PPB December 2017

Professional Partners • American Advertising Federation www.aaf.org • 4A’s (American Association of Advertising Agencies) www.aaaa.org • Association of National Advertisers www.ana.net • Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies www.ahaa.org • American Marketing Association www.ama.org • Business Marketing Association www.marketing.org • Data & Marketing Association thedma.org • Internet Marketing Association imanetwork.org • Society for Marketing Professional Services www.smps.org Market Snapshot Advertising and marketing are lucrative fields for management- level workers—the median annual pay for advertising, promotions and marketing managers in 2016 was $127,560. Advertising sales agents earned a median annual salary of just over $50,000, and art directors earned a median annual salary of nearly $90,000. The U.S. dominates the global advertising market, with an expected spend of roughly $200 billion this year. Television remains the most widely used medium, though digital is expected to overtake that by year’s end. The retail industry was the biggest spender in the digital ad space in 2016; Comcast dominated the overall advertising market that same year. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics Getting InOnThe Ground Floor Whether you’re a veteran at working with ad agencies to help them incorporate promo items into a campaign or you want to wow prospects with new options, be sure to remind them how promotional products work best: and almost seemingly takes little thought to include, but you’d be surprised at the million-dollar clients who drink from these $3 marketing pieces every day.” Bradley’s firmoffers promotional products alongside traditional advertising vehicles, helping clients select items that are relevant to their customer base, themarketing platformand the desired outcome. “We have a client who promotes his fishing charter business. During the charter, his guests experience an all-inclusive fishing trip that includes drinks and snacks on the boat. Promotional items that make sense would be a branded can cooler to keep the drinks cold, a lunch tote for their snacks, a cooler with ice for the fish and a picture frame for their trophy photo,” he explains. “These items are recommended because they act as a constant reminder that will trigger a memory and certain emotions from their trip. It will promote the business every time the customer shares a fishing story and shows the photo.” One response that sticks out for Bradley came from an energy company that incorporated foldable flying discs into a marketing campaign. “I received a call from this client, who was really excited because he acquired three new customers as a result. “Not only was the promo fun,” he says, “it was relevant to the client’s business. And of course we got a request for more.” Like many of his industry peers, Bradley believes that any type of marketing campaign benefits tremendously from the inclusion of promotional products. “In fact,” he says, “I believe that every marketing campaign should include promotional products. Picture a USB drive with a coupon code preloaded to prompt people to visit a restaurant, or a display banner with a QR code that drives someone to your website. “Some of these [ideas] can be a huge benefit for a website as well as new customers for a business,” he says. “I think that if you look at it any other way, you’d be doing yourself—as well as your potential customers—a disservice.” Pick products that will be used when and where end users make decisions; e.g., corporate or executive gifts that are useful in an office setting. Choose items that can enhance or reinforce a client’s message. Consider a mini-broom and dustpan set for a security company, with a slogan such as “Don’t sweep security under the rug.” Personalize products when you can. Logoed items are great reminders, but recipients love seeing their name on a product— personalization turns a promo into a gift. | DECEMBER 2017 | 29 GROW