This month’s My Best Promotion was submitted by Bob Gatta, president of Novacon Promotional Products, White Marsh, Md. Gatta spoke about his experiences providing safety incentives for a local steel company. By understanding his client’s needs and personality, he was able to sell a much higher-end and more expensive product that was not only well-received, but also ended up generating a significant number of leads within the steel company.
Promo Marketing: Could you describe a promotion that you consider one of your best?
Bob Gatta: I think the Peterboro Drum Cooler will always remain my favorite promotion because it involved the meeting of two great minds (mine and the client’s).
Joe was a big, burley lifelong steelworker, managing a 525 employee division of a major steel company. Joe was fun to work with and he really enjoyed promoting safety. We had done many jackets, caps, duffels, etc. over the years and Joe yearned for something new and different. I knew the cooler was out of his budget, but I also knew he could find the money if he really liked the item.
As we usually met with other members of his safety team, I filled the cooler with ice and soft drinks prior to the meeting (and carried it up three flights of stairs). I pushed the concept that the cooler with a bold logo and message on the lid would remain in the home for years to come as a constant reminder of the safety achievement. You could feel the excitement in the room and Joe not only bought into the promotion and found the budget, but took it a step further by filling it with soft drinks and juices for every weekly group safety meeting. Employees were told that if they worked safe for one year, they would each receive one.
The result was a 100 percent safe year and when the coolers were received, each employee was allowed to drive to the loading dock and pick it up. This created quite a stir throughout the entire facility, and soon other divisions came to us for promotional products, resulting in over $250,000 in sales the next year.
PM: What did you like about this promotion?
BG: I really liked the fun it was to sell it. I’m reasonably creative, but my client there was just as creative. I brought the product in filled with beverages, and he took that lead and used it at his safety meetings to give everyone a beverage and to promote the cooler as their reward at the end of the year.
PM: What was the best decision you made with this promotion, and why?
BG: The best decision was to show it to a buyer who I knew would love it because he liked nice things, even though he didn’t have the budget for it.
PM: Can you elaborate on how you overcame the tighter budget?
BG: Well, he did. I brought it in knowing this was a guy that was very creative with his management and he knew, and I knew, that if he didn’t have a budget for the safety award, he had money somewhere else. So my advice in this whole thing is to never underestimate a budget, because people have other funds.
PM: Any other advice?
BG: I think that’s the best I can give. The best advice concerning that promotion was not pre-judging what they ask for. I mean he asked me for about a $33 dollar item, and I think we sold this for about $50.
Want to be considered for a future segment of My Best Promotion? Contact Michael Cornnell at [email protected] or (215) 238-5449 for a list of questions and other details.
