.promo August 2018
PROFESSIONAL INSPIRATION FOR PROMOTIONAL PRODUCT BUYERS
Hot Summer Products!
- - Sponsor Promo Programs that Help Your C o mm u n it y A t th e Sa m e Ti m e
Labor Day Promos
USA Trade Wars WILL EFFECT YOUR BUYING POWER August's Scorching
Present COOL Branding Opportunities
Creative Solutions The Inside Scoop on 5 Big Success Stories
Michael Grewe ideas@smrktg.com http://www.smrktg.com 858.525.5588
Inexpensive But Designed to Look, Write & Fee
el Amazing
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Beautiful Products We Make
Designed for You
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CAR CAR
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S c o r c h i n g Te m p s P r e s e n t S o m e R e a
It’s the dog days of summer and your marketing motivation may be low, but just think about what’s brewing in August and you’ll spring to your feet with promotions that brand your company big time. Wh at ’ s h a p p e ni n g ? • • • • •
Parents are prepping for school to start. Families are thinking about a last-minute trip. Businesses are getting ready for Fall’s more serious mindset. Retailers are preparing for Christmas. Your competitors are planning their 3rd and 4th Quarter marketing sprints to win as much business as they can. Keep active.
Does anybody know of a named holiday in August?
Generally your lack of engagement for a long period will have you struggling to climb out of a hole.
Actually there’s
one for every day. But other than Elvis Week, there’s nothing spectacular to pin a big promotion on; but you can start to plan for Labor Day. There are lots of ideas to choose from.
Family Fun Month--Hold “family appropriate events” at your business throughout the month. Support it with back-to-school type of products. Your community will see your brand everywhere. National Golf Month--Golf is notoriously a great connecton and creates business leads for any industry. Simplify Your Life Week (August 1st-7th)--In particular, interior designers and personal organizers should promote this time to their clients. Send a “Get Organized Tips” offering a gift-with-purchase promotional item. Friendship Day (August 2nd)--One of the best ways to find business is from yourcurrent customers! Hold a promotion for customers that bring in their friends on this day. Offer incentives to both parties for participating, whether it’s a discount or a pretty cool promotional product, a good offer will be enticing.
National Relaxation Day (August 15th) Spas and salons can use this holiday to promote stress free lives by giving out promotional products to induce their clients to come in. Other types of businesses can offer special Stress Free promotions on this day as well. For example, restaurants can give out “I Chilled Out at Tom’s Restaurant” offering a free glass give-away.
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ally COOOL Branding Opportunities
KoolGator Cooling Neck Wrap
a booth and giving out really cool promotional products. Remember, it has to be cooler than your competitors are giving away and cooler than items given away as prizes at the Fair.
World Humanitarian Day (August 19th) The purpose of World Humanitarian Day is to recognize those that lost their lives working for humanitarian causes. Use this day to not only donate your time or money to an important charity and promote it with sensitive promotional items, but also to encourage your customers to do the same.
Back to School--Like Labor Day, Back to School time sales are an American tradition. Even if you think your business isn’t directly child or school related there are opportunities to take advant age of building your brand, it’s important to remember not to
Senior Citizens Day (August 21st)--Senior citizens are an emerging group. What you say? Yes they are; don’t forget them. They buy for their grandkids; kids and are frequently the big spenders for back-toschool. But, remember they are also regular consumers and very loyal ones at that. Once you land a senior citizen, they stay as customers. State Fair Season--Lots of State Fairs are held in August then they stretch through the early fall. These are a great way to market your business and services by setting up
Ag r a ffe s Wa t e r B o t t l e iphone dock w/speaker
exclude parents in your marketing efforts. Once kids are back in school, parents have more time for themselves during the day. One way to engage parents is to reach out to current customers who might have been busy over the summer and offer them a returning client special gift.
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Quality Companies Choose Our Quality Golf Bag Tags & Golf Accessories
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Promote Your Business & Protect Your Clients with
BUG BAN Mosquitoes Can Infect You with Zika Virus, West Nile Virus, Chikungunya Virus, Dengue & Malaria
M a ke Yo u r Bac k-to - S c h o o l P r o m ot S u p p o r t Yo u r Co m m u n i t y
“Get Packin’ Healthy Lunches” This is a very special time for parents and students heading back-to-school. It’s an exciting time…and the hustle and bustle of the summer is coming to an end. In August Teachers begin to assign what materials are needed for their classes. From kindergarten to undergrad, school supplies are being purchased and given away by companies promoting their brand. So many products are used during this time. Kids get new clothes, back packs, tote bags, pens, pencils and notebooks. Branding is big. School sporting events are being put together and communities are banding together to support their school. You need to look no further than at a basketball game, football, track or any Fall-oriented sport to know that the people in your community will really appreciate and wear your brand. All you have to do is arrange for them to get it.
Based on our guesstimates as parents, most people spend o $100-$400 to send their kid back to school, (that’s our low e a few). So what better time to help the community get bac providing many of those items to them. Join with your loca arrange to co-op a program that helps your community.
First, better get going…time is short. Many schools start in
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All of These Products are Logoable
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Here’s a list of some product ideas and potential uses to drive business and brand your company. Free Coffee Mug with Coffee before and after school hours. Cater or participate in school events—neighborhood clean-ups, etc. Launch a Customer Loyalty program for parents, students and teachers. Use seasonal promotional products that support Fall promotions. Reward Students for High Grades with upscale promotional products. Reward Students for Community Service Hours—present at your office. Bundle packages that your business offers and use promotional products to advertise the program.
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We’ve Got Great Fall Marketing Ideas! Plan Your Fall Promos NOW! We all know how fast time goes. In the blink of an eye Summer 2018 will be over. running campaigns that support your local hospital’s pediatric ward is all so rewarding from a socially responsible point of view. Your clients will join your efforts and that causes a bond where they will want to support your business. Suicide Prevention Week—again, supporting health issues is all too important and Many of us will be returning from vacations getting ready to plow ahead for the rest of the year. For many companies the 3rd and 4th Quarters are super busy times--for some--make or break selling seasons. That’s why it’s so important for you as a promotional products buyer to plan ahead and book your promotions now. August is Back-toSchool month with plenty of promotional opportunities. However let’s take a month-bymonth look from September thru December. For September we’ve got six or seven really great ideas to promote your business. FOOTBALL! September 10th is the NFL’s opening nite…so hosting an event surrounding this long-awaited nite makes for a great promotion. Tons of people participate in Football pools…why not print dry erase boards with your logo on them. National Campus Safety Awareness Month—what a great event to sponsor. There are lots of safety items that students will carry with them all the time. Nat’l Childhood Obesity Awareness Month—supporting health issues is all so important to your community. Pediatric Cancer Awareness, try
opportunity to turn up. From restaurants to banks almost any company can put together a promotion to support this
valuable community program. American Business Women’s Day —Women Unite! From providing business seminars designed to act as a forum for education, supporting women e-commerce development is a positive plan for the business women in your community.
.PROMO October has many great opportunities for promoting your company. The NCAA Basketball season starts. If your customers are fans, join ‘em don’t fight ‘em. If its October, baseball’s World Series is about to happen. There are so many promotions surrounding the World Series, but be careful that you don’t violate any trademarks. Halloween is filled with so many opportunities you just have to let your imagination run wild. Domestic Violence Month—team up with a local charitable organization and get your name out in the community. Dress Up for Halloween—and invite your customers to come in for a “best costume” event. Host a Contest in Your Store—in store promotions give you a chance to really cement your relationship with your customers.
FALL Marketing
IDEAS
November Veteran’s Day will always be a great opportunity to make new business relationships by thanking Veterans for their service. If you have a Veteran that works for you, highlight and honor him/her on your blog or website. A simple program designed around thanking your community Veterans will bring lots of good will. Charity runs big in November with programs that center around Lung Cancer, Pancreatic Cancer, Diabetes, Alzheimer’s and Adoption Awareness. Health Issue— November is the Great American Smokeout. Join this promotional program and help the citizens of your community. Sports are in full swing during the month of November—the NFL, NBA and the NHL are important opportunities to co promote your business. Again, watch so you don’t violate trademarks. Its Thanksgiving…so make sure you thank your customers for their support by doing running a special promotion around Thanksgiving. Don’t forget food drives. Participating in them is key around this time. December is the month of real gifting. Host 12 days of giveaways. Throw a Business Block Party. Run a Holiday Focused Email Campaign featuring promotional products as your enticer. Offer a Gift with Purchase. Host a Bring a Friend Holiday Event with Prizes. Match Your Promotions to Your Content and Social Strategy. Lure Customers with Mystery Envelopes Gift Bundles.
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Hot Hot
Hot
Hot End of Su
Every month we feature a group of the hottest products we can find. Here’s a few for the end of the Summer.
COMBO COLD STORAGE AND GRILL TRAVEL PACK
COMBO BREAST CANCER RIBBON BOTTLE OPENER/CARABINER
COMBO COOLER & BACK PACK THE COOLEST BOTTLE OPENER EVER
COMBO HOLDER BOTTLE
CARABINER FLASHLITES
COOLING TOWEL HEAD OR NECKBAND
COFFEE CUP WITH SPOON
O CELL PHONE ER AND WATER E COOLER
FOLDING BEACH OR HOME WAGON WITH ROOF
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ummer Products!
Creative Solutions! We Give You the Low-Down on Five Big Success Stories
Yummy l a e p Ap
Kellogg’s Promotes their Brand to the Ultimate Cereal Lovers Kellogg’s employs the coolest products to gain billions of impressions and brand their merchandise. WHAT? REALLY? CEREAL? Kellogg’s just proved how promote-able fashionable cereal can be. From Fruit Loop Slippers to trendy back packs, almost edible phone cases, coffee mugs and pajamas, there’s something in Kellogg’s logoed collection for just about everyone. 67 different products in all.
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Creative Solutions! We Give You the Low-Down on Five Big Success Stories
McDelivery Day! The event, held in July, provided tons of branded merchandise via Uber eats delivery; hence McDelivery Day. This very high profile promo campaign was by all accounts of social media reactions, a big win for McDonalds.
Classic T-Shirts
Denim Jackets
Fast food giants have gone all out in the past few years using promotional products to further their brand and get millions of impressions, but few have gone quite as far as McDonald's did for McDelivery Day.
French Fry Socks
Big Mac Fanny Pack
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Creative Solutions! We Give You the Low-Down on Five Big Success Stories
IHOP’s new PancakeWear line is all about branding and promos. We thought they should change their name to International House of Promos, because these wearables ares ALL about logos. Its PancakeWear limited edition clothing line featured one-of-a-kind adult- and child-sized one pieces, lounge wear and socks. The collection was released in conjunction with IHOP's "60 Days of Giving" campaign. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. IHOP hopes to raise $5 million for children's charities this year, and it this special edition apparel will be a big component.
Increases Branding with MUST HAVE Apparel The Socks were particularly popular!
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Creative Solutions! We Give You the Low-Down on Five Big Success Stories
World Wide
Scores BIG
Just like when the Superbowl is over, many people go into the “sads”. The same is true after the World Cup. Well, we’re sad too because we love soccer and this year’s World Cup was so very exciting. Through lots of sweat, perserverance and pure talent, France came out on
top. We congratulate the French team,they were awesome. Budweiser will probably be fighting the “sads” too as the final between Croatia and France will be the last hurrah for its fabulous Light Up the FIFA World Cup promo products ad program. Budweiser’s promo, which relies on noise-activated beer holders, figures to result in the distribution of eight million innovative containers. The drinkware that Budweiser offered is one of the biggest beacons of marketing ingenuity we’ve seen.
The drinkware was illuminated and got brighter and brighter as the “fans’ excitement and energy increased from clapping, screaming or yelling. Anyone who has watched the tournament can vouch for the effectiveness of the promotional products. Budweiser, in having proclaimed the FIFA World Cup its biggest rollout activation to date, has developed more than 70 versions of the cup and has distributed it to more than 50 countries. Wow...don’t you wish you had that budget?
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Creative Solutions! We Give You the Low-Down on Five Big Success Stories
Promo products Campaign Saves Endangered Species For as long as we can remember, Lacoste’s famous crocodile logo was “the most sought after logoed shirt. So many companies copied them, including Ralph Lauren Polo, Tommy Hilfiger and more. Lacoste is temporarily ditching its iconic Crocodile Logo and is producing a line of Limited-Edition polo shirts that feature the images of ten endangered species. The "Save Our Species" collection was immensely successful bringing a lot of attention to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
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Makers of the Best Selling Tech Promo
Labor Day Celebration West Point, NY Hudson River Performed by West Point Academy Band
LabOR Day Rocks AS a TIme TO promote yOUr compANy At the West Point Labor Day Celebration many different companies participated in the event supporting their community including the local newspaper.
Here’s Some Great Ideas Contests & Supportive Giveaways Whether you are a small or large company you might consider staying open over Labor Day to get your customers more involved and encourage participation by getting customers excited about a Summer Photo Contest so they feel a part of the action. From your local Walgreens to accounts, this is a time tested promo. Announce the winner inhouse for the most impact or on your website
expect to get great deals on out-of-season inventory. Don’t let them down! Get Festive!!! Consumers love feeling connected to the seasons. In all of your correspondence, on your website and in-store, use fall-inspired design elements and get creative with the theme of the coming season. Burgundy, orange, and gold are fallthemed colors you can use that can help consumers get excited about fall and feel more connected to your brand.
Voice Broadcasting Since holiday promotions are time-sensitive, you need to inform as many customers as possible in a short period of time. While email is a valuable strategy, email open rates average only around 17-25%. Your emails are also vying for your consumer’s attention in the midst of hundreds of other Time-Sensitive Promotions messages. If you use voice Urgency sells. Think about it… broadcasting as an alternate when an ad says, Limited marketing method, you can get Time Offer”, that gets your attention. This is why Labor Day and other holiday promotions more attention for your promotions and alert many more of are so effective for businesses. Set a time limit and an expiry your customers. date on your Labor Day promotions to encourage buying.
SEPTEMBER 2018
Move Out Old inventory Labor Day is the perfect day to move out old summer inventory and make room for new items. If you run a seasonal business, discount your older items and announce an end-of-season sale. Since Labor Day is the "proverbial" end of summer, consumers
ALBANY
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Next Round of $200B in US Tariffs Has a Ton of Promo Implications Our Advice, Buy Now Before Prices Go Up
Salvos Exchanged, Get Ready, the Battle Has Begun— How This Effects the Promotional Products Industry
.PROMO “In light of China's response to the $50 billion action announced in the investigation and its refusal to change its acts, policies and practices, it has become apparent that U.S. action at this level is not sufficient to obtain the elimination of China's acts, policies and practices covered in the investigation," the USTR said in the document. "Modification of the action in this investigation by taking a supplemental $200 billion action is appropriate in light of the statutory goal of obtaining the elimination of acts, policies and practices covered in the investigation. China has shown that it will not respond to action at a $50 billion level by addressing U.S. concerns with China's acts, policies and practices involving technology transfer, intellectual property and innovation. Rather, China is responding to action at a $50 billion level by imposing retaliatory duties. Supplemental action at a $200 billion level is in accord with the President's direction." At this point, one can't forget President Trump's words in March, tweeting that "trade wars are good, and easy to win."
The list of items affecting the promotional products industry is extremely lengthy and features a lot of raw manufacturing materials and food products. But it also includes a good amount of products that directly relate to the promotional products world, such as headwear, cotton and sport bags, as well as items tangentially related to the industry, like fruit, leather goods and machinery. Here's a quick list of included items that directly or indirectly relate to the promotional products industry: Trays, dishes, plates and papercups/paperboard; cotton yarn; various cotton products; embroidery; hats/headgear; travel, sports and similar bags with outer surface of textile materials; travel, sports and similar bags with outer surface of plastic sheeting; bags, cases and similar containers with outer surface of cotton. The result, buy NOW before prices inch up.
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Community Service Programs Score Bigger
Investing In Your Community Will Always Produce Better Results
Great 3rd & 4th Quarter Promo Programs
Using REALLY COOL Products Can Make Your Brand Shine BIG
Planning Your Year-End Promo Campaigns Get the Jump on Your Competition
Associate Your Promo Campaigns with Local & National Athletic Programs Athletic Programs Reap Great Branding Opportunities
Promotional Products with Nine Lives Buy Items that Seemingly Can Last a Life-time
Special Promos for September
Socks, Blankets, Hats & Electronics Score Big This Season
Success As You Will It...
Focus In On The Details & Success Will Follow
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Coming Attractions