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10 Best Ideas we found at the PPAI Expo January 2011

/ Marketing, PPAI Expo Top 10 List of Innovative Ideas, Promotional Marketing News / By

Every year we head to Las Vegas for the PPAI (Promotional Products Association International) to attend the industry’s largest Marketing Show in North America.  Our goal has been for the last 12 years that we have attended is to attend as many seminars as we can and speak first hand with many of the 1400 + exhibiting suppliers to find those unique ideas and products that help to Get YOU Noticed!

At this year’s show, we were not disappointed.   Many suppliers have embraced the theme of integrated marketing strategies.   This means that they realize that developing a unique promotional item that is perceived as useful to the end user, dovetails with the brand and provides relevant messaging is GOOD.  However, a product that does all of this and drives the end user towards the web and online content takes the campaign to a whole new level.    With that in mind, QR Codes were all the rage this year.

To us, a unique campaign is multi-faceted.   Promotional marketing items are a great way to get people interested in your product or service, remind them of who you are and what you do and give them impetus to spend money with you.

With that being said, here are the best products we saw this year in Expo and some ideas as to how they can be used to build a successful campaign.

#1 Magic Cubes

Magic Cubes are the perfect vehicle for QR codes.  They allow you to not only put a unique story telling device into people’s hands that they will play with over and over again, but by adding QR codes to the piece, you can drive that same client to updated promotions by changing the back end URL that the code links to on a regular basis.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMVRq97ZmwM&feature=player_profilepage[/youtube]

This will definitely help to Get YOU Noticed!

#2 The Plug Hugger

Here is a simple, yet unique idea that we found the first day of the show.   Like many who travel, the amount of chords and charger units that I have to carry with me seems to increase monthly.    The Plug Hugger is a simple, yet effective way to keep the chords neat and tidy and at the same time remind your client that you are thinking of their best interest.   These can be pad printed in four colour process and provide a large imprint area to get your message across.   In short a great way to Get YOU Noticed!

#3 Rock Paper

Here is a new, unique product that is a great conversation starter and eco friendly at the same time.    Paper made from ROCKS.    Just watch the video.   I think you will be as amazed as we were. . . and best of all it is MADE IN CANADA!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvYy_qjzeso&feature=player_popout[/youtube]

#4 Coloring Book Solutions

Engaging the youngest generation is even more important today as has ever been.   Being able to talk about important topics such as health, the environment and safety in a fun and relevant way leads the way to these people becoming champions of your cause as they get older.    As well, it shows your clients that you are not only thinking of them and their needs today but are looking for long term, generational relationships.   These books can be customized to fit your individual campaign and allow you to engage your audience in a way you had not thought of.  This will definitely bring you greater ROI and Get YOU Noticed!

#5 Tabber Wrist Wear

This is probably the best traffic builder we saw at Expo.    It is a variably printed wristband that has 3 tabs attached to it with a variable number sequence.    They put the band on you, it has two numbers on it.  The first is their booth number at the event, the second is a variably printed number that is also on 3 detatchable tabs.   As they put the wristband on, they take off one of the tabs and put it into a barrel for a contest that afternoon that you have to be at the booth to win.   They also tell you that if you want the other two chances (tabs) put into the draw, you need to find two more people not wearing the band, bring them there to have bands put on and then you will have your numbers put in.    I showed up at 4 pm to see who would win the IPad and there were over 900 people standing there waiting with me.  WATCH THIS VIDEO and see how this program will Get YOU Noticed!


#6 Cap Trap

The Cap Trap is a interesting twist on the standard bottle opener.    It has a quirky, fun appeal and a large imprint area making it great for the beverage companies.    Even with the large percentage of caps being twist off today, this appeals to those who don’t want to ruin their hands trying to twist off that tight top.

#7 Custom Shirt Program from Ash City

Ash City has created a made in Canada, 48 piece minimum custom clothing program in under 6 weeks.   Click HERE to see the program in action.   You can work within their templates to design shirts that are custom to you are your company.   Three shirt designs are uploaded right now, but there will be 18 styles and a variety of colours and fabrics to choose from.    This is a game changer. It allows you to develop a short run clothing program that is as unique as your brand and Gets YOU Noticed!

#8 Custom Cell Phone Skin Program

Imagine being able to provide your clients with something that is UNIQUE ONLY TO THEM while promoting your brand or marketing objective.    Here is a great way to do this.    Each end user receives a unique code that will allow them to go online, enter information (great for future text messaging campaign) and be directed to a page where over 4000 cell phone/IPod device templates are.  They upload their own unique image, enter their mailing address and within a week a cell phone skin with their picture and your branding is mailed to them.    The end client now equates your brand with value and that brand is promoted daily.   Great way to reach the under 40 demographic, build brand loyalty and Get YOU Noticed!

#9 WOW! Branded Personal Assistance

The WOW! Branded Personal Assistance is an amazing value added perk to give to your top clients, top sales performers or anyone you want to recognize as having value to your organization.    This is a service that answers the phone as if it your employee.  They are there to answer the questions that you may have on ANYTHING.  Think of this as a personal research assistant waiting for your call.   Give it a try and call me to see how we can use this service to Get YOU Noticed!

#10 WOW Branded Product Suite for Mobile Marketing

I have saved the best for last.   This is brand new to Canada.    It is a full service integrated suite of products that will allow for integrated marketing campaigns across mobile and non-mobile platforms.    From a single supplier we can develop mobile based websites, text messaging campaigns, QR CODES with back end analytics that are easy to understand and call back software that provides those gentle reminders as either a voice message, email or text messages.   This will allow you to take your campaigns to a whole new level and Get YOU Noticed!

We hope that you are as excited as we are about this new and innovative ideas.   They will breathe new life into your brand and help develop unique and interesting campaigns that will separate you from your competition.

We look forward to hearing comments and working with on future campaigns.



 

 

 

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  • Four 2-3-minute videos that come from that interview that help you tell specific parts of your story that you can put on your website and used through social media and email campaigns regularly.
  • Four 30-60 second audiograms designed to enable pecple to have a quick understanding of your value and why they should search you out to find out more through their use on your website and social meda.
  • Six images that you can use through your social media on an on-going basis.
  • Five or Six tweets that can be sent out regularly.
  • An edited transcript of the interview that enable you to ganer even more market materials and have approximately 6500 words on your website that provides SEO benefits.
  • One 25-35-minute podcast episode on the Find Your Pro Show with a marketing that looks like this

GOLD - four episode plan $10998.00

  • One 60-minute recorded interview to understand who you are, what you do, why you do t, who you do it for and why they should care. This interview is designed to show your true value and enable you to shine
  • Three additional 60-minutes recorded interviews that can be testimonials with clients, case studies, best practices or top questions of your clients answered. The goal is to provide value to your audience that creates trust with them and gives them reason to buy from you
  • Sixteen (4 per interview) 2-3-minute videos that come from that interview that help you tell specific parts of your story that you can put on your website and used through social mead and email campaigns regularly,
  • Sixteen (4 per interview) 3060 second audiograms designed to enable people to have a quick understanding of your value and why they should search you out to find out more through their use on your website and social media
  • Twenty-four (6 per interview) images that you can use through your social media on an on-going basis
  • Twenty four (6 per interview) tweets that can be sent out regularly.
  • Four (one per episode) edited transcripts of the interviews that enable you to garner even more market materials and have approximately 6500 words on your website that provides SEO benefits.
  • Four 25-35-minute podcast episode on the Find Your Pro Show with a marketing page that looks like this

PLATINUM- twelve episode plan $27750.00

  • One 60-minute recorded interview to understand who you are, what you do, why you do it, who you do it for and why they should care. This interview is designed to show your true value and enable you to shine.
  • Eleven additional 60-minutes recorded interviews that can be testimonials with clients, case studies, best practices or top questions of your clients answered. The goal is to provide value to your audience that creates trust with them and gives them reason to buy from you.
  • Forty-eight (4 per interview) 2-3-minute videos that come from that interview that help you tell specific parts of your story that you can put on your website and used through social media and email campaigns regularly.
  • Forty-eight (4 per interview) 30-60 second audiograms designed to enable people to have a quick understanding of your value and why they should search you out to find out more through their use on your website and social media.
  • Seventy-two (6 per interview) images that you can use through your social media on an on-going basis.
  • Seventy-two (6 per interview) tweets that can be sent out regularly.
  • Twelve (one per episode) edited transcripts of the interviews that enable you to garner even more market materials and have approximately 6500 words on your website that provides SEO benefits.
  • Twelve 25-35-minute podcast episode on the Find Your Pro Show with a marketing page that looks like this.

The SILVER option is designed for companies on a limited budget or who would like to try the power of the Communicate Your Why program before committing.

It provides you with a reasonable amount of shareable content and access to our network. However, for most companies, this may not provide a full year's worth of marketing materials. If you purchase a SILVER package and decide to upgrade within 30 days of the airing of your episode, we will credit 90% of the SILVER package towards either a GOLD or PLATINUM package.

Our expectation is that we will release your episode within 30 days of the recording date.

The GOLD option is a basic yearly marketing package.

Optimally, you would release an episode quarterly and use the content that accompanies it to update your marketing on a quarterly basis. It is literally four times the amount of marketing materials as the SILVER option and allows you to not only tell your story but create a case studies with clients or talk about specific ways you add value to your clientele in a non-sales way. We would suggest that you have us interview other employees, suppliers, strategic partners and/or clients with additional episodes in order to add additional value and tell a richer and a more robust version of your brand story.

Our expectation is that we will release your episodes quarterly.

The PLATINUM option is designed as a monthly marketing package

It gives you the content you desire to stay top of mind with your clients and prospects, talk about ongoing developments and tell a more robust story. Again, if you purchase a GOLD package and decide to upgrade to a PLATINUM one within 90 days of starting the original GOLD package, we will credit 90% of the original purchase price towards the price of the PLATINUM option. We would suggest that you have us interview other employees, suppliers, strategic partners and/or clients with additional episodes in order to add additional value and tell a richer and more robust version of your brand story.

Our expectation is that we will release your episodes monthly.

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