The Ad Specialties business is HUGE. ASI is the biggest Association. Many printers, stationery shops, etc. are ASI dealers.

As a corporate VP of Marketing and Advertising, I spent millions of dollars on pens, golf balls, flashlights, carrying bags...almost anything you can imagine. Naturally, I was interested in the biggest bang for the buck.

Just now, I tried to remember the last item I got from a vendor/supplier. I couldn't come up with one thing off the top of my head. Then, I opened my desk. I found 14 pens, 5 letter openers, two sets of nail clippers, a flashlight or two, several knives, a voltage tester and a lot more.

Then, I went in the back and found tape measures, magnets, coffee cups, stainless steel mugs, stacks of hats, a couple of watches, a stopwatch and of other items with logos.

There were calendars everywhere, but, before I looked, I couldn't tell you who sent even one of any of these items. Some are Cross pens, name golf ball packs, etc. The calendar in my office came from UPS, but I had to look for a logo to identify the source, and I look at it every day..

In a marketing class I taught and then again on a research project for a car parts manufacturer I was hired to do, I researched the "recall rate" on AD specialties. Research involved wiring people up to galvonic skin response machines (fancy lie detectors) and measuring eye dialation...both indicators of impact effectiveness.

The most effective thing we found was, believe it or not, note pads. People still use them, they're cheap and there is a logo or Id on each page of, say a 25 page pad. Plus, each person who gets a note sees the logo, and you always have a reason to deliver replacements. Biggest users of note pads are pharmaceutical reps. Most carry a box of pads and deliver them to every contact.

Sadly, once an ad specialty item is delivered, unless it's so unique that it would be noticed/admired on it's own merits, the recal rate is almost non-existant.

Ad specialties are only effective if they are a small part of an organized communications program...it's recall maintenance, not a major results generator.


Gary made a major point....follow-up/substance. A business driven by advertising, rather than product or service quality is on a slippery slope.

Calendars and the like are nice, but the recall rate two days after delivery, even when the item is used, is almost non-existant.

So, I'd get them, and distribute them as a SMALL integral part of your marketing effort, but not rely on them to generate lots of business attributed to ONLY them.

Remember, successful promotion is like peeing in a dark pair of pants. You don't see anything, you just get this nice warm feeling...


Russ "is the lecture over?" Lay


[This message has been edited by captain Russ (edited 08-22-2008).]