Marketing Ideas - Promotional Marketing Products From a Cardboard Engineering Background

Coming up with new advertising and marketing ideas can be difficult. Creative professionals might go to many different sources of reference for inspiration. Inspiration for many campaigns is to be found in movement and my suggestion is to start your search by looking at promotional marketing products that provide movement.

Promotional marketing products and interactive pop up mailers can provide an innovative solution to many advertising problems and can prompt countless creative advertising ideas. When you are looking for promotional print with a difference, maybe a printed advertising product with that bit of something extra or maybe a promotional mailer that can give your direct marketing campaign a lift - then pop-ups and interactive mailers with interesting and clever movements are the products to prompt the sparks that develop into creative advertising ideas.

Pop-Up Products and Interactive Marketing Products Prompt Fresh Advertising Ideas

Vibrant pop-up and interactive products can set your mind buzzing with creative advertising ideas. The high impact characteristics and vitality of automatic rubber-band powered pop-up products alone present countless opportunities for the creative processes to get to work. For instance, all automatic pop-up marketing products are designed to jump to life as soon as your customer opens the pack. The very action throws lots of creative advertising ideas and suggestions into the air - growth, life, fun, surprise, bounce, vitality, energy, action - how many suggestions for fresh advertising ideas do you need?

Unique, Innovative Marketing Ideas

Translating unique and innovative marketing ideas into an actual marketing campaign is quite definitely an art! Promotional pop up products can help you transform innovative marketing ideas into reality. Imaginative use of paper and cardboard engineering techniques is the key to making a unique pop-up marketing product. Applying an innovative marketing idea to the movement in that pop up product can be the key to creating a highly individual piece of promotional marketing. From there onwards, the application of professional marketing skills can transform that initial marketing idea into a successful promotional marketing campaign.

These types of promotional products will help you to produce an extremely successful promotional mail shot or an array of promotional print options such as exhibition giveaways; magazine cover mounts and corporate event invitations.

Pop-Up Movement and New Creative Marketing Ideas

New creative marketing ideas start with a spark of imagination. That spark could be generated by virtually anything - music, colour or movement for example. But if movement is the key, then what pop up movements are available to set you on the way to having those all-important creative marketing ideas to translate into your unique promotional mailer? There are interactive marketing products that turn; pictures that disappear and change; pop-ups which jump; pocket media full of fun folds - and each one creating a very tactile and interactive promotional marketing product. All that you need is that initial spark, that innovative creative marketing idea to start the ball rolling.

There are several reasons why promotional marketing products prove to be so popular within the advertising and marketing community. From a creative point of view it is that the products are so versatile, lending themselves so readily to so many new creative marketing ideas, ideas that can jump, ideas that can grow, ideas that can turn and so on. However, the main reason for the popularity of the products is that the results are so very successful. Everyone who has ever been involved in a business-to-business direct mail campaign knows the result of pinning big hopes on a bog-standard leaflet or flyer. It might appear to be relatively inexpensive but in all likelihood a very high percentage will be bin-bound! That has proved not to be the case with promotional products that originate from a cardboard engineering background.

Article by Paul Whitney.

Whitney Woods Ltd is a manufacturer of promotional marketing products designed using sophisticated cardboard engineering techniques. The company is a market leader in this field in the UK and publishes a range of over 50 products covering the areas of promotional pocket media, interactive marketing products, information discs, promotional pop up cards, creative folding and automatic pop up mailers. These products can be sen at http://www.popupmailers.co.uk/products.html . The author also publishes a blog of marketing ideas which advertisers and marketing professional will find useful and posts are listed on http://www.popupmailers.co.uk/marketing_ideas_blog.html

Marketing and Sales - Globalization Protects Jobs

We cannot escape from the advancing globalization.
Why to globalize or - seen more regionally - internationalize ?

Due to the permanently increasing competition a big number of producers from 'all over the world' enters our market places. This narrows naturally the local market for local producers because the clients very often only need less complicated machinery for their products/solutions and thus imported products are completely sufficient.

On the other hand local manufacturers very often offer technical products on a high standard which in-turn would be needed in other countries of the world due to their specific production methods/goals.

Looking towards the huge industrialized European markets - from Italy to UK, from Poland to Germany - there exist enormous potentials for foreign suppliers.

In addition the manufacturers get direct information from the markets, the clients' needs as well as market trends which enables them to develop new solutions or to adapt their products - besides of the fact that they become more independent from the local/regional economic cycles.

The European markets have their own specific mentalities.

Michael Richter, Daugendorf/Germany has specialized in supporting foreign companies - especially SMEs - to conquer Europe (see http://www.marketing-und-vertrieb-international.com/en/exportregions-for-you.htm) and offers practical support in all marketing tasks.

Contact:

Michael Richter

Drehergässle 5

88499 Daugendorf/Germany

http://www.marketing-und-vertrieb-international.com/en/ = Marketing support

http://www.internationales-marketingkonzept.de/en = Country experience

michael.richter@marketing-und-vertrieb-international.de

Phone: +49-7371-93210, Fax: +49-7371-93217

Michael Richter – International Marketing- and sales consultant – concentrates for more than 35 years on marketing and selling of investment goods and long-lasting consumer goods to/in all 5 continents – since 1991 he works as an independent marketing consultant, especially for SMEs worldwide.

Recession Marketing Part 4 - Radio Marketing

Last time, we talked about the emotional appeal of advertising on TV. This time, we'll talk about a great way to educate your customers on your products or services: Radio Marketing.

In the recent SIMM 11 study conducted by BIGresearch, it was shown that 44.2 percent of consumers who
hear information that interests them on the radio go online to look into the product or service further. Further studies showed that 22 percent to 28 percent (depending on the industry) of consumers go on to
buy the product that caught their attention.

A recent recession marketing survey by BtoB Magazine shows that companies who normally invest in radio
advertising are estimated to cut back in 2008 by 10 percent. So what does that mean for the clever
business owner?

It means you can acquire one of the most powerful marketing tools for influencing buying decisions at a
significant discount this year.

When radio stations experience a 10 percent loss in revenue, slots that are normally extremely competitive or pricey become available at discounted rates. So how do you take advantage of this?

Negotiate with your radio stations. Radio stations may claim that their prices are fixed, but any
good salesperson will adjust their pricing in order to close the deal, especially when their revenues are down.

One of the best ways to increase your buying power is to offer to increase the duration of your marketing campaign in exchange for a lower rate. For example, rather than buying a 13 week campaign at
$1,500 a week, offer to commit to a 26 week campaign at $1,200 a week. You'll save $7,800, which is like getting five weeks of valuable advertising for free, and the station gets the extra revenue they need.

Another powerful buying method is to negotiate to buy filler inventory. Radio stations often have 10 to
15 seconds where they have to push filler in order to start a show on time. Those 10 to 15 seconds could
easily be your ad at a significant discount.

Try AM radio. News, sports, and talk radio have amazing followings, and unlike FM or music radio
stations, their listeners are much less likely to surf stations and are much more likely to be attentive
to ads they hear.

So now that you've landed a sweet deal for your marketing campaign, how do you maximize returns on your investment?

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Keep your ads simple. Don't try to cram too much information
into your ad space. I say that for two reasons. First, you don't want to confuse your listeners. Second,
curiosity is one of the most powerful tools in marketing. You want to grab their attention. Pique their
curiosity to the point that they'll call the number or visit the website you mention in your ad.

For example, if you sell pizza, you might structure the last few seconds of your ad like this: "Free BOBBY'S Pizza today! Find out more at 918-555-1212. Call now! Tulsa's best pizza...guaranteed. That's 918-555-1212." Now, don't you want to find out how to get a free pizza?

If you sell a service or information, hook their attention by offering a free report or a free "how to"
article on your website. If you sell retail, offer free coupons or a sales calendar online.

And remember to mention your contact information twice. They won't be ready to take it down the first
time, and odds are, they'll be scrambling for a pen. The second time you mention your contact information, they'll be ready.

Most importantly, avoid confusing domain names or names that are difficult to spell. It's better to buy an expensive domain name than to spend $15,000 on radio advertising for a website no one can spell. Be
creative with your domain names and avoid domains with the word "and," confusing symbols like dashes or underscores, and the number 4.

At Xeal every commercial ends with "Visit Xeal online at X E A L dot com...that's Zeal with an X, and X E A L dot com." In this case we actually spell it out for the listeners.

Also, a great way to track your ad response is ask your radio station for permission to use their name
in your tracking URLs. Using our pizza example earlier, you could use "KFAQ LOVES PIZZA dot com." Saying that in a commercial would be much easier than saying "BOBBY'S Italian Eatery dot com."

If they say no, then try something like "TULSA LOVES PIZZA dot com," or make it campaign specific:
"TULSA FREE PIZZA dot com" or "5 BUCK PIZZA NOW dot com." Notice I say "buck" instead of "dollar" so

That's it for today. Keep an eye out for our next article on our blog [http://www.xeal.com/blog]. We'll talk about the state of the market, projected spending, and how to come out of the recession stronger than ever before. You're going to love it.

Jonathan Cox is a marketing analyst and consultant for Xeal Precision Marketing. He has ten years experience in the marketing, design, and IT industries.

http://www.xeal.com

Hospital Marketing - Marketing Message

It's said that like there is no ‘free lunch’, there are no easy answers, especially when it comes to health care. The recent radical changes in the health care industry have changed all the trends… the health care industry is emerging in a new shape, offering new opportunities and ushering in a new era. With the way the industry continues to change, I've come to realize, even with almost a decade's experience behind me, I have as many questions as I do answers.

Marketing professionals are continually faced with the Herculean task of sending exciting new messages to the target audience – messages which evoke interest and make them visit your health care facility, enable your facility to stand up to face and fare well in the wake of the constant new challenges.

The problem arises when, in zeal to come up with something new, they forget to cash on the goodwill and equity generated by the previous marketing messages. We forget to be consistent.

Being consistent in all our communications going out to the public at large, enables them to identify and relate to a common denominator which is being conveyed through all messages – it can be the customer friendly approach / hospitable staff or an IT savvy health care facility … the message needs to be consistent in all communications to drive home the factor and market it as a USP.

Your marketing message must consistently reinforce the image that you hope is present in every customer's mind. Losing sight of that message causes the perception you've worked hard to develop to slowly erode away.

Consistency is an important aspect in all domains of health care marketing - it's a key component to outstanding customer service. Have you ever thought about how your customers (patients) view your system's services after traversing the continuum of care – from the point of entry into the hospital system to the point of discharge from the hospital system- from the emergency department and admissions to nursing units, radiology, and the lab, patients are treated with varying levels of respect and courtesy. These inconsistencies cause the process to seem disjointed, and the patient to feel unimportant.

Consistency is also vital for your non-hospital services, as well.

Are all of your physicians delivering the same high standard for customer service? What about the physician that has a reputation for always being behind schedule? It's important to remember, in the patient's eyes, your whole system is only as good as the patient's worst experience. It needs to be understood that we need to be explicit when setting customer service expectations for our organization. By giving specific guidelines to all parts of the organization, we can assure a consistent interpretation of what the organization expects when it comes to good customer service.

http://bahlatul.googlepages.com/

Ethnic Marketing - Hablas Espanol?

Marketing to ethnic groups requires an adjustment in how we approach marketing issues. Since marketing is heavily married to psychology and sociology the very basic assumptions we have about how messages are received can change. This is one of the reasons why ethnic marketing is much different then the status quo. It lives and breaths on different basic assumptions about life, products and about the needs of the community.

Each of these different ethnic groups may have their own media that is printed from their particular perspective or language. For example there are around 640 Asian media outlets and the total Asian market is worth $427 billion dollars annually (Imada, 2007). That is a lot of money. The same can be said for any other ethnic group like Hispanic, Arab, Muslim, Jewish, etc...

The total value of the ethnic markets combined is around 1.5 trillion dollars annual which highlights the necessity of companies starting to compete for these dollars (Imada, 2007). African Americans, Asians and Hispanics are growing in population size which means their dollars are going to make larger influences on politics, businesses, and local economies. Companies will need to learn how to tap these resources.

Ethnic make up will continue to grow into the future. By 2050 the United States Census Bureau has indicated that 10% of the population will be Asia and 25% of the population will be of Hispanic descent (Scarborough, 2007). If we were to assume that African American and other ethnic groups made up an additional 25% that would mean only 40% of the population is of traditional Caucasian background.

Those companies that learn how to cater their marketing campaigns are going to be able to make more money then those who don't. They will be more successful in their marketing approaches because their marketing messages are hitting the right audience and appealing to that audience more readily. This translates into more sales revenues.

Knowing all of this information doesn't necessarily help companies to determine precisely how they are going to reach these ethnic markets. In order for companies to be successful they should understand the culture of each of these different groups and develop their messages that appeal to the group in question. This may mean the research and study of such people.

In recruiting, sales, and advertising it is often necessary to market your products or services within ethnic media outlets like newspapers, journals, television, radio, ethnic neighborhoods. Focusing on these groups and marketing in multiple arenas so they hear the message more then once isn't difficult if the group is still relatively small.

A piece of marketing is also to ensure that there are people within the company that can deal with this group. For example, if an advertisement is completed in Spanish the consumer will assume that he or she can call the company and speak Spanish. If there is no one within the company they can talk to in their native language it may appear to be insensitive. The same can be said for websites and product descriptions being in the language of the customer.

Imada, B. (2007). Forget the Asian-American-market myths-but remember these truths. Advertising Age, 78 (44).

Imada, B. (2007). Mass-market agencies seem to have long learning curves. Advertising Age, 78 (42).

Scarborough, M. (2007). Finding your niche. Community Banker, 16 (10).

Murad Ali is a three time published author, a human resource professional, a business professor and the owner of a website marketing company at [http://www.article-agent.org]

For more great articles written by Murad visit [http://www.thenewbusinessworld.blogspot.com]