PPB February 2018

FEATURE | Digital + Promo continue seeking engagement. Connecting on an emotional level requires appealing to “emotional motivators”—the desire to feel a sense of belonging, to be successful or to find security. Where digital campaigns offer to fulfill these emotional desires by establishing such a connection, promotional products can be used to fortify and extend the message. Marketers can use promotional products to cement these seven emotional motivators, identified in the Harvard Business Journal : • Establish a unique social identity to stand out in a crowd • Instill confidence in the future and provide a positive outlook • Reinforce a sense of well-being and contentment • Encourage independence and the feeling of life without restrictions • Provide or extend the delivery of excitement generated through the digital connection • Fulfill the desire for ongoing self improvement • Reinforce the belief that success is achievable Promotional products used in tandem with digital campaigns are successful when they target prospects to boost brand awareness and drive traffic to online platforms, extend the conversation and build relationships offline. They also can provide leverage to digital campaigns when they are presented as exclusive or limited rewards, says Rosin. “Users’ time and information are incredibly valuable, so when they’re online, getting them into the buying pipeline can be really hard. So, how do we use promotional products as a way to get people into the pipeline? Ask them to spend 20minutes online filling out a form, and they’ll receive a quality pair of headphones, for example. We can give them something that dangles the carrot a bit, but that also extends the client’s brand.” With eir Complements Case studies and product suggestions, such as these from Brand Fuel and Austin, Texas-based distributor Boundless, show how promotional products can enhance digital campaigns, extending messaging and prolonging engagement. CASE STUDY Brand Fuel Campaign Shines e Light On Tech Brand The team at Brand Fuel was tasked with helping generate qualified sales leads for Citrix ShareFile, a company that provides enterprise-class data service for corporate and personal mobile devices. Users can access, sync and securely share files from any device, and offline access keeps productivity up. Using a direct mail campaign that targeted 1,000 IT managers working at large enterprises, Brand Fuel combined marketing collateral and promotional products to engage target recipients through a microsite. The site housed a video and invited targets to sign up for a product demo, which ultimately allowed them to become data services customers. “The packaged invitation we were to create needed to be unique and clever enough to garner the attention of incredibly busy technologists, who are often discriminating about new technologies and shallow sales pitches,” says Rosin. “Ultimately, we needed to help get them to watch the video and sign up for a demo. The Citrix ShareFile sales team was to take it from there to close the business.” Brand Fuel implemented a kitting program, which allowed the team to manage print collateral, custom packaging, branded promotional items and fulfillment to 1,000 unique addresses—all presented in a way that would drive the targets to the microsite, get them to watch the video and compel them to sign up for a demo. “Full-color, custom-designed packaging was printed with secret messages such as IT security statistics and calls to action to drive business that could only be revealed by using an enclosed custom Citrix-branded “Shine the Light” black light, which also doubled as a flashlight so it would increase future usage rates and brand impressions,” Rosin explains. “We sourced a specialized UV reactive ink for printing on the packaging and inserts. We included AA batteries and print collateral with more clues that could be revealed only with the black light.” Rosin says more than 1,200 people viewed the video in the first week of the campaign (200 more than the original mailing targeted); 25 demos were performed, and six qualified leads turned into business, resulting in an overall ROI of more than 328 percent. “The client has placed two subsequent repeat orders, proving the additional success of their initial investment,” he adds. 24 | FEBRUARY 2018 |