Muldoon Marketing Inc.

We want to see your logo on stuff.  If you’ve taken photos of the stuff we’ve worked on with you, we’d love to see it in action.  Please share your pics with us on Flickr.  You can do this in one of three ways.

Way 1:

Go to the “Promotional Products” page on our website

Scroll down and click on “See more on Flickr”

Join our group as a member and you can post up to 3 photos per day

Way 2:

Go to Flickr.com

Type “Your Logos on Stuff” in the search field

On the next page choose “Groups” (just above the search field)

Click on the M/Your Logos on Stuff group

Join our group as a member and you can post up to 3 photos per day

Way 3:

If you really want to share and don’t want to join Flickr, just email your photos to your Muldoon contact and we’ll post from our end!!

We can’t wait to see your smiling mugs (given our business you may choose to take this literally…or not) showing off your stuff!

Last time we talked about people liking and using promotional products.  In addition, they create a favourable impression of the advertiser and often generate purchases.  They’re memorable and rank high as a marketing tool by promotional products buyers.

We’re not making this stuff up.  Studies¹ have shown that promotional products are an effective advertising medium and actually outperform some of the other media.

• Promotional products generate more post-message purchases than print, TV or on-line ads (20.9% vs. 13.4%, 7.1% and 4.6%, respectively).

• They illicit a more favourable impression than print, TV or on-line ads. 52.6% of consumers had a favourable impression of the advertiser after receiving a promotional product versus viewing a print ad (33.2%), a TV ad (27.7%) or an on-line ad (11.9%)

• 14.7% contacted the advertiser after receiving a promotional product, a rate almost 3 times greater than print, TV or on-line ads.

Promo products are also memorable.  When respondents were asked to think of a promotional product they received in the past 2 years and to recall the specific product, the advertiser and the message, 76.2% recalled all three pieces of information.

End-Buyers, those who purchase promotional products for their companies, ranked promo products #1 in the following media attributes²:

• Ability to achieve long-term memorability at the cost of paying for a single exposure;

• Flexibility to fit cost of medium to whatever budget is available;

• Ability to bond audience to advertiser so as to promote repeat business;

• Audience friendly (i.e. not so likely to offend or be regarded as nuisance);

• Ability to generate traffic (eg. Stores, tradeshows, events).

Call them whatever you like, promotional products are powerful communication tools; essential components of any marketing program.  Promotional Products Work!

¹Promotional Products and Other Media: How the Media Compare on Reach, Recall and Reaction, PPAI Research fielded through MarketTools Inc., 2009

²Why End-Buyers Choose Promotional Products and Other Media, conducted by Researchers at Louisiana State University and Glenrich Business Studies for PPAI  Research, 2009

Nearly everyone has faced budget pressures, both professionally and personally, over the past few years.  Purchasers of promotional products are no exception as this portion of the marketing budget is often one of the first to be reduced.  These budget pressures have led some individuals to attempt to get closer to the source in an effort to eliminate the markups along the supply chain.  But is eliminating companies along the supply chain always worth the potential risks?  As the old adage goes, “buyer beware”.

When you buy direct, you are often not given all of the information up front. If you don’t know the questions to ask, you may be surprised to know that the price quoted is “ex-factory” which is the price at the factory and doesn’t include any subsequent shipping, brokerage, and duty or tax charges.  It’s also possible to save money when buying directly from a manufacturer but it may be because they are not testing their products and maintaining compliance with industry regulations; they cut these corners but it’s not actually in the best interest of the end user.

The supplier is often focused on making the sale, not on developing a future relationship.  If something goes bad, for example a botched logo or a virus on each and every digital frame you just bought (a real $20,000 error we heard about from a supplier recently, yikes!), they are not inclined to care, particularly when they already have your money.  Already having your money is often the case since deposits are required for overseas purchases!  When purchasing locally you are getting local support for any potential issues that may arise.

Earlier this year Alibaba.com Ltd., an on-line B2B marketplace based in China, disclosed that about 100 of its salespeople had assisted fraudulent businesses to set up on-line storefronts on its site to intentionally defraud global buyers.  While not linked to the fraud allegations, the CEO and COO resigned after this disclosure to “take responsibility for the systemic breakdown in our company’s culture of integrity”.

Contemplate this, is price the most important factor to consider when purchasing promotional products?  We don’t think so.  We’re sharing these scenarios because they actually happen.  Working with an industry professional who is knowledgeable about quality and safety and compliance can actually prevent mistakes that would otherwise prove costly.

When you deal with a distributor with whom you have a relationship, who knows and cares about the success of your business, they can take on issues or challenges and resolve them, often without you even knowing there was an issue.  With the internet and Google search, it’s easy to feel like the world is at your fingertips and you can source everything yourself.  On the other hand, sometimes it is better to leave things to the experts.