Real Promotions: Lexapro Plastic Reusable Grocery Bag

I bought eggs from my neighbor's little girl, and she gave them to me in this bag:



Her father is a pharmaceutical rep, obviously. But, since I'm always interested promotional items, after I put the eggs away I examined the bag. It's a simple plastic bag with handles made of the same material. This company imprinted a full coverage four color logo on both the front and the back.

Is this a successful promotion? Yes, I think it is. The logo is bright, eye catching and readable from afar--useful attributes on a bag that gets carried around. The base of the bag includes the company name, Forest Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and their five focuses: Pharmaceuticals, Therapeutics, Healthcare, Managed Care, and Specialty Sales. There is no contact number or website--but I don't think that's an omission on their part. The purpose of the bag is not to encourage people to shop at Forest Pharmaceuticals. Since prescriptions can only be written by a doctor, the purpose of the bag is to encourage people to recognize the name of the drug Lexapro and maybe ask their doctor about it. And the cost of plastic bags are lower than if they were non-woven or cotton bags or totes, so these bags help make marketing dollars go farther.

American Promotions carries a line of plastic bags so your company can "carry" your logo into promotional success too. Here's a Vinyl Accessory Bag, the clear Weekender, INSERT PLASTIC BAP LINK HERE

What promotional bags have crossed your path?

Finding Clients in Unusual Places

A recent article "Make A Splash In Unusual Places" in the Advertising Specialty Institute's monthly magazine, Advantages, discusses finding clients in unusual places. Tim Larson had been trying to break in to the local Chrysler plant for a long time, but ultimately, the connection was made a kid's pool party.

Other's in the article, found great leads at a horse show, a cowboy poetry event, and when answering someone who had dialed the wrong number.

This article is a simple representation of why it is important for a marketer or salesperson to always be ready and to have multiple ways of approaching a sales opportunity, even in casual conversation. The opportunities constantly present themselves, but it requires a measure of tact and human understanding to resist a pitch, but still naturally share information which people find useful.

An Analysis of A Women's Conference

My wife does a great marketer's analysis of a conference she attended in Portland a couple of weeks ago.

I went to a Time Out For Women conference in Portland last weekend. As a marketer, I can’t attend as just an audience member; I must analyze their marketing and look for areas where they should’ve asked my advice [wink].

I actually was impressed with this conference. They did a lot of things right. Here are 4 great ideas the conference did right, their table covers, their use of printed stickers, their giveaway bag, and their use of special conference pricing, and 1 idea to shorten their long lunch lines, a typical conference problem.

Table Covers: Logo or No Logo?

They had nice table covers displaying their products. They hung well, which is a way you can tell they were on the nice side rather than the cheaply made side. These table covers weren’t logoed, but I didn’t think that was a mistake on their part. They had less than 10 tables full of product. They didn’t need their table to stand out among the crowd, which is when logoed table covers earn their keep, because there wasn’t a crowd of competing sellers. . . .

You can finish the article here