June 2009 Archives

A colleague sent me an interesting article from The Center for Media Research about people's spending habits in response to the current recession.

The article broke down the U.S. consumer population into eight 'consumer typologies' based on how their spending habits did or did not change after the economy tanked last year:

• Crash Dieters, the "cash oriented group" who only buy the necessities
• Scrimpers, who swap brands to maintain their lifestyle
• Abstainers, the group who wants to get it now but pay for it later
• Balancers, who "prefer sacrifice to compromise"
• Treaters, who regularly treat themselves for good spending behavior
• Justifiers, who need a good reason to spend and are attracted to limited offers and new models
• Ostriches, who have maintained their normal spending behavior with no change in habits
• Vultures, who "love a good economic crash" for all the bargains they can find

So what does this mean to you? By carefully targeting each type of spender individually, you can get a leg up on your competition: Give the Scrimpers value-oriented alternatives to their usual brands; feed the Vultures with clearance and closeouts, and tempt the Justifiers with last-minute sales.

Marketing during a recession is challenging at best, but knowing how people react to difficult times can help you focus your efforts. Now that's smart marketing!

Promo Marketing magazine recently released their annual rankings of the top 50 promotional product distributors in the US and guess who made the cut again? That's right, Leaderpromos.com!

To put the top 50 into perspective, the Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) alone counts more than 22,000 promotional product distributors in the United States.

We'd like to say thanks to all who helped in our success and we hope our efforts brought you just as much. Keep your eyes out for us next year!

How cool is this...I was browsing the web searching for promotional product articles and came across an article I knew I had to share here. I've been telling you how promotional products will work for your company, I've even given you facts and statistics on how smart promotional products will increase awareness of your company or organization--but how about some hard-core proof? Well here it is:

The University of Pennsylvania and University of Miami participated in a recent study to test the effectiveness of promotional products in a hospital environment. Three hundred and fifty two students were randomly split into two groups, a control group which carried non-imprinted clip boards and notepads, and an experimental group which was provided promotional clip boards and notepads imprinted with the logo for Lipitor, a cholesterol-lowering drug.

Afterwards, a test was given to all participating medical students inquiring about their attitudes towards various cholesterol-lowering drugs and the results were impressive. Students that were given the Lipitor-branded promotional items reflected a more pleasant and excited attitude towards Lipitor than the control group. Doctors who reviewed all answers said, "Results show that that subtle branding is influential."

Here's proof that promotional products actually work, even with normal but useful items such as notepads and clip boards. These results can work for your company, too--our team of promotional products experts can provide custom-tailored ideas for your next campaign or event. Now that's smart marketing!