Chevrolet has decided to thank their customers in an interesting way. Now I'm always a fan of promotions that are geared towards thanking customers, because customers are really the basis of every business. And I'm ALL for Chevy's latest way of thanking customers.
They created custom clappers with the premise that they were "applauding their customers." These paper clappers were promoted to the customers with the guise that they could use them at plays. And the best part is...they included theatre tickets! That's actually quite creative, and while I feel like I would never use promotional clappers at the theatre, I would enjoy the free tickets. The only thing I ever got from VW was the first 2 Bourne movies on DVD. Bravo to you Chevy!
The title of today's blog is an homage to one of my favorite TV characters of all time: JD from Scrubs. While this utterly hilarious show has nothing to do with my topic, this quote fits just nicely for this promotion.
Blistex has apparently done some market research to find out that when people receive tickets from those machines in parking garages, said tickets usually end up in people's mouths. I myself don't do this, but I do know several people that do. Their idea? Print these parking tickets on sandpaper, so that when people stick them in their mouths, their lips hurt. They'll then look at the parking ticket and see the ad for Blistex healing rough lips. Excellent idea, except one major flaw. One of the 5 senses happens to be touch and people tend to touch things with their hands before their mouth. Which begs the question: If you feel something sandpaper-like with your hands, why would you put it in your mouth?
I feel like any other company could benefit greatly from handing out promotional lip balm on site. Of course, I don't know how willing I would be to take lip balm from a stranger in a parking garage either.
And just popping back to my love for Scrubs, here's a great video to start your Tuesday with.
The World Wildlife Federation (WWF) promoted it's eco-friendly initiative all across the world with promotional stickers reminding people to turn off the lights. On Switzerland these stickers were placed on outdoor street lights which caused people to take notice. In some cases people actually attempted to turn off the light. According to the WWF, Earth hour was a global movement with 24 global cities participating.
I was unaware that there is a Belgian waffle truck that makes its way around the streets of New York like some stealth superhero that provides carby, Belgiany, waffley goodness to citizens. While this creative promotion (painting grates to look like waffles) would probably get my attention if I were walking the streets, I now would really like a waffle. So if anyone wants to save me some research and let me know where it's at, I'd greatly appreciate it.
ETA: Oh, and lest anyone think that I am simply neglecting the fact that it is Arbor Day, I will have you know that I am not. Just because I'm not highlighting any eco-friendly promotional products, does not mean that I don't care. In fact if you go check out this fabulous waffle trucks website like myself (was desperately seeking waffle. had to look), you can see that they collect donations for..*drumroll*
THE NATIONAL ARBOR DAY FOUNDATION!
And this just furthers my belief that waffles are all powerful.
Another Way for Satellite Navigation to Frustrate Me
Remember those little slider puzzles that were hugely popular about 15 years ago? They've stuck around since then and now we even sell them. (Promotional Slider Puzzle) I've never enjoyed these puzzles, so now that I've seen that Thrifty Car and Truck rental has created a giant one as a promotion to advertise the fact that you can now get satellite navigation systems in their cars, I'm not thrilled. That could also just be because I hate my Sat nav system.
Of course this extremely eye-catching attraction did get plenty of attention. And I'm sure it kept plenty of kids occupied as well. And this one guy.
I am not by any means a car afficiando. That's not to say that I don't know cars, because I do. Unlike many of my female friends my knowledge of automobiles expands beyond, "Oh, I like that green one." I can usually easily distinguish a car's make and model just by looking at it.
But the nitty and gritty of cars? I'm not the person to ask. That's why I love this promotion that Good Year did for their Run on Flat tires. Apparently these tires are specially made to reduce the risk of deflation. So to show people an example of how these tires work, they created promotional dartboards made from the tires material. When customers in the waiting rooms of Good Year's service center played the game of darts, they saw what little damage the darts did to the board (the tire).
Firstly, I love this idea because getting your car serviced can be extremely frustrating. I recently stood in line for about half an hour at VW's service center and watched the growing frustrations of those both before and after me. I wanted to throw something. Pity this board wasn't there.
Secondly, creating promotional games is a daunting task and there have been several individuals who have tried and failed. This one works because it takes a classic game and spins it so that it's still fun, but it's educating you about a product.
Motivators has taken several steps in the past few months to make ourselves a green business. From reducing our energy usage by shutting off computers at night to providing staff members with promotional water bottles and travel tumblers to reduce paper waste, we're proud to be making a difference in our environment. Our biggest eco effort thus far has been allowing you to make a difference as well. Since March 25th, for each order that we have processed for promotional products we have made a donation to American Forests Global ReLeaf campaign to plant a tree. Thanks to all our customers who have helped us improve the environment!
In other news, we're not the only ones who have decided to go green. Check out some great corporations who have modified their logos to celebrate Earth Day online.
NBC has made their entire website green, including their logo.
Yahoo has an animated eco-friendly logo going on...
Google always does something for the holidays, but it looks like they p ut some serious effort into this artistic design...
Fox Broadcasting has adopted the slogan, Green It, Mean It and has several videos of Fox stars giving Eco tips on their website. (NBC did this months ago)
Someone Else's Hair is not a Good Promotional Product
The makers of a hair revitalizing product wanted to convey a message to working women that losing your hair is not natural and should be cause for concern. granted everyone "sheds" from time to time, but too much is not good. Their solution?
A promotional voodoo doll with a clump of hair pinned to it was sent to females in the target demographic. Do I get the point that losing your hair can be bad? Absolutely. Would I really want to buy a product from people who sent me a voodoo doll with a clump of some strange persons hair on it? No way. Why not send promotional grooming sets with some sort of important fact about hair loss?
Honestly anything would have worked better as long as it didn't involve other people's hair. That's disgusting. And I think this lady agrees.
In honor of the fact that it's Friday (sidenote: where did my week go?), I thought I'd highlight a couple ambient promotions for nightclubs that I found via Ads of The World. It's been a busy week here at Motivators and I know that some of the gang here really enjoys the friday night happy hours. With that said...night club promotion numero uno:
The concept here: You go into the bathroom, the lights go out and a black light comes on to expose a bloody crime scene. It's to promote some horror films. Good luck getting a really drunk person to figure that out. And even if I were completely sober, I think I might just find that disgusting. It's a BATHROOM.
Numero Dos:
Concept: The poster displayed on the wall appears to be in Russian, but when you look in the mirror, the words on the poster are inverted and the poster reads "Real Men Don't Drink and Drive." I like it. Way to go Russian Bear Vodka.
Now both these ads are great in their own respects, but I know that back in college several people I knew wouldn't remember these ads the next day. That's why I think promotional giveaways work the best at bars. Because you don't need to remember them. They remind you.
It's A Solar Powered Billboard...That's Not a Good Idea
I love the intention behind this billboard. However, there's a slight problemo. See the beauty of solar power is that it only works, when it's actually sunny outside. So the shadow produced on this billboard will only be there if the sun is shining. Personally I think they could have done better with some sort on online contest, with the prizes being solar powered backpacks. The customers will have something tangible with the logo, and the logo will be on the backpacks all the time, regardless of whether the sun is shining or not.
OK, not literally. I'm not sitting at my desk consuming bags and bags of chips while working, but on occasion I need a snack. I was slightly depressed to learn that 4 pieces of the Riesen candies I had been snacking on in our operation Manager's office contain 170 calories. I'm glad that I've been going back to the gym, but I skipped last night.
So when I was scouring every nook and cranny of the Internet looking for the latest and greatest promotion to blog about, I was reminded of my laziness by this ad from Australian Unity Health. Reminding people that taking the stairs is healthier for them does work, however the "Escalators are your enemy" line would be better placed in front of the escalator. Also, a great idea (if this is a highly trafficked area) would have been to have people handing out promotional Power Bars at the bottom of the staircases, and offering up bottled water at the top. Yes, it's not that big of a staircase, but people like to feel like they've overcome hurdles. :)
Of course it won't. And unlike our Operation Manager's beagle, I really have no interest in eating my socks. However, I'm really enjoying this promotion done in laundromats for Pepto Bismol. I would remember it and if there was a drug store nearby, I would probably go and purchase some. yet another brilliant use of promotional decals. Of course these are custom decals, because there really isn't that big of a demand for washing machine shaped stickers.
As for the tagline, "Whatever you throw in your stomach, Pink's got you covered"...I'm not in love. I feel like the second line ("Pink's got you covered") would be great come October. That could do big things for a breast cancer awareness campaign.
Check out this innovative promotional plastic bag design. The bags were given to bookstores and were to be given out whenever someone purchased a novel by a specific crime writer. The eye catching design works on this simple, affordable promotion. Definitely one of the most effective custom plastic bags that I have seen to date.
I'm Wearing a Coke Bottle...Coke Goes Green with Plastic T-Shirts
Apparently dressing "trashy" is about to be come a lot more acceptable. This week, Coca Cola launched a new eco-friendly venture. While Coke doesn't seem like a recognizable name when it comes to promotional apparel, a new line of eco-tees is hitting Wal-Mart stores across the country this week. The tag line on the shirt reads "Make Your Plastic Fantastic" and the shirt itself is made from recycled plastic coke bottles. Another version of the recycled plastic shirt reads "Rehash Your Trash."
I was also interested to learn that Coke had recently launched a line of recycled merchandise under the name rPet. The line includes notebooks, tote bags, purses, and caps, all made of recycled plastic. The most interesting fact about the t-shirts comes from Stuart Kronauge, the VP of Marketing at Coca Cola North America. He states: "If the 200 million Wal-Mart shoppers in the U.S. purchase these shirts, they will help us reuse and divert more than 700 million bottles from the waste stream." That's a lot of garbage saved.
So bravo to Coca Cola for finding an eco-friendly solution to a problem. I hope this green coke movement will be more successful than Crystal Pepsi. :)
These recycled t-shirts are available starting at $7.50 from Wal-mart.com
Blackouts in South Africa: Precaution vs. Promotion
South Africa has been hit recently with waves of rolling blackouts, plunging citizens into darkness and leaving them without power. Eskom, the nation's energy comission, distributed heat sensitive promotional mugs that revealed a message about saving electricity when filled with hot water.
While the mug was effective, the nation is still experiencing rolling blackouts so a local pizza parlor decided to capitilize on the business opportunity. St. Elmo's Pizza sells wood fired pizza, so their business wasn't out of comission if the power went out. They created a glow in the dark menu, with the tagline "Available during Blackouts."
First it was the promotional bread bag clip business card, then it was the Lego blocks. Apparently plain business cards are so last season. Just check out this unique business card for a couples therapist. Simply pull the tab and you've got a broken heart. The solution (aka her contact info) lies within. Simple, brilliant. It's not one of the most eco-friendly promotional giveaways, (unless they were printed on recycled paper) but it gets the job done.
In honor of national Cancer Control Month, I thought I'd post a rather disappointing attempt at an ambient piece. For some odd reason, the bottom corners of newspapers always have a slight tear in them. The tear is raised, which the Cancer Council of Victoria found to be the perfect way to increase awareness about moles. The tagline: "If Your Mole Starts to Look Like This, Call a Doctor" is effective, but I can't help but wonder how many people actually look at the very corner on the bottom of the page of newspaper.
There have been several ways of promoting cancer control, with the most famous being the Live Strong promotional awareness bracelets created by Lance Armstrong. Personally, I feel the ad could have been more effective if it was done in a different type of media. Newspaper advertising is often ignored and the placement of this ad really doesn't do it justice.
What do you get when you mix bananas, strawberries, ice, milk, a revolving door, and human beings?
Only the coolest ad created from promotional decals that I have ever seen. McCain food is known for their frozen food products, most notably their french fries, and they wanted a unique way to promote their latest frozen venture: McCain Smooth-Eez. Their website totes the simple instructions needed to make the product: Just add milk and ice.
Their advertising agency, Taxi Canada, created large custom decals to place on revolving doors. The idea was simple: Make people feel like they were inside the blender.
The bright colors and brilliant design draw attention to the doors, and the brand name is easily visible on the door next to the revolving ones. Custom promotional decals can do some serious justice for advertising when they're used properly.
Sometimes the best laid plans go to waste. That's exactly what AIG wanted to let their customers know. The target market were individuals who owned collectibles and antiques. The insurance company mailed each member of their target audience a box filled with packing peanuts and an expensive looking antique that was broken. The only other item was a business card with a simple line that read "We insure artifacts, too." Apparently the response rate was only 28% of recipients. Maybe that's because people didn't get it? Did they know that the antique was supposed to be broken or did they think that AIG was attempting to send them a present that happened to get busted. If that was the case then perhaps they didn't feel secure with AIG. Just a thought. I can't attest that the use of other promotional products would have increased response rate or even gained the same media exposure that this promotion did, but I can't help but wonder...
I wish I had been lucky enough to go to SXSW but unfortunately, I'm just not that cool. It seemed like an amazing time and a really good party. And as anyone who knows me can attest, I love a good party.
Freshbooks.com definitely had the right idea as this was their promotional giveaway at the SXSW tradeshow. I have always talked about how great the promotional hangover kit is , and I know that Jen has blogged about it as well, but I've never seen an instance out in the real world (as opposed to the completely promotional product world that I live in) of this item.
There's definitely nothing better than the first taste of a delicious peach or plum in the summer months. But it's easy to forget that fresh fruit is available all year round. You've just gotta know the right places to go to. Calgary Farmers market in Calgary Canada wanted a simple and effective way to remind people that fresh fruit was available all year long.
This interesting campaign was created by their ad agency. Fresh apples were hung from bare trees right after the first snowfall. Now, when you're walking down the street in the winter the last thing you'd expect to see is a fresh apple hanging from the trees. The promotional stickers on the apples answered the question of "where did these come from?" and promoted the market at the same time. Definitely an interesting way to promote fresh fruit. I hate to say it but I'd gladly take a fresh apple over some promotional fruit stress balls any day. Although I don't know how I feel about one that's just hanging from a tree...might not want to eat that.
Last week I blogged about how creative an architecture firm was for using a lego brick as their business card, so when I ran across this business card for a bakery I knew I had to highlight it as well. The card is designed to look like one of those little plastic things that is used to close bread bags. It has all the necessary information on it for the bakery and it's unique shape makes it stand out. Of course, I wonder if you could indeed seal a bread bag with this business card.
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