Originally published by The Pomerado Newsgroup

Does it help my business to give away coffee mugs?

Liz Stone, Poway

Before I forget, let me wish you a happy holiday season. I’ve been having fun the past six months as this column has gotten underway, and hope you’re enjoying it too.

Pleasantries aside, this is a good time of year to consider coffee mugs and other premiums (also called ad specialties) as a part of your marketing mix.

As December fades from memory, you’ll probably find yourself inundated with ad specialty catalogs touting coffee mugs, T-shirts, canvas bags, pens…the list of possible premiums alone could fill this entire newspaper. These marketing tools all have one objective: to promote your business. Depending on what you sell and your customer’s profile, premiums may help your bottom line.

My friend Tom owns a small internet service provider firm. He used to bring coffee mugs to help the Chief Information Officer remember his name…until he saw a competitor’s coffee mug at a sales prospect’s office. Tom had an epiphany – he realized that “We give the same item, and nothing differentiates us.” With five other companies all giving coffee mugs to the same sales prospect, Tom’s premium effectiveness was eliminated.

That day he ordered leather coasters with his name, logo, and URL on it. Now, no matter whose coffee mug is used, Tom’s name is on the CIO’s desk. At the risk of sounding cliché, Tom chose to work smarter, rather than harder.

The average sales call today costs a company over $500, making a $10 premium seems like a pretty good way to open the customer’s door. Premiums also lure traffic to your booth at trade shows, though they also bring in lots of people seeking the freebie with no interest in buying anything.

With some imagination, premiums can help your business really be noticed. For example, Absolut Vodka gave out Father’s Day neckties with a sperm design on it. It may not have sold any vodka, but they got lots of free publicity from it.

I once saw a gaggle of engineers vying to get free metal rulers with inch/millimeter conversion tables on the back that were being distributed at an electronics trade show. Each engineer willingly submitted his business card to get his name stamped into the steel. These engineers tripped over each other to get the free item, while the company providing this item collected a pocket full of qualified sales prospects. You can’t argue with success.

Maximize your own premium buying efforts by considering the following:

• Be different – don’t do what everyone else in your industry or community does
• Know your audience – speak your customers’ language to find something that appeals to them
• Provide something with a perceived value (like the conversion table)

You should also understand the place of the ad specialty company, which can eliminate much of your legwork. However, if you know exactly what you want and your order’s big enough, you may do better working directly with a manufacturer.

Handled intelligently, premiums can boost your bottom line without breaking the bank. Premiums from a Nordstom or Bloomingdale’s even connote cachet, generating envy and encouraging non-customers to shop there too.

Treat your premiums with the same respect you would give your brochure, web site or other marketing vehicles. I still cringe from the trip I took to New York City where I saw a young man strolling by wearing a baseball shirt with his team’s name on the front. The shirt had his sponsor’s name on the back. Only the team name – the Orioles – was mis-spelled as the Oriloes.

Obviously, someone at the sponsor’s office hadn’t taken the time to proofread the shirts before they were made. So even if the sponsoring company’s brochure and web site were gorgeous, the only impression I came away with was of the poorly executed premium. My memory of the sponsor’s business will forever be negative.

So pay attention to detail. Don’t be afraid of the competition of or using your imagination. Do a Google search to find an ad specialty that’s as unique as your company. In the long-run, you should find it’ll help your visibility – and your profits, too.

With that said, I wish you a week of profitable marketing.

Mr. Marketing is currently searching for someone who can imprint his company’s name on the side of a live chicken. You can write to tell him how much you’re enjoying the column at www.askmrmarketing.com.