Wonders of the Premium World

PPAI’S PYRAMID WINNERS STRUCK THE RIGHT CHORDS WITH CONSUMERS AND CLIENTS ALIKE.

Successful premium programs come in all shapes, sizes, and budget levels, as evidenced by the list of winners from the Promotional Products Association International’s 1999 Pyramid Awards – the Emmys of the promotional products industry.

Each year, PPAI recognizes the cream of the industry’s crop by bestowing Pyramids on top performers in such categories as internal programs, goodwill, consumer, business-to-business, sales incentives, trade shows, nonprofit, and distributor self-promotion. Below, PROMO showcases 12 of the most noteworthy efforts of 1999.

A NOT-SO-SCARY HALLOWEEN Goodwill programs less than $10 per recipient For parents hoping their children experience more fun than fright on Halloween, healthcare facilitator Living Centers of America, Cleveland, TN, provided a less-worrisome alternative to trick or treating at strangers’ doors.

In the communities surrounding 120 of its long-term care facilities, Living Centers invited families to attend a “TOTS….Trick or Treat Safely” program. Attendees were greeted by costumed residents and staffers, and escorted to decorated residential rooms where they were entertained by a variety of games and activities. Children received buttons and goodie bags filled with activity books, pencils with spooky eraser tops, pens, kazoos, and neon shoelaces.

The local events averaged 200 attendees, including more than 100 children – although Living Centers had hoped for little more than 20 per facility. Printed Designs, Houston, handled.

CRACKING THE BOOKS Goodwill programs less than $10 per recipient With videogames and the Internet consuming so much of kids’ leisure time these days, the Arlington Heights (IL) Memorial Library embarked on a crusade to ensure that the original interactive medium – the book – didn’t get lost in the digital shuffle.

In a program called “Reading Is Magnetic,” the library presented four-color magnets to grade-school children who read a required number of books and logged their literary accomplishments. Magnets were also given to younger kids whose parents read books to them.

The effort spawned a new generation of Arlington Heights bookworms. The 1,086 children who signed up in ’99 collectively read 14,385 books, a 378-percent increase over the prior year’s program and well above the targeted growth of 80 percent. Treetop Promotions, Inc., Arlington Heights, handled.

PARTY TIME Goodwill programs $10 or more per recipient To celebrate the opening of its 100th store in the Atlanta region, Cincinnati-based supermarket giant Kroger threw a party as hot as the city itself.

Custom grocery bags were sent to state legislators to alert them to the opening, and 10 sets of gold scissors were mounted on a plaque and presented to dignitaries at the store’s official ribbon cutting. Customers received such premiums as key tags, lapel pins, and commemorative cups. Shoppers who purchased wine received a special bottle opener. Employees got in on the action by wearing stylish long-sleeve denim shirts. (The shirts were such a hit that employees continued to wear them after the promotion ended.)

The party produced Kroger’s largest-ever grand opening in the Atlanta region. Summit Marketing Group, Atlanta, handled.

A STAB AT SUCCESS Consumer programs less than $10 per recipient To spark interest in its tool sets among distributors, Dallas-based Mac Tools added logoed pocket knives to the sets and featured them on point-of-purchase displays. On-pack copy touted the offer: “3-Piece Brass Punch Set and FREE Knife with Light.”

Fliers told distributors they could “Take A Slice Out of the Competition” with the packaged set. “We mix up our promotions from a price point, targeting customers with small, medium, and big budget [efforts],” says Mike Foster, marketing services manager at Stanley Tools, Mac Tools’ parent.

While Mac Tools originally hoped to sell 1,570 units in seven weeks, distributors ended up purchasing 2,790 tool sets in two days. Communica Marketing Group, Richardson, TX, handled. Mac Tools is putting together a similar effort for this year.

STAYING COOL Consumer programs $10 or more per recipient Mac Tools scored again with a point-of-purchase display for its toolboxes. Taking advantage of the summer season, the displays offered a flip-top cooler – packaged as a tool box – with purchase.

The “Fun in the Sun” theme combined hard work with a cool drink. The targeted goal was to sell 2,000 units in seven weeks, but the effort generated 3,000 sales in just two weeks.

“We do a lot of value-added seasonal promotions,” says Foster. “Our target market – automotive technicians and mechanics – includes a lot of guys who take a cooler with them to a ball game or the races. When you sell three to six months of volume in six weeks, it’s a home run.” Communica handled.

MANAGEMENT ALERT Business-to-business programs less than $10 per recipient With computers firmly entrenched in the mainstream consciousness, aesthetics have joined speed and functionality as selling points. So Compaq Computer Corp., Houston, launched a direct-mail campaign entitled “Lookin’ Good” to hype its prettified monitors.

The direct-mail piece was sent to 10,000 sales and support prospects, inviting them to visit Compaq’s monitor-specific Web site and earn a free gift by filling out a questionnaire. The highly relevant gift was a computer rear-view mirror that affixes to the corner of a monitor and lets the Dilberts of the world see when the boss is plotting an ambush.

Compaq originally hoped to generate 2,000 hits at the site. But the unique gift offer drove a 44.2 percent response rate. Communica Marketing handled.

FUN IN THE (SIMULATED) SUN Business-to-business programs $10 or more per recipient To spread the word on the addition of beachfront suites to its Grand Cayman resort, hotel chain Hyatt Regency, Chicago, held a Caribbean- style luncheon at the Grand Hyatt in New York City.

Guests were presented with a chocolate bar shaped like an island that read, “It’s Suiter on the Beach!” The bars were presented in a posh, gold-finished box tied with straw seemingly plucked from a beach hat. A “Satisfy Your Suite Tooth” component enabled special attendees to take a complimentary tour of the Cayman suites. Adstar, Inc., North Merrick, NY, handled.

HOT NIGHT IN GEORGIA B-to-B programs $10 or more per recipient Boom-town Atlanta is a renter’s market. To promote space in a new office building called the Palisades, TrizecHahn Properties created a program targeting the city’s top 400 commercial real estate brokers.

Direct-mail pieces highlighted the new property along with an enhanced commission and gift-certificate program. Themed “Money to Burn,” brokers were offered monthly suggestions on how they could spend the extra cash they’d earn by bringing tenants to the Palisades. For the first month, a zippered coconut filled with “gold” chocolate coins suggested an island vacation. Additional incentives included a key chain, a golf mug, and a putting cup suggesting tee time at world-renowned courses Pebble Beach and St. Andrews.

Within nine months of the program’s launch, 89 percent of the property was leased. Clark Calling, Inc., Atlanta, handled.

STAYING COOL Business-to-business programs $10 or more per recipient General Mills, Minneapolis, scored two awards for efforts backing its Colombo yogurt brand.

In a “Nothin’s Cooler Than Colombo” campaign, General Mills Foodservice mailed a “cool kit” to 350 national foodservice accounts. The kit featured an insulated 12-pack cooler imprinted with the tagline, a logoed can cooler, and a pair of beach sandals imprinted with the Colombo logo on the soles.

A potential drawback to the program was the fact that two of the new drinks required foodservice operators to make substantial investments in new equipment. General Mills set an initial goal of an eight percent appointment rate, but ultimately hooked 33 percent of recipients.

TWICE BLESSED Sales incentive programs $10 or more per recipient The Mills took another award for “Make An Impression,” a campaign for Colombo Frozen Yogurt designed to boost foot traffic at foodservice accounts.

The company sent operators a pair of beach sandals with a Colombo logo imprinted on the sole and a challenge to “Make an Impression” with the product. Complementing the sandals was a kit offering such items as buttons for employees (“Ask Me How To get Free Colombo Frozen Yogurt”), frequent-buyer cards, and foot-shaped paper punchers to record purchases. The kit also included signage and graphics, as well as logoed hats, T-shirts, watches, and key rings to be used as purchase incentives for the operators.

One-fourth of the operators ordered the kit as soon as they received the mailing, while 75 percent ultimately joined the campaign. Purple Elephant Promotions, Essex Junction, VT, handled.

SWIMMING WITH THE FISHES Nonprofit programs $10 or more per recipient To commemorate the opening of Ocean Journey, a new world class aquarium in Denver, a special dinner was held to honor the attraction’s benefactors. Top donors received porcelain and brass boxes made in Limoges, France, while lifetime members earned Old World-style leather passport holders for their membership card. The aquarium’s board of directors was awarded custom miniatures of the aquarium sculpted in pewter.

The grand opening ceremony drew 87,000 people and raised more than $2 million, making it the largest fundraiser in Denver’s history. Bartell Creativity, Denver, handled.

CATCHING FIRE Nonprofit programs $10 or more per recipient Hoping to stop teen smoking before it starts, the American Lung Association of Florida conducted a study at 57 Florida high schools designed to examine current habits and generate information for use in cessation programs.

A 10-week study offered students incentives connected to various themes of the program, such as zip-lock wallets that represented the money students would save by quitting. Star stress balls helped participants battle cravings on “Quit Day,” and inspirational locker mirrors suggested students would be “looking good” when they kicked the habit. Adult program facilitators received key chains, mugs, and briefcases.

The program boasted a 90-percent success rate among students who enrolled. Goldner Associates, Seminole, FL, handled.