Putting My Suggestions Where My Mouth Is (or something)

I was challenged by a couple of anonymous commenters on yesterday’s post to come up with tchotchkes that were a tad more practical than underwear.  Ha!  I accept the gauntlet you have thrown down, varlets!

Picture frames (especially with photos):  at Whitehill, we had a tremendously successful trade show gimmick. (Actually we had several, but this post is about effective give-aways only).  In our booth, we would erect a photo studio-like backdrop of whatever city we were in – the “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign if we were in Vegas; a Bourbon St. street sign if we were in New Orleans; etc.  We would then provide “props” for visitors to don – gold-rimmed sunglasses in Vegas; beads and boas in N.O., etc.  We would then take a digital photo of the booth visitor standing in front of the scenery, and print it immediately.  THEN, (and here’s the magic), we would put the photo in one of those cardboard frames you get from photographers.  Except the FRAME had our logo embossed on it.  So the people would take their slightly humourous, but work-related, frame back and put it on their desks!  So they, and everyone who walked past, saw our logo every day for months.  In case you can’t picture what I’m talking about, here’s an example:

Now in this case, the it’s the photographer that is marketing himself, but you get the idea.

Telescopes: Once, at Maximizer, we sent our CEO on an executive cruise aboard the Queen Mary off New York city.  The idea was that a whole bunch of prospective customers and partners were going to be trapped with you for several hours.  It was very expensive to join this excursion, so why not put a little extra dough into making sure people remembered us afterwards?  We had actual working (pretty damn good working, actually) telescopes logoed and gave one to everyone who was a target.  I still use mine, and I bet the majority of other recipients do, too.

Mittens:  I have never actually used this one – I just dreamed it up now.  Here in Canada, every sentient being possesses some variation of Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics mittens.  Granted, this idea wouldn’t fly too high in Vegas or N.O., but if they’re good quality, they’re something that people will use often in colder climes.  And even if they just turn into “trash” mittens, like the jacket in my last post, they’ll still stick around and get used for a while.  And think of the novelty at a trade show – “Did you visit the brooXmark booth yet?  They’re giving out MITTENS!”

Fridge magnet clips:  Tried and true, but still effective.  A good quality, attractively designed, FUNCTIONING, fridge magnet with a clip attached to it, is a valuable possession, but oddly one that few people will actually go out and purchase.  So give them one with your name written on it!

Enough free advice.