Create Opportunities
Too often people think “that doesn’t fit there or work there” and we see an opportunity to execute ideas by just approaching the problem with an idea or tool others would have never thought to use.
The problem was the opportunity!
Where others found a problem, we created an opportunity through promotional products!
the “ah ha” moment of opportunity where others saw an obstacle
Before I knew about “promotional products” or the unique opportunity they can create, I just thought I was doing something fun & absurd that was sure to get attention.
Getting “attention” and causing some sort of knee jerk reaction or dare I say “disruption” from your eye, mind or feeling is the goal of marketing and brand building in my opinion. In my youth and lack of experience with my first business Kryptonite, I would just “try crazy ideas out” to see what would work, and what needed to be adjusted to work (notice how I didn’t say “did not work.”)
A few years into the business I would notice just how much glassware I would go through, especially the “branded glasses” that would have a beers logo on one side. I brought this up at a local bar owner association meetings and quickly heard owners complain about how customers would steal the glasses that had different beer logos on them, and how frustrating that was to them. I then quickly realized that I would also do this when I was a customer, and how those glasses ended up in my cupboard… and bam! The idea hit me!
I needed to turn that problem into an opportunity! So I literally put on the cup “Krypto insisted I took this!” Which became a huge hit with our customers, conversation spark at the bar, and even more so a huge constant reminder every time they reached for a glass at home, triggering an experience and a connection to not just our brand, but a connection to our community we were building. This was just one step towards building a path towards a community/brand built around experiences, emotions, memories, passions, and participation on multiple levels and occasions.
Just a perspective on advertising at this time in 2004 when I first did these glasses, in cost and feedback:
1 - TV Spot - 30 sec spot on Local TV station: $200 - $500
1 - Print ad in the local newspaper for 1/8 page $150
1 - Radio spot - 30 seconds - $100 in not prime slots but you had to buy an ad package for a minimum of $1,000 per month.
I would rarely get feedback that they heard or saw our ad (unless I spelled something wrong***)
Co-op Glassware - .$97/glass
We ended up going through just under 2,000 glasses that year, and for the next 11 years I made a series of collectable cups that I still get people sending me texts of their glasses, or see on their facebook profile photos, posts or even at their houses. To this day now over 15 years later this continues. The cost? Less than any one of those other mediums for advertising. The emotional connection and experience given and connected to our community? Priceless… and one of many lessons on how promotional products can create an experience, trigger an emotional response and do it the moment you get it and help you relieve it 15+ years later. Can you tell me one TV spot, radio ad, or Print ad you did that can compare to promotional products?