PPB November 2019

with the tag line: “Your Marketing Edge in Any Climate.” Unfortunately, through a series of actions beyond her control, golfers didn’t see Jae’s signs, and the logoed tins of mints she had provided went unserved. It was a disastrous $800 spend but Jae’s save was brilliant. She repurposed the artwork and tag line to invite customers to Client Day at September’s Promotional Product Association of Canada National Convention. She and her team created t-shirt-shaped screen cloths imprinted with the tropical artwork, the show invitation and the tag line andmailed them to 100 local clients. Then, she took the same artwork, added a polar bear and snow, and worked with supplier Chocolate Chocolate to create a custom trio card that includes three foil-wrapped chocolate bars. Shemails about 250 of these branded treats every year to clients, favorite suppliers and others (I’ma lucky recipient, too!). “Given that our market includes Canada, the U.S., Bermuda and the Caribbean, the doublemeaning of ‘Your Marketing Edge in Any Climate’ couldn’t bemore appropriate,” she says. Jedd Parker, president of Rain City Promotions in Seattle, Washington, also believes in being strategic and in using high- quality items that are on-trend or expected to be. Instead of doing mass mailings, he targets those clients with whomhe’s trying to make a statement: those who have ordered recently and show great promise, those who continually support the company or those who appear to be a good fit and for whom they could do a good job. “We are not shy about spending for unique and useful quality products, so we are prudent about where we send those,” he says. This strategy has paid off withmany orders received as a result. “But more importantly, we think we validate for new or existing customers why they chose us as a vendor,” he says, adding that his office receives calls or emails from recipients saying they get a lot of self-promo items but the ones fromRain City Promotions are appreciated, kept and used because of their high-quality and high-perceived value. Choosing the right product is, of course, the key to success. Maria Healy, CEO of KreativeMarketing, Inc. in Neptune Beach, Florida, toldme about a recent self-promo sent primarily to her largest customer, a worldwide financial institution. She chose a reusable stainless straw kit engraved with her company logo and packaged in nice suede bags that were also logoed. The kits were shipped to all client branches and departments along with their apparel catalog and a flyer with a 10-percent-off coupon. “We got a huge response and a lot of new branches/departments of this financial institution are now using us for their corporate apparel,” she says. So next time you are thinking about how to promote your company to clients and prospects, remember the power of promotional products—and what that decision says about your company. Read this article online at http://pubs.ppai.org for more distributor self-promo ideas. Perspectives continued from page 4 | NOVEMBER 2019 | 127