Promotional Products Association International, Irving, TX, bestows its annual Golden Pyramid Awards on campaigns whose use of premiums best relate to the brand, the product, and the theme of the overall marketing effort. Here’s a look at 10 of the most noteworthy winners from the 44th annual awards program, presented in January during PPAI Expo 2002 in Dallas.
Company: Discovery Channel Stores
Category: Consumer program less than $10 per recipient
Supplier: Summit Marketing Group, Atlanta
Bethesda, MD-based Discovery successfully cross-promoted its retail operation and its cable TV network through a one-day program in 12 U.S. mall stores. To promote a special called When Dinosaurs Roamed America, store employees wore special hats and gave away temporary tattoos to kids, who also were given a chance to have their photographs taken in front of a full-size dinosaur backdrop. Those who did got the picture free in a magnetic frame. About 85,000 children participated in the program, making the effort’s per-person cost about 40 cents; sales increased by as much as 67 percent in participating stores.
Company: HEB Stores
Category: Consumer program less than $10 per recipient
Supplier: Gary Rugoff Sales, Dallas
To create awareness among employees and customers for three new private-label products, H.E. Butt Grocery Co., San Antonio, TX, used a series of custom products and in-store events. HEB’s Cola was introduced with T-shirts, magnets, luggage tags, and promotional cans. HEB’s Bravo Detergent was unveiled with logoed Polo shirts and caps, and HEB’s Creamy Creations ice cream premiered with embroidered shirts and caps for employees. Sampling events for Creamy Creations featured in-store appearances by live cows and a traveling inflatable ice cream bucket. The efforts generated strong awareness and trial of the products.
Company: Kellogg Co.
Category: Consumer program less than $10 per recipient
Supplier: Levelk Mexico S.A., Mexico
Looking to increase sales of Frosted Flakes and other cereals in Mexico, Battle Creek, MI-based Kellogg Co. refreshed its three-year-old Club Del Tigre Toño continuity program. (Children join by mailing in two proofs of purchase, then “buy” merchandise by mailing in additional proofs.) New merchandise offers included beach towels, baseball caps, T-shirts, and water bottles. Additional club benefits included discounts for Camino Real Hotels and Nintendo videogames. Increased awareness efforts were highlighted by a segment about the club on a national TV program sponsored by Kellogg. Those activities helped boost sales 30 percent for several Kellogg brands and boost merchandise orders 175 percent.
Company: BellSouth Corp.
Category: Internal program less than $10 per recipient
Supplier: Marketing Solutions Group, Kennesaw, GA
To build awareness and boost attendance for the company’s annual President’s Club trip to San Francisco, BellSouth went native. The program kicked off with a postcard mailed to 3,500 employees that carried an attached tape measure (for use in “measuring” their progress in qualifying for the trip). The next company newsletter featured a word-search puzzle with information about the city; employees who completed the puzzle earned a chance to win a miniature cable car filled with (locally made) Ghirardelli chocolates. A message from the company president was tucked inside fortune cookies. Trip attendence was among the highest in the program’s history.
Company: Kroger Atlanta
Category: Internal program more than $10 per recipient
Supplier: Summit Marketing Group
There is strong temptation for Kroger managers to treat the company’s annual Deli Merchandising Show (held to let suppliers showcase products and displays) like a party instead of a serious opportunity for purchasing and planning. To quell that tendency — and thereby increase productivity and organization — Cincinnati-based Kroger divided managers from 165 Atlanta regional stores into teams. Each team carried uniquely embroidered briefcases and shirts, clipboards, pens, and key tags to give them some esprit de corps as well as organizational tools. An unprecedented number of orders were placed, and the better-informed managers also no longer had to call divisional headquarters for guidance after the show.
Company: Motorola, Inc.
Category: Internal program $10 or more per recipient
Supplier: Ad Ventures in Texas, Inc., Austin, TX
To improve performance among 180 product designers, Schaumburg, IL-based Motorola developed a motivational campaign that used a mountain-climbing metaphor for all communications. Employees received such mnemonic devices as a carabiner (which symbolized the “connection” between accountability and collaboration), Swiss Army knives, embroidered vests, compasses, and field bags. Videos, interactive exercises, and training sessions drove the point home deeper. The effort generated 98-percent awareness, three percent greater than projected. Motorola was able to measure a 77-percent increase in individual commitment when it was over.
Company: Dairy Mart Convenience Stores
Category: Employee incentive program less than $10 per recipient
Supplier: The Mort C. McClennan Co., Chagrin Falls, OH
Looking to reduce inventory losses without having to send auditors to 500 locations, Hudson, OH-based Dairy Mart devised a program to increase accountability. In each monthly audit, store managers were awarded points based on their responses to 15 questions. They earned buttons and stickers each month, thereby improving their chances of winning a trip to the Bahamas in a drawing at year’s end. A poster designed to hang all year reminded managers of their responsibility. Despite its relatively simple components, the campaign produced a 220-percent increase in audit compliance and an 11.5 percent drop in per-store inventory loss.
Company: CompUSA
Category: Sales incentive program $10 or more per recipient
Supplier: The Jolesch Group, Dallas To improve sales of its extended-warranty Technology Assurance Program for computers and peripherals, Dallas-based retailer CompUSA developed an employee incentive effort. General and regional store managers first received a teaser postcard prior to launch. They then got a nine-piece puzzle carrying the campaign’s name, An Alaskan Adventure, and details about the grand-prize cruise to Alaska that would be earned by the region with the highest sales. A follow-up mailer delivered a motivational message inside a wine bottle. Sales for the month were the second-highest in the program’s history.
Company: TMP Worldwide
Category: Employee incentive program less than $10 per recipient
Supplier: USMotivation Promotional Services, Atlanta
New York City-based TMP’s advertising & communications division targeted 72,000 active Air Force Reserve members with a referral program designed to bring the reservist ranks to 100 percent. Called Get One, the effort kicked off with a direct-mail piece challenging reservists to refer candidates to local recruiting offices. Jar openers, flying discs, and tape measures were awarded for each referral, and enlistments earned portfolios with calculators, watches, and brass coasters. A special Web site, CD-ROM marketing, and trade advertising supported. About 1,000 reservists referred 1,644 individuals and enrollment levels reached 106-percent.
Company: John Boy & Billy, Inc.
Category: Consumer program $10 or more per recipient
Supplier: Bluegrass, Ltd., Charlotte, NC To launch an official fan club for morning radio program The Big Show, which is hosted by personalities John Boy & Billy and syndicated in 108 markets, the company turned to NASCAR. The club was first announced before a major racing event in Charlotte. Listeners signed up on the show’s Web site, which collected data to be used for later programs. Members received a welcome package containing a poster and matching T-shirt designed by a NASCAR illustrator and a membership card — all packaged in a sound tube that played the hosts’ voices when opened. Nearly 44,000 fans joined the club through the effort.
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