brilliant results

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$10.00 PREMIERE TM Brilliant Results

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Premiere Issue Vo l . 1 , N o . 1

Selling Dirt

How to Get Out of the Commodity Box

What Works!

The Three “R”s of HR Presorted Standard US Postage PAID Permit 338 Mechanicsburg, PA

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TM

Premiere

Contents56

issue

36

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Cover Story

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The O.C.C. brand runnin' full throttle!

Brilliant Results talks to Orange County Choppers…The men who make you tune in Monday nights for "American Chopper" on the Discovery ® Channel, to find out the secret behind their success.

Features

22

You Think You've Got It Tough?

Try Marketing Dirt.

A creative marketing campaign delivered results and brought the company out of the commodity box.

By Robert Berman

30

Columns 26 Business & Brand: Branding the Cash Cow… A Brand Can't Stand On Price Alone

36 HR: Promoting Good Tidings This Holiday Season.

Let this sector-by-sector breakdown of promotional product ideas inspire you this holiday season.

By Gary Semrow

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Selling Holiday Cheer

The 3 R's in HR: Recruit - Retain - Reward

56 Security: The Password is Security

64 What Works: Case Studies that Delivered Brilliant Results

A showcase of some of the hottest new holiday gifts for 2004.

Departments

By Tiffany Owens

6 Publisher's Letter 80 Calendar

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Promotions That Get Results

Out of the Box thinking that delivers results.

By Cliff Quicksell

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The evolution of writing

The industry leaders in imprinting and personalizing quality products Pencoa The Supermatic Line celebrates 30 years in the promotional products industry by completing a two year upgrade in state of the art printing and digital graphic equipment.

Pencoa Produces and prints quality writing instruments and manufactures a proprietary line of American made vinyl products.

The company has added additional warehouse and production footage to the existing plant to enable us to best serve our customers.

Over the years Supermatic has developed significant relationships with overseas sources that produce products for us based on quality not price. Remember, Supermatic’s primary business has always been and will always be quality writing instruments.

Due to the Growth of overseas sourcing and the multitude of new items available Supermatic’s contract printing division one of the largest in the northeast, is capable of sourcing printing, fulfillment and drop shipping distributors merchandise. We pad print, silk screen, hot stamp and laser engrave. It has been said, “ whatever it is, if it stands still long enough we can print it”.

Website Specials

www.pencoa.com

Relationships, Resources, Results

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Publisher’s Letter

W

elcome to the premiere issue of Brilliant Results‘ Magazine.

The nation’s most exciting new magazine focused specifically on CRM, brand-building and direct marketing through the use of promotional merchandising and creative strategy. This magazine has been created to give corporate professionals the tools they need to build relationships, find resources and get the results that every successful business venture demands!

Named after its editorial mission, Brilliant Results‘ is focused on providing corporate professionals with powerful, results-oriented, cutting edge ideas. Furthermore we will connect you with all the right players to successfully manufacture and distribute your next profitproducing promotion!

Our editorial content will focus on realworld success stories as provided by the worlds leading promotional merchandise manufacturers, distributors, agencies, and most importantly marketing experts and buyers from the world’s leading corporate brands.

We will incorporate articles of interest to today’s business leaders in an easy-to-read format. As if that’s not enough, you will learn what’s hot and what’s not directly from target audience recipients on the street.

They say solid business strategies and great marketing ideas should be

PUBLISHER / ADVERTISING Maureen Williams..... maureen@brilliantpublishing.com 717-608-5869 EDITORIAL Editor in Chief MaryAnne Morrill

adaptive. Whether you’re in sports marketing, the gaming industry (casino’s), retail, high-tech, the entertainment industry in Hollywood or on Wall Street in the Big Apple, Brilliant Results‘ has been created and launched to support your success. We will bring you the latest product ideas, award-winning implementation strategies and real-life success stories about how direct marketing and promotional merchandise are changing the face of CRM, brand building, safety programs, loyalty programs, corporate outings and special events for the most powerful brands in the world.

Remember the days when T-shirts with a company’s logo were expected to be given away? Today they sell for top dollar, or are expected to bring big profits in customer loyalty and brand building. The possibilities are endless, and your next great ideas, along with the resources you need to bring it to fruition are waiting for you in the next issue of Brilliant Results‘ Magazine!

Thank you for your time and for reading Brilliant Results‘ Magazine!

Have a Brilliant Day! Maureen Williams Publisher 717-608-5869

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Brilliant Publishing LLC 9034 Joyce Lane Hummelstown, PA 17036 Ph: 717.608.5869 Fax: 717.566.5431

August/September 2004

Senior Editor Tiffany Owens Style Editor Charity Plata Contributing Writers Robert Berman, Cliff Quicksell, Gary Semrow PRODUCTION / DESIGN Art Director Percy Zamora Contributing Designer Chuck Moser Photographer Luis D. Rubio Lunay Productions Brilliant Results is published bi-monthly by Brilliant Publishing LLC, 9034 Joyce Lane Hummelstown PA 17036 (717) 608-5869; Fax# (717) 566-5431. Postage paid at Mechanicsburg PA and additional offices. POSTMASTER please send address changes to Brilliant Results, 9034 Joyce Lane, Hummelstown PA 17036.

Volume 1. Number 1. Brilliant Results subscription rates: one-year $120; Canadian $160 USD; one-year foreign $225 USD. All subscriptions are non-refundable.

Copyright © 2004 Brilliant Publishing LLC. All rights reserved. The publisher reserves the right to accept or reject any advertising or editorial material. Advertisers, and/or their agents, assume the responsibility for any claims against the publisher based on the advertisement.

Editorial contributors assume responsibility for their published works and assume responsibility for any claims against the publisher based on published work.

No part of this publication can be reproduced in any form or by electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher. All items submitted to Brilliant Results becomes the sole property of Brilliant Publishing LLC. Editorial content does not reflect the views of the publisher. The imprints, logos, trademarks or trade names (Collectively the “Marks”) displayed on the products featured in Brilliant Results are for illustrative purposes only and are not available for sale. The marks do not represent the implied or actual endorsement by the owners of the Marks of the product on which they appear. All of the Marks are the property of the respective owners and is not the property of either the advertisers using the Marks or Brilliant Results.

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The

O.C.C. brand

I

runnin’ full throttle!

f you have ever wondered how someone goes from operating a successful iron works company to owning one of the most highly recognized and growing brands, ask Paul Teutul Sr., owner and founder of Orange County Choppers. He and his sons have done just that, or as Paul Sr. now describes it, “If they put our logo on it, it sells!”

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ORANGE COUNTY CHOPPERS

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Officially begun as a business in 1999, Orange County Choppers is the product of one man’s 30-year passion for riding and fabricating custom motorcycles. Roaring onto the scene and into brand building history at the 1999 Daytona Biketoberfest® with a chopper dubbed “True Blue,” this rugged businessman has never looked back. It is hard to believe that a custom motorcycle fabricated in a basement was the launch vehicle for a family-owned company whose logo is recognized from coast to coast a mere five years later Thanks in part to an out-ofthe-box thinking television producer who discovered this hidden American treasure, millions now enjoy watching the creative evolution of an Orange County Chopper.

The appeal of the resulting “American Chopper” program has been nothing short of phenomenal.

As one of the highest rated programs on cable today, “American Chopper” has transcended its anticipated appeal to the 18 to 34-year-old male audience to include female viewers as well as families across mainstream America.

The fact that young people are loyal viewers of “American Chopper” is not lost on the Teutuls. Considerable thought goes into selecting the theme bikes that are built and featured on the program to ensure that they represent values any parent would be proud to see in their child. Whether it is the patriotism of the “Statue of Liberty Bike,” the remembrance of heroes exemplified by the “P.O.W.” and “Fire” bikes or the fanciful “Christmas Bike,” family values matter to these artists.

Orange County Choppers is a family affair.

One of Paul Sr.’s sons manages Orange County Ironworks, the success of which originally allowed Teutul to pursue his passion for building motorcycles. Two of his sons, Paul Jr.

and Michael, are a part of Orange County Choppers. Early on, Paul Sr. recognized Paul Jr.’s design and fabricating talents, and it often is their volatile interaction that ignites the genesis of a world-class custom chopper such as the “Black Widow.” Son Michael came on board to answer phones, pick up parts and take out the trash, but his free-spirited philosophy has made him an integral part of the television program and now his exact job is hard to describe.

“American Chopper” really is as much a reality show about family as it is about the art of creating one of a kind sculpture in motion. “Before we were famous we liked to stand on our own merit and now that we are famous there will not be a change in that area,” Paul Jr. said.

“We like to stand by ourselves and just do what we do.” This philosophy has created a totally different image for the Teutuls. They are a family rather than hardcore bikers, and that image has brought them into the mainstream. At bike shows where it is normally 100% bikers, it is more like 60% family and 40% bikers wherever Orange County Choppers sets up shop.

The awareness that “American Chopper” brings to the motorcycle industry has been exceptional.

A recent article even went so far as to give Orange County Choppers credit for a 15% increase in Harley-Davidson‚ sales.

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His name is Bridewell, Peter Bridewell. He’s a man with a past, and his future is questionable. Yesterday is over and if tomorrow comes, he’ll deal with it. In the meantime, there’s today and he never knew what today would bring.

But if there was one thing he did know, it was dames and pens. And if the two hadn’t become entangled so many years ago, he might not have found himself with a pocketful of hard feelings and a jacket full of pens.

His name is Bridewell, Peter Bridewell. You can call him Dick. To find out what he knows about pens and other import specialties, stop by the BAS booth in Las Vegas, #6361.

As for dames, that’s another story.

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The awareness that “American Chopper” brings to the motorcycle industry has been exceptional. A recent article even went so far as to give Orange County Choppers credit for a 15% increase in Harley-Davidson sales.

Because the Teutuls are not afraid to share their exposure with a number of the other family-run and small businesses that they deal with, those businesses also have shared in this exponential growth.

To find out how all of this brand-building came about and to get to know the family guys behind the Orange County Choppers logo, BRILLIANT RESULTS recently spent the day with the Teutuls Paul Sr., Paul Jr. and Mikey, as he is known to millions of TV viewers of the Discovery® Channel’s “American Chopper” program.

BR:

Who or what inspired you to start Orange County Choppers?

Paul Sr.: I don’t think it was anybody in particular who inspired me other than that I liked to build bikes. I had started to build the steel business in the early ‘70s and by the 1990s, I was semi retired from that. So I had a lot of time on my hands. My passion was the bikes, but I never had as much time as I wanted to put into them because I was always busy with the steel business. Towards the end, I had my kids working in the steel business and people in management, so I was taking a lot of time off. Actually, I started building bikes out of my basement. The response to those bikes was so phenomenal that I decided to open a small shop within the steel business.

Our licensing T-shirts are in every mid-tier store across the United States and even Canada.

That’s our mass distribution right there. You’re talking millions and millions of T-shirts.

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BR:

Of all the bikes you have built do you have a favorite?

Paul Sr.: I think my favorite bike is the P.O.W. bike.

Paul Jr.: The Black Widow was my favorite because the fabrication on it was very innovative, and it was the first show we did for our series. I just liked the whole concept.

Michael: My favorite bike would be the Black Widow. Sentimentally it would be the Fire Bike. I like working on something that you have to pour everything you’ve got into it.

BR:

What is the most challenging part of a bike’s development, the creative idea or the physical construction, and how long does it take to build?

Paul Sr.: I think it’s hand in hand. With all of the builders and new stuff out there, it gets harder and harder to be original, so that’s really a challenge.

Paul Jr.: For that bike (Black Widow), it was the physical construction; it was very tedious and time consuming.

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BR:

What’s the most fun in designing a bike, the actual design, the concept or the putting it together and seeing it done?

Paul Jr.: I think it’s a balance, a little bit of the concept, then the fabrication and then enjoying the finished project. It also depends on which bike.

BR:

How are the people you build bikes for selected?

Paul Sr.: We look at who they are what they want to do and if it really fits into what we want to do. We don’t build bikes because people want us to build bikes. We build because there’s interest and it works for both people. We’re particular about certain things. We won’t endorse alcohol. We don’t have anything against that - it’s just that we don’t represent them.

Paul Jr.: For television, we have a responsibility to the public. That’s a totally different story because we have to be careful that we don’t tie ourselves into certain products because we have a responsibility to the kids.

For the show, a bike has got to match with something that makes sense for our themetype building and that we agree with. We’re very particular; we won’t do things that are controversial. We like to balance it out with bikes that we do as tributes, where there is no money involved, and then for corporations and other causes and businesses.

BR:

When you were approached to do “American Chopper” what was your initial response?

Paul Sr.: I thought it was phenomenal. It was phenomenal because Jesse James had done a motorcycle show on the West Coast

Most of the time the people come to us, and we look at it to see if it is something we want to do.

We like to do charities that are 100% for the charity.

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and the result of that was phenomenal. I think that anybody who was anybody would give their right arm to do a show.

Paul Jr.: Around 2002 we got a call from Craig Piligian (Pilgrim Films), the co-executive producer of “Survivor” who does a lot of things for Discovery®. He called us and asked if we wanted to do a show. Three days later they came in and started filming the pilot.

Before that aired Discovery®‚ liked it, so we did another pilot. They both aired and turned out to do really well. Then we went right into a series, and it hasn’t ended. So, as quick and crazy as it was when it started, it’s just as crazy now! It never changed in two years, and it’s been quite an experience.

Michael: I kind of slipped into it. I was doing ironwork for my father, and I was miserable. I met the original producer, and he knew I had an interest in the entertainment industry. They were going to give me a job on the crew, but I wasn’t much of a boom microphone operator. I kept putting the boom in the shots! Eventually, they got the chemistry between me and my brother and father. I chill things out a bit – I’m the cooler! I just kind of slid into the position, but I’m still not signed with Discovery®‚. The whole thing is based on my father and brother. I’m just a secondary character.

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overseas pricing on large quantities,

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BR:

What was your first promotional product? Did you sell it or give

it away?

Paul Sr.: It was probably a T-shirt, and we gave away a ton of them.

BR:

What is your most popular promotional item today?

Paul Sr.: T-shirts. Our T-shirts are No.1 period.

Paul Jr.: T-shirts and hats, I would guess.

Posters are pretty big, too.

BR:

What types of promotional products and merchandise do you plan to add?

Paul Sr.: At this point, we have over 60 licensed companies and it’s endless. Every week people come to the table and want to do deals with us. Where that line draws, I don’t know. But right now we pick and chose, and if it is very appealing to us, we’ll go with it.

BR:

How do you use promotional products to grow your brand/company awareness? Obviously you have retail stores. Do you plan to do more retail stores nationally?

Paul Sr.: We’ve talked about that. We have people who want to buy franchises, and

People want to see our bikes. They want to see us first, and if they can't see us, they want to see the bikes.

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we’re entertaining that thought along with possibly opening up another store. As a matter of fact, right here in Newburg I bought property by the New York State Thruway to open up a retail museum restaurant like the Hard Rock style. People want to see our bikes.

They want to see us first, and if they can’t see us, they want to see the bikes.

BR:

What percentage of your sales is in promotional merchandise?

Paul Sr.: At least 60%. It is probably two or three thousand times the amount it was a few years ago.

BR:

How many different promotional merchandise categories do you have available to your fans and customers today?

Paul Jr.: Everything you can dream up we have, without excluding coffee, kites, chairs, apparel and jewelry. I think we also have a water deal going on, but we don’t have much time to monitor it personally, so that is why we have licensing contracts.

BR:

Do you have plans to expand your line of merchandise?

Paul Jr.: We do some things, but for the most part that’s why we use the licensing companies. What promotions we can handle and have time for, we do.

BR:

Where/when is the most promotional merchandise items sold (e.g. at shows, online, at retail, etc.?)

Paul Sr.: Online.

Paul Jr.: Actually, our licensing stuff sells the most. Our licensing T-shirts are in every mid-tier store across the United States and even Canada.

That’s our mass distribution right there. You’re talking millions and millions of T-shirts. We also sell a lot on the Internet site.

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ORANGE

COUNTY CHOPPERS BR:

Who is your promotional merchandise supplier(s)?

Paul Sr.: We mostly use licensing companies.

Actually, we also have another line separate from the licensing companies, which is for our own brand.

BR:

As your brand develops, do you plan to sponsor certain events? If so, which events or organizations?

Paul Sr.: We definitely will be doing events. I’m not sure which ones, but we are constantly doing stuff like that.

Michael: I do a lot of special events with Vinny and Cody – we’re the JV team!

BR:

Do you participate in non-profit charities? If so, which ones and what prompted you to select that charity?

Paul Sr.: Most of the time the people come to us, and we look at it to see if it is something we want to do. We like to do charities that are 100% for the charity. If there is any deference of money, we don’t do it. We do a lot of Make-a-Wish Foundation and local stuff.

Paul Jr.: We do tons of charity events and are constantly involved in charities. We just did one for the American Cancer Society.

We built a bike for them, and they raised over $200,000. We donate T-shirts and hats to all kinds of smaller organizations, and this weekend, I’m raffling off three Schwinn bikes. We have the Orange County Choppers Schwinns, and they are very popular. I’m raffling them off for a local girl who has cancer. We do as much of that as we can. We consistently have kids come here from Make-a-Wish Foundation.

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BR:

How do you decide?

Paul Jr.: It’s miserable because there are so many good causes, but we do try to stay local.

BR:

What in your opinion has contributed the most to your success?

Paul Sr.: I think it’s the TV show more than the motorcycles.

BR:

I disagree.

Paul Sr.: You disagree – yeah! Well, the TV exposure is the difference between being in front of 4 million people on Monday night as opposed to going to a show where there are 50,000 people. So, TV is really the vehicle that introduces the people to your work.

BR:

But the work is the underlying thing that keeps them coming back.

Paul Sr.: Yes, exactly.

be something on a minimal level. Hard Rock Café wants to do something with us.

We might entertain doing some co-branded T-shirts. Really, our brand is red hot, and we are very, very careful and very particular about the way we do it [co-branded products] and whom we do it with. We get huge deal offers and we turn them down.

Paul Jr.: We do some small co-branding stuff, nothing major. We have 63 licensing deals and only four of them are actually out in the market. When you see all of our stuff everywhere, it’s only 1% of what will be out by next year. We try to stand alone with our brand for the most part.

BR:

Do you have a fan or membership club?

Paul Sr.: Just the Web site, and Discovery®‚ has something – a chat room – set up.

Paul Jr.: We have our own Web site (www.orangecountychoppers.com). As far as Orange County Choppers goes, we have the

BR:

What do you see as the next step in growing your company?

Paul Sr.: It’s hard to say because right now we have the merchandise, and we have the motorcycles. Well, we’re going to be working on a parts line, our own brand that people can put on their bikes. Believe it or not, there are probably 20 or 30 more ventures that we are looking at getting into in a bunch of different areas.

BR:

Do you have any plans to co-brand?

Paul Sr.: If we did co-brand, it would

August/September 2004

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largest and best Web site through Discovery®‚ out of all their programs, and we get about 13,000 hits a day.

BR:

Are you planning to open Orange County Choppers retail stores nationally?

Paul Jr.: We are looking at that right now. We just opened up a store here, in Montgomery, NY and we have a store at the Woodbury Commons Premium Outlets in Central Valley, New York. Many people with business sense, people who own car dealerships or Harley‚ stores have approached us and want to buy a franchise.

We’re gearing in that direction, but we don’t want to go too crazy. We think it’s important to keep your place and have a destination point of reference.

BR:

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Paul Sr.: Hopefully on an island somewhere. You know what? Honestly, I’ll be right here in five years because no matter what or where you go, this is home. When I go on vacation, I’m glad to come back here.

Paul Jr.: Hopefully on an island, but I don’t know which one though. That’s the decision.

Michael: I hope not married. Five years from now, I’d like to see myself in a log cabin in the middle of the woods somewhere.

BR:

Who are your mentors?

Paul Sr.: I’ve got to say that my first partner when I first started in business was a real motorcycle enthusiast, a ground-up builder.

He was my partner 30-some years ago. He

and his buddy were really big-time, hardcore bikers, and they were my inspiration to get into fabrication.

Paul Jr.: Different builders. A lot of the time, it is builders who are not well known who do the nicest stuff. You are mentored by all the different builders out there.

Michael: David Letterman, Bill Murray, Adam Sandler, Jim Carey, Chris Farley and my Father and Mother.

BR:

BR:

BR:

Do you have a favorite quote/saying/motto?

Paul Sr.: You probably should ask my sons that question!

Michael: My father knows every cliché in the book, so it would be a tie between everything my father says constantly like, ‘Too many chiefs and not enough Indians’ or ‘Apples and oranges.’

BR:

What is your idea of the perfect day?

Paul Sr.: I think a perfect day is getting up in the morning on a beautiful day - just getting out on your bike and taking off and riding for the day in the mountains away from society.

That’s a perfect day.

Paul Jr.: A perfect day is 80 degrees with a fairly cool breeze in a boat on a nice small quiet pond fishing all day.

Michael: My idea of the perfect day would be to wake up after a good night’s sleep, eat a good breakfast at a diner with my friends, get a cider at my favorite bar, cruise around on my scooter with Vinny (he has a scooter too), eat manicotti for dinner, get a nap in between and go on a date with Scarlett Johansson.

We just opened up a store here, in Montgomery, NY and we have a store at the Woodbury Commons Premium Outlets in Central Valley, New York.

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What is the best thing about being successful?

Paul Sr.: The toys that you can acquire.

Paul Jr.: That’s a good question. I think the best thing about being successful is that it is very rewarding and very good financially.

Michael: The best thing is – even though you feel guilty about it – you get better treatment than most people in public places and the perks.

What is the worst thing about being successful?

Paul Sr.: The worst thing is dealing with the everyday stresses of the business.

Sometimes being involved in a family business dealing with the family is the hardest thing.

Paul Jr.: Losing your privacy.

Michael: The absolute worst thing is when you’re hanging out with your friends and a drunk comes over and gets in your face like he knows you from five degrees of separation.

BR:

What is the funniest thing about being successful?

Paul Sr.: I think the funniest time is being around Mikey.

Paul Jr.: The funniest thing about being successful? I guess, it is sometimes funny how people perceive you as being famous and you don’t feel famous.

Michael: Watching other people who are famous. You can put yourself in their shoes because you understand what they are doing when they are arrogant, self-centered or rude. It’s all kind of a mirage really. So, the funniest thing would be watching another famous person act like they are better then everybody else.

BR:

What is the most fun about being successful?

Paul Sr.: The perks are great.

Paul Jr.: Oh my goodness, are you kidding me? The AOL commercial! I love doing commercials. It’s a break from this reality television stuff that is always in your face. •

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YOU THINK YOU’VE GOT IT

TOUGH? TRY MARKETING DIRT

by Robert Berman

T

o almost anyone who has been in sales, regardless of what industry you have sold in, at one time or another we all have felt as if our customers are too focused on price.

You know the drill. They try to commoditize your product, and you try to show value. They want to “get three bids.” You try to negotiate a deal, and so on and so on. Far too often, the outcome is some kind of reduced price or other compensation. Well, in the words of Charlton Heston, “I, for one, am mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore!” Think John Belushi in Animal House: “Did we quit when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?” So, if you can relate, than read on my brothers and sisters!

So here’s my take on things: Regardless of what industry you’re in, or where you’re selling your stuff, you have got it easy (Did he really just say that?). That’s right I have two words for you: Pity me. -Why, you ask? Because I have had the “unique” pleasure and experience of actually selling and marketing DIRT. Literally, selling dirt. Slinging mud

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between competitive products, or even between politicians is one thing, but having to sling mud literally for a living every day? Two words: Pity Me. Hopefully, I have your attention now, and all kidding aside, while I’ve consulted for major brands including Nordstrom, Verizon Wireless, Nissan Motors and more, I love dirt.

In fact, the funny thing is after more than 15 years of consulting on marketing strategy, business development and brand building, I actually chose dirt. Why dirt, you ask? Once again, I’m glad you asked! The short answer is “the challenge,” of course.

Seriously, I chose my destiny, and I love it.

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I have always enjoyed the challenge and the satisfaction of a successful outcome more than the paycheck. This can be good and bad, but the challenge of applying solid strategies that work in Fortune 500 environments and effectively adapting them to less marketing savvy industries that sell things such as rocks, concrete, asphalt, etc., was a challenge

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that I thought I would enjoy immensely.

I have consulted for several “dirt” companies over the years, and have even won two of the promotional merchandise industry’s top awards (Golden Pyramids) for strategies and tactics that had a huge fiscal impact for these commodity-minded companies. I think I like the dirt guys because there is so much potential for upside. I mean, how do you take rocks, water and cement and make it appear sexy? Better yet, how do you take the emphasis off price in a traditionally commodity-minded, price-based industry that has been doing it that way for hundreds of years? The answer is in “showing them the money.” If the concepts generate results in the areas of loyalty, increased market share, increased customer share, improved safety performance and profitability, all I can say is “Build it, and they will change.”

First things first, out of respect to my clients I’d better stop calling them dirt. J When taken to market properly, these companies really are product manufacturers, suppliers and solution providers to the multi-billion www.brilliantpublishing.com

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on the top, results in a beautiful, naturallooking stone finish. If you look around where you live and work, you likely will see architectural concrete. It could be the patio in your neighbors’ back yard or in the entryway of your office building. If you look closely, it could even be the crosswalk on the way to your kids’ school.

My story takes place in Minnesota. The client was a concrete company named Cemstone. The challenge was to sell more architectural concrete by promoting their new liquid color technology. The spectacular result was a 59% increase in sales of this product line, which generated six figures in incremental gross profit.

THE PROJECT PROFILE AND STRATEGY

dollar construction sector of our economy. If you live in a house, drive on the street or work in a building you need the rocks, concrete and asphalt that these companies sell.

In essence, every single one of us needs what that industry sells. So, why is it so price focused? Why is it so commodity minded?

We’re talking about billions of dollars worth of transactions that are largely sold the same way today as they were decades ago. Many of the concepts that are commonplace in other industries today still are not accepted in this mega-sector. The majority of these players still have not adopted popular promotional tactics and concepts such as brand building, loyalty rewards, high-tech one-to-one marketing, balanced scorecards or e-commerce.

Why should you care about what the concrete, gravel and asphalt industries are doing? Because as a consultant to many industries over the years, I was surprised to find that an alarming number of companies still had not made this shift to customer-focused strategies, and many were still operating in the dark ages, even companies that appeared sophisticated on the surface. Many may be reading this right now thinking that this touches on some of the same things that happen within their own companies. Many of us go to work every day in environments where the internal culture is not aligned with the external

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spin. I could take this story in several different directions, but for today I just want to share one project profile with you that will highlight what can be done when you take a commodity-minded, price-focused product and/or service and position it differently to pack a powerful punch and generate extremely profitable results.

ARCHITECTURAL CONCRETE Architectural concrete sounds pretty fancy and pricey, doesn’t it? However, it basically is normal, plain gray concrete, that when injected with liquid colored pigments and stamped with a texture

August/September 2004

The following profile was generated by Cemstone’s President Thor Becken as part of a letter to the awards committee at the Promotional Products Association International.

Cemstone is Minnesota’s oldest and largest concrete producer. We have been in business for more than 75 years. In a mature, commodity-minded industry like ours it is always a challenge to find a competitive advantage.

Furthermore, when we do have those rare opportunities, seizing the potential is critical.

At the end of last year we decided to invest in “liquid color” batching technology, which allows us to safely and efficiently turn plain gray concrete into a rainbow of colors.

The concept of coloring concrete has been in existence for many years; however, it was traditionally done by adding bags of powdered pigment into the fresh concrete through the back of the truck manually. As you might imagine, that was a messy, costly, high-maintenance process that had built-in safety hazards. Still, colored and textured (architectural) concrete looks so good that everyone wants it for sidewalks, commercial building common areas, patios at home, etc. We knew we needed a better way to deliver this high-demand product.

Liquid color batching technology allowed Cemstone to produce a highly profitable, safe product in hours instead of days. In addition, we could now be precisely consistent from load to load, job to job, even year after year. Once we had the technology, our challenge was how to creatively raise awareness and drive demand.

Upon implementing our new computer-dispatched liquid color technology, we knew everything could change if we marketed the opportunity well enough to seize the potential. www.brilliantpublishing.com

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Cemstone was the first company in our market to embrace this concept and we did so with three goals in mind: 1). To become known as the market leader, the experts in liquid colored concrete.

2). To increase our volume in a slowing economy.

3). To increase profitability in a commodityminded industry.

Our marketing agency became an elemental part of our business-building strategy. They were involved from early on, including in the decision process regarding whether or not to invest in this technology. Once we decided to proceed, they immediately went to work to develop what ultimately became the campaign that was incredibly successful for us.

The strategy was focused on the words “liquid” and “color” since that was in fact our primary market advantage. We used a push strategy, which meant no mass media, but 100% direct marketing tactics to Cemstone’s target audience of homebuilders, contractors, architects, developers etc. We clearly conveyed the benefit to the end consumer, but focused on the features, advantages and benefits (F.A.B.) to our primary customer and those who influence them, i.e. the contractor, architect, etc.

A dimensional direct mail campaign was implemented which featured logoed promotional products that visually conveyed the two key elements of “liquid” and “color.”

Over three different distributions, the target audience received a liquid color filled mouse pad, an executive desktop toy called an “ooze box” that drips colored liquid and a postcard/magnet combo that showed the beauty of the end result.

Other components of the campaign included a brochure detailing the F.A.B., an e-mail marketing campaign that clicked through to Cemstone’s Web site where visitors could play with a virtual concrete designer, PowerPoint presentations that our salespeople delivered during “box lunch” seminars, open house training events and high visibility at home and trade shows.

The bottom line is that the marketing campaign achieved a 59% increase in sales in this product category over the previous year. To put that in perspective, it equals a six-figure increase in incremental gross profit, not gross revenue.

The end result was a true win-win-win.

Cemstone “won” with increased sales and www.brilliantpublishing.com

differentiating themselves in the market via a unique product and service. And, the end consumers “won” by now getting a much more visually appealing product at an outstanding value.

The moral to this story is that true win-win-win business opportunities still exist in today’s world, even for commodity-minded dirt guys. •

profits in a down economy, and by being recognized as the market leader in this category. Our contractor customers “won” by

Robert Berman is a 15 year industry veteran and former Marketer of the Year. His creative campaigns have won several industry Pyramid Awards.

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800-628-5463 Fax: 800-544-2806 e-mail: aminnich@crown-mats.com Website: www.crown-mats.com Brilliant Results | August / September 2004 25

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E

very successful rancher makes sure the best and most promising calves are branded.

The simple fact being that if it’s worth nurturing, it’s worth making sure everyone recognizes it as your steer when it reaches adulthood. Thus, the brand is embedded and becomes a permanent mark on the animal. In such a simple way, the rancher has taken time to differentiate the value of his animal from other similar animals.

Therein lies the importance of brand building: it differentiates your product from other related products. Too often, companies forget this basic lesson of branding and rely on breakthrough advertisements, which merely “label” a product or service. They fail to create a consolidated marketing, promotion and sales strategy that will differentiate their product from similar comparable products and create an emotional relationship with their products in the consumer’s mind. Since the longevity of a brand is often based on a consumer’s deep emotional response, AcuPOLL Research Inc. recommends that brand executives

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test their advertising not just for recall, but for emotional connection and equity building potential as well. Successful brand builders don’t waste advertising dollars on transient relationships.

A Brand Can’t Stand on Price Alone “Any damned fool can put on a deal, but it takes a genius, faith and persuasiveness to create a brand.”

David Ogilvy’s statement concisely makes the point that price alone isn’t what brand building is about. Marketing solely based on price often results in the denigration of both company and product by failing to establish any specific benefit, competitive advantage or uniqueness associated with the product. Thus, a competing product merely lowers its price and the previously “cheap” product losses market share. This is not to say that price is not a part of the successful brand equation, but it is important to remember that it is only one aspect of the equation. www.brilliantpublishing.com

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Brand The Cash Cow “Any damned fool can put on a deal, but it takes a genius, faith and persuasiveness to create a brand.”

According to a recent research study conducted by Carol and Carl Gwin and published in the Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, a product attributes model for evaluating brand positioning has three key components: the perceived levels of the product attributes for a brand, the budget constraint or “efficiency frontier” and the indifference curve of a consumer.

Specifically, price is the budget constraint in the analysis of a consumer’s purchase decision. Based on this theory, consumers evaluate a product’s perceived attributes and set a maximum price that they will spend. Thus, it is a product’s perceived attributes that effectively set its price in the marketplace. Sure, you can have sales, but a company that merely focuses on price ultimatelyeventually fails at brand building because the establishment, or not, of a product’s unique value offerings ultimately will control its destiny.

Attributes ~ The I-Have-to-Have-It Factor In their dreams, every advertiser hears the consumers in a product’s target market saying, “I just had www.brilliantpublishing.com

to have…” In an effort to turn that dream phrase into a reality, several brand positioning evaluative tools are commonly utilized: multidimensional scaling, factor analysis, discriminate analysis and multi-attribute compositional models. Basically, these approaches evaluate three branding criteria: • How is the brand’s positioning differentiating it from other brands in the market?

• Do opportunities exist to reposition the brand or introduce a new product?

• Are any segments underserved by existing brands in the category?

One potential flaw in this approach is that the importance of consumer perceived attributes are often overlooked. Research by economist Kelvin J. Lancaster showed that consumers have preferences for specific characteristics contained in a product’s bundle of attributes. For example, Coke®, Diet Coke®, Coca-Cola C-2®‚ and Dasani‚ differ in taste, appearance, calorie count, health benefit and other characteristics. Lancaster’s theory assumes that rather than comparing the products

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themselves, individuals choose among the basic attributes of the products. Each of the aforementioned products, while under the Coca-Cola®‚ brand, is designed for a specific segment of the beverage consuming market. Whether the latest addition CocaCola C-2®‚ will appeal to the new carb-counting segment of the population remains to be seen, but it will hinge, in part, on how well its attributes are presented to the low-carb target audience. If not done correctly, even a master marketer such as Coke®, whose brand name is synonymous with ordering a soft drink, may have to put C-2®‚ on the shelf right next to New Coke‚.

Understanding these consumer preferences for specific brands can help define the best positioning and marketing mix for a particular brand. Failing to make this analysis with its implications for pricing, promotion and positioning can result in a lot of bubbles down the drain.

leaves some $400 billion being spent on other aspects of marketing. One significant segment of that $400 billion belongs to the promotional products industry. In 2003, The Promotional Products Association International State of the Industry Report indicated that some $16.3 billion, up 4.57% from the previous year, was spent with promotional products distributors. Promotional products are constantly evolving to meet client needs, as exemplified by the new XOGO GameCard product line designed to address the specific needs of prize rewards and the competition sector of the promotions industry. The size of a credit card with an LCD screen, the XOGO is a multi-play, multi-functional device customizable to a brand’s individual goals.

Whether cutting-edge XOGO cards or tried and true writing instruments, promotional products are constantly building brands. Are you thanking your business associates with promotional gifts,

According to a June 2004 article in The Economist, a recent study by Yankelovich Partners, an American marketing-services consultancy, says that consumer resistance to the growing intrusiveness of marketing and advertising has been pushed to an all-time high.

Branding to a Media-Overloaded Society According to a June 2004 article in The Economist, a recent study by Yankelovich Partners, an American marketing-services consultancy, says that consumer resistance to the growing intrusiveness of marketing and advertising has been pushed to an all-time high. With 65% of people feeling “constantly bombarded” by ad messages and almost 70% indicating an interest in products or services that would help them avoid marketing pitches, SOP advertising may no longer build the strongest brands. A case in point was made in the same article when Jim Stengel, Procter & Gamble’s global marketing officer indicated that only one-quarter of the company’s marketing spend went to television for the recent launch of the non-prescription version of Prilosec®‚. When one of the world’s biggest advertisers – with a $4 billion annual budget – re-aligns its product launch market spend, that is a corporate heads up for business.

Since people are tiring of advertisements in nearly every form, the promotional products sector merits a hard look by companies interested in brand building.

While ZenithOptimedia, a long-time industry tracker, anticipates worldwide major media expenditures in 2004 to grow by 4.7% to $343 billion that still

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rewarding/retaining your employees with promotional award products (plaques, watches, etc.) or building your brand with promotional merchandise?

If not, you may be missing an important brand building opportunity. If you doubt this, count the number of imprinted pens in your home, checkout your family’s wearables. How many T-shirts, polos, hats, visors and jackets are promoting a brand in your home? Has your favorite charity, realtor, bank, etc. sent you a calendar currently on display? What about that coffee mug?

To appreciate the creative and brand building effectiveness of promotional products, corporate marketing executives are often well served by working directly with promotional products distributors.

These professionals bring a plethora of sources to the table along with a creative and business-focused mindset. It certainly took a long time for the attendees at a recent trade show to forget the Internet security company that handed out condoms emblazoned with their logo – what a way to say better safe than sorry. In a society immersed in advertising, successful brand builders have to look for new ways to reach target markets and often something you hold in your hand that quietly reminds of a product is more successful than an annoying increase in volume when the latest commercial interrupts your favorite television show. • www.brilliantpublishing.com

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T

he holiday season begins in late

good spirits, they are most susceptible to

November with the smell of turkeys

the power of advertising.

baking in the oven, cranberries on the

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By Gary Semrow

One of the most cost effective and

table, and the Detroit Lions on television

powerful ways for businesses to rein-

playing football. It continues with neigh-

force themselves in the eyes of the

bors lighting up their yards to rival Clark

consumers, as well as their employees, is

Griswold, the smell of pine needles in the

promotional products. During the holi-

house and holiday parties. Finally, it cul-

day season, these products can be used

minates with champagne bottles popping

by almost every sector of our economy.

as the ball drops over Times Square. This

These sectors include retail, industrial/

is the time of year that most people are

manufacturing, financial, service,

in a jovial mood, and when people are in

technology and transportation.

August/September 2004

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can range from wine, sausage and cheese to snacks and candy. Both the signs in the basket and the baskets themselves can be printed with a manufacturer’s name, reinforcing the sense of appreciation for the year of loyalty and business.

Many industrial companies also deal with FedEx, UPS and other delivery truck drivers on a daily basis. A majority of the time, the same drivers come back, day after day throughout the year. Since the manufacturer relies on these drivers to get products to the customers, a show of appreciation at the end of the year is a classy touch. One good way to show a company’s appreciation for services during the holiday season is a custom-etched bottle of wine, which stands out from most other holiday gifts.

Finally, most companies cannot operate without their employees. One good way to keep the employees happy at the holiday time and productive throughout the year is with customized incentive programs. For example, the employees can earn points over the course of the year for performance, safety or timeliness, which they then can redeem for nice gifts at holiday time. These incentive programs must initiate early to be most effective.

Ideally, employees should be provided a catalog at the beginning of the year outlining the levels of points needed for particular gifts.

That way, they can strive to improve productivity throughout the year knowing that they will be rewarded for their efforts. This not only should make employees happy, but also boost performance.

FINANCIAL SECTOR RETAIL SECTOR The day after Thanksgiving marks the start of the busiest month in the retail world. Thousands of potential consumers are moving from store to store within the mall or local shopping districts, making numerous purchases along the way.

What better way for merchants to advertise themselves than custom printed bags with their name, logo and location? For pennies on the dollar, a store can turn an individual into a walking billboard. In addition, these customers are leaving the store in many different directions, expanding the retailer’s exposure throughout the mall, town and neighboring areas.

Many retailers also offer gift-wrapping services during the holiday season. Retailers can make themselves stand apart from their competitors by placing their name and/or logo on gift-wrap. If the retailer wants to be subtle, the company can do custom

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printed ribbon that goes around the wrapped packages. If a company really wants to be inconspicuous, it can use custom printed tissue within the wrapped box. One or a combination of all three packaging methods allows the receiver of the gift to know where it came from and even may result in gaining that person as a new customer.

INDUSTRIAL/MANUFACTURING SECTOR The industrial/manufacturing sector has numerous promotional products available to them to help promote themselves during the holiday season. First of all, many industrial companies have fewer customers than the retail sector, but the customers are usually bigticket purchasers. One good way to show your appreciation for business throughout the year is with custom gift baskets. Custom gift baskets

August/September 2004

The key to a financial firm’s success is the performance of their brokers, investment bankers and administrative employees. One good way to show appreciation for these individuals’ hard work is through personalized crystal awards. These awards can be displayed in their offices and will constantly reinforce the firm’s appreciation for their performance. These awards will also drive other employees to strive for excellence. A second gift for employees in the financial world is corporate apparel. A fashionable shirt, jacket or sweater embroidered with the firm’s logo both reinforces loyalty to the firm and offers opportunities for multiple impressions when the employee wears it outside of the office environment.

Financial institutions also rely heavily on their top investors. Institutions always try to get top investors to move from a competitor’s firm to theirs. One good way to keep your firm’s name in the investor’s mind and show that you really www.brilliantpublishing.com

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customers and employees. An ideal holiday gift pack from a technology-driven company can include items such as: custom-printed mouse pads, CD-ROMs, keyboard brushes and non-tangling telephone cords.

TRANSPORTATION SECTOR

appreciate their business is by providing custom-printed leather products.

The promotional products industry offers hundreds of leather products at a variety of price levels that can be customized with both the firm and an investor’s name. These products can range from wallets, to briefcases to luggage.

TECHNOLOGY SECTOR

SERVICE SECTOR Around the holiday season, many restaurants and bars across the country have customer appreciation parties. Free food and beverages usually are offered to the establishment’s regular customers for a set period of time, which is the optimum time to use personalized plates, napkins, and cups. These items convey a more upscale appearance than plain stock plates and napkins. A bar or restaurant can even go one step further by giving each regular patron a customized glass or heavy plastic mug that can be taken home after the party. This way, for a minimal cost, that patron will be reminded of the establishment every time he or she drinks from it.

Within service firms, employees tend to have direct contact with the customers.

Therefore, the firm’s reputation can be easily conveyed by the overall employee morale. In addition to the incentive programs and corporate apparel mentioned earlier, an employer can give other functional promotional products such as customized barbeque or

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cutlery sets, picnic baskets, travel chairs or even coolers with built in radios. These are useful, everyday items that the employee will use year round. Also, these products can be gifted to top customers. Within the promotional products industry, service firms also can easily find “quality impression” items to give customers and employees that are designed to fit their individual niche.

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Recent college graduates often comprise the bulk of the technology sector workforce. As such, tech firms usually look for youthful and hip items to use in their promotional efforts. The promotional products industry is full of great ideas for these types of clients, including whimsical items such as custom-printed boxers and pajamas. These products make practical holiday gifts that can be enjoyed by employees of both sexes.

If a firm would like to provide a high-end gift, a customized golf club may be the answer. It works perfect with the name of the firm imprinted under a clear grip on the putter.

High-tech items are also sold through the promotional products industry. A technology firm can give its customers portable hard drives. These items are available in different levels of memory and can be custom imprinted to help advertise the firm. In addition, items such as mp3 players, watches and clocks make impressive promotional gifts for

August/September 2004

The transportation sector uses numerous promotional products that sales representatives pass out when making calls on current and potential clients. A few of the most popular items used by this sector are imprinted hats, T-shirts and mugs. These are functional items that provide substantial impressions per advertising dollar spent. A current customer or even potential prospect will either wear or use these items on a daily basis, keeping your name in public at all times. Wall calendars are another popular item used by the transportation sector during the holidays. The popularity of the calendar is that it keeps a company’s name and logo in the customer’s face every day for 12 months. On a more cost-effective level, transportation companies pass out thousands of imprinted pens and pencils. For pennies, firms can use these instruments to get their names out to hundreds of prospects.

As highlighted here promotional products are a highly useful and cost effective way to promote a particular business to employees, customers and prospective customers during the extremely busy holiday season. Please keep in mind that products and ideas mentioned above can be adapted and personalized to fit nearly any business. Remember, for businesses both large and small, there are thousands of promotional products available that make practical and functional advertising tools that will help your company stand out during the holiday season.

Contact your local promotional product distributor for more ideas and merchandise that can accommodate your holiday season promotions.

With some ingenuity and a little luck, you might even find some surprises in your holiday promotional “stocking” this year.

HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON! • Gary C. Semrow, Vice President of Marketing for American Ad Bag, has been involved in the promotional products Industry for the past 8 years. In addition to his participation in numerous trade shows he travels extensively throughout the United States educating & motivating industry professionals. www.brilliantpublishing.com

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One Part Recognition, Two Parts Recreation.

It’s the perfect formula for appreciation.

An incentive that rewards, relaxes and creates long-lasting memories.

Pens and plaques only provide brief moments of recognition.

Move beyond the standard formula – give top-quality Daiwa fishing tackle to ensure years of enjoyment.

Daiwa fishing equipment –

“The best way to mix business with pleasure.”

Custom Embroidery Available

Daiwa Corporation 12851 Midway Place Cerritos, CA 90703 (800) 736-4653 #6714 www.daiwa.com Background Photo by Doug Stamm

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3

The Three ‘R’s in HR: RECRUIT– RETAIN – REWARD

I

t should come as no surprise that many of the best companies, read that as most profitable, also frequently appear at the top in lists of the Best Companies to Work For. Even in today’s job starved market with unemployment hovering at 5.6% and job cut announcements a fairly common phenomena, the companies with outstanding performance are constantly engaged in a search for high-value employees. Truisms such as “Hire the best” and “Human capital is the only capital that appreciates, rather than depreciates, in value” are not just feel-good statements, but rather the mottos of top performing human resources departments.

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Recruit – The First “R” in HR To the uninitiated, recruitment simply means an advertisement in the newspaper, lots of applicants who appear for interviews – and the best candidate is selected—problem solved, job filled. However those employers seeking high-value employees, whether technically proficient, management proficient or both, have long understood that this approach is more often the exception than the rule. In reality, advertisements are placed in publications and journals across the country. Search firm services are retained.

Candidates (and perhaps their families) are flown in for interviews, and initial interviews are followed by more interviews with managers/corporate executives with whom the potential employee will be working. Then, the employment decision is made and relocation costs are added to the price tag. Literally, hundreds of dollars are rolling out the door before the new employee walks in to start work. After all this effort, there is no guarantee that the new employee will live up to expectations and contribute positively to the corporate bottom-line.

One approach to reducing the recruiting cost-per-hire rate being tried by large and small companies alike is utilization of existing employees. The human resources director of a small software development company that has www.brilliantpublishing.com

found about half of its hires from an Employee Referral Program commented in HR Magazine, “There’s definitely a stronger sense of ownership when employees refer candidates – Employees won’t refer someone they can’t depend on.” General experience from the use of this type of program has been positive across the spectrum of positions filled. While survey data indicates that cost-effectiveness was the primary benefit, quality candidates have been an added bonus. Not surprisingly, the most common incentive for employees who refer hired candidates is cash. Johnson & Johnson found that while some firms may put off cash payments, in our immediate gratification society there was a tangible drop-off in interest if payments required 90-day or longer waits. To combat this problem and build employee interest, Johnson & Johnson referral awards are typically paid within six weeks after the new employee’s start date according to their human resources department.

Cash is often the obvious incentive for an employee referral program, but other recognition-oriented products should be considered.

There are a number of reasons for expanding beyond the cash reward. Specifically, the cash is a “here-today-gone-tomorrow” problem.

How much cash is another consideration because of the bad feelings it may engender if the recipient feels it was an insufficient amount. This is an area where consultation

with a promotional products specialist can provide guidance. Consider the continuing ROI of a quality award displayed or worn by the employee long after cash is forgotten, and its continuing motivational effect on others within the organization.

After the hire, there is the orientation expense. The necessary time required from various segments of the company to familiarize the new hire with the people, culture, benefits, policies and practices of their new employer. This cost, while relatively easy to calculate, is often overlooked or lumped in with the expense of initial job training. Many in company management would agree that it takes three months for any employee to start actually earning their wages and six months before a new employee’s wages produce any tangible bottom-line benefit to the company.

After the orientation cost and OJT cost, there are the harder to calculate costs associated with professional development, tuition reimbursement and new skills training.

According to Fairchild Semiconductor’s John Haggerty, who recently endeavored to calculate the value of that company’s workforce, “All of our employees must prepare today for tomorrow’s challenges – continuous learning offers us the opportunity to promote from within, which serves everyone.”

Numerous surveys exist to calculate some portion of recruitment costs. According to

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information published in the Delaware Economic Development Office Resource, the U.S. Department of Labor estimates employee turnover can cost between $20,000 and $30,000 per incident; whereas, The International Telework Association & Council says to figure one-third of an employee’s annual salary. These figures are, at best, only estimates, and when it comes to top management or technical talent costs, other studies indicate substantially greater cost figures. The following table may assist in recruitment cost calculations:

stated, “Any company trying to compete…must figure out a way to engage the mind of every employee.”

Yet, according to Gallup Polls’ research, 26% of the U.S. workforce is engaged (loyal and productive), 55% is not engaged (just putting in time) and 19% is actively disengaged (unhappy and spreading discontent).

Therein lies the challenge of worker retention.

Because it can profoundly affect the bottom line of any company through the combined costs of recruitment and poor job perform-

Current Rate of Turnover a. Number of employees leaving per year: b. Average number of employees: c. Divide line a by line b % of turnover = line c X 100

Annual Cost of Employee Turnover to the Company Employment Advertising: Employment Agency and Search Fees: Employee Referrals Program Costs: Applicant Interview Expenses: New Hire Relocation Costs: Employment Staff Compensation: Other Employment Expenses: Orientation and Training: Estimated Total Costs Number of New Employees

Average turnover cost per new employee: (divide total costs by # of new employees)

Retain – The Second “R” in HR

ance/productivity, it becomes critically important to develop concrete approaches to solving the retention problem.

The first step in the retention process is to “know” your employees. For example, a study by the management search firm BridgeGate LLC exploring reasons workers gave for staying with their current employers provided the following insights: • Women value flexible schedules more than men (17.3% vs. 11.2%) • Men are motivated by stock options (12.0% vs. 4.7%) • Raises mean more to workers 25-34 than to all other age groups (52.3% vs. 43.2%) • Benefits are important to older workers (36.7% vs. 23.1% overall) • Younger workers 18-24 prefer training opportunities (10.7% vs. 4.7% overall) Another up-and-coming trend for worker retention is the prospect of telework/telecommunting. The Federal Interagency Telework Working Group Draft Policy Papers Human Resources Management Report on Recruitment and Retention, cites an International Telework Association & Council survey that states employers can save 63% of costs associated with absenteeism by allowing telework. ITAC further points out that 53% of teleworkers say the possibility of working at home some of the time is important in choosing an employer and teleworking is high on the list of desired employer traits. The same Subcommittee Report cites an AT&T survey in which 66% of all AT&T managers report that telework is an advantage in keeping and attracting good employees and 67% of those teleworkers reported that the telework environment was an important factor in their turning down competing job offers.

Although alternately labeled the “staff,” the “employee,” the “company” or the “workforce,” to retain them as positive bottom-line assets, we have to know who they are and what they want. In the past this question was an easier one to answer. The old covenant between company and employee of implied lifelong employment for the hard workers tended to retain a company’s workforce automatically. This, combined with workforces generally comprised of like-minded employees, made figuring out what was required to retain those employees pretty much a slam-dunk.

Today’s American workforce no longer has that semblance of consistency. Rather, it is comprised of both genders working in previously single gender occupations, a variety of cultural norms and members of four very different generations working side by side. These differences among the members of a single workforce present a substantial challenge in the area of worker retention. Yet as Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric Co.,

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Telecommunting becomes particularly important in efforts to ensure that disabled employees’ needs are met and in the recruitment of highly qualified talent within the disabled community. The use of telecommunting also has been made a part of recommended changes within the Federal Office of Personnel Management to the extent that OPM will conduct annual surveys of how agencies are using telework for recruitment and retention purposes and recommend that agencies emphasize telework opportunities at job fairs. These actions within the federal sector, which often tends to lag the private sector in innovation, strongly suggest that private sector companies that do not already have operational telecommuting programs should seriously consider their implementation.

While telecommuting is applicable to certain corporate employment functions, there are still areas in which it is not an option.

Again “know your employee” is the operating mantra for employee retention. A recent survey by Chart Your Course International revealed that 46.9% of respondents indicated “enjoyed my work” as the primary reason for keeping them at their current job, followed by a distant second (15.2%) who are there for the compensation. When asked to give the most important reason for choosing a new employer, the top two responses were interesting and challenging work (27.0%) and better managers/management culture (17.6%).

When asked whether or not they were going to seek a better job as the economy improves, a majority (42.6%) said “No,” with 22.3% answering “Yes” and a disturbing 34.0% on the fence with “maybe.”

Employers may have a difficult time changing the minds of the 22.3% who plan to seek new employment, but the 34.0% of fence sitters are really the ones who need to be motivated and relocated to the ‘ “No” category.

elaborate as on-site daycare to those as innovative as pre-paid, company logo-imprinted long distance phone cards for calling family members. The company picnic is another opportunity to optimize the goodwill building standard with company logo T-shirts, hats and other promotional products. Consider scheduling your morale building/reward-oriented functions at places important or of interest to your staff. Try a special outing for the production crew that beat an impossible deadline, the accounting staff that worked late into the night to accomplish the year-end close, or the community volunteers who gave up their personal time and enhanced the company’s

name in the process. If you take the time to know your employees, there are a myriad of possibilities. Each of these occasions can be even more memorable by using promotional products, whether as awards or to commemorate rewards and special company events.

If this all sounds like plenty of work, it is!

However, whenever you doubt whether retaining and rewarding employees is worth it, go back and checkout the recruitment figures and costs. Moreover, just remember all of those time-consuming resume reviews and the “you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me” types who showed up for the seemingly endless stream of interviews •

Reward – The Third “R” in HR Rewarding the productive employee can create a win-win situation. As John Haggerty of Fairchild noted, direct job training, professional development and formal education/tuition reimbursement programs “maximize the probability that our business will succeed and, at the same time, assure employability rather than employment”— the new covenant between employer and employee. Educational benefits create an obvious win-win situation; however, other reward possibilities should not be overlooked.

Many companies recognize the importance of family to their workers, from programs as www.brilliantpublishing.com

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Selling Holiday Cheer

By Tiffany Owens

Make a list, check it twice and impress your clients with expert holiday gift-giving ideas

I

t’s that time of year again. The end of summer signals our thoughts to drift toward holiday gift catalogs and sales. How will you do things differently this year to ensure maximum satisfaction and sales to your clients?

The good news is that current economic forecasts for the rest of the year certainly seem merrier. “This holiday season compared to last year is a tale of two economies,” says National Retail Federation President and CEO Tracy Mullin. “This year, the economy is bouncing back and we expect this solid sales environment to continue throughout the rest of the year.”

Business owners’ holiday budgets for client and customer gifts this holiday season are up to an average of almost $1000, according to the OPEN Small Business Network Semi-Annual Monitor from American Express.

The survey found that the number of business owners with holiday gift-giving plans for clients and customers held steady in 2003 at 41 percent, and average gift budgets rose 2 percent to $966.

According to the survey, sending cards or calendars remained the most popular holiday gesture for clients and customers (18 percent) followed by a food or fruit

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basket (8 percent). The number planning to give retail or restaurant gift certificates to key clients or customers doubled from 4 percent in 2002 to 8 percent in 2003.

But even with the upward spending trend, don’t expect holiday gift sales to be a breeze.

Forecasts and trends are never “set in stone,” so mindful corporations will still be wary of overspending and looking to preserve budgets wherever possible — especially with gift-giving.

But then again, no one wants to be perceived as a ‘Bad Santa’ or an ‘Ebenezer Scrooge’ that is too cheap to recognize their valued clients when it matters most. A selection of noteworthy, quality products with the right price, timing and presentation are sure to seal the deal every time.

Here we have assembled a showcase of some of the hottest new holiday gifts for 2004 that your clients are sure to love, as well as tips from the experts about how to maximize your holiday sales.

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1, 2 & 3. Hirsch Gifts • 4, 5 & 6. Bulova • 7. International Merchandise Concepts • 8. Hurricane Line

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holiday gift-giving ideas

Expert holiday gift ideas that work:

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• Send holiday catalogs out early. Not only will you be first to display your holiday items, but clients can take advantage of early-bird deals and offers.

• Get caught up in the Web. Catalog sales are always a sure bet, but as more people turn to the Internet for corporate gift ideas, the sooner that your Web site is updated with your complete holiday line, the better to snag the early shoppers.

• Use it or lose it. Creativity and sales, that is.

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Salespeople should get creative and promote the line’s unique gifts or else run the risk of blending in with everyone else. When budgets are tight, buyers tend to favor more non-traditional ideas that make their gift stand out from the crowd.

• The more, the merrier. Gifts that appeal to a wide audience and that can be used by clients year-round

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always provide the best value for the holiday dollar.

• Prioritize your gift list. Prominent clients should receive individualized gifts, whereas the smaller accounts can receive gifts bought in bulk. But don’t play favorites; every client — big or small, naughty or nice — should receive a gift.

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• Get personal. The proper enclosure card establishes the relevance of your gift and personalizes the gift to the recipient. Enclosing your company holiday card? Be sure to include a handwritten line or two.

• Light and bright. Another way to stretch the holiday dollar is to choose lightweight gifts. The savings on postage and packaging can ultimately be put back into the gift.

• The no-brainer. Don’t think it goes unnoticed: A gift that obviously had zero thought put into it is always a bad idea. Tasteful, sincere gifts are the ones that are always fondly remembered.

• That’s a wrap. Don’t forget, the packaging is just as important as what’s inside and evidence of your attention to detail. Go one step beyond with a “sig-

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nature” wrap that reflects the image you wish to convey to your clients. And, remember, even the cheapest gifts can be made more attractive with festive and innovative packaging.

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9. International Merchandise Concepts • 10. PromoBiz • 11. Norwood • 12. Gordon Sinclair • 13. Norwood 14. AITG • 15. International Merchandise Concepts

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holiday gift-giving ideas 18

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16. Leeds • 17. World Wide • 18. Maple Ridge Farms 19. World Wide • 20. Sound Promotions • 21. Maple Ridge Farms • 22. Sound Promotions

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holiday gift-giving ideas

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23. New Products International • 24. AITG • 25. Minya International • 26 & 27. Sovrano by Logomark 28. Bravo Awards • 29. New Products International

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holiday gift-giving ideas

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30. Hirsch Gifts • 31. New Products International • 32. Hirsch Gifts • 33. Timenetusa.com 34. Sound Promotions

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ASI

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Promotions that get Results

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t’s been an incredible ride, like riding a chopper on a warm evening along the Big Sur watching a beautiful sunset. It’s been wonderful, and I love it. My tenure in the promotional products industry has been a steady ride of building significant relationships, lasting friendships and a deep sense for the importance of giving back to my friends and peers. As a speaker and consultant in the promotional products industry, I have this burning desire to share experiences and information that will continue to help in

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raising the bar of professionalism within the industry. I, though, am just one individual who really enjoys giving back, much like my peers, including Glen Holt, Robert Berman, Jodi Friedman and so many others who would fill all of these pages. However, it is this desire that makes this industry an unbelievable place to work and live. While I have written a book, published more than 300 articles and spoken publicly internationally to in excess of 200,000 people, I learn so much by listening to others. It is the free exchange of www.brilliantpublishing.com

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by Cliff Quicksell, MAS President – Net Results, Inc. cliff@quicksellconsulting.com

About the Author:

Cliff Quicksell Jr. has been involved in the promotional products and sportswear industries for the past 22 years. He has achieved the Master Advertising Specialist professional designation and is actively involved in Promotional Products Association International. He has served five terms as the education chairperson for his regional trade association, CPPA of Maryland. For more than 17 years, Quicksell also has been speaking, training and consulting to associations and business groups on more effective ways to market themselves, their products and services and motivating their personnel.

information, without paranoia, that strengthens a group, an industry and an individual.

This is your opportunity now to read and absorb some incredible stories, many of which mirror yours, that will make you more profitable and a much more sought after professional in your respective market. Don’t be afraid to share.

Look at the cover of this magazine, where you will see three incredibly talented individuals – Paul Teutul Sr., Paul Teutul Jr. and Michael Teutul of Orange County Choppers – < who absolutely LOVE what they do. In fact, it goes beyond a love for their craft - it’s their passion. Do you have that passion? I have watched them on television, and while it gets a bit wild and crazy (like some of our businesses), they get it done. They are different, mavericks, and for that they get top dollar for what they produce. Do you? What are you worth? Think about that. If someone said, ‘Bill, I have no interest in what you have to sell, but I understand you’re a creative person.

What would you charge me per hour for your www.brilliantpublishing.com

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If someone said, ‘Bill, I have no interest in what you have to sell, but I understand you’re a creative person. What would you charge me per hour for your creativity?’ If you don’t know, you’re in trouble.

creativity?’ If you don’t know, you’re in trouble. Before you can excel in business, you must understand what you are worth. Could anyone build a custom Orange County Chopper bike or a custom promotion like you? It takes a maverick, someone who is willing to step out beyond the norm of selling under a “trinkets and trash” banner and start selling like a promotional consultant. So, start thinking differently!

What is it you do?

I sell solutions, not stuff. A hundred years ago, in its infancy, that is what this industry was all about – selling stuff with your name on it. Now, it’s more than that.

Promotional products motivate, incite, excite and can change the direction of any business. Several years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Don Anderson, an aspiring promotional consultant who emulated the way I sold. Here is a quick story of how powerful a carefully planned program can reap uncanny results: Don shared that he was approached by a lawn care company to develop a door hanger for them to use as a marketing tool announcing and promoting their new lawn care special. Don seized the opportunity by asking them if they were open to a different methodology of promotion, noting that most people just “deep six” (throw away) junk mail. Don proposed that the company tie the promotion to a seasonal event, Easter. He suggested that the company take a piece of muslin cloth and print the promotional information on the cloth with natural soybean ink. The concept was to bundle a pinch of Texas wild flower seeds in the cloth, tie it up and place it inside a plastic Easter egg. He further suggested that the company employ the Boy Scouts in a goodwill project by having the boys toss the eggs in the front yards of more than 5,000 residents in the Houston area on the night before Easter. The results were staggering. Of the 5,000 pieces sent, over 1,800 phone calls were received by the client, a 44% response rate. Would the client have seen the same results with a door hanger? Probably not.

Thinking differently, out of the box, is what gets results. It’s what stands out. My rule is: As long as it does not harm anyone emotionally, spiritually or mentally, the gloves are off. My job is to get results, not to sell stuff that sits on shelves, but concepts and products that motive and inspire. How does one think differently? During my 15-plus years as an educator, I have had so many

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What would computers look like if we had 10 fingers on each hand? What if a human could run 100 mph for long periods of time?

How would transportation be different? people tell me that they weren’t creative not true. It’s thinking differently and not worrying about what people say or think of your ideas that makes the difference. Interesting statistic: from birth to age 6, 94 percent of your ideas were considered creative and innovative. However when you reach age 40, that percentage drops to 4 percent. Why? As we grow up, we are conditioned by our parents to be quiet, don’t do that, that’s a stupid idea or act your age. Thinking openly, without reservation is where brilliant ideas are born.

Think about that, if you have children and the Maytag man delivers a washer to your home and the box finds its way into the yard, what does that box become to a kid? A car, a fort, a spaceship or any number of things.

To watch a child’s mind open up is like seeing a fountain of untapped possibilities.

There is a book by Roger Von Oech, “A Whack on the Side of the Head,” which speaks directly to the creative process. In his book, one chapter talks about how to think differently, jumpstart your creative juices and the creative process. Von Oech suggests that one way is to ask the question, “What if?” Then, think about things differently. What would computers look like if we had 10 fingers on each hand? What if a human could run 100 mph for long periods of time? How would transportation be different? Think about that. He also states that another good practice that works is to compare two unlike objects and draw comparisons of each. A cat and a refrigerator, what do they have in common? They come in different colors, different sizes, shapes and textures. They both hold milk and food; they have a tail (power cord). One person at one of my seminars said, “They both sit there on the floor, looking stupid doing nothing.” The reality is that it makes you think differently and stretches your creative horizons. The idea of comparing two unlike objects is what I did one year to develop a personal self-promotion that had tremendous results. While walking a show, I happened on the Victorinox© booth where they sell Swiss Army™ knives. I had just finished Von Oech’s book, and it dawned on me, ‘What do I and a Swiss Army knife have

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in common?’ I designed a marketing piece that addressed each function of a Swiss Army knife and how that functioned related to me a sales person. Scissors: we tailor promotions to fit your budget; Toothpick: we pick and probe though all of the product offerings to bring you a promotion that makes you smile,” etc. My goal was to use the piece as a door opener, one that had multi-utilitarian purpose. The packaging even had value. The package was designed to have a perforated panel with a magnet attachment that could be removed and used as a follow-up piece. I targeted 137 prospects and had an amazing 84 percent result rate, seeing more than 90 key prospects.

A few years after the Swiss Army promo, I got into the swing of marketing and selling more like an agency, developing more and more specialty promotional programs. Wanting to target 47 key major marketing managers, I decided to try something different. I created a small box where I placed a mouse pad, a pen, a BRC (business reply card) and a printed computer mouse. The copy on the front of the box read: Now it’s easier than ever…, while the inside finished: …to catch me. The mouse had an actual mousetrap attached to the cord. The purpose was to entice them to my Web site, fill out the response card in order to provide feedback about how easy it was to use my site and any suggestions they had to make it more appealing.

Surprisingly, 94 percent of the recipients logged on and gave me feedback either by phone, fax, e-mail or via the response card.

In addition, several people actually placed orders on the site, an astounding $54,000 of business the first month. Development, products and mailing for the piece totaled approximately $300, a significant return and response rate.

These are a few examples of what can be done with a little ingenuity and creativity.

Many other examples are available through the Promotional Products Association International or Advertising Specialty Institute, and each has archived numerous examples of creative promotional programs. • www.brilliantpublishing.com

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Reader Service No.11

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The Password Is:

Security

S

ecurity. The word embodies our worst fears and our greatest desire.

Whether it is resounded in political speeches, alert colors or corporate conference rooms, it is the word on Americans’ lips. Beyond the visible embodiments of increased security awareness – the concrete barriers, the metal detectors, security fencing and armed guards – there lies an area at the heart of every business security dilemma; an area that relies on every worker on the corporate ladder – the files. The security of corporate files no longer depends on locked rooms and locked steel cabinets whose keys are possessed by the

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few, but on the ability of every individual worker to memorize a word and keep a secret. Because corporate files now exist in the electronic memory of the company network that must be accessed by almost every employee on a nearly daily basis, file security and quick accessibility depends almost solely on words.

While no one in today’s heightened security environment questions the importance of protecting physical structures, it is the loss of a business’s records that can lead to its destruction. As anyone who has ever experienced a computer crash and spent days trying to remember and reconstruct what www.brilliantpublishing.com

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Reader Service No. 12

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Weak passwords are easy to guess and that typically is why workers utilize them. However, hackers do not spend time guessing passwords, instead they use programs that employ brute force or dictionary attacks.

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was stored on their hard drive can attest, the loss of even a few records presents problems.

Now, envision every file in your organization lost or corrupted – the employee files, accounting files, equipment programming files, secret formulas, research files and all other files too numerous to list.

Improbable, perhaps, since most organizations now have information back-ups stored off-site; however, current information is always at risk, and its loss or compromise can wreak havoc. That is why organizations have numerous security precautions, firewalls and other electronic gatekeepers, but in many organizations, it often comes down to the weakest link – an individual’s password.

As reported in Information Week by Mitch Wagner, a recent impromptu man-on-thestreet survey presented at Infosecurity Europe discovered that 71% of office workers willingly revealed their passwords when offered the bribe of a chocolate bar. Some 37% of those surveyed immediately gave their password, while the remaining 34% parted with their passwords after a few social engineering tactics, such as suggesting that the word had something to do with a pet or child’s name. With family and pet names comprising some 25% of passwords and the basic human problem with keeping a secret, it is not difficult to understand why passwords are the easiest security mechanism to defeat.

Studies by NSA, SANS and CERT along with research by RSA Security Inc. and Microsoft confirm the fact that passwords are the weakest link in enterprise IT and a major security vulnerability.

Weak passwords are easy to guess and that typically is why workers utilize them.

However, hackers do not spend time guessing passwords, instead they use programs that employ brute force or dictionary attacks.

Simply stated, there generally are 94 possibilities for each character of a password. If a two-character password is used, that equals 8,836 possible character combinations – easily cracked in less than one second with today’s computing power. Iterating, or repeating, through all of these possible characters and character combinations is the basic way a brute force attack program solves the password access problem.

The brute force attack program sounds like the fastest route to password gold. Still, in reality, the dictionary attack program, which uses a “dictionary” of possible passwords, is much faster. In addition to including words in the standard dictionary, these program dictionaries also contain common male, female and pet names, popular movie titles, slang www.brilliantpublishing.com

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www.promotion-express.com email: sales@promotion-express.com â&#x20AC;˘ Promotion Express asi#79914

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passwords. Here, the ugly conundrum of memory vs. the cost of forgetting rears its head. According to RSA, password resets comprise 40% of help desk calls. According to the META Group, an average company pays $25 per help desk call; so forgotten passwords can become expensive. This figure does not include the frustration and lost production time spent by an employee who is trying to remember a password and access the computer program before finally reaching out to the help desk.

Without even considering the liability or public relations issues associated with confidential information becoming publicly available, it is obvious that security without a quality password policy is a myth. According to a Security Focus article, Ten Windows Password Myths by Mark Burnett, there are a number of other password myths that need to be addressed in order to set an effective password policy, including:

words, etc. Since employees in most organizations will use these phrases in order to remember their passwords, it is easy to see why a dictionary of popular names and words would decipher the password so efficiently and effectively.

Most MIS Departments would counter at this point with a statement relating to the company firewall and how difficult it is to gain access to the network. Talented hackers, meanwhile, would state that this is the easy part. On many Microsoft networks, a hacker can often perform a null session connection from the command line. Once a null session is established, a multitude of information becomes available including user names, last

logon times, last password changes, etc. The null session works well on the inside of the company network. For it to work on the outside, inbound traffic access must be available through the firewall. If the firewall is open or ill configured, access is open to hackers. If a null session cannot be started through the firewall, scouring most companies’ Web sites will reveal an open door. Those MIS Departments that quickly answer “We would know if we were hacked” might want to take a moment to consider the oft repeated hacker comment: “Good hackers are famous; great hackers are anonymous.”

The easy answer to the password problem is to require employees to have more difficult

If the firewall is open or ill configured, access is open to hackers. If a null session cannot be started through the firewall, scouring most companies’ Web sites will reveal an open door.

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• Random passwords from password generators are the best passwords – FALSE: They are usually difficult to remember, slow to type and sometimes vulnerable to attacks against password generating algorithms.

• Fourteen characters is the optimal password length – FALSE: These passwords are often split into two separate seven-character hashes, which make them more vulnerable to a brute force attack. New versions of Windows can now have passwords of up to 127 characters in length.

• Passwords should be changed every 30 days – FALSE: While this may be good for highrisk passwords, it is not necessarily good for average users because they tend to develop predictable patterns or use other means that actually decrease the effectiveness of their passwords.

• Passwords cannot include spaces – FALSE: New versions of Windows allow spaces in passwords, making it easier for users to come up with complex passwords that are a combination of words they can remember.

• Never write down your password – FALSE: Sometimes passwords need to be written down, e.g. the company server administrator quits his job, and he is the only one who knows the server’s password. The caveat to this myth is to be smart about where the password is written down, how it is secured and how it is disposed of, as we all have heard about security breaches created by nefarious “dumpster diving.” www.brilliantpublishing.com

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Name the Star www.namethestar.com email: sales@namethestar.com â&#x20AC;˘ Promotion Express asi#72850

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To build a successful password policy, the user community and its habits must be understood. Equally important, upper management must support the password policy by its own active compliance with any established guidelines. Leadership by example is an essential element of a company’s successful password policy.

The first step in developing a password policy is to ascertain the value of the data being protected based on its loss, sensitivity, effect of publication and other relevant factors. Developing a table similar to the following may be helpful for this analysis: Often once the cost of information loss is analyzed, the need for a quality password policy as a first step in security becomes self-evident. Creating effective passwords generally is the next step. For a password to be valuable it should:

• Contain a mixture of letters (upper and lower case), numerals and symbols.

• Not contain your name or user name.

• Not be a common word or name.

• Be easy to type quickly with few errors.

• Be at least 14 characters long – longer is better.

After users are familiar with the process for developing effective passwords, password protection should be stressed. In the aforementioned “chocolate” survey, it should be noted that while 53% of respondents said they would not give their password to a telephone caller claiming to be from the IT department, four out of 10 knew their colleagues’ passwords; 55% would give their password to their boss; and 66% used the same password for work and personal access, i.e. online banking, Web site access,

Cost of Loss Low 0

High 1

2

3

4

5

Legal Financial Competitive Advantage

Score

etc. These numbers would seem to indicate that password protection might be a harder problem to solve than password quality. If they do not generate enough reasons to get serious about password protection, consider that the InformationWeek survey article also revealed that a majority of those surveyed would take confidential information with them if they changed jobs.

Any password protection policy must be enforceable and appropriate to the level of risk a compromised password would present.

The obvious suggestions for a password protection policy include: • Never use your network logon password for another purpose.

• Never share your password with anyone.

• Change your password immediately if you think it has been compromised.

• If you must write your password down, make sure it is stored in a secure location – not on a Post-it note attached to your monitor, hidden under your keyboard, taped to the bottom of your desk drawer, etc.

• Change your password on a regular basis as required by your specific risk environment

Reputation Environmental Safety Highest Score

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In an effort to help cope with the human condition, promotional products may offer some assistance. Mouse pads, company calendars and desk blotters that remind users to mind their password protocol are an obvious first step. Key-chain fobs, IDs on lanyards or plastic cards that users carry with them can be encoded with a random number for use in conjunction with a password. When high security is required, these items can function as SecureID, where the number changes every minute generated by an algorithm that also resides on a server inside the company’s computer center. For those in the organization who travel and frequently access the network from off-site locations, portable USB storage devices can be used to remember passwords in place of written memorandums. Brainstorming with knowledgeable promotional products professionals can also assist in developing other company-specific ideas for maintaining password policies.

Remember, the best passwords are ones a user selects based on an informed understanding of passwords – a password that is hard to crack, but never forgotten. The best policy is one that helps users create those passwords that have computer length and randomness combined with human familiarity. •

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WHAT WORKS >>>

Case Studies in Success

Industry: Financial

Challenge: To build a device that would hold and retract a pen permanently placed in a strategic location and build brand recognition for Discover Card‚.

Solution: A creative promotional products professional came up with an idea that produced brilliant results for Discover Card. Keep a pen where it is needed most and when the customer is ready to pay a bill or make a purchase, they would think of Discover first. The idea is simple, build a device that will hold and retract a pen and permanently place it in a strategic location.

The promotional product professional contacted the leading manufacturer of badge and key retracts, KEY-BAK; to come up with a solution. Take an existing Retract-A-Badge™, and turn it into a stationary pen retractor. KEY-BAK having manufactured retractors since 1948 rose to the challenge.

Their creative team devised a new design and was able to deliver a prototype a week later. Within two weeks the distributor had issued a purchase order and production for a large quantity began in KEY-BAK’S U.S. manufacturing facility.

KEY-BAK was able to take an idea through production and ship the complete project in 60 days.

When asked how they were able to make things happen so quickly, they replied, “It is a partnership with Discover Card, the distributor, and the manufacturer to understand the objectives and it was such a fun project that getting it done just seemed quicker. Besides, this is what we do and we do it well.”

Result: The project continues to progress and grow, Discover pen retractors can be found in a number of locations from restaurants, retail shops, hotels, grocery stores, and even warehouse retailers. Such a simple and innovative idea is not just a novelty, but also a strategic marketing promotional campaign.

It does “Pay to Discover” the possibilities.

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WHAT WORKS >>>

Case Studies in Success

Industry: Healthcare

Challenge: A Well Baby clinic based in Monrovia, CA was planning a celebration regarding the Grand Opening of a tenth location. The nurses at the clinic had created “Baby Baskets” filled with all the necessities that new parents need after the birth of a child. The care package included baby wipes, starter formula, pacifiers, ear swabs, etc. Looking for an item that would fulfill the promotional aspect of the complimentary basket, a distributor was contacted.

Solution: The distributor suggested the Evan’s Manufacturing #3600 Primary Care Thermometer, an item that was both novel and practical. Immediately, the nurses recognized the NexTemp brand. They knew it was trusted within their industry for being as accurate as a mercury thermometer, but completely non-toxic. Amazed at the reusability factor and 5-year shelf life, the nurses placed an order for 1,500 to start with additional orders to follow.

Result: The baskets were a success and all of the parents wanted to know where they could get additional thermometers for each member of their family. The only drawback was anticipating what color to put in the basket - Blue or Red!

Healthcare www.brilliantpublishing.com

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WHAT WORKS >>>

Case Studies in Success

Industry: Retail – Point of Purchase

Challenge: A New York based promotional products professional was introducing a large liquor company to the concept of using picture frames in a new marketing campaign. The concept began with a single brand as a point of purchase test. The goal was to not only put the brand in front of the customer but also create new ways to order it.

Solution: The promotional products professional contacted TimeZone®, a leading manufacturer of picture frames and picture frame clocks to discuss a plan of attack. A leatherette base frame with an magnetic acrylic entrapment was first chosen based on ease of use and budget. A production sample was started by TimeZone® while the insert was designed in house. Once approved, production was completed and delivered in 35 days.

Result: The initial success of this project led 6 other brands to do projects with the same concept. A few brands chose metal picture frame clocks, others chose the same product, others did completely custom frame products. Each order was designed with both the budget and usage in mind and every single brand has placed at least one reorder to date. Different brands continue to call to create their own brand-building frame.

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60 Styles Under $15.00!

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Here are twelve examples. View all 60 styles @ www.expresstimesource.com

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Buy direct from the factory, not a domestic decorator.

Contact your promotional products professional for details.

UPIC: EXPRESS ASI: 53411

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WHAT WORKS >>>

Case Studies in Success

Industry: Retail (GAP)

Challenge To deliver 30,000 gift watches to 5 countries in 28 days as a year-end holiday present to Gap employees worldwide. In addition, all collateral material needed to be created in multiple languages.

Solution Martyn Donald created an online presentation encompassing many styles for product selection based on price point. This enabled the purchasing agent to interact globally with respective Gap locations for product approval. In addition an International Warranty & Instruction booklet was designed to accompany each watch that was translated in five (5) different languages, including English, German, French, Spanish, and Japanese.

Result The online presentation allowed Gap to make an immediate decision based upon the attractive Virtual SampleTM provided. The selected broker/factory met the tight delivery date with ease which developed a stronger relationship. The multi-language warranty booklet exceeded everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s expectations.

Model Soho (1250S) with silver finish and matching silver mesh band. Customized with Gap logo on dial.

Packaging Special white rectangular gift box with one color silk screen imprint of customized Gap logo.

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WHAT WORKS >>>

Case Studies in Success

Industry: Travel & Tourism (Cruise West)

Challenge: To motivate crew members to secure future bookings on a cruise line.

Solution: The challenge for Alaska Sightseeing Cruise West was to get their fleet crews to â&#x20AC;&#x153;buy intoâ&#x20AC;? becoming subtle, yet effective sales people. By implementing an incentive program, Alaska Sightseeing gave the crew the opportunity to earn gifts, and the freedom to design their own personal sales approach. Embroidered hats were awarded to members securing 10 bookings. Those reaching 20 bookings received embroidered Henley shirts. These became much sought-after items and the crew quickly got into the spirit of the challenge.

Result: Reports showed that nine months into the program, onboard sales were up 200%, with the expectation of finishing the season 300% ahead of the previous year.

This Employee Incentive Program won a Promotional Products Association International Silver Pyramid Award for Promotional Strategy Partners, Inc.

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WHAT WORKS >>>

Case Studies in Success

Industry: Resort Spa (Peter Island)

Challenge: To increase guest satisfaction and provide an opportunity to build brand/destination recognition.

Solution: What customer hasn’t arrived at a resort only to find that packing sandals wasn’t on the top of their list – now they have a comfort problem? If they just checked in at Peter Island, an exclusive Caribbean resort, their problem has already been solved. Peter Island places Neet Feet footwear in each guest room, as well as in the gift shop, so visitors will have Peter Island sandals to wear while on vacation and as gifts for relatives and friends back home

Result: This program has been in place since 1997 and currently sales are approaching 30,000 pairs.

Satisfied customer – hotel/resort profit – long-term remembered experience, all delivered courtesy of a promotional product. Other Neet Feet hotel/resort customers include: The Delano, W Hotels, Blockade Runner Resort, Marriott’s Koolina Beach Club, Princeville, Halekulani and Wyndham

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WHAT WORKS >>>

Case Studies in Success

Industry: Corporate (First Impressions Happen Only Once)

Challenge: To promote corporate image through company logo placement and enhance visitor safety.

Solution: Image Products a division of Ludlow Composites Corporation took the challenge “to foot”. Or in the words of Sales Manager, Alison Minnich “Just glance down as you walk into your local restaurant, grocery store, retail location, or work place. Our floor mats are everywhere!” Floor mats meet the challenge of blending promotion with function, turning foot traffic into increased corporate recognition while keeping visitors “on their feet”.

Result: Positive long term relationships with clients like Heather Casteel of KL&P Marketing who says, “I’ve been working with Ludlow Composites for custom rubber mats for 7 years” and more than once they have “gone above and beyond to assist me with my orders - whether its extremely competitive pricing, decreased production time or just tracking down my shipments. I look forward to working with them time and time again.” Image Products continues to build relationships one customer at a time. Customizing for their customers, promoting an Image to achieve Brilliant Results.

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WHAT WORKS >>>

Case Studies in Success

Industry: Non-Profits

Challenge: The principal challenge for any non-profit is to create awareness of their message and expend as small an amount of donated funds as possible to achieve this goal.

Solution: KeepaKlip from PromoBiz USA, LLC has proven to be a great yet inexpensive tool for non-profits to utilize. Whether itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s to spread their message or to promote a fundraising event, KeepaKlip hangs tough and holds that important document together. Because the clips can be imprinted with symbols, web site addresses, names, logos, and an endless list of possibilities, KeepaKlip could be the perfect for answer the conscientious non-profit on budget.

Non-Profits www.brilliantpublishing.com

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WHAT WORKS >>>

Case Studies in Success

Industry: Beverage (Soft Drink Company)

Challenge: Develop a cool, unique, one-of-a-kind duffel to give a leave-behind after presentations to reinforce the product.

Solution: A custom duffel was a perfect fit to reflect the company’s young and energetic attitude. Leed’s WorldSource, custom division, transformed an inline duffel by swapping the standard duffel colors with the company’s corporate colors.

Result: The duffel proved to be a huge hit with the soft drink company and its customers. The leavebehind helped to create brand recognition for the company and resulted in an increase in sales.

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GET YOUR OWN SUBSCRIPTION TODAY You want to build your company brand recognition and out sell your competition. A subscription to Brilliant Results gives you the competitive edge.

In every issue you’ll find real world ideas and better ways to increase your brand building ROI, motivate your staff and build your customer base. Filled with outcome driven editorial and the resources to build long-term relationships for BRILLIANT RESULTS.

TO ORDER E-MAIL YOUR REQUEST TO OR FAX THE ATTACHED FORM TO OR MAIL THE ATTACHED FORM TO

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TM

Free Product Information. Premiere Issue.

For free product information from these suppliers of promotional products, complete and mail this page to: Brilliant Results Magazine 9034 Joyce Lane Hummelstown, PA 17036. Or fax to (717) 566-5431.

Ad Index Supplier

Page No.

AITG American Ad Bag BAS Bic Graphic USA Brand It Direct Bravo Awards Brilliant Results Magazine™ Bullet Line CaddyO ™ Calconix / Time Zone® Daiwa Evans Manufacturing Express Image Products / Crown Mats Int’l Merchandise Concepts / IMC KEY-BAK® Leeds Merit Industries / Groline Micro-Clair® Neet Feet® Next Products Norwood Orange County Choppers Pencoa / Supermatic Line PromoBiz USA LLC Vantage Apparel World Wide Line

31 53 11 Back Cover 21, 23 71 77 Inside Back Cover 29 51, 73 35 13 67, 82 25 7 39, 63 17, 45 55,57,59,61 33 49 79 15, 47 69 5 43 19 Inside Front Cover

Name

Title

Company

Industry

Address City

State

Zip

Phone

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E-mail

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BR1204_Section03.qxl

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Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s about space.

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September 8-10 Return on Marketing Investment, presented by the Institute for International Research. Marriott East Side, New York City.

Call (888) 670-8200 September 13-14 Loyalty Marketing Workshop, co-produced by the Direct Marketing Association and Colloquy. DMA Seminar Center, New York City. Call (212) 790-1500 September 14 PMA Integrated Marketing Summit, presented by the Promotion Marketing Association. Grand Hyatt, New York City. Call (212) 420-1100 September 14 10 Steps to Successful Search Engine Advertising presented by SmartSearch Marketing. Doubletree Guest Suites, Orlando, FL Call (303) 444-3134 September 21-23 L.A. Office RoadShow, presented by The L.A. Office Call (310) 275-2088 September 22-23 The P.O.P. Show Chicago Navy Pier Festival Hall, Chicago, IL Call (888) 767-7469 September 28-30 The Motivation Show McCormick Place South, Chicago IL www.motivationshow.com

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TM

October 5-8 9th Annual Brand Business Forum, presented by the Institute for International Research. Marriott East Side, New York City. Call (888) 670-8200 October 13-15 How to Develop Brand Management Expertise, presented by Ennis Associates, Glenpointe Marriott, Teaneck, NJ Call (800) 914-4194 October 25-27 The Premier DRM Conference & Expo, presented by DRM Watch & internet.com. Sheraton Universal, Los Angeles, CA Call (203) 662-2857

* To have your show listed in our Calendar Section please send your information to Brilliant Results magazine. *

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