Giving someone a flyer or a business card might work wonders. Sometimes people switch off to sales. Rather than cold calling, maybe you can influence people to call you. The art of staying relevant, and remembered, could give you that edge over your competitors. For the purpose of this blog, we'll imagine we run some trendy little pizza delivery company. The first problem is that there are already some well established giants in the pizza delivery market, so we're brainstorming how we can get our fictitious brand out there.
The first tactic we'll discuss, is getting into the office.
Take a typical worker, 9am - 5pm at their desk behind a computer. Sure, you could try and reach them digitally via adverts - but as they're in work they likely aren't looking to deviate from their tasks to read about pizzas. If you're at your desk now, look around - if you're not, picture an office environment and the usual desk set ups. Where could our pizza brand make impact? We're not going to unveil a big poster banner on their wall (as they'd likely not let us) but here are some ways we'd get in front of the potential customers.
Notepads and pens.
A friendly gift of useful stationary.
Pens are very affordable in mass quantities, and always appreciated. A notepad gives you even more 'advertising real estate' due to bigger size available. The thought process here is that firstly the potential customer feels appreciation for your brand as you've given them a freebie of something genuinely useful to them and secondly, your brand will now be present on their desk for an extended period of time. Whilst picking up their branded pen might not inspire immediate hunger, they're subconsciously being reminded of your brand every day so that *hopefully* when they think 'Hey let's get a pizza!' they'll be reminded of your brand.
Added tip: sneak in a small piece of advertising to the footer of the notepad. Maybe a discount as a further 'gift'. "10% off your order when delivered to your office, we'll get you through the day!"
Mugs and coasters.
Another useful item (or two). We're not even entirely sure how, but a large Sports Direct mug often finds its way into the cupboards of the many, perhaps the extra large size makes it useful and earns it a place amongst the more aesthetic vessel choices. What a treat for Sports Direct to have their brand seen every day by so many - this could be your brand too.
The coaster is an extra thought, we have a special waterproof, durable material known as SuperTuffMenus®that has often been used for coasters too due to it being washable (no stains, no tears, no sogging). Our coaster flyers both advertise, and are usable! Continuing with the Pizzeria, imagine a tiny pizza design printed on the circular coaster, with the phone number and details on the back. Having a photo of a tasty pizza on the clients desk will inspire them and perhaps motivate hunger every time they lift their cup - and if it's your product making them salivate, you're on to a winner!
Mousemats.
Not too dissimilar from the thought process on coasters, mouse mats have an important use in offices with computers - you could capitalise on this by providing a bunch of quirky mouse mats. We'd advise not to go too heavy on the advertising side here, as the goal isn't to push a certain deal or sale, it's to put your branding on their desk and keep it there. Put a stylish design together that you think won't go out of favour too easily, or perhaps even keep it very simple, having your logo small but readable will keep you remembered!
We could recommend a whole host of other ideas for office stationary and supplies, but let's move on. The following idea is something we've seen fairly regularly and therefore want to discuss why it works, however please note that we can't encourage anything seen as littering, flyposting or vandalism, so proceed with caution!
Stickering. (Stickers)
Stickers are great, you can quickly place them anywhere. You can simply give them away and see where they end up. Maybe you have a quirky idea of how to encourage their usage - or maybe they're just pretty.
What we'll focus on here is the clever places we've seen companies place their stickers, and why that works for effective branding.
Traffic light buttons
You're about to cross the road, you're a good citizen and go to press the pedestrian crossing button and you look down and see a stick placed above it. An unexpected place for a pizza advertisement, but it's got your attention - a place where thousands of people will be directing their attention for a moment in time each day. Again, the traffic light isn't your property so you'd really need some sort of local council permission but we have seen many brands doing this in the past. Cheeky!
ATM machines.
Again, it's an area where you have someones undivided attention. They'll be standing there for at least 30 seconds, likely more, and a cheeky sticker (not obscuring the screen) might grab their attention. As above, although we've spotted this a few times, we've always wondered if the banks or council have ever slapped a brand with a fine for doing it!
Elevators.
Now we're indoors, so this is an easier one to get permission for from the premise owner. People are stuck in a metal box for a period of time, and if there isn't even a mirror in there then they'll have nothing to focus on. Give them something to read, give them something to see! Your brand has the opportunity to grab attention in an uncontested area for advertising.
We're not here to run your marketing, although we love to help develop your ideas and inspire some great results. At Love & Humphries, we're able to actualise your printing needs with care and flare. Get in touch to discuss your next print job and we'll give our expertise on all the clever printing options you can make use of!
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