Standing out from the competition

There are a number of tried and true marketing steps that all businesses must undertake when promoting their products or services. These include a well built website and SEO, Media Advertising and some direct marketing practices that depend on the nature of your business. While there is no question that these are important, there is also a growing need to stand out from your competition. How can your business shine in such a competitive world?

The answer to stepping away from the competition is by promoting your business in a REMARKABLE way. You may have undertaken all the bells & whistles when it comes to marketing, but still wonder why you are just floating with your head above water. After-all, your television commercial was funky and eye catching & much more vibrant than your corporate competitor. So why is it still such a relentless game? Maybe the solution lies with the fact that you are all doing the same things, they take out a full page ad in a major newspaper, next week its your turn. Stepping away does not mean you need to stop your core marketing strategy, it simply means to implement some new ideas. We have all heard about public relation stunts that go wrong, or sponsorship opportunities that do not seem to give much scope, but what about utilising branded products as the main focus of your promotion? Yes, it has all been done before, you have a collection of printed pens from various business and mugs with logos on them in your office. You can do a unique promotion that emphasises your brand and what your business is about in an sophisticated, yet memorable way. The examples that will be used to illustrate this concept are two very different types of businesses and based on actual marketing strategies that have been implemented effectively.

The first project was for a restaurant chain that was planning on starting a new range of seafood and some local beers on tap in their bars. The target market was 25-45 middle income couples and families. The desired outcome of this campaign was to secure a solid customer base for the new menu with word of mouth sales and interest. The first concept was to create branded items that sit on the tables for the customers to take home as souvenirs. The items they came up with were banner pens that had a menu list on the banner. The pen was small enough not to take up too much room on the table, but the retractable banner had a large enough area on each side to print the menu in vibrant colours, it also enabled the customer to take them home as a memorable token of their experience with the restaurant. Having the menu printed on the banner, meant that the customer could familiarise themselves with what was on offer and hopefully return to the restaurant to sample some more dishes on offer. The novelty of the retractable banner pen is also something that attracts the customers attention.
The second example is a large natural gas supplier. The latest message that they want to send to potential and existing customers is that they are more eco friendly and have employed greener energy to provide gas to households. Along with an awareness brochure that they had initiated, our strategy was to provide some eco friendly products that could be included in an information package about the company’s green approach to providing natural gas. We printed off some recycled rulers, cornstarch pens, pete tote bags and some solar powered flashing keytags. All of the items had an icon printed on them to indicate that they were environmentally friendly and the awareness slogan by the company about becoming ‘green.’ These strategies, enabled the client to communicate their new campaign with tangible products that were examples of ‘eco’ friendly concepts, allowing potential and existing clients to understand the purpose of the material more clearly.
To sum up, promoting your business can be enabled and enhanced with promotional products that are useful and relevant to your campaign. You can find products that suit your message and provide your clients with tangible items that remind them of an experience or make them think about the message that you are trying to send. Think outside the square, and get that message out there!