February 2003
MARKETING ANGEL ™
Promotions can extend your reach across many channels
Copyright © 2003 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
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Back when Billy penned love songs for Christie, and Axl appreciated the need to actually show up for tour dates, I was the promotions director for WBLM Radio. The station was a fabulously frenetic place, and the job provided me with some of the best training in organizing minutia, mania and meltdowns that I've ever had.
It takes marketing vision, supreme detail management and a calm demeanor to pull off a successful promotion. Marketers find promotions to be a cost-effective complement to advertising, and several companies specialize in planning and implementing special events. One such event-planning enterprise is Rinck Advertising (www.rinckadvertising.com), based in Auburn. I asked Laura Davis, Rinck's vice president of promotions and public relations, about how marketers can use promotions to enhance and extend brand reach and impact.
Marketing Angel: How do promotions work in conjunction with other marketing, advertising and publicity efforts?
Laura Davis: In today's marketplace, no one channel can do it all. Promotions work very well in concert with advertising, direct mail, and other activities. The power of a great promotion is its ability to leverage a brand through the integration of all marketing efforts. We always take into consideration the client's [other] marketing efforts.
Promotions, especially tours, event and guerilla marketing, take the brand to the street then form a loop, taking customers back to web, television or store. For example, we often drive traffic to a client's web site by running an online contest that's promoted at events. Or, we'll work television commercials into a trade show booth or include radio remotes for events in the media buy. The trick is planning.
Marketing Angel: Why do advertisers find promotions so valuable?
Davis: Three reasons:
- Added Value: Promotions add value by building relationships between the brand and the consumer. In a message-glutted environment, a personal connection with a brand makes a lasting impression. We call this a "brand touch." It's that moment when the consumer relates to the brand in such a way that the assets and benefits are positively enhanced. For this reason, promotions tend to build brand awareness, loyalty, trial and perceived value.
- Cost-efficiency: Not only is the cost of a promotional program typically much lower than that of advertising, but the power of "brand touch" tends to have a great influence on the consumer, and the impression is longer lasting.
- Flexibility: Promotions are only limited by one's imagination. They can go just about anywhere, be just about anything. No matter what the target is, we know exactly where to find them and how to create a "brand touch" that will resonate.
Marketing Angel: What's an example of a recent promotion you've orchestrated?
Davis: We're getting ready to go on tour for the second year for Garelick Farms. Last year, we pulled together many of the company's marketing components including charitable giving, new product launch, public relations, cause marketing and media sponsorship into a promotional theme called the "Garelick Farms Add Something Fun Tour."
At the time, Garelick Farms had made a significant charitable donation to the Massachusetts Department of Social Services (DSS) to help with recruitment efforts of foster families. We created a summer tour that combined the recruitment goals of DSS with the business goals of Garelick Farms.
Marketing Angel: What's the most successful promotion you've ever worked on?
Davis: The most successful and gratifying promotions involve education and cause marketing. One of the most successful promotional events I've ever worked on was the "Garelick Farms Foster Family Day" at Six Flags New England. The client wanted to create a day to honor foster families. The concept was to provide a day of amusements (something most foster families cannot afford) and appreciation for nearly 7000 family members. The highlight of the day was a one-hour extravaganza that featured live bands, world famous acts, fabulous prizes and sampled products. It was definitely the largest, coolest show we've ever produced. The moment of truth came when two little girls ran up to me and the older one said, "Thank you. It was the best day of my life." In that moment, Garelick Farms made more than an impression, they made a memory.
Marketing Angel: Feel free to offer additional insights on promotions.
Davis: Promotions are about relationships. Since starting the agency, we've developed relationships with clients and marketing professionals from all over New England. Not too long ago, clients had one agency that did it all. Today, we find that many more companies have a roster of agencies that fill very specific needs and that must coordinate their efforts together. For example, it's very common for us to collaborate on any given project with a media buyer out of Boston and a design firm in Rhode Island. We find it exciting to be part of this regional creative team.
Promotions are about people. Over the last year we've hired twenty-five team members we consider to be the very best in the promotional field. We firmly believe our well-trained team of employees is our single greatest asset. They are, in essence, the frontline for the agency as well as the client and their brand. Our team has traveled all over New England, participated in "extreme promotions" at Maine's ski resorts and has added value and energy in countless ways. In fact, they've received accolades from as far away as Pennsylvania by a national firm who wanted to sub-contract our staff. Bottom line, the key to success is the quality of your team.
Kimberly L. McCall (a.k.a. Marketing Angel™), is president of McCall Media & Marketing, Inc., a business communications company in Freeport, Maine. McCall writes the monthly Sales Force column for Entrepreneur magazine and contributes to inc.com and The Wall Street Journal’s StartupJournal.com. Sign up for her free weekly bulletin at www.MarketingAngel.com or contact McCall at 207-865-0055.