CD Premiums—Music To The Ears
Marketers searching for new ways to thank clients or reward employees are moving beyond mug and hat premiums, and instead are being lured by the gift of music.
Enter cardtunes, a gift that blends the traditional greeting card and full-length CD into one package, which businesses use as a unique promotional tool. The product, which can be personalized, is designed to drive home a long-lasting company message, instead of hitting the trash can.
“Music is something everyone likes,” said David Beisell, owner of The Tunesmith Productions, Inc., the maker of cardtunes. “People do not throw music away. It lasts forever. For your dollar, it will be there year after year after year.”
Clients can choose from 16 artists and more than 30 selections that are part of the production company’s private collection and imprint their messages and logos onto the card. The CD card can be used in a variety of instances, such as a thank you to a client or as a holiday gift for employees, he said.
“It’s a low cost, long term gift versus a hat mug or a T-shirt that would get worn out over time,” Beisell said. “Therefore their dollar goes further.”
The music is not generic, Beisell said. Each song coincides with a specific artist. The CDs, which feature jazz, piano, instrumental guitar, rock n’ roll music and folk, are not sold in retail stores.
Unlike other companies that sell CDs as premiums, the added value of cardtunes is in the packaging, Beisell said. Rather than package the CDs in jewel cases, which can break or crack, The Tunesmith Productions places the music in cardstock, he said. The packaging also includes a slot to hold business cards or hotel key holders.
The company is also pursuing plans to use cardtunes as an add-on premium with manufacturers for the holiday season, Beisell said.
Beisell, a former musician and 29-year veteran of music industry, said the idea for cardtunes was simply an extension of his previous work distributing compilation CDs for promotional purposes for larger companies. He said he wanted to fill a “niche” market by tapping into a new use with his own pool of artists.
The CD cards as premiums make the dollar value for businesses “last longer than your average marketing tool,” Beisell said. “Most other products will wear out or be discarded.”
“The product has to have some kind of value,” he added. “In this case, people like to share [CDs]. There’s an intrinsic value to it. A lot of people like to have that little bit of discovery.”
Since Minneapolis-based The Tunesmith Productions, Inc. first launched its product in 2000, the company has built up a base of hundreds of clients, Beisell said. Some of the company’s clients include Sheraton Hotels, TGI Fridays, Blue Cross Blue Shield, the John Deere Credit Union, Marriott Hotels and the American Heart Association.
Glenwood, MN-based American Solutions for Business is the largest distributor of the cardtunes product. Greenville, WI-based Medialink and Graham Data/Health Print of Amarillo, TX also serve as distributors.
