Promotional Products Blog | Pinnacle Promotions Marketing Company

In an office that happens to be predominantly female, shopping is a conversation topic that arises on a daily basis. There is constant discussion about sales, coupons, and limited time offers, and an article published yesterday on BrandWeek.com, “Coupon Use Skyrockets,” supports a hunch I had been harboring about a swell in bargain-hunting chatter occurring amongst my coworkers in recent months.

According to the article, coupon distribution in 2009 reached its highest recorded level since 1988 (when market research firms began tracking this information). It shouldn’t come as a shock to anybody that retailers and business owners adopted discounting strategies to try and stay afloat during the current economic crisis, but an underlying reason for the coupon distribution increase that I hadn’t fully considered was the tremendous jump in online coupon distribution and redemption. Internet coupon distribution increased a whopping 92% last year, with consumer redemption rates of online offers up more than 36%.

A quick Google search for the phrase “online coupons” turns up millions of results, mostly web directories with archived coupons for virtually any type of store. Some directories are solely dedicated to the retail sector, while others focus on grocery coupons, restaurant deals, or a variety of other niche areas. Finding discounts has never been easier- if I am considering a purchase from one of my favorite clothing stores, I can avoid overlooking an opportunity to save money by conducting a single search query. These directories typically feature immediate, date-specific feedback from shoppers who have successfully redeemed a promo code/printable coupon/special offer from your chosen retailer.

With large retail chains, it used to be entirely possible that you may not get word of a sale or exclusive offer until it had expired, but now savvy shoppers have a convenient communication channel to share insider information with others. Lucky for you, Pinnacle Promotions coupons can be found exclusively on our website, saving you the hassle of scouring the Web for bargains! Happy Shopping!

Dana
Team Lead – Social Media
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So today I found my latest, greatest promotional product obsession.

The promotional slap-on watch.

Yes ladies and gentlemen, I said slap-on promotional watch.

The 90’s are back with a vengeance.

Just like the old fabric-covered metal bracelets, except their innards (whose material is at this time unknown to me) are coated in super-friendly silicone material. These brightly-colored watches have so far won my coveted prize as my favorite product of 2010. Of course it is early in the year, and I’m sure our readers know how excited I get about products. (See: Robot Pencil Sharpener, Sweatshirt Waterbottle, Terra Porcelain Cup – just to name a few!)

With its retail design, bright colors and large 3-1/8” x 1” imprint area, your branding gets front and center visibility.

I never thought a watch would make my list of number ones in the promotional products world, but this one seems to be a genius idea. Not only could you (very successfully) use these promotional watches for school related/teenage and youth promotions, but 20 and 30-somethings will love this flashback to their early school years.

I know my colleague, Heather and I immediately reflected back to the original slap-bracelets of yesteryear. The ones that had a tendency of losing their fabric coating and then scratching the user when the bare metal pierced the skin upon the slap-application. The originals that were banned in school, yet traded on the fly outside of the schoolyard.

Yes my friends. The good ol’ days. (Insert dramatic sigh here)

Okay, now back to business. I can’t get you a review on the functionality of this product as of yet since I’m currently waiting on my personal sample. (I just couldn’t wait to blog about this find!) However, I’m sure I’ll have a review for you soon, so keep looking out!

Kim
Marketing Coordinator
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from twitpic via @alternativeapp

Alternative Apparel tweeted today about their new custom sunglasses. There are several things I love about this promotion:

1. The product itself. Hip, stylish sunglasses are perfect for a hip, stylish company. And their logo looks great on the side of the frames. I used to have some Sierra Mist branded sunglasses that looked like these, and people would comment on them all the time.

2. The timing. It’s smart to order spring apparel now, when you have plenty of time to get your shipment, check out the product and make sure it’s what you want. Alternative has a month or two to organize the promotion and find out if they need to reorder. When the sun hits Atlanta they’ll be ready, staring you down in their promotional shades.

3. The use of social media. I wrote an article recently about reconciling promotional products and social media, and Alternative has done just that here. They’ve used social media to support a traditional marketing effort, by advertising their own advertising products! (And the snake eats its tail.) They’ve got me, a consumer, excited about their upcoming marketing campaign, and here I am giving them free, grassroots advertising. Excellent (and simple!) integrated marketing. Kudos, Alternative Apparel. Now can you get me some of those shades?

Acree Graham
Marketing Coordinator

Like my co-worker Kim, who successfully became a homeowner last Friday, I recently moved and am in the midst of furnishing my new house. The process has been a rollercoaster of emotions, ranging from the excitement over decorating a house for the first time to the overwhelming panic about the vast range of paint colors and furniture options. Will that rug match the duvet cover in my room? Are Linen White and Eggshell truly different paint colors?

To answer all of my first-time decorator questions, I turned to the best source I had available: the Internet. Like many consumers, I find shopping online an easy way to compare price points, colors, and product styles. What I didn’t know was that many home furnishing sites also offer “idea and inspiration” sections, filled with pages upon pages of ideas for how to complete a room. Some of these sites even allow users to select their style – whether it be classic, contemporary, fashionable or even technology oriented – and receive suggestions about furniture and accessories that match their decorating needs.

Similar to Pinnacle’s IdeaKit™ that suggests new and unique promotional products to fit customers’ marketing plans, these online showrooms inspire users to utilize and combine products in ways they might not have thought of otherwise. Whether or not customers are new to the world of furnishing, these suggestions provide innovative insight while also saving users time and money by allowing them to evaluate options before leaving the house.

After hours of playing around on these sites, mixing and matching colors and fashions to create my ideal room, I was so excited about my new furniture that I simply could not wait any longer to order it. Unfortunately many home furnishing companies do not offer rush delivery at no extra cost, so after my usual Saturday dodge ball game (yes, you read that right… there are dodge ball leagues for adults!) I went to the store to make my purchases. Picking out my items ahead of time made the shopping experience relatively painless and afterwards I came home, relaxed and put my feet up on my nice new ottoman!

Sarah
Marketing Coordinator
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On my way to work each morning I drive by one intersection that always has someone dressed as a reindeer, dancing, waving, and holding a sign that reads “Caribou Coffee.” I have never stopped at that Caribou Coffee on my way to work, nor do I plan to, as I make coffee at home in the morning and have my first cup of the day on the road, and then my second (or third…) using the coffee maker at the office.  However the cheerful, dancing deer often leaves me with a feeling of pleasantry as I continue on my morning commute.

That is until I reach another intersection probably about a mile down the road (maybe 2? I am terrible with estimating distances). It is at this intersection that I am confronted with two (sometimes even three) people dressed in the most terrifying costumes resembling the Statue of Liberty(see scary mask below) that one could ever imagine holding signs that say “Income Tax” in bold letters with a telephone number below. They rotate their body position to direct their signs toward different directions of oncoming traffic, but cheerful they are not. No dancing, and I have only witnessed a wave once maybe twice. I suppose it may be fitting as income tax is not generally considered to be a “cheerful” subject matter, and certainly is less of a joyous matter than say, coffee at 8:45 am. And the costume, though frightening, is also fitting, as they are advertising for Liberty Tax Service whose logo includes a portion of the Statue of Liberty’s head (though the signs do not even denote the company’s name – I figured it out through a little online research).

Some further research led me to find that there are more than 2,500 Liberty Tax offices in the United States where more than 10,000 people are seasonally employed to wave at passing cars. This must be a reactionary effort created by the current administration’s job stimulus plan, was my first thought. My second – does this form of advertising really work? According to Paul Mason, professor and chair of the Department of Economics & Geography at the University of North Florida, it can:

“At first I thought that it was stupid, like people standing on the street waving for their political candidate,” he said.

So like any good skeptic, Mason began investigating to see if the sign holders made any difference in helping a business grow and thrive.

“I have asked business owners, restaurant people, etc., about how effective the sign holders are,” he said. “I discovered that particularly for stores that don’t have strong street presence or are just opening, it seems effective at letting people know that the place is there. It helps people try new stores by announcing their presence.”

By Joseph Baneth Allen

Publication: Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville)

I have not done any of the cost analysis (nor could I find any done by anyone else online) but I just cannot imagine that this form of advertising to the local community could be more cost-effective than say, doing a promotional products mailing to residents of the area. If you do choose to employ “Costumed Sign Wavers” however, please make them cheerful, and do not have them wear scary masks. Thanks.

And one more thing – make sure that they are not breaking any county sign ordinances:

Jaime
Team Lead – Multimedia

Today’s the day my husband and I become homeowners. It’s a modest ranch style home, and we cannot wait to move in. It has been quite a process for us to find a home, and finally get to this stage. With home prices being so low in the current economic state, the market for first time home buyers has proven to be über competitive.

I’ve likened our search to that of a relationship. You fall in love. Go through a bad breakup. Maybe multiple. And then finally, finally, find the one to spend the rest of your life with – or at least the next few years. Well we have finally found the one, and are excited and nervous to find what challenges the closing will bring.

As we wrap up the last final details before the closing, I can’t help but reflect on the entire process and have to give credit to my Realtor for being such a help to two newbies entering into the grown-up world of homeownership. Through our journey, we’ve developed a strong business relationship with our Realtor, Mark, and know exactly whom we will turn to when it’s time to upgrade to our next home.

Mark met the needs of his customers. That’s great. He did his job. He found us a home and will (finally after 7 long months) be getting a commission. However, to earn this position as our “family” Realtor, Mark had to do more than simply meet our needs. Pretty much anyone could have found us a home. But Mark did more than just find us a house. Mark was a trouper through it all. He’s gone on many day-long house hunting trips in nearly ever city in the metro-Atlanta area. He’s found us homes that were on budget, under budget and a few that were simply perfect. He has answered my calls at 6:00 on Saturday night asking him to show us the house we just found online – preferably next day.

He not only met our needs, but went above and beyond to make the home buying process as seamless and as straightforward as he could for two people who have never experienced this before. This type of service is what earns a lasting spot in the cellphones, address books and planners of your customers.

When you as a business go above and beyond by providing a friendly disposition, corporate branded gifts and stellar customer service, you earn a lasting place as a company of choice to your client base. Build your business, earn clients for life and bring in referrals from happy customers.

Could the premise be simpler?

Meeting needs = closed deal. Great! That’s money in the bank. Meeting wants = customers for life. Excellent!! That’s a closed deal + repeat business + referrals. Which would you prefer?

So, I’m off to my closing. Keep your fingers crossed that it’s smooth sailing! And that maybe we leave a shiny new promotional key chain to hang our new keys on.

Kim
Marketing Coordinator
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Reading Acree’s blog yesterday did make me a bit nostalgic about college life. My sadness did not last long, however, as a late afternoon brainstorming session with my coworkers left me giddy with excitement about all of the creative ideas that we hope to bring to fruition. Today, as I write this blog, I am slightly overwhelmed by the blank document on my computer screen, but I am hopeful that after jotting down my thoughts and organizing them in a logical progression, anyone who stumbles upon this post will be left feeling satisfied and intrigued.

The sheer number of emotions that we experience on an hourly, and even minute-by-minute, basis is mind-boggling. One of the downright coolest websites I have seen in a long time (other than Pinnacle Promotions, of course!) is Trendhunter.com, recommended to me by Pinnacle’s Relationship Manager, Natasha. Trend Hunter garners over 9 million monthly views and claims to be “the world’s largest, most popular trend community”. With over 61,000 posted trends, this site is an incredible resource for anyone interested in innovative gadgets, concepts, and campaigns.

But enough about Trend Hunter and onto the real inspiration behind today’s ramblings. My first paragraph with distinctive feelings bolded and underlined relates to a Trend Hunter slideshow called “34 Emotion-Based Innovations.” While I am not sure whether inventions like the TouchMan cellphone, which allows for visual sharing of emotions during phone conversations, will be met with widespread acceptance, there are some products on the list that may take the world by storm.

The LadyBag, designed by Canadian researchers, uses RFID technology to detect the contents of the purse- if it detects an absence of a certain item, a visual icon representing the missing item appears on the external LED display. When every RFID-tagged item specified by the user is detected, a smiley face graphic shows up on the outside display. The LadyBag also determines the user’s emotional state via physical sensors, and visually depicts the emotions on the outside display as well. I’m not sure how I feel about literally wearing my emotions, but the RFID detection technology would be useful, to say the least!

The mood pen, created by electronics powerhouse Philips, features sensors in its shaft to monitor the user’s heart rate, blood pressure, skin temperature and pressure. The inks and shape of the writing tip adapt to the emotions detected, so written words will appear different depending on whether the writer is happy or sad. The emotion-sensing technology could be turned off if the user decides not to put his or her feelings on display. My question is, if users are going to turn off that special feature, why wouldn’t they just opt for regular promotional pens?

The general public may not be ready for some of these innovations just yet, but it is fascinating to think about how emotion-detecting technology will affect communication channels and marketing. Someday in the future, will marketers be able to capture and analyze consumers’ emotional reactions to billboards, television commercials, and point of purchase displays? The examples in the slideshow seem to point to “yes,” but it will be exciting to observe the developments as they infiltrate mainstream outlets.
Dana
Team Lead – Social Media
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Color chart image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/new-pastpresentfuture/ / CC BY 2.0

Ladybag and Mood Pen images: http://www.trendhunter.com

So this is San Francisco, not Atlanta. But these are my actual college friends.

I’m not fooling myself. I know it’s still January and this week of sunshine and 60-degree weather is just another cruel joke. But I still long for spring, and it feels so close.

I used to love winter and everything about it: the cold and the clothes — all wool coats and stockings. I loved staying indoors and wrapping a blanket around my feet as my dad built a wood fire. I even loved that Counting Crows song about December, God help me.

But now that I live on my own, and I pay my own gas bill and can’t start a fire to save my life, now that I have to take my own wool coat to get dry cleaned and can never seem to find any long sleeved shirts in my closet — now that “dreary” and “sullen” are words that apply to my actual life, rather than a fantasy one that I would dream about as a teenager, winter doesn’t seem so hot. In fact, I can’t wait to get shed of it.

I’ve begun to reminisce frequently about the springs I spent in college under the Atlanta sun. In these daydreams I always forget about the long, dark nights I spent, head in hands, hunched over my Greek lexicon, eyes blurring before the page. I forget what it was like to feel terror in the face of an impending deadline, to trudge miserably through campus to the library, to dine constantly on cold cafeteria food and burnt coffee. Instead, I remember the hours between classes spent lounging on the grass — book bag as pillow and hoodie as picnic blanket — draping my hand over my eyes and drifting to sleep under the warm gaze of the sun. Never mind that there were pages of dry lit criticism and long explanations of neural processing sticking out of my bag and begging to be read. In that moment they were forgotten, and they are forgotten now; as I look back it seems those tedious articles and assignments never existed except as benign accessories decorating my blissful enjoyment of a Georgia spring.

To me, however, college in the spring was more than a paradise; it was a community. In the spring, student clubs would delight to set up tables around the quad or pedestrian circle, passing out hotdogs and t-shirts in exchange for nothing more than your email address. Never mind that the year was nearly over and anyone recruited for a club would lose interest by July, spring seemed to endow student-led organizations with a peculiar generosity. Hardly a day went by that I wasn’t confronted with a free koozie or plastic cup on my stroll to dance class.

Now, in the real world, as a marketer I weep with desire for such a friendly, readily assembled, and accessible audience. A smart, older friend told me when I was in school that “Nobody does community like college campuses.” I didn’t understand what she meant until I graduated, and gone were the hundreds of everyday friends, gone were the hallmates nosing into my apartment, gone was the free pizza and music playing on my daily commute. Gone were the free shuttles, the endless wealth of resources, the free literary mags and science papers vying for my attention at the newsstands. My friend was right: Nobody does community like college campuses.

This virtual world makes marketing with promotional products more complicated; customers are often not within an arm’s reach. So I’m asking you: How do we cultivate community — for the ease of distributing promotional products to a relevant audience, but also for the exchange of ideas and neighborly friendship, for the chance to repeat my afternoon reveries under the sun and to share common experiences — in this so-called real world? The crux of marketing, as I’m beginning to see, is to engage with a community. But what does that community look like in post-college life?

Acree Graham
Marketing Coordinator

It all started with a straightforward question. “What are you doing?” asked the people at Twitter.com, and millions responded. Twitter officially launched in 2006 and by February 2009 the site’s total number of unique visitors per month had exceeded 7 million, a more than 1382% increase over the previous year according to Nielsen Online and Mashable.com.

Twitter continued to grow in popularity during the summer months- and not just with ordinary Joes. The site also developed as a marketing tool, with more and more companies tweeting contests, rewards programs, free trial offers and even promotional products giveaways.

While the statistics are undeniable, a new question has arisen in the minds of both Twitter users and non-users: Why should we care? On a personal level, Twitter has given us more information than we ever thought necessary to know about our friends, families and neighbors. In fact, this morning I awoke with an e-mail to learn that my sister’s boyfriend’s former college roommate was following me on Twitter. Really??  On the surface this seems absurd; I mean, I’ve met the guy maybe twice, and we haven’t had any contact in years. But when it comes down to it, Twitter is all about creating a network and advancing your resources. After all, he works in the marketing industry as well.

Furthermore, many marketers are learning that analyzing the trends in consumer’s tweets provides valuable information about their clients and better yet, their potential customers. Although it’s true that only a small number of tweets have any sort of pass along value, conversational tweets still contain  consumer insight that allows us to personalize campaigns accordingly. As marketers, it’s important for us to understand the wants and needs of our target demographic… and that all stems from understanding their backgrounds and consumer behaviors. Do you see the value in Twitter? Let us know @pinnaclepromos.

Sarah
Marketing Coordinator
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I mentioned last year how reality television shows can spawn a plethora of marketing and promotional opportunities with the example of Fox’s hit series, So You Think You Can Dance (See blog “So You Think You Can Sponsor”). Continuing on that conversation I thought I would follow up with another popular TV program – American Idol.

Now in it’s 9th season, Idol has remained one of the most popular shows on American television throughout its run (it has been the #1 TV show in the Nielson ratings for the five past consecutive seasons). Another achievement of the show has been the success it has brought to its winners – including fourth season winner Carrie Underwood who rose to fame through Idol to become a multi-platinum selling recording artist, a multiple Grammy award winner, a two-time Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association Female Vocalist winner, and the entertainer of the year.

But beyond these successes, American Idol has also provided the opportunity for many other companies to profit from its popularity – from Idol-branded promotional merchandise to sponsorships. For So You Think You Can Dance it was Unilever’s Snuggle fabric softener that benefited from ties to the show. From my posting mentioned previously: “With its tagline, ‘Simply make a move and feel the freshness,’ they tied the product into the dancing theme and furthered this connection with segments featuring contestants and viewers showing off their ‘Happy Dances.’ Snuggle even had viewers submit their happy dance videos and sponsored a sweepstakes with a top prize of a trip to the show’s finale.” Much like SYTYCD’s sponsorship from Unilever, American car company Ford has taken similar advertising routes through Idol. Idol broadcasts music videos with the contestants and featuring Ford cars as a part of each episode. Last season, the public was asked to answer a series of questions on the American Idol website about these videos to enter a grand prize drawing to win a Ford Hybrid and additionally, a round-trip ticket to Los Angeles, three nights in a hotel and tickets to the season finale of the show.

Even the promotional products industry has taken a means to profit from the show’s status – remember curly-haired season 1 runner-up Justin Guarini? Well he happens to be the spokesperson for industry supplier BamBam’s product the “Rollabana.” (See picture of Mr. Guarini hosting the Advertising Specialties Institute’s first annual Cabaret Night back in November of 2008 courtesy of Michelle Bell, Counselor magazine senior editor and author of Bellwether Blog.) His career has truly blossomed, no?

And finally, I have to mention the nation-wide YouTube phenomena the show has produced including this year’s Larry Platt of Atlanta, GA (Pinnacle’s hometown) whose original song, “Pants on the Ground” has garnered hundreds of thousands of views since its airing January 13.  Enjoy!

Jaime
Team Lead – Multimedia
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