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Fast Track Products Newsletter

Welcome to Fast Track Products Promotion Corner Newsletter, our monthly newsletter to keep you informed of the latest trends in promotions. Read Promotion Connection to spark ideas and find out about upcoming marketing opportunities for your organization.

Promotions That Make Sense

Sales Trainer has Calculated Plan for Success

How does a wildly successful sales consultant and author of a New York Times bestseller (The Ultimate Sales Machine) promote himself to his top prospects? With promotional products, of course.

"I call this the ‘Dream 100 Sell,' " says Chet Holmes. "Basically, what we do is pick out dream clients we'd love to work with, and we send them one of these little gifts every week for five or six weeks in a row. Then, when you call them, they come right to the phone."

For someone like Holmes, a dream list consists of 3,000 names, including the entire Fortune 1000, the 500 fastest-growing companies in the country, 200 associations, and some hand-picked smaller companies. To promote his book, he sent this list a series of mailings, starting with an orange calculator (the same color as the book) along with a sales letter that said, "You're going to need an extra calculator to calculate your sales increases, once you apply the concepts in the new book, The Ultimate Sales Machine."

The calculator was followed by a shoe-polish kit, a highlighter and a magnifying glass, each in separate mailings. Though only the calculator had mailed when we spoke with Holmes, he said he'd already received calls, and he expected the program not only to sell his book but consultations: "I'm expecting that we'll get more business than we can possibly handle – you know, honestly, that my time will be so sold out that I'll just keep raising my prices."

A free online preview of Chapter 4 of the book is available at chetholmes.com/book.

Modell's Teams Up Online

Many a member of the football, soccer or softball team relies on Modell's Sporting Goods for their equipment. That's why when the national retailer decided to launch its first-ever online sweepstakes, it opted for a team-based effort.

Its "Holiday Team Getaway Sweepstakes" uses a new patented technology created by Cohen-Friedberg Associates, Framingham, Mass. In order to enter, a consumer must recruit a team member to also enter. This is fitting because the grand prize is a trip for two to St. Petersburg, Fla. to catch a Major League Baseball spring training game.

"Modell's is all about team so it's fitting that its first online promotion would be centered around that concept," says Eric Friedberg, co-founder of the marketing agency that created the technology which can be scaled to include any number of amount of team members (although he said four or five should likely be the max).

Modell's partnered with St Petersburg/Clearwater Conventions and Tourism, Trade Winds Island Resort on St. Pete Beach, JetBlue and the Ted Williams/Hitters Museum. An exec "from the museum sat next to me at game two of the World Series and he heard me talking about the technology and he said 'I want in,'" says Friedberg. "It's hard to innovate on the Web these days. It's all about being viral. How can you get your brand in front of as many consumers as possible? This accomplishes that."

Napkins Get Creative Juices Flowing

While Abraham Lincoln may have written the Gettysburg Address on the back of an envelope, many a moment of inspiration was jotted down on a cocktail napkin. So much so, that Esquire magazine created a promotion asking people to pen some words of wisdom on these white paper goods.

Esquire mailed 250 napkins to writers all over the country. In return, they received 100 short stories that ran in the magazine. Knob Creek, meanwhile, created a program called "Words to live by" where it offered poignant snippets of prose like "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

On Nov. 12, the two joined forces to launch "The Esquire.com Napkin Project with Knob Creek." Consumers who visit Esquire.com can view interactive napkins featuring the words from both efforts. The virtual napkins can be zoomed in onto and flipped over. Other content from interviews with Knob Creek Whiskey Professors aimed to educate consumers about the joys of whiskey.

This is "a great example of how we create interactive content inspired by materials that originally appeared in the magazine. Because advertisers are funding added functionality on the site, users get a richer experience while being exposed to brands in unique ways. Advertisers are able to engage in a conversation with users in a forum that isn't overly commercial or intrusive," says Chris Johnson, vice president of content & business development for Hearst Magazines Digital Media.

The interactive content, with subtle Knob Creek branding, was available on Equire.com through December. No word if the paper towel project is next for longer stories…

Pigs on the Wing

You know the cliché "yeah, the day pigs fly." You've probably even used it yourself at one point or another. Well Capital One is taking the term literally. In November Capital One, the financial services company that asks: "What's in your wallet?" had 100 Columbus, Ohio Skybus Airline passengers asking "what's on that airplane?" The answer would be six illustrated pigs, 10-feet high with a wingspan of 13-feet decked out in bomber jackets, scarves and navigator goggles.

The Capital One-sponsored Airbus A319 will fly across the country for six months in celebration of the company's "too good to be true" Rewards Money Market Account. This pink carpet event involved plenty of promotional products. Passengers on the inaugural flight at Port Columbus International Airport received a logeod piggy stress ball, glass flying pig Christmas ornament, a certificate celebrating the day as well as pig snouts.

The Capital One Rewards Money Market Account rewards consumers with travel miles for saving their money using this financial services provider rather than their piggy bank. They earn one mile for every $20 of average balance per month including interest.

"Many consumers think that a product that rewards you for saving sounds too good to be true," said Capital one Direct Banking spokesperson Pam Girardo in a statement. "So we decided to drive the message home in a visual way. … We think that consumers across the country will get the message loud and clear when they see flying pigs – smart savings strategies can really take you places." This promotion begs the question: Does this now mean a snowman has a chance in hell?

Make It a Date to Remember

Thousands of organizations and Presidential Proclamations set aside specific days, weeks and months for political, cultural and historical events and causes. Many of these occasions offer you an opportunity to promote your business, organization or product.

February

February 20th is MardiGras

Send your salesforce out with logoed boxes of doughnuts to leave with clients on this day that's also known as Fat Tuesday or Doughnut Day.

Create a promotion that delivers all the beads and trappings of MardiGras and ties in the carnival atmosphere. Make a connection to how the carnival atmosphere seems great on MardiGras, but when they wake up to the sobering reality of the next day your business, product or service is what will carry them over long haul. Some other designations for February that you might be interested in are:

American Heart Month

National Pet Dental Health Month

National African American History Month

National Cherry Month

February 1st: National Wear Red Day

February 2nd: Ground Hog Day

February 3rd: Super Bowl XLII

February 3rd - 9th: National Consumer Protection Week

February 5th: Mexico: Constitution Day

February 6th: Ash Wednesday

February 7th -18th: Florida State Fair

February 7th: First day of the Chinese New Year - Year of the Rat

February 10th: The Grammy Awards

February 11th: Pro Sports Wives Day

February 10th - 16th: Jell-O® Week

February 12th: Darwin Day

February 14th: Valentine's Day

February 15th: Susan B Anthony Day

February 15th: National Gum Drop Day

February 17th: My Way Day

February 19th: President's Day

February 20th: Mardi Gras

February 23rd: Anniversary: Iwo Jima Day

February 24th: Academy Awards Presentation

February 26th: For Pete's Sake Day

February 26th: Spay Day USA

February 28th: National Tooth Fairy Day

February 28th: National Chili Day

March

March is Music In Our Schools Month

Team up with a local school and bring in some area musicians. Choose someone to play something with a Latin-American flavor and give all the kids logoed mini maracas so they can play along. Provide school kids with pencils molded in the shape of G-clefts or use other music oriented logoed merchandise to distribute to school kids either through the schools or at your place of business in connection with a music in school program.

Some other designations for March that you might be interested in are:

Music in Our Schools Month

Red Cross Month

Honor Society Awareness Month

Poison Prevention Awareness Month

March 1st: Anniversary: Peace Corps Founded

March 2nd - 8th: Save Your Vision Week

March 3rd: National Anthem Day

March 3rd - 9th : National School Breakfast Week

March 3rd - 9th : National Cheerleading Week

March 7th: World Day Of Prayer

March 9th - 15th: Girl Scout Week

March 13th: Good Samaritan Day

March 15th: Ides Of March

March 17th: Saint Patrick's Day

March 18th: Forgive Mom & Dad Day

March 20th: First Day Of Spring

March 21st: National Common Courtesy Day

March 22nd: International Goof-Off Day

March 23rd: National Puppy Day

March 25th: American Diabetes Association Alert Day

March 26th: Legal Assistants Day

March 29th: National Mom & Pop Business Owner's Day

March 29th: Knights of Columbus Founders Day

March 30th: Pencil Day

April

The week of April 27th is National Volunteer Week. Thank all of your volunteers with a small memento of their efforts. Hold a thank-you celebration and include table favors that commemorate their contributions. Select a Volunteer of the Year and award them with a larger commemorative gift. And, be sure to get pictures and send to the local papers.

Some other designations for April that you might be interested in are:

Alcohol Awareness Month

National Child Abuse Prevention Month

Holy Week

National Donate Life Month

April 1st: April Fools Day

April 2nd: International Children's Book Day

April 3rd: Tweed Day

April 4th: Victims Of Violence day

April 5th: National Fun At Work Day

April 6th: Teflon Day

April 7th: No Housework Day

April 9th - 15th: Egg Salad Week

April 10th: National Sibilings Day

April 11th: Trivia Day

April 13th: International Plant Appreciation Day

April 7th - 11th: National Public Health Week

April 13th - 19th: National Library Week

April 27th: National Volunteer Week

April 15th: Income Tax Pay Day

April 17th: International Ford Mustang Day

April 19th - 27th: National Wildlife Week

April 22nd: Earth Day

April 24th: Take Your Daughters and Sons to Work Day

April 27th: Mother, Father Deaf Day

April 28th: Cubicle Day

April 29th: National Dance Day

April 30th: Spank Out Day USA

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