Last week, we discussed the difficulties of deciding on a single shirt/style/color/design for a promotional apparel campaign. There are a lot of people to please- how can you be certain everyone will like and wear your garment? We recommended sticking with comfortable styles and time-tested brand names, but there's an alternative solution to guessing...

You could always ask!

A few weeks ago I received an email from Set Up Events, one of the nation's largest triathlon production and timing companies, regarding the upcoming Pinehurst International Triathlon in North Carolina.

The email included three images of long sleeve race tees and requested registrants of the event to vote on their favorite design.



What a great idea! Sure, you might get a handful of responses that pooh-pooh all three choices, but at least you'll gain valuable feedback from those whose opinions matter most... the people who will be wearing your shirt.

I also recommend limiting the ballot to 3 or 4 options, as Set Up Events did, or the poll's results might be more frustrating than helpful. 

So, if time allows and you have a way to contact your audience, play it safe and take a vote!

In Austin, March has one focus. And I'm not talking about the Zilker Park Kite Festival.

The city comes alive thanks to a little event called SXSW. 

South by Southwest is a company that plans and executes trade shows, conferences and other events. Their current lineup of events includes SXSW Music, SXSW Interactive, SXSW Film, SXSWedu and SXSWeco. All except SXSWeco occur in the spring. 

The very first festival, held in 1987, focused on music at a time when Austin musicians were still relatively isolated from the rest of the world. For years, the eclectic music scene in Austin had stirred interest in businesses on both coasts, and SXSW gave them an excuse to visit.

The festival was an immediate success and as time passed, it gathered more and more attention. SXSW now has offices in Ireland, Germany, Australia and Japan who help bring international talent to Austin. In 1994, the company added a film and interactive component in response to growing industries in tech, film and web. Combined, SXSW Music, Film and Interactive now pull in more than 48,000 registrants each March.

At an event this big, how can you possibly hope to stand out? It takes a little creativity and a lot of planning. 

In late January, Jamie began working with the Pappas Group to develop promotional materials for client .CO's 2012 SXSW presence. Using .CO as an example, let's discuss some important elements of trade show strategy.

1. Have a plan and clearly state your objectives. Participating in a trade show can be a substantial investment of time, money and labor. That's why it's so important to establish a plan and identify clear metrics of success. How else will you know if it's a worthwhile investment, year after year?

By the end of January, Pappas and .CO had a detailed plan with three clear objectives. 1) Develop a .CO branded experience that extends the idea of engaging starters and .CO owners to build understanding of and loyalty to the .CO brand. 2) Communicate what .CO is and who the .CO brand is. 3) Connect with the SWSWi audience, an audience that is packed with starters.

2. Know your audience. For those of you who read Reddit, I'll summarize this point with one sentence: Don't be a Woody Harrelson. You know what I mean. 

Learn as much as you can about the kind of people who will be attending the show. What are their interests? Their needs? How do they receive and digest information, and how can you grab their attention?

At SXSW 2012, .CO will focus on interacting with startups and influencers. These individuals are "thirsty for knowledge, creative, intelligent, engaged and open to learning about new ideas and innovations. They want to be in on or at least know the next big thing."

3. Start interacting with your audience before the show even begins. Pre-show outreach is a critical step that many marketing professionals overlook when planning their trade show strategy. Trade shows are not necessarily a good environment for first impressions, especially ones that only last a day or two. Surrounded by noise and chatter, it can be difficult for you to make a lasting connection with your prospects.

Exhibitors can generally request a mailing list of registered attendees to help them prepare. Identify a few contacts with whom you really want to connect, and treat them like your VIPs. Invite them to join you for a meal, send them a prep kit or provide an incentive for visiting your booth. 

Pre-show marketing was a big part of .CO's SXSW strategy. Knowing that many of their startups will be traveling to Austin by bus, .CO sent custom whiteboards, stencils and notebooks to various departure points for attendees to enjoy on the ride and all week long.

.CO has also been connecting with their community via social media for weeks now. Using the hashtag #startuplife, they've created a buzz around their presence at SXSW.

4. Make it meaningful. When selecting promotional materials for a trade show, focus on items that are practical and meaningful for your target audience. 

Each and every promotional piece that .CO developed for SXSW serves a purpose and reinforces their overall strategy. In addition to the whiteboards, stencils and notebooks, .CO created stadium cups for their evening cocktail event, branded bandannas to be used as photo booth props, and chopsticks for a noodle bowl lunch (an upscale twist on the startup staple of Ramen noodles).

5. Think ahead and anticipate needs. Upon hearing that a few rain showers and thunderstorms are expected to hit Austin mid-week, .CO ordered a couple hundred bright orange umbrellas. If the sky opens up, .CO employees will stay warm and dry, while simultaneously drawing a ton of attention to their colorful brand. Austinites love orange.

If you'll be in Austin next week, for work or play, be sure to check out this SXsurvival guide from local ad agency GSD&M. You'll find helpful tips for everything from food to venues to parties. 

Saturday afternoon, you would have found me browsing antique stores in Navasota, Texas. I was on the hunt for a sofa table when I discovered this little gem instead.



An identification and value guide for McDonald's promotional drinkware? Can you believe it?!

I guess I shouldn't be so surprised. McDonald's has produced thousands and thousands of promotional cups and collectibles; at some point they become rare and appreciate in value.



The items in this book are catalogued by campaign type and drinkware material. The page above shows some pieces that were made custom for various radio and TV stations across the country and around the globe. The tall mug at far right, bottom row, has a two-sided imprint. "McDonald's Guam" on one side and "Hit Radio 100, Guam's Party Station KOKU FM Hagalma, Guam, Malafunkshun" on the other. I'm not sure I understand the humor there... The author values this piece at $15.00 to $25.00, since it's a very limited edition.





These sports drink containers and Happy Meal paper cups also caught my attention. The little soccer ball cup was done for the USA-hosted FIFA World Cup in 1994, and it made me realize just how intertwined McDonald's is with recent American history. They've been a part of so many important events!

The paper cups featuring popular late nineties characters made me nostalgic for happy meals as a kid. Do you recall the characters' names?

Anyways, I found this book interesting, and I hope you do too. Think I should tweet about this under #McDStories? It would certainly be more positive than some of the other Twitter attention they've gained as of late. Yikes!

Mashable Business posted a really interesting article this week titled "The Evolution of Advertising: From Stone Carving to the Old Spice Guy". The article discussed a beautiful illustrated timeline, originally created by Infolinks.

The graphic is too large for me to repost here, so you'll have to click over to check it out.

Here are a few of my favorite parts:



2,000 responses out of 8,000 mailers?! That's an insane response rate!



This blurb really surprised me. I would have thought contests were used long before the 1950s. I'm also intrigued by the oil well prize. I wonder how the value of a well in 1950 compares to one today.


Oh, Britney Spears, how times have changed. Advertising may endure through the ages, but celebrity fame... does not.

Driving home last night, I passed a Chick-fil-A restaurant and did a double take. The sign outside read- "Come in today for your 2012 cow calendar".

Now, I'm accustomed to reading fast food advertisements that boast hamburger creations eight patties in height, seasonal "crab" cake sandwiches or fifty-cent Flizzard milkshakes with chunks of Snickers and Reese's Pieces and whole cupcakes blended right in. But a calendar? Now that was something new.

Turns out it's not anything new. I'm just a little behind on this trend.





Chick-fil-A's cow calendars have been printed annually since 2007, and they are a wildly successful promotion for the fast food restaurant. Each year has a different theme, but the primary message never changes- eat more chicken. Customers will also find coupons inside that they can clip and redeem throughout the year to further support the cows.





I really love this idea. With one simple promotional piece, Chick-fil-A has taken their brand mascot outside the realm of television and billboard and placed it right in their customers' hands.

Brand mascots are highly effective marketing tools because they are relatable and memorable. Characters like Flo from Progressive Insurance, Mayhem from Allstate Insurance and the Old Spice Guy from, well, Old Spice, have a personality that we all either love or hate. We almost come to think of them as real people, and we talk about them with our coworkers and friends.
 
Did you see Mayhem's new commerical?

Did you see what the Old Spice Guy said to Alyssa Milano?

If a brand mascot becomes popular enough, it can create a new profit center for the company. Sure, Progressive makes the vast majority of its money by selling insurance policies, but they also now see some revenue from sales of Flo bobble head dolls. Likewise, Chick-fil-A earns its money selling fast food, but they can also count on their cows to bring in some additional moo-la. Heh.

In my opinion, a calendar is a much smarter choice of promotional product than a bobble head. It's more likely to be seen every day, and the concept can be reused year after year. A custom calendar is also much less expensive to manufacture, ship and distribute than a custom doll. Finally, it's easy to incorporate coupons into a calendar and thus track how effective the promotion is. Chick-fil-A will earn a profit from the sale of the calendar, will see increased food sales generated by the coupons, and will be able to ascertain if the promotion is profitable enough to continue in the future. Genius.

If you didn't pick up on my sarcasm earlier, I'm not a huge fan of fast food. I am a huge fan of good design, witty puns and effective promotional marketing, though. For those reasons, don't be surprised if you see a Chick-fil-A calendar hung above my desk next year.