they can integrate it into your new strategy. Craig Davidiuk of Earth Imprints advises the following.

Think. Allow time for some forethought in your promotions. Distributors and their clients should talk at the start of a campaign, not at the last minute. Ask your distributor to work with your marketing team. “The companies I enjoy working with the most, and those that get the most out of us, are the ones that ask for our input early in the process,” says Craig Davidiuk of Earth Imprints. “And it saves money.” Avoiding a rush order can make a huge difference in cost because your mass shipment won’t have to be expedited urgently by air.

Courtesy of David Betke, Avatar Brand Management.

Gourmet Gifts

by Melanie Chambers

Edibles are the only corporate holiday gifts that elicit a response from the five senses. Messages are absorbed instantly — and last longer — when you involve as many human senses in the learning process as possible. That’s why food should be on your holiday corporate gift list.

Food gifts represent $500 million in Canada and that is just in the fourth quarter. But why would a company give a gift that is consumed, leaving no “message” behind? It’s because good food can leave a permanent impression. For example, do you remember your best meal? See my point? We are an extremely food-driven society, both from the perspective of sensory stimulation and our desire for social interaction. Consider that virtually all of our gatherings, personal and business, are planned around a meal, a snack or a beverage. We are attracted to food and food attracts us to people, places, and events.

Delicious food gifts encourage “brand retention.” With that in mind, if a member of your target audience popped a delectable, exquisite, creamy, chocolate into their mouth, do you think that they would remember a week, a month or a year later who gave it to them? Not only would they remember, but after biting into a pure Belgian chocolate they’ll be anxious for your next “treat.” Food gifts do resonant with recipients, and they certainly elicit good feelings, which make them extremely effective promotional tools. Whenever you have the chance to connect your company to positive feelings and memories, you have succeeded in a positive branding initiative.

But, before you run off to the mall to purchase pre-packaged food gifts that promote their brand and not yours, consider what the promotional industry offers as a branding experience. Not only do many suppliers offer fresh-made products (packed as ordered rather than shelved for months), but they also offer a myriad of packaging options to suit every budget and taste.

Present your decadent cookies in a traditional tin with a Christmas scene and a greeting, including personal signatures from your sales team, customized right on the lid.

Perhaps offer treats for the offi ce to share in a reusable bamboo canister to leave a lighter environmental footprint and your logo at their reception desk.

Deboss the message into a chocolate card surrounded by gorgeous truffl es. And what about decadent tiered box towers filled with assorted savoury delights such as roast nut mixtures, caramel butter popcorn and chocolate dipped fruits and nuts?

Corporate branding is also about colour. You can mix and match many candy offerings in your company colours, which is an inexpensive option. Hard candies in clear wrappers, glass jars filled with custom colour jelly beans or the traditional M&M candy are all customizable: you can order them with your logo or a message.

Everyday promotional products can easily become the medium to effective and appreciated corporate food giftgiving. Here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing. Fill with a few food items and you’re done.

• Tea boxes, coffee vaults, desk accessory boxes and wine cases
• Stainless steel, wide-mouth water bottles
• Insulated lunch bags and coolers in all shapes and sizes
• Vases, wine glasses, bowls and jars
• Cosmetic cases, document pouches
• Drinkware including ceramic or stainless steel travel mugs

Invigorating the Employees
And what about your employees? A door knob organizer can easily transform into a stocking filled with movie tickets, candy canes, chocolates and cookies. Santa could leave these on the office doors overnight; when employees arrive the week before Christmas, it’s like a secret stocking. Place a candy jar on each desk filled with wrapped chocolates and then refill them every 30 days with “flavour of the month” candies or mints in a wrapper that simply says “thank you.” It’s a constant and flavourful message of appreciation to your most valuable resource.

Basking in Baskets
Gift baskets cover many bases: with such a variety of items, you’re bound to hit someone’s taste buds. And instead of just thinking of budget when purchasing your baskets, consider that themed baskets are more personal. If you know employees or clients who are fitness-minded, what about a basket full of energy foods such as Clif Bars, protein powder and electrolyte mix for post workout?

If you have a true foodie on your hands, a basket full of premium olives, local jams and preserves and even gourmet crackers is the way to go. Or, if you know someone who knows where Camembert de Madame Clément comes from (it’s Quebec) then you might want to consider a basket consisting entirely of rare cheeses. Consider Springbank Cheese for a variety of cheese-inspired baskets or Express Gift Baskets: www.springbankcheese.ca or www.expressgiftbaskets.net.

Craving Chocolate?
Of all the food gifts available, despite the trend of health consciousness, calorie counting and personal fitness, chocolate is still the driving force of the promotional food industry. Why? Back to sensory stimulation. Chocolate actually creates sensory overload: the scent of chocolate is used to sell everything from erasers to lip gloss; the sound of rifling through chocolate wrappers in a box is musical, the sight of chocolate makes most people drool and, of course, the taste. You’ve heard the one about chocolate being better than sex? According to MedSci Communications, chocolate is women’s number one craving and is second in men only to pizza cravings. Finally, chocolate is actually good for you. Simply put: Chocolate = Happy

Food gifts are memorable from first taste to long after they’re gone, making them the ultimate advertising vehicle for the holiday season.

Corporate Wine Gift-Giving

by Georgia and Susanne, The Wine Ladies

Now is the season where we can take pause to show our appreciation and say thank you to our clients, our colleagues and our employees. As the Wine Ladies, we are happy to report that one gift that never goes out of style is wine and/or wine-related accessories. There is definitely a plethora of possibilities: beautifully packaged single bottles presented in paper, fabric, fur or even bejeweled gift bags; multiple bottles elegantly housed in rosewood boxes, leather totes or baskets; to gifts on a grander scale such as a stunning champagne saber or the Riedel Black Tie Face-to-Face decanter.

After much discovery, we’d like to highlight a few gift ideas, in particular for the wine novice, the wine aficionado, the budget-conscious and for those with a richer budget. We’ve also included a few specialty items and some that are just a little quirky and unique.

For starters, presentation and packaging is key regardless of what’s in the bottle. And whether you use a gift bag, a box, a tube or a basket, it should be recyclable. Seek out packaging that is both attractive and reusable: cloth gift bags can be later used as shoe bags or totes for subsequent visits to the wine store, and pewter metal packaging can be used as a vase for dried flowers or potpourri. Instead of a ribbon, decorate the package with a holiday ornament or a beautiful wine stopper, a foil cutter, or an elegant wine accelerator such as the sea horse (available at www. thewineestablishment.com).

Ice buckets or wine coolers can do double duty; they can be part of the gift as well as for storing the gift. They come in all shapes, sizes and fabrications. You can wrap a bottle of wine, or cushion the bucket with a Riedel microfibre cloth, a tea towel or an apron. Fill the bucket with other wine-related items such as chocolates designed to pair with specific wines (www.brixchocolate.com), food and wine pairing booklets, Balderson’s Vintners cheddars for red and white wine (www.cheese.ca), a bottle cleaner, aroma wheels, a cooking class for two, or a subscription to a wine magazine.

During our research for this story we conducted an informal survey. On the Wine Ladies Facebook page we asked: “What was your favourite wine or wine-related gift ever?” Wine journals, wine openers, other winerelated products such as Cabernet body cream (www.vineyardbeauty.com) and pashmina wrap were popular with the ladies, while wine club memberships, and wine accessories were high on the list for both men and women.

Many of the above items can be logoed, preferably discreetly rather than in a glaring fashion. All of the above suggestions are quite suitable for both the novice and the wine lover, with the choice of wine as well. Choose an accessory that is personalized for the recipient and use higher-end fabrics if the budget permits; leather totes or carrying cases and tortoiseshell wine boxes are easily personalized.

Have a consistent theme with the wine, accessories and packaging. And consider that fancy higher-end packaging calls for a special bottle of wine, rather than a value wine.

Below are just a sampling of a few gift ideas we’ve come across — some favourites, and some that are just downright funky, or just a little bit off the beaten path.

One of our favourite gifts last year, the Vinturi Essential Wine Aerator will once again be included in our gift-giving this holiday season (www.vinturi.com). The perfect gift for a wine lover, the Vinturi aerates a glass of wine in the time it takes to pour the glass. It is sleek looking, quick and easy, affordable and portable. It comes in a beautiful velvet pouch that can be elegantly logoed. The Vinturi is also a great conversation piece for wine aficionados. Package it with a bottle of red wine for $49.95.

Colio Estate Wines’ Girls’ Night Out tote bag, is a reusable carrying case holding one bottle of the Girls’ Night Out Chardonnayas well as a black clutch, selling for $24.95 (www.girlsnightoutwines.com).

For the gentlemen, Tie One On — we liked the idea behind this unique wine gift idea: a fabulous bottle of wine specifically selected according to the tastes of the recipient, packaged elegantly with a 100 per cent silk tie artfully matched to coordinate with the wine bottle and the label. Although Tie One On is based in Illinois, we’d be happy to do this for any of our clients, in fact when asked on Facebook, many loved it! Price varies according to wine selection and tie. It can be packaged in an elegant box (www.jamieswinestudio.com/wine-gifts.html).

Hand-crafted metal wine bottle holders. Yes, a little quirky, but light-hearted and fun. To the left is a wine holder that is artsy, unique, personalized and made with reusable or recyclable materials. The company Metal Imagination has a wine holder for one and all. A little pricey, but well worth it. Once the wine is gone it’s still around to remind the recipient that you have great taste! www.metalimagination.com).

As reiterated in our survey, wine club memberships make superb gifts for the wine aficionado. They offer a variety of services including monthly wine shipments, advice on pairing wine and food, special events and more. We’re happy to announce that the Wine Ladies are joining forces with the wine club www.winevirgin.com, one of the newer “kids on the block,” however, with seasoned and award-winning partners. Other clubs include: www.winerytohome.com (Ontario), www.stratuswines.com (Ontario), www.bcwineclub.ca, www.quailsgate.com and www.missionhillwineclub.com, just to name a few. Many of the wineries across the country have their own wine clubs so log onto their websites to learn all about them. This is an awesome gift for the wine lover that will remind them of you every time they pop a cork!

And for the executive who has everything, we can safely bet he or she will not have this — a fabulously unique idea that is rare, thoughtful and personalized from The Antique Wine Company. Picture a beautifully crafted leather-bound presentation case carrying a bottle of rare fine wine from the vintage to match your birthday. Inside the box is a fascinating parchment vintage report for wine and an original issue of London’s Times newspaper from your birthday. An engraved plaque will carry your message on the case. We have gifted this on two occasions to an immeasurable response. Price will vary. www.antique-wine.com/buying-wine/ vintage-gifts.aspx.

Identity Crisis

by Lauren Sherriff and Roger Gingerich

It is said “You are what you wear,” but is your company’s product or service reflective in what your employees wear? Branding is a strategic upward battle, but the question is: are you on the corporate best sellers list?

The world is visual and your presentation is everything to show them you’re current. After a tedious recession, when many companies are getting back on their feet, can some select fashion styles save your company brand or at least re-energize it?

Companies are eager to define their new approach to a global marketplace in a time where visuals mean more than just branding — they strike emotional chords that can mean increased awareness and profit. It is imperative for companies to have a sense of identity and comfort in branding. An identity crisis can be the very demise of a company.

In order for your company to be remembered in a vast marketplace, one must create a lasting visual that helps customers remember your business name, product and team. Again, we’re not saying you need the latest runway looks, just a look that matches your company’s brand, vision, and demographic profile.

One example could be the latest technology from AUR apparel. They are using the S.Café process in their Aware (eco-friendly) corporate collection for 2010-2011. S.Café uses a patented process that transforms used coffee grounds into yarn, which is then used to produce polos. Why is it environmentally friendly? Most coffee grounds end up in our landfills, which contribute to our overall solid waste management problem. And seriously, we’re Canadian: we love our coffee in any form. So if your company can do a spin on the coffee angle, viola: here is a way to tell a story through your apparel choice and be environmentally friendly.

Another example is the very hot Alternative Apparel collection, now 15 years old and a staple for the Hollywood/celebrity clientele. If your brand is cutting-edge and a leader in its category, wearing Alternative Apparel aligns your image with an equally trendy clothing company. They offer men’s and ladies’ basics but in trendy bright colours of quality cotton cut in the latest silhouettes — it’s not enough to wear a square T-shirt!

If your rebranding image is about getting back to the roots of your business, product and customer service, then ensure that your staff’s clothing image and your client gifts reflect this. Focus on quality, not volume. Make sure a garment choice is your silent salesperson.

Colour can also make a dramatic statement on your brand image. Select a colour scheme that reflects your message, business virtues and branding. Colour is the first thing we register when observing an object, our instincts are peaked by colour influences and drive our behaviour. For example, red is always stimulating and aggressive whereas blues can activate the mind and generate some relative ease or thoughtfulness. Oranges, browns and greens denote natural appeal. Is this the image you want to reflect?

Your promotional distributor is well-versed in the many apparel choices in the marketplace; ask them for their ideas as it’s their business to know your business.

Make your identity unmistakable through your clothing choices — it tells us that as a company, you know who you are and what you stand for.

Are you Ready?

by Jack Hancocks

Well, we’re getting closer to Christmas and what is on everyone’s mind? Certainly not Christmas planning.

Wake up people, Christmas falls on the same day every year and every year we do the same thing: we wait until the last possible minute to order our promotional products and then stress when we can’t get immediate delivery, or in many instances these days, immediate stock.

Guess what, folks? It is not the fault of our suppliers that they can’t deliver; they are too busy with orders from people who placed on time or, they simply have run out of stock — someone took it all before you got your order in. To use an already over-used business phrase, you need to be proactive. Unless you live in a cave, you have to know the gift-giving season is coming.

Our suppliers, like retailers, are very good at keeping us up-to-date with impending holidays. My better half and I were in South Carolina at the end of July and on the drive there we stopped at some Cracker Barrel restaurants. These places were completely themed for Halloween. It was July. Halloween in July, you say? Certainly got me thinking: first off, Halloween, then Thanksgiving and you guessed it, Christmas. Now, Thanksgiving is not nearly as big a holiday in Canada as it is south of the 49th parallel, but I believe that Halloween is becoming a much bigger excuse for a celebration then it was in the past. Our suppliers know this.

Suppliers are constantly sending us emails regarding specials that revolve around the fall season and from the more astute, Halloween in particular. What a great way to get rid of that orange stock! Just kidding, but fall colours really do give you a feeling of warmth and well-being. Mmm. Can’t you just smell the cinnamon in the apple cider?

After a few weeks back home, guess what is in the mail? Why, the Sears Christmas Wish Book — another harbinger of the gift-giving season. When we were kids we used to wait for that catalogue like panthers waiting to pounce. I think it used to come out in late October back then.

The seasons are being pushed on us faster and more furiously than in the past. But are we listening? I really don’t think so. We have more time to plan and prepare; the retailers and our suppliers are making sure of that. Are we using it? I don’t think so. I don’t know about you but I can’t get anyone to talk to me about Christmas gifts in September, other than my wife and kids, that is.

I hope I am not dating myself too much with this comment, but as Ann Landers used to say: “Wake up and smell the coffee.” Christmas is almost here people. Are you ready?

And distributors, you must make your clients look good. We all know how busy clients get, so help them out: remind them to plan ahead. Even give them some product ideas. Who knows, by doing your job and servicing your clients you might even get a sale.

This column is not really a rant, nor is it a “piss me off” kind of a thing. Sometimes, and many who know me well will find this hard to believe, I am calm, cool and collected. I don’t have anything bugging me or causing me grief, apart from the day-to-day trials and tribulationsthat we all have. Certainly nothing that warrants a rant in our magazine. This is one of those times.

To those of you celebrating the holidays, be it Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hannukah, Christmas or whatever you feel is worth celebrating, all the best for an outstanding holiday season and my heartfelt wishes for a healthy and prosperous 2011.

Now, there you are! I just wished you a Happy New Year. It is coming folks and you better start planning for it. Are you ready?

Inspiring Safety - Ideas to Keep Safety Top of Mind

With nine distribution centres and over 1,500 employees working in the automotive industry, a safety awareness program that used NASCAR themed incentives and rewards only seemed logical for an Ontario-based car parts manufacturer.

“It speaks to their demographic and what they like,” says Brian Scott, president of CoreCulture Inc., the company that helped create a safety program whereby five distribution centres reported and competed for the best safety record on a quarterly basis. The winning distribution centre gets a checkered flag, trophy and NASCAR style T-shirt — the last place distribution centre gets a beaten up NASCAR tire that they must display in their lobby: “No one wants the tire,” says Scott. Every other centre receives a yellow flag.

The friendly competition helps to increase safety awareness in the work environment. “It helps to build and leverage a culture of safety.”

Creating programs to keep the safety culture vibrant is key to safety success. Instead of rewarding employees to report for no lost time accidents — which can often lead to false reporting to get a prize — rewarding and encouraging safe behaviour creates a safe culture atmosphere long after the initial training has finished.

It’s these programs that keep safety on employees minds from the moment they start work to the end of the day. “Everyone likes that the posters are customized to each team,” says John Rodriguez, manager of the California distribution centre, which participated in the program and took home the checkered flag.

“That gives employees a sense of ownership for the program and it gets them interested and involved,” says Scott.

According to WSIB (Workplace Safety and Insurance Board) statistics, workplace injuries such as slips, trips and falls can cost an employer “$2,000 in direct WSIB costs and a total of more than $22,000 in indirect costs.

This can cost an employer upwards of $100,000 in lost work time. So, how does a company achieve this culture of safety? How do employers create an atmosphere where safety is always on the minds of employees without creating a culture of fear?

What Speaks To Your Employees?
Flags or prizes might not engage your employees. So, the trick is to find out what does.

“Some employees would really value a personal letter from the president, even a handshake or lunch,” says Brian Fish, president of SafetyNet, consulting company. But consider that if management and employees don’t get along, a handshake isn’t going to do much to increase safety awareness.

At Weston Bakeries, a CoreCulture program, which has 5,000 employees in over 40 plants across Canada, employers were looking for a way to engage their employees in safety as well as smooth out any inconsistencies amongst the several plants; they wanted to bring everyone up to the same standard.

After much consultation with CoreCulture and fielding responses from employees about what they wanted, a safety reward program was integrated.

Employees would be awarded points for safe behaviours that included everything from attending a safety talk, giving a safety suggestion, identifying and reporting a safety hazard, initiating a workplace inspection or submitting a safety article to the newsletter.

Once these points have accumulated, they could redeem them for a prize. It worked. Not only did safety improve throughout the plants, employees felt engaged and part of something.

Web-Based Reinforcement
Whether it’s a new training lecture or routine safety training, many employees often walk away retaining a fraction of what they just learned.

Web-based tools are a way to reinforce a message and keep safety top of mind for employees.

“From a compliance standpoint they (employer) need to train their employees, but what that allows them to do is see how much of that training the employees actually retain — with an online platform it’s very easy for us to measure the level of retention rate, which is really key,” says Scott.

He adds that nine out of 10 times an employee will retain information a day or two after they take the training. Reports indicate that upwards of 50 to 70 per cent of what they learned will stick. But, the truth is not that favourable, he says. “Research has proven that within 30 days if they can retain 10 to 30 per cent within that training, that is a lot.”

To enforce the safety message, Scott helps create web-based tools that are consistent; one such program asked the employees daily questions about their training.

“We push out to employees a quiz question each day specific to the training that they took; if they answer wrong we give the correct answer.” If the employee answers correctly, they are taken to another web page for a chance to win a prize; in this case it was a one-arm bandit slot machine whereby they take a spin to potentially win.

That is a tool that encourages the employee to be an active listener in the training. “They’re learning while they’re playing this game but it’s not like they feel they are being taught or instructed — they’re excited about the concept and about getting the daily question.”

If, however, you don’t have employees that log onto a computer regularly, then there are other simpler ways to reinforce the message.

Cheque It Out
At Robert Q Airbus, a transportation service company that takes customers to and from the Detroit and Toronto airports, all staff participate in a safety appreciation barbecue every year; they also use posters in the drivers’ area about safety reminders, which change every two months, but the company also ensures safety is reinforced on a regular basis.

Employees are paid bi-weekly and with each pay memo that goes out there is a safety message written on it. Last month’s message: “Encourage your passengers to buckle up.”

“We have messages about tips from everything including ergonomics to driver fatigue,” says Rosie Sinopole, the driver coordinator for Robert Q.

Consistent reminders
At The Home Depot Canada, where retail employees are constantly lifting, or handling dangerous goods, safety is discussed every morning at a staff meeting. This sets the tone for an industry that must change with the times.

Over the years the safety atmosphere has changed tremendously. “The Home Depot Canada has developed a structured Canadian health and safety management system,” says Noel McDermott, CRSP, divisional environment health and safety manager for The Home Depot Canada.

“This system is made up of safety standards that have been developed to be in line with CSA (Canadian Safety Association) standards. Our stores use these standards along with various other tools to run a safe operation.”

These tools include daily inspections, training, safety meetings or other safety related tasks. The programs are no more rigorous than they were years ago; it’s just that there are more of them with “lots of detail to meet specific safety legislation or The Home Depot’s expectations.”

Incentives are in place such as one called “365” whereby stores will receive a barbecue at the end of the year if they receive no lost time and other safety indicators. Another incentive, called “The Angel,” is a reward given to employees who save a customer’s life. “It’s rare but it does happen,” says McDermott. He recalls an incident whereby an employee saved a man from choking in a store. These awards reinforce the need for updated and consistent CPR training.

Through these consistent and engaging messages, employees have created a safe place to work: “New measures do not reduce workplace injuries; it is our employees’ day-to-day commitment to working safely and The Home Depot’s overall health and safety culture that continues to help reduce injuries.”

Indirect safety messages
Most of these programs are centred on rewarding safe behaviours: if an employee does X then they receive Y. However, employees also want to know that employers care about their safety outside of work — and it doesn’t have to be linked to a certain behaviour.

“You can always give someone a safety kit (car or healthcare) that is not based on performance,” says Fish. “It says (to the employee) that we just want you to be safe outside of the office.”

Janet Trachter agrees. As the vice-president of sales and marketing for Superex, promotional products division, she understands that employees should always feel that their employers care about their safety.

When an employer gives an employee a safety kit, such as a first aid kit for the glove box or a car safety kit for the trunk, if it is refilled and maintained, the employee is constantly reminded that their employer has got their back — even outside of the office.

“Safety kits make the recipient feel safe and secure and makes them feel like they matter to their advertiser,” says Trachter.

She remarks that kits are made-to-order for any budget and don’t have to be tied to any specific safety training. In the end, the employee is left with the feeling that they matter. It speaks to our human nature: everyone wants to feel safe and secure.

Health In Hand

by Michelle Morra-Carlisle

With a bit of creativity, incentive products can motivate employees to live healthier lives.

Countless studies have shown that a sick workforce is not nearly as productive as a healthy one. Employees who smoke, eat unhealthy foods and have little to no exercise regime are often sick, tired and unmotivated. Employers care about the health of their workers, and it’s in their best interest to care — yet many find that having a healthy workplace program isn’t enough.

“Promotional products can be used to achieve a variety of objectives,” says Alex Morin, Vice-president of sales for Debco. “Most recently, we’ve seen a spike in the use of promotional products to enhance the awareness of health and wellness.” These have included bicycle repair kits to promote fundraising bicycle marathons, yoga mats as a mail offer to promote a healthconscious yogurt company, and a particularly creative campaign that revolved around the martial art of karate.

A karate school wanted to boost enrolment of new students and sustain enrolment of its existing students. To attract new students it put on a martial arts performance in selected public schools, during which performers not only showcased their karate skills but used folding Frisbees as targets to hit as part of their show. After the performance, they gave out these folding Frisbees (imprinted with the karate school’s logo and contact information) to everyone in the audience.

To sustain enrolment of its existing clientele, the karate school gave out a reward of a coloured gift to match each colour (level) of belt level achieved. For instance, when a new student began as a white belt, he or she received a white water bottle with the karate school’s logo on it. Anyone reaching the yellow belt received a yellow umbrella, and so on. As a result of the promotion and incentives, the karate school saw a spike in enrolment after every school presentation, and students achieving rewards at every belt level responded favourablyto the incentives.

Promoting health is not a new idea. Everyone knows that exercise and healthy eating equals better fitness and health. Can an inexpensive toy or other tangible product help make it happen?

According to an annual survey of 600 large U.S. companies by Hewitt & Associates, employers are changing how they measure the success of their healthy workplace programs. While less than a third focused primarily on controlling their annual healthcare costs, the 2010 survey revealed almost two-thirds (65 per cent) of employers currently invest in long-term solutions to improve the overall health and productivity of their workforce. According to the Hewitt survey, the percentage of employers using incentives, including cash, gift cards or products, rose from 35 per cent in 2009 to 63 per cent in 2010.

Incentives have certainly helped boost traffic in malls throughout North America. Morin describes a campaign to attract mall walkers that started with radio and newspaper ads, inviting seniors to visit the information desk at their local mall and collect a free pedometer, logoed with the property management company’s name. A brochure advertising retail outlet participants encouraged them to “activate” their pedometers at a vitamin store, where they received a free sampler of vitamins and other products and had their pedometers reset to zero. As they walked through the mall following a map, they could collect other free products including hand sanitizers, tote bags, lunch bags and folding Frisbees, from participating retailers.

“One of the more interesting giveaways was provided by a food-court tenant that gave samples of their healthy ginseng tea,” says Morin. “They claim to have boosted sales, in the period that the promo was held, by over 120 per cent!”

When they left the mall, “walkers” were encouraged to show their pedometers to someone at an electronics company. The retailer took down the information and notified one participant per day, by telephone, that they had taken the most steps and had won a prize — a B6900 blanket in a bag.

The campaign was a hit: foot traffic in the malls increased, retail revenue went up, seniors benefited from exercise, and all were supported by the media who did several spotlights on the initiative.

Libby Norris, a fitness expert and owner of Inspired Energy Inc., says pedometers are a popular product with her corporate clients, too. She gives them out when she speaks at corporate “lunch and learns,” and says people relate to numbers.

“All the geeky things, we fitness experts say, have more impact for people if there’s a number attached,” she says. “If you just say, ‘take the stairs,’ people roll their eyes. But if you say, ‘x flights of stairs equals x miles a week,’ they’ll pay attention.”

That was the idea behind a Health by Numbers event at General Electric, where employees received a free pedometer just for showing up in their running shoes. By participating in fitness activities they could qualify for larger items, including a draw for a bicycle as a grand prize.

“With their pedometers we encouraged employees to shoot for 10,000 steps a day,” Norris says. “It got people talking and raised awareness. They’d say things like, ‘I did 7,000 steps today but I‘ll try for 8,000 tomorrow’”.

GE is one of the lucky companies whose head office has a gym. Every time employees use it, they collect points that can later be redeemed for apparel, resistance bands or other incentive products. The fitness centre not only helps employees cope better with their busy schedules and stay productive and motivated, it enhances their job satisfaction. Rafaella Gilbert, a recruiter for GE, says the fitness centre is always one of the first perks she mentions in interviews and considers herself fortunate to have it.

“I notice the people who come to the gym have a different attitude,” she says. “We work very hard at our jobs. The work is still there, but we can take a break, and the workout allows us to talk to people we wouldn’t normally see. And there’s less stress.”

But even for employers that have no gym or other big-ticket health or fitness resources, small-scale incentives can still be a strong motivator. For a courier company, Norris supplied travel kits for employees to use at home or on the road. The kits contained exercise tools such as a resistance band, bender ball or skipping rope, a pedometer, and a customized instruction booklet, all packaged in a small drawstring bag branded with the company logo. Exercise DVDs, she says, are another effective way to promote fitness at home or on business trips, especially if packaged with an incentive product.

Besides physical fitness, sun safety is increasingly on employers’ radar and has led to the popularity of inexpensive incentives such as sunscreen and lip balm. Norris sometimes purchases these in bulk for various healthy workplace campaigns.

Ergonomic products, too, are a sign of the times as Canada’s aging workforce frequently misses work because of lower back pain and other musculoskeletal injuries. Max Baer of Bag Designs says his corporate clients are looking for new ways to promote ergonomics.

Obus Forme, the manufacturer best known for its back cushions, also makes backpacks, of which Bag Designs is the sole distributor. Ergonomically designed, each backpack features air mesh on the back to relieve pressure points, a waist strap to prevent the load from shifting, a lumbar support pad, a built-in plastic board that keeps the back of the pack rigid to support the load, compression strips on the inside to compact the load, shoulder cinch straps, contoured shoulder straps, sternum straps and more. Baer says the backpacks are extremely popular (not surprising if you’ve ever travelled any distance on foot with a standard, non-ergonomic load on your back).

Health goes viral
While some campaigns promote a product, service, company or healthy lifestyle, others more directly promote health. Roxanne Manoliu of Medonyx Inc., a promotional products supplier, has given out hand sanitizers to people at both promotional products conferences and health conferences, which are well received for different reasons.

“At promotional conferences, people say the hand sanitizers are ‘so cute,’ and they are,” she says. “But for the healthcare people, hand sanitizers are really the difference between life and death.”

Infection control is critical for H1N1, SAARS and other outbreaks, but having a hand sanitizer isn’t enough if you don’t use it effectively. First responders or nurses, for example, often touch people or their surroundings without yet knowing their diagnosis. Even if they do reach for a bottle of hand sanitizer they could, in the meantime, contaminate their car, their shirt pocket, and anything else their hand comes in contact with first. That’s why Medonyx offers their GelFast hand sanitizer (approved by the FDA and Health Canada) as a clip-on product that healthcare professionals and first responders can wear on their belts and reach for immediately.

Manoliu says healthcare settings are not the only workplaces where infections are possible. Any place where there are lots of people, or where money — a very dirty commodity — is exchanged, could benefit from hand sanitizers.

When H1N1 was still a major concern in Canada, Bag Designs launched a flu kit that included an face mask, vinyl gloves, hand sanitizer, antiseptic towelettes and more. The kits are still available and can be customized.

Employers cannot force employees to take care of their health. Whether they offer a corporate Weight Watchers program, or organic food choices in the cafeteria, there’s no guarantee that people will get active, wash their hands, take up yoga or give up the fries. It’s not that people need to be told to take care of their health, but we need motivation, time and inclination to do the right thing.

“A healthy workplace program only works if you’ve got the support structure around it,” Norris says. “Everyone’s inundated with information. Incentives help anchor the focus. Nobody needs an infomercial fitness product, but if it reminds you to get off the couch, it’s worth its weight in gold.”

What Women Want.

by Lauren Shirreffs and Roger Gingerich

This One Is For the Ladies

Bye-bye boxy cut clothing. The ever-growing female workforce is not only making an impact on the professional world, but it is making its mark in promotional fashion. Gone are the days when women had to settle for a men's small shirt because women's small didn't exist. And say au revoir to the "one-size-fits-all" or putting shirt buttons on the other side and calling it a women's shirt.”

Tailoring and shape can complement a silhouette; women demanded it in retail fashion and the promotional world has caught on.

Most notably, we've seen the decline of the unisex style. Perhaps we can thank American Apparel, a retail outlet that also makes promotional clothes. The company stepped in and made it unacceptable for women to wear unflattering styles. They gave women the opportunity to try a fitted T-shirt and this changed the market. "Women loved the fit, demanded it and love it," says Jason Neve of Boardroom Apparel.

Suppliers have reworked the female silhouette in a way that is more flattering to female physiques. In the promotional world, product developers, pattern makers, and marketing teams are getting wise to the trend.

Companies like Canada Sportswear have caught on, calling it the "Lulu effect," as in Lululemon Atheletica. Performance wear, with expert tailoring and details, can hug the curves and get away with it. This turn towards women's-specific fashion isn't detracting from their professionalism

Females have increased their representation in several professional fields in recent years. According to Statistics Canada, in 2004 women made up 47 per cent of the paid workforce, up from 37 per cent in 1976. In contract the proportion of men who were employed fell during this period from 73 per cent to 68 percent. When looking at basic uniforms, women's patterns and cuts have been incorporated in every field.

Women currently make up over half of those employed in both medicine, health-related and business/financial positions. This also means that women are in higher profile positions - management and CEOs.

As a result, we are seeing more demand for female-specific clothing, not to mention there are more female buyers and decision-makers. In the retail world, women have made up the majority of the purchasing (70 per cent), but in the corporate world, it's the men who do the buying (now they're the 70 percent). But, women still have a strong voice when it comes to corporate buying regardless of the numbers.

At the Club Link Invitational held in Muskoka last fall, female buyers were in the hundreds. In addition to wanting to look feminine (no baggy moo-moos here), they simply want to feel good in what they are wearing. They also care about cut, fabric, and fit. Surprisingly, men are the ones who love the subtle details in the buttons and zips.

"I want to feel and look good in apparel," says Margo, a corporate buyer for a Toronto-based law firm. It may sound simple, but apparel suppliers are challenged. They are trying to provide a garment that revelas womanly silhouettes as well as create cuts that fit on several body shapes and sizes. Suppliers like Boardroom Eco Apparel and Cottontex provide just as many styles in their ladies' offerings as their men's even though 70 per cent of orders are for men. So how does one pick the right style for their ladies"

There is a demand for suppliers to create shape and provide movement in more fashional fits while creating styles that complement the various shapes of a woman. instead of one-size and style fits all, female versions of cothing are being offered rather than direct copycats of men's clothing. Review the helpful tips on how to buy female coporate apparel.

Five tips to remember:

1. Colour: Yes, the number one colour in the promotional world is black, yet women love white. But keep this in mind: if the garment is meant as a giveaway for a single event, consider that some women might be wearing dark under garments. Also do not fear colour: rich jewelled tones are easier to work with and complement many skin tones.
2. Cut: Every woman is like a snowflake: her body shape is unique and that includes height. Better long than short - at least they can tuck it in.
3. Purpose: Even though you're thinking trade shows, there is no need to revert to a button-down woven shirt, or a simple polo. Stand out in your next trade show. Consider a great jacket or layering piece.
4. Consult with a female co-worker: Just like getting feedback from your customers, get feedback from the ladies of the business. They are wearing the garments so they will know what they want. It's amazing how many times I have to remind male buyers to consult with their female workforce.
5. Size: If possible, treat the ladies to a fitting. Never assume a size. Give employees a variety of options and always buy a few more units in each size when possible. Request a size chart; every supplier has one and base their patterns on it. Your ladies will be thankful!

Recognition

by Razor Suleman

How to Reward and Recognize the Class of 2010

Call them what you like - Generation Me, Millennials, the Trophy Generation, Generation Next or Net Generation - they are the workforce of the future. They make up over 80 million of the NOrth American workforce and are considered its fastest growing segment. Millennials will one day lead your organization, so how do you motivate, recognize and reward them so that you can retain the great ones?

To get into the mind of a Millennial, I Love Rewards teamed up with Studentawards, a youth marketing and market research firm, to launch the first annual Class of 2010 Survey. The survey was distributed to college and university students across English Canada - the majority of whom are graduating in the next one to two years. Here's a sample of what we found.

RECOGNIZE INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENTS
When asked whether respondents prefer to be recognized for their individual accomplishments or team accomplishments, 65 per cent said they'd rather receive one-on-one recognition rather than the traditional "team gathering" in the office.

Why? According to the survey, almost 40 per cent of respondents ranked career development as one of the top three factors they consider when making a decision on where to work. "We have heard repeatedly rom students that while they don't expect to be in the corner office wihtin a couple ofyears, they do want interesting and challenging work right out of the gate," said Suzanne Tyson, president of Studentawards. "If they feel they are learning and growing and making a contribution, they will stay with employers."

The top three ways to give meaningful recognition to all your employees, including Millennials, for their individual achievements are as follows:

Create a recognition rhythm
Offer employees the opportunity to earn recognition regularly. This includes combining formal recognition such as "employee of the month" with on-the-spot recognition practices such as acknowledging an employee's achievements duringa meeting or conference call.

Follow the PIC approach
PIC stands for Positive, Immediate and Certain. Train managers to give positive recognition in a timely manner. It will encourage repeat positive behaviour in your employees!

Be specific!
Recognition is pointless if the recipient is unaware of the reason behind it. Always use the word "because." It's the most effective word in the English language.

THE REWARDS THEY WANT
What rewards do Millennials get excited about? According to the study, 84 per cent of Millennials ranked travel to the study, 84 per cent of Millennials ranked travel rewards in their top three. Experiential rewards such as a spa day or rafting trip came second with 67 per cent and a product of choice came in third with 46 per cent.

The top choices selected in the survey reveal Millennials' desire for personalized rewards that fit their lifestyle and tastes. Employees of all generations appreciate the freedom to choose their own rewards, but this is especially true for Millennials, who see freedom of choice like oxygen - a necessity!

What ranked last? No surprise here - traditional years of service awards. Only 17 per cent of respondents ranked the gold watches and grandfather clocks as one of their top three choices. These traditional rewards don't speak to today's workforce, especially Millennials who are used to instant gratification - instant messaging, instant access and instant communication. They like a song, they download it immediately; they send an email, they automatically receive a confirmation message. This generation grew up with technology at their fingertips (literally), and therefore expect that their actions will be acknowledged instantly.

CREATING A REWARDS STRATEGY
When deciding on a rewards strategy, incorporate these findings into your rewards. Ask yourself:

Employee demographics - Will your selection of rewards appeal to all employees based on age, gender and geographic region?

Fulfilling rewards - Are you moving away from purchasing and warehousing your own rewards because of security risks and tracking challenges?.

Choice of rewards - Will employees be able to choose their rewards? If not, you may experience a negative response if employees receive unwanted/unusable rewards. The more choice, the better.

Taxation - Are you aware of the laws surrounding taxable benefits and how they impact your employees?

As Millennials make their way from the classroom to the boardroom, it is imperative that employers understand what motivates their young employees.

If you are interested in learning more, I Love Rewards has the complete Class of 2010 white paper based on the survey results. Find out how long Millennials expect to stay with their employer and how they approach the job-seeking process. The results may surprise you. Visit www.iloverewards.com/class-of-2010.

Canadian Pride

by Danielle Vickers-Tjalsma & Terie Vickers-Craig

Show Your Canadian Colours in Your Promotions

How that the Olumpic flame has been extinguished will Canadians revert back to private patriotism, or has the Olympic Games changed our perception of how to celebrate our country pride?

Why are Canadians shy and embarrassed when it comes to patriotism? Some Canadians even take great pride in our modest devotion. Prime Minister Harper, however thought otherwise in a pre-Olympic speech. Harper encourages Canadians to communicate our national pride uniquely, but firmly.

"Patriotism, ladies and gentlemen, patriotism as Canadians, should not make us feel the least bit shy or embarrassed. I know that thoughts of grandeur and boisterous displays of nationalism we tend to associate with others. And, over the centuries, things have been done around the world in the name of national pride or love of country that would have been better left undone. Yet, we should never case aside our pide in a country so incredible, in a land that we are so fortunate to call home, merely because the notion has sometimes been abused.

"There is nothing wrong, and there is much that is right, in celebrating together when our fellow citizins, perceiving some splendid star high above us, willingly pay the cost and take the chance to stretch forth their hands to try to touch it for that one shinging moment."

We realize that the maple leaf "...symbolizes more than just the athletes who wear it. It symbolizes the country we love...We will ask the world to forgive us this uncharacteristic outburst of patriotism, of our pride, to be part of a country that is strong, confident and tall among the nations."

For years Canadians have, by their own admission, been typecast as pleasant, and apologetic people. That all changed on February 14, 2010 when Alexandre Bilodeau took home Canada's first ever gold medal on Canadian soil. The world heard our nation roar with pride and spontaneous eruptions of Oh Canada. We watched and celebrated when Jon Montgomery won his skeleton gold, when Joannie Rochette competed with ermarkable perseverance, when gold medalists Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir elegantly captured gold, when Sidney Crosby socred the overtime goal and when Lauren Woolstencroft, five-time gold medal winner in the paralympics, shone.

Canadain pride rang out loud and clear across the globe.
As spectators, we supported them with a sea of Canadian flags, mitts, scarves, toques, jackets, and shirts, in essence shouting, "I AM CANADIAN AND PROUD OF IT!"
But wil it end there? Now that the Olympic flame has been extinguished, will Canadians revert back to private patriotism, or has the Olympic Games changed our perception of how to celebrate our country pride? Only time will tell, because patriotism is a choice. Businesses, organizations, clubs and teams can decide to carry on this new tradition. They can market themselves with this intentional brand of patriotic pride whether it is a full-blown Canadian initiative or simply the incorporation of a subtle icon in their promotional marketing.

When Faro, a Canadian manufacturer, wanted to raise money for the Haiti Relief Fund, they sold the Canada/Haiti cross flag pin at a trade show and then donated all proceeds to the charity. Philanthropic and patriotic. To show your own pride, consider a coffee mug etched on one side with the maple leaf and your corporate logo on the other; or, what about an eco tote bag with a touch of Canada on the reverse side or combined with a corporate logo on the front?

Rockwell Automation gives baseball hats as parting gifts for their customers who attend their Canadian Integrated Architecture Process Seminar tour.

However, this time they added a Canadian element. "After seeing red and white predominantly over the Olympics, we thought it was time we show our pride too," says Ralph Paling, Rockwell Automation's marketing manager. "It was easy since the hat we chose already had 'Canada' and the 'maple leaf' embroidered on it, so we just added our logo. They've been a wonderful hit."

Companies can also choose Canadian-made or Canadian-decorated products as gifts for visiting dignitaries or speakers: the Canadiana gifts are also great to take on business trips for their international hosts, to build trade show traffic, to motivate employees or even to add gifts with a purchase or an incentive to reply to direct mail campaigns.

A very small gesture can make a big impact simply by adding a maple leaf or a Canadian flag to all promotional advertising. When developing promotions, incentive campaigns or recognition programs, companies should consider where they're from, where they work, and where their clients live. When it comes to promotional solutions, there are endless opportunities to use products that whisper or shout, "I am Canadian and proud of it!".

Funk It Up

by Melanie Chambers

How to Make Your Logo Stand Out

When it comes to making your logo stand out on a T-shirt or a hat, the kind of decoration and customizing you choose for your logo can have a huge impact. Keeping cost in mind, how do you make your logo stand out?

At Stitches Creation Inc, in British Columbia, Joyce Kam is used to hearing the same question: "Companies come to us and say, 'Here is our logo, how can I funk it up?' They want something new." They also want good value. If you're considering funking it up, here are a few suggestions

Liquid Metal
Available only on hats, this funky raised-metal-looking application is the most popular hat option. If you opt for the high frequency option, a bit costlier, the liquid metal can match most Pantone logo colours. The regular liquid metal is available in one colour, which means that it won't reveal much detail. "It's best for text only," says Cathie Kelly, business development manager for Fersten Worldwide.

LED Hat Lights
Not meant for everyday wear, but perhaps a special contest or occasion, LED lights are applied behind the embroidery in a hat. Lights can be timed to flash at the same time or in a pattern. With a battery pack at the side, the lights have a long running time. Similar to a walking billboard, these lights scream "look at me!"

Rhinestones and Sequins
If LED lights are not in the budget, then the next logical step is rhinestones and sequins. Sequin embroidery "gives you that bling effect without the cost," says Matt Clark, national accounts manager from Vantage Apparel. The now-automated process doesn't require applying each stone by hand. "An automated machine can now do 250 of these in the same time as it takes to embroider."

And thanks to this automation, that means that there are also more opportunities to put the stones in unique places such as the front or back hip and top of the hood locations. Sequins can also appear on a cap or garment where traditional direct embroidery is possible.

"The rhinestones are really popular because of Ed Hardy in the retail world," says Kelly. Ed Hardy is a designer brand worn by the likes of Madonna.

Textured
Popular on university and college apparel and hats, the simple logo, often letters, is repeated inside a smaller logo. If you're from university of Western Ontario, tiny "UWOs" can be stamped inside the actual letters. "It's best for simple logos that don't take up a lot of space," says Kelly. Also, any logo taking up too much space isn't best suited to a textured design.

Digi-fusion
Transferring prints of a photo image onto material is growing in popularity. Not only does the digital print - from an ink jet printer - transfer well onto a variety of material ,it is also the same price regardless of the amount of colours you have in your image.

"Size is the only factor," says Craig Bromberg, vice-president from Pedigree. For a size of two inches by two inches, expect to pay $6 to $8 compared to the $5 to $10 for the embroidery. And if you have a small order, say 25 or less, digi-fusion is the way to go.

Reverse Appliqué
Reverse appliqué is one way to make your logo stand out. The decoration method removes the top piece of material and replaces it with a new material.

Kam suggests using new materials and even new colours: adding plaid to a logo, or other materials such as vinyl or a hologram plastic material, can give the logo a much needed facelift. "That's what you want - you want to be different and stand out."

And, instead of adding material with a clean edge, fringe material is all the rage, which adds a bit of "urban style" to the logo.

Kam adds that the price for these funky additions can often double the cost, but she goes back to the old adage that if you want to get noticed and have impact, it will require a new way of thinking. "Think outside the box a little more - every time we wear it outside on the streets people are asking where did you get that?"

The material isn't the only thing you can change; companies can enhance an entire garment with a few simple alterations. Kam points to a hoodie sweatshirt. The company's logo uses plaid behind the main logo. The same plaid pattern is then used on the back of the hood, elbows, pockets and derriè. Double 3-d
Both apparel and hats can take on this customized decoration that truly stands out: using foam then the logo stitched on top, essentially, double 3-D is stacked 3-D puff embroidery.

Heat Sealed Transfers
Remember grabbing the iron-on from the bottom of the cereal box when you were a kid? Well, those heat sealed transfers are back, but this time they won't fall off when you're playing outside. Using better adhesive technology and quality material, the transfer not only sticks, it moves with a variety of apparel.

Another aspect is that this application is fast and easy, without changing the integrity or look of your logo too much.

"A lot of companies want to funk it up, but they paid a lot of legal rights to get that logo to look exactly right," says Ritchie Belyea, product manager of accessories and custom apparel for Ash City.

She explains that companies sometimes don't have complete artistic freedom to change or alter the logo. "There are legal rights with large companies. "With the heat seal the company's logo is transferred exactly from the artwork onto the media - whether it's a hat or clothing. "There's no chance of it being misconstrued; tha tsometimes happens when you translate it into embroidery."

Whichever method you choose, companies should think beyond the one-day event.

"Are they going to pull it out of the closet on the weekend or after work because that's the item they want to wear?" says Belyea. If it's trendy yet durable, chances are that they will.

Woven Labels
Similar to the labels on the back of shirts, text is woven onto a label and then applied to either a T-shirt or a hat. This decoration is great for logos that require more detail and small text, which you can't get with embroidery.

Laser Etching
Laser etching burns the first layer of the material to product an indent into the material. Etching is used on everything, from traditional cotton to denim, canvas, and ultra suede; however, materials such as golf shirts and soft shell jackets are too thin for the etching.

Clark also sees another advantage: "It's economical. You can do a full panel large logo and you're not paying for the stitch count that you do when you use embroidery."

Laser etching runs from $5 to $7 per garment, depending on quantity, for a design up to 36 square inches.

Embroidery
Despite the absence of bling, and flashy embellishments, embroidery is still one of the most popular decoration options - its quality lasts and logos render well. "Ninety per cent of the business is embroidery and then people are always asking for something different," says Bromberg. "It's the nature of the beast to want what's new and then they keep going back to what they've done time and time again."

Starting with a basic blank hat, the decoration will often cost the same as the hat itself - typically $4.50 to $5 for a mid range hat for a small order under 144.

For a basic logo, typcially about 5,000 stitches, you can print basic text; however, the price will go up as the images and/or decoration becomes more complicated, costing about $0.75 per additional 1,000 stitches.

Winning Promotions - how official Olympic sponsors and partners are creating memorable promotions

Official sponsors of the Olympic Games are in a coveted position: not only can they display their brand on an international level, but they can also leave a lasting impression — their contests and promotions are helping to make their employees and customers feel like winners.

marketingedge magazine caught up with a few of the Games’ sponsors to find out how they are using contests and promotions to create excitement and buzz about the Games, not just within their company, but also to their loyal customers.

Team Green

As official partner of the Olympics, BC Hydro is providing green energy to the Games. The international Games are a perfect platform to promote something they care deeply about: conservation.

“Conservation is very big for us,” says Simi Heer, spokesperson for the Power Smart Team.

Building on their existing promotions and contests throughout the year, the company is adding the Olympics to these green promotions. Their biggest promotion, Team Power Smart, was relaunched last year with the Olympics in mind.

Residents of British Columbia are encouraged to go online and register with Power Smart; when they sign up, members are also committing to set a personal conservation target of reducing energy use by 10 per cent. The company’s goal is to get 210,000 members before the 2010 Games.

And here’s where the Olympics really kick in: 27 members who sign up have a chance to win tickets to some of the Olympic events in the company’s 2010 Winter Games prize package. “We’re building on the Olympic theme and tying in a sport theme to a current conservation effort,” says Heer.

The theme of conservation and using electricity efficiently ties in nicely with the Olympians as well: “Thinking of how to use electricity efficiently is similar to how athletes use their body efficiently…maximizing your effort.”

To promote the promotion, the company visited over 50 communities in the province. They even had the added cachet of celebs becoming members: “John Furlong was one of our first members,” adds Heer.

Another promotion is tied into the company’s wellness promotion. During the year, employees are encouraged to participate in a 33-day event called Walk the Grid; using step counters, employees attempt to walk the same number of kilometres covered by the BC Hydro grid (75,000 kilometres).

This year, in the spirit of the 2010 Winter Games, the company added an Olympic element. “We challenged employees to follow a virtual torch relay route through B.C.,” says Heer. In 2008, 1,000 employees and nearly 80 teams tracked over 272 million steps (more than 206,000 kilometres). Winning teams are offered health-focused prizes.

McCountdown

In our last issue we spoke to McDonald’s about their Champion Crew — 300 employees chosen to work at the Games and attend some of the events.

McDonald’s has also unveiled Champion Kids and McDonald’s 2010 Hopefuls; the kids’ program will bring children from around the world to the Games, 11 from Canada, to interact with one another during this monumental time.

Similar to CTV, whose promotion is aimed at familiarizing Canadians with Canadian athletes, the Hopefuls program provides grants to offset some of the costs for training, coaching and travelling.

McDonald’s has set up a website, which introduces the 26 Hopeful athletes, providing details on everything from their favourite meals to their competition statistics. Athletes’ email addresses are also posted so Canadians can send encouragement: www.hopefuls2010.ca

But McDonald’s has gone a step further, offering more promotions as we get closer to the Games. Many of their meals are special limited time only items; one of the favourites is the famous Happy Meal featuring official Olympic mascots Miga, Quatchi and Sumi. This Canada-only promotion starts at the end of January.

From supporting the athletes, Canadian Olympic spirit, or your employees, promotional products will leave an impression long after everyone has gone home.

High Definition Athletes

As sponsor of Alpine Canada Alpin (ACA), Panasonic Canada is using technology to connect athletes and Canadians. To kick off a promotion called HD Moments, last year the company gave five skiers HD camcorders. Since then, athletes have been recording their training and competition highlights, and then posting the footage to the Panasonic.ca website.

“It puts a face to a whole promotion,” says Ian Kilvert, the general manager of corporate brand management for Panasonic Canada. “There’s a real chance to connect to people on the ski team and a chance to meet and talk to them.”

Those athletes will also use the camcorders during the Games to capture Olympic moments, which will be available on Panasonic.ca for the rest of the country to view.

Panasonic launched the promotion at Dundas Square in Toronto’s downtown where they announced the ski team, and where passersby could win skis, Panasonic plasma TVs and more; video greetings and photos were shown from the giant screens above the square.

Stand Proud

It’s been a rough year for employees of GM, but that didn’t mean the company didn’t want to create an Olympic buzz in the offices. In addition to sending some employees to the torch relay chosen through a lottery, the company also offered discounted airline tickets to Vancouver for anyone that wanted to attend the Games.

But as an official clothing licensee, the company was able to create unique co-branded apparel (GM and the Olympic logo clothing items). Employees can choose from everything from ski jackets to sweatshirts online.

“Few companies had this,” says Tom Laurie, manager of Olympic partnership for GM Canada, based in Oshawa. He says such an honour meant that employees could proudly wear the company’s brand with Olympicwear.

Survival of the Fittest

by Roger Gingerich and Danielle Gulic

When athletes step up to perform this February, they’ll do so in functional yet stylish clothes from Canadian companies.

Montreal-based Sunice is one of those suppliers. The company will outfit more than 2,200 CTV staff including production personnel, network executives, guests, and staff working at and attending the Games.

The Olympic apparel includes an outer shell, thermal and softshell jackets, quarter-zip shirts, insulated pants, rain pants, toques, gloves — it’s gear worthy of enduring the west coast weather.

In their 2010 collection, Sunice chose to highlight Haida artwork. As a northern British Columbia First Nations group known for their carving and painting (Haida artist Bill Reid’s artwork appears on the Canadian $20 bill), the combination is elegant yet significant: the pieces shine a light on culture through apparel, and history through design.

Licensed merchandise for the Olympics is always a hot item; part of that cachet is that it must pass through the strictest quality assurance. With unique holograms, consumers are assured that their purchase is authentic.

Licensed apparel is also another chance for companies to promote their own business. Elevate Sport is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Trimark Sportswear Group, selling exclusively to approved Canadian retailers.

“Similar to our Trimark day-to-day business, we act as the back end, and help our customers navigate the intricacies of the Olympic landscape,” says Dave Garrett, general manager of Elevate Sport.

Elevate’s mandate is simple: elevate your senses, elevate your style, and elevate your game. “Ultimately, Elevate has made our key distributors the link to the sponsors’ co-branded Olympic apparel and headwear,” says Garrett.

The Olympics represent all the intricate workings of a successful corporation, from corporate branding, marketing, organization and campaigning. Similar to every company, the apparel line that represents an Olympic Games must evolve with the times, rebrand to reach younger demographics, and source relevant companies to co-brand with to maintain their image.

In the case of Sunice, seasoned ski apparel design professional Grace A. Galdi was brought in to add her design flair. Taking into consideration consumer and retailer specifications, Galdi created high-end technical sportswear at a price that has been adjusted according to the economy.

From a trend standpoint, “branded brands” or “co-branding” has been with us for quite some time. This is Sunice’s third Games. And companies with similar demographics want to partner and “share” similar client profiles with non-competing brands.

Branded apparel falls into the same genre as non-apparel brands that have true research and development departments; they value high quality standards and long-range vision for their product.

National supporters range from Bell, the Bay, RBC, GM Canada, Petro-Canada and Rona. These elite brands went through their own individual processes to be considered for such an honour. If you’re considering co-branding ask yourself: who are your supporters? With whom do you structurally align yourself to best reflect your corporation and elevate the volume of your brand?

The answers will help steer you into a winning co-branding formula.

Olympic Memories - Keep the Games Alive

by Michelle Morra

After Ottawa-born figure skater Barbara Ann Scott won the Olympic gold in Saint Moritz, Switzerland in 1948, she was immortalized when Reliable Toy Company of Toronto created a doll in her image. Available in different skater outfits, complete with miniature skates, the doll with the honey-blond hair was apparently the Tickle Me Elmo of Christmas gifts that year for little girls all over Canada. Today, an online forum on the Museum of Civilization website is filled with memories from 60-something Canadian women, sharing their memories of Canada’s most famous doll.

“I loved that doll,” says a 68-year-old in Portland, “and could not believe my eyes when I opened her on Christmas morning! My mother could not afford her and I do not know how she managed to buy her.”

Besides making “Canada’s sweetheart” even more famous, the Barbara Ann Scott doll would forever associate the toymaker with Canadian pride during a historical, international event. The doll bears no Olympic logo, but markings on her head read: “Reliable/Made in Canada.”

Fast-forward to a world less innocent but every bit as excited about the Olympics, in more ways than one. After the Beijing Games, a buyer and seller of Olympic memorabilia scoured the grounds in search of any unopened condoms leftover from the 100,000 supplied by the China Reproductive Health Industry Association. The man, Zhao Xiaokai, managed to scoop up 5,000 condoms and in November 2009 put the entire batch up for auction. The condoms bear the motto, “Faster, higher, stronger.”

Olympic-themed products over the years, whether pins, coins, backpacks or leather jackets, have shared one thing in common: people want them. People wear them, cherish them, use them, encase them in glass, buy and sell them.

And that has companies clamouring to make their mark. Many have celebrated the Olympics with signature products, some for very little profit, like Best of Seven, a Saskatchewan-based manufacturer of solid oak table hockey games that eventually released a limited edition of Canada/U.S. Olympic-themed units.

But today, only companies with official sponsorship status can legally use the Olympic logo or any of its associated words. To prevent “ambush marketing” (i.e., free publicity at the expense of official sponsors), host countries have started to adopt legislation to address this. In Canada it’s called Bill C-47, The Olympic and Paralympic Marks Act and it has stirred up some strong reactions. Anyone but an official sponsor is prohibited from marketing that uses terms like “Games” or “2010” or “Gold.”

In 2006, during the Torino Games, without being an Olympic sponsor, Imperial Oil ran a contest offering plane and hockey tickets to Italy to “Cheer on Canada.” The company eventually had to withdraw the campaign.

The Games caught some media flack when Olympia Pizza, a small business in Vancouver that had been around for years, received a letter from the International Olympic Committee demanding they change the restaurant’s name and logo. The restaurant owners refused, but that was before the law was passed.

In Athens, there were reports that people wearing T-shirts with non-sponsor logos at the Olympics were asked to remove them or turn them inside out. And in a more extreme scenario, although not at the Olympics, at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, fans received free lederhosen with the word “Bavaria” from Bavaria Brewery — which was in no way a sponsor (Budweiser was). Officials fought the marketing ambush by forcing 1,000 fans to remove the orange shorts and watch the rest of the match in their underwear.

For those companies that invest millions to sponsor the Olympics, governments understandably have had to somehow address the marketing free-for-all. A CTV report says that for global sponsors, the cost to associate with the Olympics has surged 50 per cent in the past decade.

Birks designed a miniature version of the torch used at the Beijing Olympics that sold very well. As an official sponsor of Vancouver 2010, the company has again produced the torches, as well as a series of charms and reasonably-priced silver gifts. Dan Kratochvil, Birks’ divisional vice-president for product development and Olympic project manager says the products were selling well at store level even in the fall of 2009.

“As we get closer [to the 2010 Winter Games], the hype will increase,” he says. Kratochvil says Olympic-themed products attract a variety of clientele.

“You’ve got people very much involved with the various Olympics that just follow from one Olympics to another,” he says. “But there are also Canadians who just have great pride that the Olympics are back in Canada.”

Unlike the “what” and “whom” of other promotional products, those with an Olympic connection are about the “when.” For the host city and its local sponsors, the promotion is tied to the specific Games. The world would never forget Calgary’s city symbol — the white cowboy hat — after each Canadian athlete wore one in the opening ceremony of the 1988 Winter Games. The manufacturer, Smithbilt Hats, is still riding the wave. No one currently working at the company was there in the ’80s, but Brian Hanson, the now vice-president says customers cherish their Olympic hats more than 20 years later.

“I still have people bring those hats in that they got at the Olympics, to get them fixed up,” he says.

As official outfitter of the Canadian team during the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Roots designed apparel for our athletes to wear at the Games’ opening. Replicas were available in stores. In particular, Roots sold more than 500,000 of its red “Canada poor-boy” hats. Stores sold out as soon as shipments arrived, the company reports, and celebrities were spotted wearing the hats, including Robin Williams at the Academy Awards. The United States, impressed with the Canada poor-boy, invited Roots to outfit the American Olympic team for its Salt Lake City 2002 Games. Roots sold over a million “Team USA” berets.

“We sold everything head to toe,” says Robert Sarner, director of communication and public affairs for Roots Canada, “but for some reason, in both of those years, probably the most celebrated were those respective headwear.”

Asked why the Roots hats were so popular, he says, “It could be a desire to emulate the athletes. It could be patriotic fervour. And it could be that it appealed to a sense of style. I think Roots was the first company to really inject a certain element of style and popularize it in a way people really wanted to wear it.”

In the promotional industry, the Olympics always freshen things up. Hopes of catching some of the frenzy propel companies to carve out their place in history, and that takes creativity.

Coca-Cola Company has been an Olympic sponsor for decades. Coke has provided memorable take-away products far beyond the complimentary cola served at the Games. At the Los Angeles Olympics in 1932, everyone in the stadium received an Olympic Games personal record keeper, with a wheel-shaped indicator they could dial to compare athletes’ performances to previous records. And in 1960, everyone at the Rome Olympic Games received an original, 45-rpm record of “Arrivederci Roma,” a favourite song of the day.

On goes the trend. Just as today’s athletes strive to surpass their predecessors, Olympic marketers push onward to be the fastest, highest and strongest.

Canada Believes - A Simple Promotion Goes Gold

by Melanie Chambers

You’ve seen it on billboards, perhaps even on TV, and you’ve certainly heard about it as the Olympics gets closer and closer. It’s one word that has the country all abuzz. Believe. Believe in the spirit of the Games. Believe in Canada bringing the world to our doorstep. Believe.

But this simple, humble slogan has very humble beginnings. Yet, it quickly became synonymous with Canadian Olympic spirit. Canadians first saw the slogan on CTV clothing.

“In the beginning, this apparel was developed just to appear within our advertising as props,” says Adam Ashton, Vicevice-President president of Marketing marketing for Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium. But the campaign evolved into so much more.

In an attempt to make Canadian athletes familiar household names, CTV created a campaign called Believe, ”which was aimed at making Canadian athletes household names. Part of the campaign involved short 30- and 60-second television vignettes called “'Get To Know Your Canadian Athletes.” In the vignettes, 25 English and French Olympians revealed little-known details about their personalities and lifestyles.

In the vignettes, athletes wore clothing bearing the word “believe.” The vignettes began airing in February 2009 — a year before the Games. As the campaign predicted, after the year-long ads, sure enough , Canadians knew a little more about the athletes; but something they didn’t predict took hold of the campaign.

Mountains of requests poured in from Canadians asking where they could buy their own “Believe” clothing — the clothing the athletes were wearing in the vignettes ; from this overwhelming demand, the “Believe” clothing started a life of its own.

CTV approached the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) to acquire the necessary licensing privileges for “Believe” merchandise. And, after the decision to create nationwide retail apparel called “Imagine” in French-speaking Canada, the next step was to spread the word.

To let the nation know about “Believe,” each newscast of CTV created a contest revolving around the clothing; the gold medal prize pack was given out to five entrants — a batch of clothing with the chance to win a trip to the Games.

“In order to increase awareness for the “Believe/Imagine” merchandise, we encouraged our local CTV stations to create their own unique “Believe/Imagine” on-air spots and promotional initiatives. Each local station was able to focus on community heroes and local athletes, which gives a regional aspect and another layer to the campaign,” says Ashton.

Conceived by Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium as a national marketing promotion designed to rally Canadians around our Olympic Games hopefuls and promote multimedia coverage, the “Believe” campaign permeates television as well as radio and other print media.

In Montreal viewers entered to win the gold medal package that included a toque, scarf, ball cap, long sleeve tee and both a women’s and men’s fleece full zip hoodie (a value of about $240). All CTV “Believe” entrants were also automatically entered to win two tickets to the Games.

In British Columbia, viewers watched Tamara Taggart’s weekly weather forecast to get the secret password to enter the contest. Viewers had only one day to enter.

Newspapers across the country announced winners like they were announcing winners of a lottery. The “Believe” campaign was beginning to spread a wave of Olympic spirit and pride.

And to ensure that those wearing the clothing were supporting their athletes, part of the proceeds from the “Believe” apparel will go to Own the Podium, a fund set up to support Canadian athletes.

Adding to its Canadian-made authenticity, all original shoots of the vignettes were produced and directed in-house. And, the “Believe” campaign was created and developed by the award-winning CTV Creative Agency.

With the help of some promotional apparel, a campaign with humble beginnings has evolved into a national movement. As the Games approach, Canadians aren’t just asking if they believe, they already do.

Canada: Hands Up!

As the Olympic Flame travels through Canada, one man sees red: “It will be greeted and cheered on its journey by a sea of Red Mittens waved proudly by Canadians in the crowd,” says John Furlong, chief executive officer of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympics Winter Games.

Since released — a year before the actual Games — the Hudson’s Bay Company’s popular Red Mittens have been flying off shelves; with just simple red mittens, HBC evokes a message, triggers emotions and strategically delivers their brand identity.

HBC is well-versed in Canadian tradition: dating back to the 1600s, it is our first national landmark. If anyone knows how to define Canadian in knit, it would be HBC.

At first glance, the mittens are a utilitarian gift offering warmth for winter, but the significance runs deeper. HBC presented a fashion piece, one that reflects our traditional weather and our childhood fondness of all sports involving ice. Cleverly capturing the Canadian identity, the mittens also parallel “all-Canadian” with HBC and the Olympics. Before any company jumps into corporate branding, HBC familiarized themselves with colour symbolism and its psychology.

Red is synonymous with intensity, passion, celebration, liberalism, Canadian politics, respect, good luck; it’s so strong that it dilutes the colours around it. Studies have shown that red can have physical effects such as increased blood pressure and faster heart beats. As the Canadian national colour, red wasn’t a difficult choice, which it often is for companies looking to brand themselves.

Details are imperative in determining the branding for large corporations and world-renowned institutions like the Olympics. Another prime example is the design of the Olympic torch, which carries the message of hope, the celebration of excellence, friendship and respect wherever it travels in the world, says Jacques Tk , president of the International Olympic Committee. “The Vancouver 2010 Torch design is like Canada — young, exciting, innovative, and welcoming to everyone who sees and holds it.”

These attributes are important for companies’ branding strategies: many companies are reconfiguring their brand identities as reliable, true and going back to the basics of their core corporate values.

Canada, known for its natural resources and multiculturalism, now has the Games to highlight these attributes and align ourselves with as a strong yet peaceful nation and a world leader. With countless brands attending the Games, branded apparel will be one of the most popular ways to promote corporate identity. We can anticipate seeing countless global leaders, corporate executives, and guests outfitted in corporate apparel.

Branded apparel, like the red mittens, are symbols of corporate identity. Cutting-edge branding techniques and styles are the determinants of corporate fashion. Even though we all love to wear the classic black jacket, it is red or a pattern that stands out in crowd.

With an organization that understands their demographic like none other, what are the visuals that embody your organization? What are your “Red Mittens”? Do your apparel choices speak of your company’s vision and pursuit of excellence? Are you a “Gold level” or “Bronze level” company to your clients?

Custom-Made Thanks.

by Jennifer McPhee

Artistic and personal, how art has a place in rewards.

When Lisa Janssen’s clients are searching for corporate gifts, the predictable stuff simply doesn’t cut it. Her high-end clients want something that’s eco-friendly, locally-made, and totally original. So Janssen, owner of Great Gift Ideas in Toronto, often relies on handmade items made by Canadian artists. “Everyone does coffee mugs,” she says. “Everyone does pens. Everyone does those stress balls. Everyone does the typical, typical stuff. But I focus my business on things that are more unique and exclusive and really make a statement because I want my clients to go, ‘Wow, that’s really cool.’”

One of Janssen’s hottest product lines right now are the quirky desk accessories made by Colin Schleeh of Schleeh Design. From his workshop inside an industrial building in Montreal, Schleeh creates bendy, twisty “MORPH” pads which are hand painted or printed on recycled paper. Another Schleeh product — his refillable “COMPACT Post-it” pads — sit in elegant wood holders and include a metal slider that allows users to save trees by tearing off as little recycled paper as necessary. From a corporate branding perspective, Schleeh’s desk accessories are ideal because the paper takes a nice image and he can also laser-engrave or print on the wood or sliders. “My customers love them,” says Janssen. “They’re on the expensive side, but I’ve already had reorders because they’re so beautiful.”

Artistic corporate gifts maycost more than many inexpensive promotional products manufactured overseas. But often handmade gifts are surprisingly affordable. And many say the investment is worth it because one-of-a-kind gifts send the message that your company, clients, or employees are special. “By giving something out of the ordinary, you are celebrating that,” says Mark Lewis, president of the Ontario Crafts Council, and co-owner of Beaver Valley Glassworks, a glass-blowing studio located in a converted barn near Collingwood, Ont. “You are saying, ‘We are not just a mindless company that doesn’t care.’”

Michelle Forge of the Council of Ontario Directors of Education (CODE) hired Lewis and his wife Tanya Zaryski to make glass paperweights for roughly 200 presenters at CODE’s two most recent conferences. The colourful swirled-glass objects cost $25 each and included the organization’s logo and artist’s signature discreetly on the bottom. “As educators, we are always looking for ways to support the arts in our schools and our programs,” says Forge. “And this demonstrated that support very clearly.” In hindsight, her only regret is not attaching a card with the artists’ names, explaining that the paperweights were handmade. “They are gorgeous,” she says. “And the price point was good too.”

Forge gives her own paperweight prime real estatespace on her office desk — and this, perhaps, points to themost compelling argument for investing in handcraftedpromotional items. Instead of stuffing these objects intodrawers, people tend to display them on walls and deskswhere they continue to create buzz on a company’s behalf.“A large part of what motivates me to do what I do is that I really believe objects hold meaning for people,” says artist Christie Chaplin-Saunders, owner of Artifacts in Clay based in Chester, N.S. “And what the really conspicuous corporate giveaways don’t have is nuance. With nuance, you get a more sophisticated messaging and sometimes the object is interesting enough to provoke a conversation. It’s a lot more valuable than having a logo hit someone in the eye.”

Chaplin-Saunders makes functional sculpture inspired by nature — mainly bowls that look like different types of shells. Her work looks delicate, but is actually sturdy enough for the dishwasher. And her creations are also surprisingly inexpensive. Her mussel-shaped business cardholders, for instance, cost just $12 each and customers receive a 15 per cent discount when they spend $500 or more. She cautions, however, that her production cycle is fairly long. “Depending on the time of year, we can turn things around at different speeds,” she says. “But, as a very rough guide, the minimum would be 12 weeks depending on the size of the pieces, the number and the design.”

Fine artist Jaspal Rangi, owner of Monsoon in Montreal, specializes in artistic corporate gifts. Along with large corporate paintings and murals, he creates hand painted or printed silk ties, scarves and shawls. When a major exhibit comes to a Canadian museum or gallery, Rangi is often commissioned to design a silk garment for the gift shop based on an interpretation of the featured artist’s work. He also frequently designs garments for businesses, government, and quasi-government agencies to present as gifts when courting business in far-flung countries. “That way they can take something other than maple syrup,” he quips.

Rangi’s sophisticated corporate clients tend to be plugged into the art world and balk at anything that even remotely resembles an advertisement. His main challenge is creating garments that are beautiful but still capture the essence of a company. Like most other artists, he engages in a back-and-forth consultation process with clients before getting the green light to produce the items.

When a corporate client first approaches Rangi, he scrutinizes the company’s website before meeting the client. “The main question I ask is, ‘what are you all about?’” he says. “When people think of you, what comes to their mind?” Usually, the client wants to incorporate colours, logos or even buildings that people automatically associate with them, he says. So he works these elements into an initial sketch for the client to review. Once they’ve agreed on a direction, he emails a final sketch, delivers a hard copy, and produces a sample. “Ninety per cent of the time, the sample is fine,” he says. “But 10 to 15 per cent [of clients] say, ‘We never thought it would look like this.’ Maybe it looks a little too bold. We say, ‘That’s fine,’ and do a second sample. We’ve never done more than two samples, knock on wood.”

To avoid discouraging business, Rangi charges just $375 for the entire design process. And although some of his high-end clients order exceptionally pricey items, his garments are typically quite reasonablypriced. For instance, the wholesale price of his silk ties typically ranges from $16.50 to $32.50.

Most artists do everything they can to keep their overhead costs down so they remain competitive and stay afloat. However, the weak economy is starting to take a toll on the already fragile arts industry as companies cut back on luxury spending, and, in some cases, struggle to pay for product they’ve already ordered. “We’re really feeling it,” says Chaplin-Saunders, who exports a third of her product to the United States. “[Last year] started out alright, but it didn’t finish very well.”

However, Schleeh says the economic slowdown has actually helped his business. More distributors are giving his products to their own customers as a way of self-promoting, he explains. “That’s increased a lot,” he says. “They want to be more visible and they are using us to do it.” Schleeh also predicts that more companies will start buying original, handmade creations because, in a tougher market, they need to find ways to shine. “I’m excited by the current conditions,” he says. “People want to get a bigger bang for their buck.”

It's all in the details.

by Roger Gingerich and Danielle Gulic

It’s the end of an era: as we head out of the worst global recession our planet has ever seen, along with the doom and gloom that came with it, we are forced to be relevant again. We need to prove value to our customers and we very much need to stand out. Brand style and choice can do that for your company.

I’m not saying men should be in three-piece suits and ladies in ankle-length dresses. I have seen a more professional look in a smart pair of shoes, designer jeans, crisp dress shirt and a sporty blazer than I have in the 1940’s office dress code. But I believe that dress can reflect significance in this new economy. Ask yourself: is your professionalism in this new era shown through your dress code and more so, through your promotional apparel choices?

It’s a cliché, I know, but in the world of corporate profiling, “It’s all in the details.” It’s time to review past corporate choices: do they match where your organization is going tomorrow? Who is your client base, what is your demographic profile — is it white collar or blue collar? Where will your staff or promotional event be seen? Do your employees require “nine-to-five” uniform wear; will they be at a trade show or golf tournament? Demographic profiling is no different for apparel brands than it is for any Canadian organization. Whether it’s Calvin Klein, Polo Ralph Lauren, Ashworth, or Izod, they all have a pulse on the demographic they serve — their aspirations, their ideals. Now it’s a matter of associating your organization with the brand that best suits your image or mission statement. Successful companies and their staff stand out, and they are dressed appropriately. Is your company what is wears? For Danier Leather, they certainly think so. “Danier’s market is career minded, lifestyle oriented, fashion-aware and self assured,” says Ralph Goldfinger, of Canada Sportswear Corp., the Exclusive Distributor of Danier Corporate Sales Merchandise in Canada.

Orest Kostecki with PVH Career Apparel thinks brand market placement is key: “The power of the company is the power of our brands.” He explains that by wearing the brand, the image truly comes across: Van Heusen, for instance, is a timeless style for special occasions, while Calvin Klein, one of the leading fashion design studios in the world, has trendy designs and fabrics with a European feel. And as the outdoors name suggests, Timberland is modern, functional, environmentally responsible and is inspired by an authentic outdoor heritage

Being a believer in brands, they represent far more than just the quality of the garment. We buy our favourite vehicle because of its design proficiency or its environmental footprint, or the ethics the company stands for, and of course, their quality track record. Apparel brands are very much in the same genre. They are innovators in fabrications, silhouettes, and technology and make their brand relevant in their specific markets. Brands also have both short-term and long-term strategies for their market positioning, which isn’t different from the organizations that make up the Canadian landscape.

If your corporate wardrobe had a voice, would it be singing or screaming? What is your company look? Is it clean, classic, modern, innovative, casual, detailed, sleek, technical, traditional, and/or attention seeking?

Olympic Excellence, Pride and Passion - How the Olympic sponsors are promoting the Olympics and their brand.

by Melanie Chambers

Excellence, passion and pride. These are three Olympic values that are reflected in the promotions, contests and gifts for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver.

And for those Olympic sponsors creating Olympic promotions, bearing the Olympic logo and representing the Games is also a chance to reveal their passion for their brand and their employees.

Whether it’s rewarding top performing employees that represent excellence within the company with a trip to the Games or offering loyal consumers oncein- a-lifetime promotions, companies have begun, some even years in advance, building the excitement to the lead up to the Games.

Passion

For sponsors, much of the excitement and buzz around the Olympics is happening right inside the office.

“We have a long-standing Olympic commitment and it has become part of the internal culture — there’s a lot of Olympic spirit here,” says Scott Tabachnick, a corporate media relations officer for Coca-Cola Canada.

While most Coke employees are working on some facet of the Games in one form or another, there are 130 selected employees whose job really revolves around the spirit of the Games. The Live Olympic Team Leaders, affectionately known as LOTLs, have been instrumental in launching and developing a variety of contests and internal games as well as communicating news around the Olympics.

The LOTLs were chosen from a four-stage selection process — one of which was an essay describing their passion and commitment to the Games.

Once they were chosen, the LOTLs were charged with the task of keeping employees up to date with new promotions and Olympic information, not to mention they will be working at the Games.

Their work within the office gearing up for the Games has been both creative and inspiring. Instead of a standard email update to employees, the LOTLs gave every employee a special “Olympic’ menu that sits on their desk. Similar to a plastic standing card on a restaurant table, the desk drop, with a changeable paper menu, updates everyone on new Olympic items and how employees can get more involved.

One such contest was a test that asked employees various questions about Coke promotions and contests. About 500 employees entered the test of which the winner, who would receive an Olympic premium, was chosen from a random draw.

Very early on, employees were also given a screen saver that counts down the days until the February Games.

“If that doesn’t motivate you to get everything done and in order, I don’t know what does,” says Tabachnick. “It’s a good reminder but it also gets the excitement up.”

Other sponsors also had their own version of LOTLs.

Pride

When McDonald’s chose its Olympic Champion Crew, 300 employees that will serve the athletes and visitors at McDonald’s restaurant stalls set up for the Games, winners were revealed over a webcast.

This webcast allowed the entire crew, spread throughout the country, to meet one another electronically. “People from Newfoundland were blogging with people from B.C.… to watch those people bond so quickly and come together was pretty amazing,” says Mike Balaka, director of human resources for McDonald’s Canada.

The Champion Crew will also have a chance to blog back home during the Games. They get full on bragging rights, as the crème de la crème of McDonald’s, to blog about their free accommodations, airfare and a choice of an Olympic event. And even though they’re working six hours, employees will get paid for eight hours. A nice bonus.

The search for the best-of-the-best took months of planning.

Head offices chose 210 of the top performing restaurants out of 1,400 franchises across Canada; the criteria was based on such things as quality, service and sales. From those top restaurants, each manager chose one employee that stood out: “They’re there because they represent the best of McDonald’s,” says Balaka of the final 300 chosen out of 77,000 McDonald’s employees nationwide.

Since the announcements, news has spread like wildfire: Champion Crew members have appeared in local newspapers from coast to coast from High River, Alta. to Hawksbury, N.S. For one Maritime employee, it’s a momentous trip of firsts: “I’ve never been past Moncton or on a plane and British Columbia is one of the two places I’ve always wanted to go,” said Janelle Dowling, a resident of Pownal, P.E.I.

Excellence

For Rona, whose 70th anniversary coincides with the Games, their Olympic promotions are a chance to transfer the Olympic values into their long-standing Canadian brand: “Those values get into the consumer mindset,” says Pierre L’Heureux, vice-president of marketing, image and sponsorships. “Plus there’s the Canadian pride as well.”

Rona is offering consumers 30 VIP packages; winners will receive an all-inclusive package to the Games for three days that includes airfare, accommodation and pass to an event.

There was also another draw for a VIP trip: five people for five days at the Games. Every day of September a new winner was announced for the VIP packages.

For Bell, the exclusive telecommunications partner for the 2010 Winter Games, the Games’ sponsorship coincided with a customer offer called Refer a Friend program. When a Bell customer refers a friend or family member for the Bell Move program — and an order is placed — the customer earns a chance to win a trip for two to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games.

“The Olympics are a unique advertising opportunity; they don’t just speak to one audience segment,” says Allison Johnson, media relations officer at Bell Canada. “Young andold, men and women, the Olympics allow us to reach everyone at one time and really display our brand with strength. For example, last August we used the Olympics to launch our new Bell brand.”

For many sponsors, this is their first foray into sponsoring an Olympic event. “This not only reinforces Birks brand, it offers us a chance to showcase the blue box and it reaffirms our legacy as a trusted North American brand,” says Dan Kratochvil, group divisional vice-president of product development. Although this is the first Olympics for the 130-year-old company, Birks have previously sponsored the Pan American as well as Commonwealth Games.

As the official supplier of jewellery for the Games, Birks created a thoughtful collection of gifts and mementos — almost 50 in all — that are inspired by the Games.

Charm pendants for bracelets have been one of the most popular items; and new this month: a replica of the torch used in the torch relay, which is a 106-day relay across the nation through over 1,000 communities.

The miniature torch, one-third the size of the original torch, will wholesale for $295. The torch is part of a limited edition series, only 50,000 units, that comes in a wooden box with a stand for presentation. And finally, the torch is made, designed and manufactured entirely in Canada: “We’re very proud of that as we can showcase Canadian talent.”

Being an Olympic sponsor also gave the company a chance to work with other Olympic sponsors. Because Birks are vertically integrated and can design, manufacture and produce product in-house, they are poised to create customized gifts for companies such as Petro-Canada and RBC. “For whatever the gifting needs — whether it’s a presentation or gifts — we’re able to design and manufacture specifically for them using their composite logo.”

Olympic Sponsors' Promotions: From coins to wine, how Canadian companies are creating Olympic buzz

by Lisa Wood

It may be a year in advance of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, but sponsors are already off to the races with their promotions. The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics brought huge pay-offs for sponsors like Coca-Cola, which nearly doubled its brand awareness amongst Chinese consumers. In the months leading up to the Winter Games we’ll be on the lookout for some exciting promotions from Vancouver 2010 sponsors. In this issue, marketingedge magazine puts the spotlight on some collectibles, contests and merchandise.

How do you get people to collect 15 Winter Olympic-themed quarters? According to Brian Grant Duff, owner of All Nations Stamp and Coin in Vancouver, it could be a challenge for the Royal Canadian Mint. It’s partly due to collector burnout, he says. “Speaking as a dealer, there are so many Olympic coins. It’s such an enormous program — it’s the largest Olympic coin program in world history. It is tough to wrap your head around all the different varieties.”

Joining forces with Petro-Canada and RBC to create promotional items, using the coins as bait, could be the Mint’s answer. “It was logical for us to team up and tackle this as a team as opposed to individually,” says Allyson Zarowny, senior advisor of Olympic programs for Petro-Canada.

The coins are first distributed from participating RBC branches and Petro-Canada locations. From Petro-Canada’s perspective,this is a great way to attract customers into their retail stores. “If you have a regular quarter, you can exchange that for a special Mint collector quarter,” says Zarowny.

But sometimes two collectibles in one is more effective. Petro-Canada also offers Vancouver 2010 coin sport cards, a promotion available over the three years leading up to the Games. “People collect hockey cards and baseball cards — the card is a neat way to take a look at the Games and we’re actually going to be coming out with a tin which will hold four of the sport coin cards. It’s another way to draw in collectors,” says Zarowny. Each card celebrates an Olympic or Paralympic sport and features a special colour version of the circulation coin, priced at $7.95. “The two things that are great about it is price point and it’s a licensed product,” she says.

When a collectible may not be popular on its own because of “collector burnout,” combining it with a promotion and with a high-traffic partner can’t hurt: “We have 700,000 transactions a day. There’s lots of opportunity for people to come in and buy one of the products,” says Zarowny.

Conducting a joint promotion also creates good brand association, she says. “We find that as a company we align ourselves with the Olympic and Paralympic values and so those products in our sites are a great way to make people aware that that’s the type of company we are. Aside from having a great souvenir, it’s a great brand to promote at your location.” The advice she gives to other companies considering a collaboration, is to partner with organizations that share similar values as you do, and use the opportunities you have through your partners.

Heather Popliger has always wanted to go to the Olympics. So when this Ontario resident heard the announcement that the 2010 Winter Games were to be held in Vancouver, she got on the phone to her west coast cousins. “I wanted to stay with them so I wouldn’t have to spend a fortune on a hotel,” she says. She would have been buying her tickets online like most Canadian fans last fall had an August Globe and Mail contest not intervened. The Vancouver 2010 print media supplier’s Podium Picks contest offered entrants a chance to win two tickets to the opening ceremony plus round trip airfare, accommodations, spending money and tickets to select events. Similar contests were held by fellow Vancouver 2010 sponsors, GE and Petro-Canada.

Popliger learned about the Podium Picks contest from a site called Contest Canada.com. “Podium Picks was advertised inhome in The Globe and Mail, in both external and in-house online properties and through email blasts,” says Sean Humphrey, director of marketing at The Globe.

To play, participants had to guess where Canadian Olympians would place in each of the daily sporting events at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Correct guesses earned them ballots for the contest and a greater chance of winning. Popliger won the gold, but there were also five Plasma televisions and 30 HBC clothing packages awarded.

When she received the email saying she won, Popliger felt disbelief. “They enclosed in the email a contact phone number. I called the person back and asked them to confirm that I actually was the winner.”

Popliger was already a loyal Globe reader before she won Podium Picks and says: “I am pleased that they offered this contest. I am forever indebted to them.” Humphrey says the contest was enthusiastically received and adds: “Podium Picks was a great way to engage Canadians in the Games and to get to ‘know’ our athletes better too. Podium Picks allowed us to start building a community of Globe Olympic enthusiasts. We will be reaching out to them — and others — in the coming months as we build towards the Games.”

Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games is one of the most significant sponsorship commitments in The Globe’s history. “These are truly ‘Canada’s Games’ and we want to bring the Winter Olympics closer to the fans. We are planning a series of reader promotions that will engage Canadians coast-to-coast in new and exciting ways,” says Humphrey.

While a hoodie or hat is always good for joining in the spirit of the Games, for those interested in the finer things Canada has to offer — I’m talking wine here — they’re lucky that Vincor Canada was made official wine supplier to Vancouver 2010. “Because they’re Canada’s largest wine company, Vincor was really proud that they were allowed to win this bid…It could just as easily gone to another country’s brand,” says Leeann Clemens, spokesperson for Vincor Canada.

Being a sponsor presents a huge opportunity to shine the light on the fact that Canada has a thriving wine industry, says Clemens. “On a global scope our industry is very small. What they’re hoping is that it will not only put Canada on the world stage but the Canadian wine industry as well.” Vincor is certainly doing a wide array of promotions to get the word out.

Wine lovers may have noticed Olympic fever when Vincor’s Jackson-Triggs’ EspritTM Chardonnay and Merlot started showing up on store shelves and in restaurants in 2007. Named to capture both the French and English connotations of the word “spirit,” they are co-branded with the Vancouver 2010 emblem. Clemens says the Esprit wines are selling successfully. “The fact that a $1.25 from every bottle sold goes directly to the Olympic athletes, that’s just a great reason for customers to want to buy it.”

Inniskillin, also part of the Vincor family, boasts its own Vancouver 2010 contribution and promoted it with a launch party. Olympic freestyle skiers Steve Omischl and Deidra Dionne, Canadian artist Gordon Halloran and pastry chef Thierry Busset were on hand in November to sign bottles and speak at the British Columbia launch of the Inniskillin Vidal Icewine Commemorative Edition. Halloran, who is internationally renowned for using ice as his canvas, was a natural fit to create the artwork for the bottle’s label. “The artwork was taken from Gord’s ‘Paintings Below Zero’ installation at the Cultural Olympiad of the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin, Italy,” says Shivauna Brown, Vincor Olympic project manager. Sold in a tube, the commemorative Inniskillin icewine stands out on the shelf.

“Promotions are one the most valuable modes to generating excitement towards our Canadian athletes. Accounts are able to leverage our marketing rights through promotions tied to the Esprit wines,” says Brown. There are more promotions to look forward to from Vincor Canada in its efforts to win gold for Canada’s wine industry. From innovative retail and restaurant promotions, high visibility at Vancouver 2010 events, hospitality programs, and corporate gifting opportunities, it promises to be an interesting year for promotion hounds. Cheers to that!

How well do you know your client? Building Lasting Relationships

by Will Andrew

As a global recession of daunting proportions bears down, entrepreneurs the world over are asking themselves how best to maintain a competitive edge while continuing to grow business. In an unstable economy, when expense accounts and consumer confidence are contracting, business owners would do well to invest in an often overlooked aspect of their company: clients.

Assessing your client relationships represents an inexpensive — if not free — way to grow business and build loyalty. Clients will appreciate your attention and you will gain a better understanding of why they choose to do business with you, and more importantly, what it will take for them to continue that relationship.

Identifying a client’s needs is the key to building a long-term relationship. Their needs may be obvious; they will likely have come to you to fulfill an immediate, often short-term need. However, the simple step of asking them to articulate their needs can do a few things:
• reaffirm their interest and your commitment to helping them accomplish their business goals;
• give clues about their likes and dislikes, allowing you to better avoid discomfort and disappointment during a project; and
• provide insight into their current challenges.

This knowledge will best position your company to consistently meet the needs of a client. At the same time, you will not be handicapped having to react to unforeseen challenges specific to the client. As simple as it sounds, asking a client to be specific about their needs will let them know you are interested in their goals, but it is also important that you demonstrate to them that you have listened and understood their needs.

You will be judged on your ability to perform and deliver; therefore you are more likely to be successful if you know the client and their needs, almost better than they do. Working with a client without a clear understanding of their needs, dislikes and challenges can have expensive and far-reaching consequences. Not only will you potentially lose the client, but it may also zap your opportunity for referrals and tarnish your reputation — every industry is a small world and word spreads fast.

Your assessment of a client’s needs must be repeated at least once a year. Consider how much your own business has changed and evolved over time. The same will be true of your client’s business.

With business owners under increasing pressure to trim costs, be aware that clients are as vulnerable as ever to competitors who promise results. Don’t take your client relationships for granted. Despite other companies vying for their attention, their relationship with you should be comforting; you understand, above all the others, their business needs, dislikes and challenges.

Borrowing from my experience as an entrepreneur, I leave you with the three rules that should govern your client relationships:
• understand what the client wants by asking them to articulate their business needs.
• gain an awareness of the client’s environment so that you can observe their business challenges; and
• remember that client relationships develop quickly, but can be lost just as quickly to competition.

Initiating and fostering a dialogue with your clients is an inexpensive but invaluable way to grow business and build loyalty. Clients will be more flexible and forgiving if they understand that you are listening to them and are committed to helping them meet their business goals.

Virtual Contests - Legal and logistical challenges related to online contests

Part 2 of a series by Len Kahn

Contests tied to product promotions are undergoing a renaissance. In large part, it’s because of the ever-efficient and convenient Internet and digital communication technologies. Long the workhorse of the marketing industry, contests have fallen out of favour in recent years because they cost too much to implement. Not to mention retailers are reluctant to dedicate valuable floor or shelf space to point-of-purchase displays, and they certainly don’t want to be seen as fulfillment partners for the companies offering the contests.

However, with the Internet now firmly entrenched as an accepted mass-marketing vehicle, companies are showing a renewed interest in contests. In essence, they are utilizing the power of emerging online tools and technologies to breathe new life into this old jalopy.

In part two of this series, we examine the legal and logistical considerations you need to know before you launch your online contest.

Fun - wow!
From the outside looking in, contests seem like a lot of fun to organize and deliver. Funky creative, cool prizes, engaged participants and “off-the-wall” public relations activities often come to mind.

The reality, for those of us in the industry, is that behind all the “buzz” lies some risk, as well as a range of logistical challenges. How do we ship prizes? How do we target respondents? How does one validate entrant information and manage the flow of entries? And, of course, how do we provide an adequate level of customer service and support?

According to Ryan Kelly, general manager of Guelph-based VLinteractive, the Internet has actually helped alleviate a number of the challenges associated with traditional “paper-based” contests.

“Traditionally, contests relied on mail-in entrants or 1-800 incoming entrant calls. This incurs significant labour costs, in addition to the inefficiencies of processing invalid entrant information,” says Kelly. “Online technology affords marketers a wide array of virtual ‘filters’ which greatly decrease this procurement and entry handling process.”

According to Kelly, filters can be easily set up on a contest website to ensure valid entrant information, including location, address or number of times entered. Online contests not only validate entrant information, but they also automatically upload this information to entrant databases — human intervention required! The result is a “clean” database of valid entrants which does not need to be rekeyed — a real cost saver.

Tricks of the trade
With respect to online sweepstakes, Allen Chankowsky, vice-president of Toronto-based MBC Marketing, offers one piece of advice: put the entry form a few pages deep into the process. Doing what the marketer wants the entrant to do is “rewarded” with the opportunity of winning a prize. By contrast, if the entry page is at the front, you lose the potential to engage the user with your product or service — usually the main goal of the program. As well, the easier it is for the participant to enter, the greater the potential for abuse. Instant win types of online contests require considerable more security.

Another challenge that marketers may come across is the need for constant monitoring of the host web server for load balancing problems. When a large scale online promotion with tons of prizes is live, it can attract a lot of user involvement. The back-end web development needed for these types of contests requires multiple servers to ensure quick access to the promotional content. Without the servers working overtime, entrants must wait for pages to load in their browser, or even worse, they might crash the server.

Don’t forget PQ
One of the most common misconceptions that marketers have when contemplating a national promotion is to exclude the province of Quebec. Since Quebec is the only province that requires marketers to register and pay tax on a percentage of the prize pool, many marketers feel that it’s just not worth the effort. The reality is that the Quebec registration process is fairly straightforward; however, some marketers simply don’t want to go through the effort of setting up a French website or paying the tax.
,br> Considering that Quebec comprises 25 per cent of the Canadian population, it makes economic sense to invest in the French translation and pay the tax. Marketers may be leaving money on the table when they choose not to include Quebec in their plans.

Legally speaking
Besides the obvious entry logistics, online contests have some not-so-obvious legal considerations as well.

According to Eric Swetsky, a Toronto lawyer who specializes in the area of advertising and marketing law, the legal requirements of an online contest are rather similar to a traditional contest. Swetsky does note that because on-line contests may be accessed by the world at large via the Internet, the sponsor of the contest may want to restrict eligible entrants in the rules for the contest to entrants who reside in Canada so that the sponsor does not become subjected to the contest laws of countries the sponsor is unfamiliar with (if the sponsor does want to permit entrants from a foreign country, the rules for the contest should be reviewed by a lawyer from the country to ensure compliance with that countries’ contest laws).

Swetsky believes that since so many contests are unique, they will often have innate legal requirements. “However, all of the rules that would apply to a typical contest — skill-testing questions, geographic limitations, age restrictions etc. — apply equally to online contests. The biggest difference is the widespread accessibility of online contests. This can significantly add to the risk and liability faced by the contest promoter.”

Swetsky therefore encourages any company considering an online contest or sweepstakes to consult a lawyer who knows the specific legal regulations and requirements.

The bottom line
Marketing professionals can be bullish about the potential for online contests.

Chankowsky cites a combination online/offline contest that MBC executed for Bell Sympatico. The contest used the distribution power of another client — McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada. Participants received an online scratch-and-win at participating McDonald’s restaurants, then visited the Sympatico website to play the game. Customers received a follow-up email after each time they entered, which included a downloadable food coupon at McDonald’s.

To promote the contest Sympatico posted five million banner ads, and sent an email to its 200,000 online email customers. The contest generated a strong participation rate and an exciting new partnership for Sympatico.

Finally, online contests directly address retailers’ concerns about store space and fulfillment costs. Online contests do not require neck tags or end-cap space. And in many cases, the contests can be promoted “virtually,” via retail partner websites, social marketing tactics or search engine campaigns.

“Again, this can greatly decrease the cost of contest deployment, says Kelly. “And it enhances our ability to stay current. No longer do we have to be concerned with out-of-date contest materials in the field. Online contests can be born and live entirely virtual — negating the costs of print materials, distribution and the related management of these materials in the field.”

Click to Enter: How to streamline your online contests

by Len Kahn

Contests — long the workhorses of the marketing world — are undergoing a renaissance. And it’s all because of the convenient and efficient Internet and digital technologies.

For many companies, contests have traditionally offered an impactful way to engage customers with their brands, and are a cost-effective way to collect information. Marketing-oriented contests go back to the turn of the last century, where institutions such as the Century Banking Company of Mississippi offered public school students the chance to win prizes including season’s tickets to the local baseball team, or a nickel a week for life for writing an essay on “Why Deposit with the Century Banking Company?”

By the 1920s, companies were offering prizes for writing advertising slogans or submitting award-winning birdhouses. The use of contests escalated in these advertising boom years: everyone from brewers to packaged goods manufacturers, cigarette companies and newspapers were getting in on the act.

In recent years, however, many companies have backed away from the use of contests as an integral part of their marketing mix. Why? Simply put, the cost; it’s the cost of creating it, as well as the legal bill. But it’s not just money: retailers are reluctant to act as fulfillment partners for the companies offering the contests, consumers are tired of “yet another contest,” and even government-run lotteries and games-of-chance are drying up.

But now, with the Internet as a mass-marketing vehicle, companies are showing a renewed interest and focus on contests — in essence, utilizing the power of emerging online tools and technologies to breathe new life into this old vehicle.

A recent Google search revealed 588,000 results for the keywords “online, contests, and Canada.” Included are sites such as www.contesthound.ca and www.canadacontests. com that accumulate current contests, making it easier for participants to find and enter contests.

According to Ryan Kelly, general manager of Guelph based VLinteractive, digitally-driven contests offer a number of tangible benefits over their traditional ‘paper based’ counterparts. “The best contests will actually take on a social networking aspect,” says Kelly. “Participants not only engage to win but to also rate other entrants, compete with each other and share discussion with likeminded peers. Companies attach their brand to a social building platform as opposed to a one time ‘fill out and win’ engagement.”

He points to the Guinness ‘Ambassador of Goodwill’ contest as an example. Entrants entered to win the title of Guinness Ambassador; to win , they were asked to upload their own videos and text explaining why they would be a good ambassador, all the while trying to earn votes from their friends and site visitors to earn the title. The winner not only received the Ambassador title, but also a slew of Guinness merchandise celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. “Guinness turned a one-time contest into a social network of tens of thousands of people over the course of four months,” says Kelly.

On the business-to-business side, Kelly says one of the biggest upsides of running a contest online is the opportunity to extend the participation level, ultimately building a stronger profile of a prospective customer. “Companies can offer daily or weekly prizes, or more intricate points or prize accumulation functions — all depending on the participation level of site visitors. The more you participate and tell us about your business, the greater your chance of winning. At the end of the day, a marketing manager can turn a contest into a series of ballot generating touch-points, resulting in not only greater prospect insight and sales, but also brand recognition from participants. The best part is that there are almost no additional costs for these activities once the contest engine is built.”

Kelly cites www.winwithedsmith.com, a contest site VLinteractive built for jammaker E.D. Smith, as an example of the type of robust contest engine that manages to run a multitude of contests, without breaking the bank.

One expert believes that online contests are clear frontrunners when it comes to contests. Allen Chankowsky, vice-president of Toronto-based MBC Marketing — one of Canada’s leading promotional marketing agencies — says that while the administration logistics between traditional and online contests are much the same, (rules, declaration and release forms, prize sourcing, fulfillment, etc.) online has communication advantages over traditional channels. For example, if prizing is offered over the Internet then online offers a tremendous advantage for prize fulfillment whereby the prize can be “sent” or downloaded from a secure source to the winner.

Chankowsky also sees the social networking aspect of online contests as one of their strongest features. “The most common add-on feature for an online contest is referred to as a ‘viral’ add-on,” he says. “This ‘Tell-a-Friend’ feature allows for an entrant to share the excitement of a contest or a prize with their own network of contacts via email or text. The communication then ‘spreads’ in a viral fashion, leading the way to more and more people hearing about the contest.”

Chankowsky believes that TD Canada Trust’s website (www.tdcanadatrust.com/visacontest) has a nice mixture of online and traditional contest elements. “The online media is used to promote the use of the card product and to publish winner information in a ‘live’ environment. This sort of on-the-fly publishing is particularly useful as consumers generally want to know if winners have been identified and who they are. This can bolster consumer engagement as the data is both relevant and immediate to what the audience may be seeking. Traditional contest executions simply do not allow for this type of immediacy and relevance and could detract from consumers engaging with the campaign,” he says.

Even the ultra-competitive brewing industry is taking another look at how contests can help energize their brands. Rob McLean, international brands marketing manager for SAB Miller, indicates that that while SAB Miller hasn’t been using contests in Canada for the past several years, they are now are now rethinking their tune.

“Now, when we think about contests, we think online first,” says McLean. “Our retail partners such as the LCBO have no interest in managing contests for us. Their time and retail space are just too valuable. With online, we can minimize hard costs such as printing and postage, remove the need for front-line fulfillment, utilize our central IT resources to build the online contest platform, and connect with our customers in a medium they increasingly prefer — the Internet.”

McLean adds, “With our premium brands such as Grolsch, we want to ensure that if we do run a contest we offer premium prizes, consistent with our brand’s position. The Internet is an ideal vehicle for showcasing higher-value prizes such as trips and tours. Our customers can get a sense of the true value of the prize offer, which we believe gets them more deeply engaged with our brands and the contest itself.”

Of course, the online environment does pose a number of new challenges for marketers. “Crawler” engines troll the web for contest opportunities, opening the door for high numbers of unwanted entrants. And the very nature of the Internet means that your competition will be common knowledge to your competitors.

According to Kelly, there are a number of technical “blocks” that can be put in place to ensure the integrity of contest entrants. “Things like auto-email entry confirmation and electronically limiting the number of entries from a particular email address are useful tools in ensuring that the folks who enter your contest are actually customers or prospects.”

Chankowsky adds, “The gold standard preventative measure for online contests is employing CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart) where the entrant needs to copy the letters of an obscured word only readable by humans. The entrant must ‘pass’ this challenge before being allowed to enter the contest.”

Lastly, the bulk of contests are still launched and promoted using traditional media such as print, radio, television, direct mail or point-of-purchase. The Internet remains an inefficient way to broadly get the word out. Marketers must be prepared to “prime the pump” with some up-front advertising dollars to ensure that news of their contest gets out to the right people, at the right time and place.

But after that, thanks to the power of the Internet and emerging digital technologies, your online contest will almost certainly deliver more bang for your buck than traditional paper-based models.

In part two of this series we will look at the legal and logistical challenges associated with online contests.

Recession-Proof: Motivation and Inspiration

by Aaron Moscoe & John Furnish

Dwight Eisenhower once said, “Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it.”

Today the importance of attracting, motivating, and retaining employees is undisputed.

Times have changed, and the measurable impacts of employee engagement are now finally understood, taking this topic from a relatively “soft” and obscure human resource matter to a respected way to influence employees and company performance.

Progressive sales and marketing professionals recognize that the same principles are directly applicable to a company’s relationship with their consumers, distributors, sales and channel partners. They value their company’s “employee brand” which is intrinsic to their most critical internal and external business relationships.

DO NOT CUT IN HASTE

With the current economic climate, some companies will examine each expense line item on their income statement to see where they can make cuts. The truth is that making cuts in haste can be short-sighted, so much so that these cuts may be at the expense of the company’s long-term opportunities. Research shows that scaling back on investments in marketing and employee programs is tantamount to being penny wise and pound foolish.

In boom times where growth tends to come with relative ease, small to medium business enterprises tend to appreciate growth but are often less concerned about market share, particularly in fragmented markets. In a stagnant or tightening economy, it’s important for businesses to focus on market share in order to protect the absolute size of their piece of the pie. And in order to maintain volume or growth, increasing market share is crucial. It may sound like a tall order, but the good news is that this is often the easiest time to do so as competitors are cutting back on their investments in marketing initiatives and employee incentive, reward and recognition plans.

A recent study indicates that the average cost for lost productivity, attracting, hiring and training a new employee can be as high as $50,000. Taking this into account, it’s easy to see why more companies are investing in well structured employee reward and recognition programs. And a happy employee is a productive one. Increased employee engagement leads to a more creative, productive and loyal workforce — your employees won’t want to leave! In a down economy, some companies will cut back, but hold off.

When employees are engaged, believe in the company they work for and enjoy the culture, they are far more likely to be advocates for the company, participate in employee referral programs and spread the message by word-of-mouth.

Evidence also demonstrates that increased employee engagement results in higher levels of customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction and a strong culture are in turn positively correlated to company growth and profitability.

From a sales and marketing perspective, there is a definitive relationship between promotional activities and subsequent sales. Study after study confirms that if a marketer increases or decreases their traditional share of promotions relative to that of their competitors, similar changes occur in that company’s market share.

One study showed that organizations that did not cut back on their promotional spending enjoyed increases in both sales and profitability the following year by an average of 55 per cent and 40 per cent respectively. Marketers who cut back on their promotional spending did not experience significant growth during the same period and their profits did not keep pace with those of their competitors who continued to invest in customer relationships.

Examples in the marketplace are not hard to find. Kellogg’s took over the number one market share from Post by maintaining their marketing budget, while Post cut back in the name of fiscal responsibility. Not only did Kellogg’s investment in a recession provide shortterm results, but that investment has parlayed into market dominance over the long run.

The micro focus on expenses might suggest that there is room to cut on employee incentive and recognition initiatives: however, in tough economic times, particularly where companies have had to trim their number of employees, it becomes increasingly important to get higher productivity and greater performance from their remaining employees. These remaining employees need to be assured of their value now more than ever. Cutting back on incentive programs may cause them to worry about the stability of the company.

A company’s culture and brand, perceived with the minds of current and prospective employees, clients and channel partners are important, albeit intangible, assets that are most often developed gradually over time. Rather than a slash-and-burn approach, which frequently leaves an indelible mark on culture and brand perceptions, maintaining employee reward and recognition investments recognizes both the short — and long-term value and the developement cycle of these important assets.

GET FOCUSED, GET SMART

This is the time to do things smarter. Focus on best practices, such as ensuring that all company programs and benefits communicate the same message and are aligned with the company mission, vision and values. re-evaluate current programs to ensure that employees clearly understand both the behaviours and the outcomes desired and that the rewards and recognition are linked accordingly.

Show employees that they are valued: reward them with reminders of why they are valued. such a gift might include a home or family-oriented gift which says that the company respects the importance of the employee’s life outside of work. don’t forget the recognition piece as well. It’s a reminder to them that this place is worth the effort.

As opposed to many other areas a company may budget for, one of the unique elements of a well designed employee, consumer, sales or channel incentive program is that 70 to 80 per cent of the total program costs are variable and only incurred with the desired results. With such low fixed costs, risks are small compared with the return on investment beyond the initial set-up costs.

Post-war recessions in North America have lasted an average of 11 months. Companies that are prudent in the short term, while seeing it as part of their long-term plans, will emerge stronger.

STAY THE COURSE

The message is clear. For long-run success, stay the course. By maintaining rather than cutting investments in the short term, companies can take advantage of prime opportunities to build their culture, strengthen their brand relationships with consumers, employees and business partners, increase employee engagement, and increase their future market share. These are the companies that will be best positioned for long-term growth and success.