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Direct effects of promotional products on financial KPI’s

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APPA Gold Award: SIDS and Kids Red Nose Day

Now in its 20th year, Red Nose Day has a well-established pride of place on the Australian fundraising calendar. Each June, SIDS and Kids raises millions of dollars Red Nose Day merchandise sales. The secret to its success, says Wompro's Jason Bradbury – the man behind the hundreds of thousands of foam red noses, awareness bracelets, magnets, plush toys and light-up pens – is that “SIDS and Kids approaches its fundraising like a retailer rather than a charity.”

Since Wompro supplied its first consignment of promotional lapel pins to SIDS and Kids seven years ago, the Red Nose Day campaign has developed significantly. “Originally, SIDS and Kids sourced products from several suppliers but because we're now contracted to supply the lot, we can bring together a more coherent and well-planned campaign,” says Bradbury.

Wompro begins by scouring the globe for emerging product and lifestyle trends that will define the range for the following year eight months in advance. “We can't pick up a hot new product at the last minute, so we have to anticipate what will be cool," Bradbury says. "Wompro collaborates with international experts – creative talent, global supplier partnerships, industrial designers and trend analysts – people who can recognise a must-have product or, even better, design one.”

This philosophy has seen SIDS and Kids introduce a series of merchandising firsts for Australian charities, including awareness bracelets, plush toys, lip balms, car magnets and even a designer Luigi Colani pen.

Aside from their appeal, products must meet stringent quality and safety standards. Products and packaging that made the shortlist in 2007 were then tested using online surveys of 3800 people and focus groups. Those selected face a battery of quality-control tests.

For Bradbury, SIDS and Kids is a source of great personal and professional pride. Not only has team Wompro won the industry's most prestigious awards in recognition for its Red Nose Day campaigns, work with the charity brings other unmeasurable rewards. “We provide our creative and IT services pro bono to SIDS and Kids because we get such a buzz knowing we're helping them raise the money needed to save babies’ lives. That’s the bottom line that really counts.”

Think promotional products are all about throwing money towards unquantifiable objectives rather than cold hard results? Think again. Tami Dower shares some insights gleaned from judging this year’s Australasian Promotional Products (APPA) Awards.

Promotional products were once considered a cheap and cheerful way to burn some surplus budget at the end of financial year – fuzzy feel-good gimmicks, justified by intangible objectives like ‘brand awareness’ and ‘goodwill’. Few marketers saw them as anything more than an add-on to the ‘real’ marketing strategy, and even their proponents would duck for cover at the mere mention of ROI. But times have changed. Promotional products are now cementing their place as solid performers in the overall marketing mix. And, as the recent APPA Awards demonstrated, the proponents are now proudly proclaiming their successes with direct reference to the bottom line.

“There is no question attitudes have changed and people are now investing their resources in this medium,” says Nathan Schipper, director of Tangibility. “In 2006, below the line advertising – which includes promotional products – exceeded above the line expenditure for the first time ever.”

Ross Stevenson, general manager of promotional marketing at Corporate Express, attributes the shift to the availability of better quality promotional products. “In the last decade, the promotional marketing industry in Australia has matured considerably. Clients now look to promotional merchandise as a key component in achieving their marketing objectives.”

Bringing home the bacon
At the heart of most marketing strategies is an imperative to increase sales. This objective was clearly demonstrated by this year’s Gold Award winner in the APPA Awards’ Consumer Programs category.

Corporate Express Promotional Marketing SA knew that its client, Mitsubishi Motors Australia, needed to inject some excitement into its dealerships’ corporate merchandise sales. So, with just 24 hours to pull something together, the promotional products company came up with a strategy to capitalise on the imminent guest appearance of six-time winner of the Paris-Dakar Rally, Stephane Peterhansel, at the 2006 Sydney Motor Show.

The 11th hour plan involved air-freighting 100 Ralliart Racing Caps and setting up an appointment to meet Stephane, who fortunately agreed to sign all the caps before leaving for Europe the next morning. Rather than just merchandise the caps as they were, Corporate Express saw a further opportunity to increase the caps’ value. The company designed a limited number of showcases and mounted the caps in individually-numbered special edition wall displays. The promotion increased the client’s merchandise sales by 30 percent within the first three months.

Taking out the Silver Award in the same category, Wompro designed and developed a range of premium gifts to be used as a gift with purchase program for Hennessey Cognac. Aimed at a target market of male consumers with high disposable incomes, the gift packs included silver-plated cufflinks, a playing card set encased in a faux-leather gold-embossed hinged case, and a dice cup set. As a result of the initiative, the client achieved record sell-through rates for its Father’s Day and Christmas promotions.

In a co-branded promotional product initiative, which won the Gold Award for the Limited Budget (Under $5) category last year, Men’s Health magazine partnered with Pure Blonde beer to increase sales of both the magazine and the beer. The companies worked closely with Sands Promotions to create a retail-driven gift with purchase program that tied in with Men’s Health’s 100th issue. Sands Promotions designed and manufactured the keyring bottle-opener, which was attached to the front cover of the magazine. A backing card encouraged readers to ‘Get a six-pack on us’, inviting them to present their card at any BWS outlet, buy a six-pack of Pure Blonde and get another six-pack for free. The campaign generated a response rate of more than 12 percent.

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