I recently received a nice imprinted USB jump drive from a business contact. The $20-30 drive was wrapped in a piece of bubble wrap secured with a rubber band and left on a table for me without discussion. After the meeting, it was nearly thrown out with the trash.
1. Assess What Your Communications Say About You
Brainstorm is using a similar 128MB USB jump drive for a promotion; however, to us, the combined effect of the promotional item and the presentation represents the value we place on the recipient. As a premium, it also reflects us, our organization—our brand. Whenever possible, we hand deliver it as an opportunity to market ourselves strategically one-to-one.
2. View Your Premium as Something of Value
For the time and money invested in any premium, it should provide value—be something the recipient can use, like the jump drive—or fulfill a purpose, i.e., function within an overall marketing strategy and also stand alone to pay off a themed concept. The piece itself and its packaging must align with the brand aesthetic, mood and message. And, although not necessarily expensive, it must be properly executed with high production values.
3. Your Fit and Finish Must Fit and Finish Your Message
For our jump drive promotion we created a custom package, a trapezoidal obelisk box, finished in a matte silver with a hot orange fluorescent interior. On the exterior we added a simple contemporary pattern, our web url and our logo for a clean retail look.
The drives came in nice but plain protective cases from the manufacturer, so we added a Brainstorm touch, sealing them with small matching fluorescent labels with basic information about the drive. We then wrapped the cases in silver tissue, placed them inside the silver boxes and sealed the box with another fluorescent label with a concise five-word headline that included Brainstorm, the function of the premium itself, a potential benefit to the recipient, and a tacit call to action. It all falls in line with a newly-established brand mood that says to the recipient, “You’re a valued person.”
Furthermore, the integrated labeling system allows the boxes to be re-purposed for use in future promotions. We ordered extra quantities, thus reducing our unit cost and amortizing overall costs across future campaigns.
4. Presentation, Presentation, Presentation
Of course all of this is for naught if we do not present the box properly to our customers. We like to hand the box to our clients in person, or in meetings, we stand the box, message forward, in front of the recipient’s place at the table. If mailed, the box is carefully packaged in a shipping box replete with matching labels and additional messaging.
5. An Extra Touch
Hopefully the recipient will tell their colleagues about the drive, the package, and their nice experience with Brainstorm. But whether they do or not, long after the meeting ends when they insert the drive into their computer they’ll find the device labeled with what Dale Carnegie referred to as the single most important word in the world—their name.
What Drives Us
Although the drive is a stand-alone project and represents a very small aspect of our marketing efforts, it really supports a larger objective, the advancement of Brainstorm’s brand equity—always a good investment.
Not sure all of this planning, execution and follow through is justified? Consider how Apple’s Steve Jobs might weigh in on that question, or Nike’s Phil Knight, or Starbuck’s Howard Schultz, or Target’s Robert Ulrich, or FedEx’s Fred Smith. If you still have doubts, just ask us.
