If you have purchased furniture, at some point, you’ve probably had to assemble a piece or two on your own.   At first glance, it is looks like an easy process – legs go here, drawer face there, top goes on like so, etc. Sometimes there are even rudimentary instructions.  It is not that hard to assemble it to a point where it is functional.

Once you start using a self assembled piece, you often find that your creation has a few blemishes: it wobbles when you touch it, the drawers a bit misaligned, or the doors may not close all the way.  None fatal defects, but at some point you have to spend time trying to correct the problems and keeping it functioning properly.

The alternative is to buy a piece that is assembled (by someone that does that sort of thing for a living)– it may cost a few bucks more on the front end, it is put together well, everything lines up, and it functions exactly as designed. You can eat on it right away, put stuff inside, and generally enjoy how it complements your room (no worries about the craftsmanship, or intermittent tweaking required).

Compare the above to implementation of a digital music promotion.  To a sponsor (or their agency) assembly looks straightforward. All you need is music and a delivery vehicle right? Pick up the phone, call a label (or at least a music site), dazzle them with marketing acumen, done deal.  Or is it?

Can it be done as described above? Sure with some amount of time and effort. Look closer though, who takes care of the underlying issues like contracting/licensing platform reliability, budgeting, customer service, delivery obstacles, etc.?  Who’ll align the drawers?

The alternative is to partner with a specialist that assembles and executes the digital music programs for a living, handling all ancillary details mentioned above.   Licensing/contracting – check, proven systems in place.  At that point, a marketer doesn’t have to mess with making things fit together snugly; they can focus on other aspects of their business.  How much overall time and effort is saved going this route? How many fewer headaches involved?

Digital music as a promotional incentive can be a powerful tool for a marketer – just make sure that you have someone that can align your drawers for you.

written by Steve \\ tags: Digital Incentives, Digital Music

I want 13...BILLLLLLLLLION dollars!

Mine is straightforward – take the promotional products industry, and reduce its sales by 70%, or $13.8B. Ok, not the sales exactly, more like the topline number.

According to the Advertising Specialty industry, in 2008 promotional products industry sales were $19.8 …BILLION dollars! I don’t have anything personal against the ASI/PPAI folks, but I question the effectiveness of the marketing spend. Let’s cut to the chase, the interrogation goes like this:
How effective were your (insert promo product here) …flashlights? Do you know who got them? Will you be able to follow up with those consumers? How easy were they to distribute? Did the perceived value of the incentive net incremental sales?

Ouch, these answers can be prickly.

I think that promotional products/incentives have their place, it’s just at the end of the aughts, I think they should be (mostly) digital. Why? Well, digital incentives (for today, let’s call it “content”) have several advantages to physical products: They offer instant gratification, you can track who has them, integrate those consumers into your CRM plan, distribution is simple (by comparison), and by taking advantage of breakage, you can offer consumers a higher perceived value incentive. The thing I really like though is the way that you can engage a consumer in a rich experience, and get them interacting with your brand in a positive manner. Try doing that same calculus with a free hat and get back to me.

So back to my plan…by leveraging digital incentives, the promotional spend becomes more targeted, distribution becomes less expensive (and less worrisome too), and know marketers are able to pass incentives (with higher perceived values) to the consumer. These are substantive benefits, with less waste and lower costs. My idea is not really an evil one; it’s just a wakeup call to marketers and promotional sales folks alike. The digital future is now, embrace it, leverage it, benefit from it. This message is not unique to me alone, check out Tom Foremski’s thoughts on the Internet’s devaluation effect…

World domination can wait until later.

written by Steve \\ tags: Digital Incentives, Promotional Products