When the programming and staffing firm Computer Systems Authority (CSA) needed to stand out in a crowd of 150 competitors at trade show in Hawaii, they did so by knowing intimately the show’s audience and handing out promotional products that were undeniably compelling to visitors. Starting with CSA’s tagline, “Real Solutions for a Real World,” the company formed a campaign that provided cleverly targeted merchandise to reinforce the fact that CSA “rescued” clients from a variety of programming and staffing issues. Trade show staff were positioned as “lifesavers” and dressed in Hawaiian shirts embroidered with the company’s motto. Rolls of Lifesaver candies were imprinted with the CSA logo and used as giveaways, along with replica life-preserver beverage holders that were stuffed with service information. Knowing that most of the attendees had flown to the event in Hawaii, CSA also used imprinted decks of playing cards for the flight home. These too strategically carried service details.

“As a result, CSA’s booth had the most attention. In fact, a Hawaiian TV crew chose them over everyone else to focus their trade show coverage, because they complemented the lifestyle and tourism message of Hawaii,” says Ross Baxter, the promotional consultant who helped coordinate the effort.

If CSA had typecast its audience as business executives, it might have simply handed out pens or notepads. Instead, with Baxter’s help, CSA peeled back layers of concepts about the audience, thinking of them not only as businesspeople, but also as travelers and tourists – as well as considering the location and media with which the executives would be interacting.

It’s the goal of every company: to stand out from the crowd. But it’s often easier said than done. Too often companies borrow marketing efforts from their competitors, fail to understand their audience – or to define who their audience is, for that matter – or fall back on old marketing methods that simply don’t have an impact with changing customer interests.

To figure out just what will turn a target audience on, corporate marketers may ask themselves the same questions that govern good reporting: the who, what, when, where and why of any story – or, as the case may be, any audience. It’s the first step that any firm should take with a new campaign, says Baxter.

Too often companies hurl themselves into well intentioned campaigns complete with promotional products that seem sure to grab market attention. The problem: Those products are decided upon without first knowing how they will be received. Marketers can easily avoid such frustration by following some of the smart moves – and avoiding the mistakes – of the companies we’ve highlighted here.

Address the Needs
The key, of course, in parsing clients to find products appealing to them is to first understand your target demographic. Age, for example, can significantly shape a campaign strategy. Sears Methodist Retirement System Inc. structures its marketing around the older population it serves. The company, with facilities throughout Texas, offers a range of services, from independent-living communities to assisted-living services and specialized facilities to care for Alzheimer’s patients. For that reason, its marketers have looked at age, income and regional factors in shaping their messages. The target market is seniors and their adult children, who are often overwhelmed as caregivers.

Outreach has been an effective vehicle to touch target audiences and to learn more about them. Sears’ facilities, called “campuses,” are used for public relations events, one of which included a “traditional high tea” in the facility’s dining room, says Courtney Vletas, a Sears spokesperson. The event was open to the public. At such events, imprinted products are handed out to visitors, but its done with a nod to the demographics of the group. For example, bookmarks are handed out to older people who, Sears has found, are typically avid readers. On other occasions giveaways are coffee mugs since audience members have been regular coffee drinkers for years.

All products, advertisements and collateral materials are carefully chosen based on seniors’ self perception as well. “Design is a key factor,” Vletas says. “People usually see themselves as 10 years younger. So we often use people with an active lifestyle in imagery. And, active doesn’t necessarily mean walking or playing golf. It also means gardening, playing cards, taking part in art activities, going to the symphony and dining with friends.”

Addressing needs also applies to the presentation of campaign materials and products. “Brevity in copy and type size are considered,” Vletas says. And, “we often use larger type for our audiences.” Other factors to consider may include the packaging of promotional gifts. Sears makes sure items are easy to open, so older people with arthritis don’t have to be pained fumbling with tightly tied ribbons or shrink-wrapped promotions. And the products themselves are user-friendly, such as a deck of cards with large, easy-to-see numbers and suits.

Sears’ inclusive approach has generated significant response. “Since we launched a campaign for a campus six weeks ago, they have had three admits and have given more than 80 tours,” Vletas says.
All of this is smart marketing in conjunction with promotional products, experts say. “What Sears is demonstrating is that connectedness, relationships, and promotional insight to the needs of the audience reap big rewards, partly because so many of their competitors have such an institutional feel to their promotions,” says Marjorie Cooper, Ph.D., a professor of marketing at Baylor University in Waco. “It is critical to remember what a very emotional event it is for seniors to move out of their homes and into more formalized living conditions. And, for adult children, the responsibilities and the decision-making as well as the financial concerns associated with caring for seniors can be really overwhelming. Promotions that show sensitivity and understanding are bound to be well-received.”

Create a Community
Seniors have been a key demographic for West Texas tourist destination Joyce Lavender Ranch, as well. But there’s a more nuanced demographic exploration going on here also. Early on, through local convention bureaus and the small business development center at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX, operators of the family-owned business in Abilene, TX, carefully researched its target markets and determined that the audiences most likely to visit their fields are guests who can hand-pick their own lavender. “Our early research indicated that day trips to the country are very popular,” says co-owner Cherisse Flanagan. “Over 80% of the travelers to rural Texas in 1999 traveled less than 250 miles from their homes.” Those day-trippers consisted of seniors (mostly garden enthusiasts and retirees with time to wander) as well as urban residents seeking escape, and families wanting to share a rural experience with their children.

Appealing to that demographic, every element related to Joyce Lavender has zeroed in on stirring nostalgic emotion. “We are selling an experience. Our logo tries to show a glimpse of that experience. The elements we worked into the logo include the lavender field, a ranch hand whose attire suggests simpler times, and a mesquite tree typical of our landscape. Therefore, all of our products have the logo and the ranch feel,” Flanagan says.

That’s smart marketing, Cooper agrees. “Today’s world is a stress-laden environment in which appeals to a slower, gentler time play very well. The combination of positive imagery with attractive, tangible promotional vehicles presents a unified message to recipients that says, ‘Take a break to once again enjoy the things you love with us,’” she says. And that effectively resonates with visitors.

Joyce staff and family members wear promotional T-shirts as well, hoping to intrigue those they meet or to spark questions when working the fields. They’ve even sold some of the garments as souvenirs. “Of course, any time we can get people walking around with our logo advertising for us, we are thrilled,” Flanagan says, recalling the power a simple logo can have to spark inquiry. “Recently my daughter was wearing the T-shirt at the grocery store and I was asked by another shopper, ‘Are you the lavender lady?’ which prompted a discussion about the ranch.”

The home-style promotion has paid off. The first three “Pick Your Own” events drew over 1,700 curious tourists to cut lavender and to buy products. In fact, Joyce Lavender quickly sold out of its stock and had to scramble to produce more items.

Don’t Miss the Target
For connoisseurs of lavender, more elaborate, fanciful promotions might be enticing. But, sometimes fancier isn’t better. And it’s important when studying your target demographic that you don’t project onto your audience what you think they would like. Baxter learned this lesson quickly when, as vice president of Atlanta-based Internet service provider WebEntrada in the mid-1990s, he targeted the Hispanic market. He created a sleek kiosk of granite, glass and galvanized steel, complete with a Spanish-language computer game as an interactive incentive. The setup was intended to draw prospects in a crowd he specifically thought would be drawn to such glitz.

Instead, the kiosk intimidated the audience, and few people approached. After additional research, Baxter learned that Hispanic consumers were uncomfortable in such high-end environments, instead preferring a more approachable, family-friendly atmosphere. Though he retained the granite kiosk for certain locations, he created separate mobile classrooms in buses to park near the entrance of Atlanta’s Plaza Fiesta. There he used colorfully painted plywood cutouts for a beanbag-toss game and imprinted balloons to engage Hispanic children. Tables staffed with Spanish speakers signed up parents for free computer training inside the bus. The new approach attracted crowds of prospects who felt invited by the festivities.

When all was said and done, Baxter realized the value of understanding his target audience. For Hispanics, key concerns were family, accessibility and recognition. The low-tech version of his new marketing plan addressed those concerns by providing easy, fun activities and gifts. “You’ve got to understand the hot buttons,” Baxter says. “Ultimately, we used both high- and low-tech approaches, discovering that low tech was very effective because it wasn’t intimidating and had more resemblance to the small towns that many Hispanics were from.”

Even though Baxter initially failed in reaching his target audience, he was way ahead of many marketers in that he had defined to whom he was marketing. He also knew where and when to find them. And, ultimately, he discovered what motivated them and why they would purchase.

The relevance of research persistence is clear when you begin to analyze the Hispanic marketplace, where it isn’t enough to define the audience by the language they speak. It’s also imperative to understand even more narrowly sliced demographics, e.g. are you dealing with those of Mexican or Cuban or Puerto Rican heritage? Each segment typically represents a different education level, economic status and expectations. They live in different areas of the United States and even vary by neighborhood from city to city. It’s never enough to scratch the surface. You must understand each group’s different layers.

Promote on Their Level
What made the Joyce Lavender promotions so effective wasn’t a large budget or sophisticated database modeling system. Instead, it was old-fashioned outreach – basically word-of-mouth buzz within the key audiences the business owners wanted to attract. That involves simply asking a few questions.
“ A company should identify the message they really want to send, who should receive it and what it is worth to get a favorable response,” Baxter says. “After determining the answers, it’s easier to state clear promotional objectives and goals. For example, imagine being the recipient of the message or messages. How would you feel? What actions might you take, if any? Know the desired outcome and it will be easier to determine if you’re on the right track with your promotion.”

Joyce Lavender knew it wanted to send a message of rustic charm and relaxation to those harried by everyday life. Yet, as a startup family enterprise, Joyce had a limited budget. So the favorable response it sought – generating word of mouth and attendance at “Pick Your Own” events – became the goal. While the audiences were rather large, including communities across West Texas, the thoughtful gestures used to spread the message were modest and insightfully targeted.

The same questions of audience, message and desired response still apply even if a targeted group consists of only a few dozen people. When courting International Olympic Committee officials in an effort to bring the 1996 games to Atlanta, Baxter put the same guidelines to good use. “We knew that whatever promotional gift we selected had to be unisex, appropriate for high-level executives, but not viewed as a bribe, and focused on bringing the games to our city,” he recalls. With those parameters in mind, he chose a high-quality kaleidoscope imprinted with the five colors of the symbolic rings that were also reflected in the chamber. The gift card read, “Let’s Look to Bring the Rings to Atlanta in 1996.”

Similarly, companies have successfully used promotional products to convey audience-specific meaning in succinct terms. “You must develop a message that is relevant to the audiences’ wants, needs and desires,” says promotional counselor Michael Crooks. “Do this by observing, reading trade journals, talking with people, doing surveys and focus groups. Then determine how the product or service is relevant. Based on your research, you develop a message or messages that appeal to the audience.”
When the Michigan Public Health Institute wanted to reach middle-school students, its community health consultant, Shelli Doll, turned to Crooks for assistance in tailoring its message to the young audience. Initially, the tagline was “Sex Can Wait.” Despite being simple and clear, the slogan by itself concerned Crooks. It didn’t get at the mindset of the students whose desires were based in “being cool” and having a social sense of belonging.

So Crooks went to the audience. “I took a look at several junior highs in the area, simply by watching kids go to and from school. What hit me was the number of kids with headphones listening to CDs. This led me to seriously consider CD holders, but I wanted to create a message that would be relevant. I sat down and wrote a number of headlines until deciding on, ‘My Future Rocks! Sex Can Wait.’”

The CD holders were given to teachers to hand out as rewards for attendance, good citizenship and completed homework. In addition, other products were added to the campaign, including “mood pens” that change colors (“Whatever the Mood, Sex Can Wait”), neon shoelaces and sticky-note holders (“Your Hopes, Your Dreams. Stick With Them. Sex Can Wait”).

Doll credits the targeted products and taglines with the successful promotion of MPHI’s “Sex Can Wait” message. By selecting audience-appropriate products and youth-oriented messages, MPHI has ensured its slogan enjoys multiple impressions. Each student who carries or wears these imprinted products not only becomes a walking billboard for the message but creates a group mentality that abstinence is socially acceptable and the “cool” thing to do. The items have been so popular that the campaign was extended and products reordered to keep up with demand. “The youths and adults they were targeted to loved them; we’re always getting calls for more,” Doll says.

As these successful marketers did, it’s crucial to find out the details of an audience long before deciding upon the premiums to give that group. Marketers can do that by first asking, who, what, when, where and why. After all, says Cooper, “effective marketing includes not only targeting the right audience, but also formulating a message that resonates with that audience.”

Tonia Cook Kimbrough is a freelance writer in Jacksonville, FL, who covers the promotional products industry.