Responsible and Timely Ideas During the Crisis

The news continues to vary depending on the source on the first major influenza outbreak of a novel virus in three decades.  Some sources seem to indicate things are moderating while overseeing agencies such as the World Health Organization continue to urge caution.  With somewhere near one thousand confirmed cases and probably many thousands more unconfirmed cases the bug has spread to all corners of the world rapidly.  As we enter the busy promotional season with trade shows and conventions the opportunity is there to provide your clients and employees with some protection. 

Although these types of items have never been among our favorites due to the limited usability a wave of new products such as the Sanitizer In A Clip which provide a long term carrying vessel as well as the custom hand sanitizer.  Unlike other single use versions the hand sanitizer itself can be replaced over and over again.   These types of items will sterilize your hands and kill close to 99.9% of all germs when the instructions are followed.  The flu is easily transmitted via coughing as well so this is by no means complete protection but it is a significant help.  For brand recognition the Purell Sanitizer On A Clip adds a 2 ounce aloe version of the popular Purell cleaner that when empty can be replaced very quickly with any off the shelf brand but while keeping the convenient clip and printed carrier.  What we particularly like about these products is that they can be clipped to your pants or belt for use in the gym, while playing with kids or out and about on the job.

The varying data on this particular outbreak is disconcerting and probably confusing the public.  A great source of historical information on the last serious flu outbreak resides on the Centers for Disease Control page 1918 Influence: the Mother of All Pandemics.   What you will see in scanning that document is that the flu itself was no more fatal initially than the current version circulating the planet.  It was not until the following fall that people started dying in large numbers after what most scientists agree was a mutation within the virus.  Keep in mind back in 1918 it took months for the virus to span the Globe when it took only days this time thanks to modern air travel.   Although the steps being taken by public health officials may seem extreme they are acting with excess caution because they know what happened 91 years ago and do not want to repeat the same mistakes.   Basic tips still apply, if you touch a public surface do not touch your mouth face or eyes before cleaning your hands.  Make sure you and your children cover their mouths when coughing and in all cases thoroughly disinfect your hands after sneezing or coughing.  The use of sanitizer gels on plastic products is generally not recommended as their is some potential for damage but in our experience we’ve never seen it happen.  Obviously though do not use it on any type of screen and you certainly do not want to get it into your eyes.

Friday saw the release of the most recent auto sales reports.  The payment assurance plans  appear to be having a positive impact as the brands now offering them faired the best while others like Toyota lagged near the bottom.  There were rumors over the weekend that the big overseas competitors may be about to announce similar plans but there is also talk that there is a building consensus that these plans will cause great distress in teh future.

The Brilliance of Obama Marketing

The staggering rise of Barack Obama over the last ninety days carries many lessons that can be applied unilaterally in the corporate world.  His meteoric rise to the front runner position for the Democratic Party Nomination is nothing short of a marketing coup of unprecedented proportions.   Indeed what he and his team have done over the past few months will be studied for decades.   In this article we will take a closer look at the brilliance behind his campaign marketing.  To be clear this article states no opinion or preference of which candidate or party is to be preferred, this is merely a discussion of what has become one of the most successful marketing campaigns of all time and how the techniques can be applied to normal business operations.  As we continue to analyze the strategies behind his campaign we are constantly figuring ways we can apply it to our promo items business.   Some of what we have taken from this is discussed in the following paragraphs.

A few months ago the dominance of Hillary Clinton was so uncontested that Saturday Night Live host Brian Williams joked in skits that it was a foregone conclusion.  In the skit he quips about how the media had already ordained her the winner and paraphrasing that it was a waste of time for other candidates.  Skip ahead a few months and hardly a commercial passes on the evening news without some coverage of Barack Obama even on off election nights.  What powered the transformation was absolutely brilliant personal and viral marketing at all levels.  Merriam Webster defines marketing as the process or technique of promoting, selling, and distributing a product or service.   Barrack Obama is both the product and the service of course as his entire campaign has been astutely directed like a well defined marketing campaign.   Tuesday night witnessed the tenth straight campaign victory for Obama and it is now all but impossible for his opponent to end up ahead in pledged delegates.  In short regardless of the outcome his marketing campaign was so successful that he has achieved absolute victory.  The strategy they followed was simple and perfectly executed.

Senator Clinton started out with more money, more support and was an established name.   She was very much akin to the large established competitor in a marketplace with a dominant position and substantial infrastructure in place throughout the country.  Meanwhile Senator Obama was the new kid on the proverbial block with not much in the way of resources and an undefined brand.  Rather than trying to take on Senator Clinton no her “turf” the campaign attacked on the edges foregoing some of the larger but fewer delegate rich States in favor of more but smaller States.  Instead of concentrating his efforts in a few areas which could have ended his campaign if resources and efforts went into a failure he went after the overlooked regions.  This is akin to a competitor targeting an old trusted client that doesn’t get the same level of service or attention as a new client you are actively trying to capture.  Perhaps an even better analogy would be that Barrack Obama did not try to compete by selling the hottest item on the market in direct competition with the largest player in that market but instead picked a product not heavily marketed by his competition and sold it heavily to smaller niche markets.  

The campaign also banked heavily on word of mouth and subsequent momentum to further the dollars they spent and in turn generate even more revenue.  By gaining support like he did in each area he rapidly built up a base of dedicated supporters actively selling his message to more and more people.  Just as important to his success was the geographic and demographic dispersion of these supporters which is clearly being illustrated in his growing dominance across all demographics.  Sure he is spending money at unprecedented levels as well but his victory margin arguably is coming from the initial efforts of individual supporters that has snowballed across the country.  It is the equivalent of immensely successful viral marketing.

The lessons to be learned and applied are simple: don’t overlook the smaller clients in favor of the big prize as ultimately the smaller clients are your stable base, utilize this base to promote your message through innovative marketing programs and more importantly conventional wisdom is often much less valuable than actual results.   The Senator has turned many old marketing premises on their respective heads and has fully utilized “Web 2.0″ in a way never before seen.   Whatever the outcome of the race what he and his campaign have done will be studied for decades to come.

Editors Note:  This article in no way endorses any political candidate.   As hundreds of millions of dollars are spent in advertising and marketing during a campaign season it is a valuable exercise to study the overall success of these efforts as a promotional marketing business.  Tens of millions are spent in each campaign cycle on promotional items and other items specific to our industry.  PromoManagers does not endorse or contribute to any campaign.