Coach's Corner
by Fred Albrecht
Ah the "smell of spring", you all know exactly what "spring" smells like. What other "smells" can you think of that immediately reminds you of a person, place or something you did. Kenny Chesney mentions it in his song "Boys of Fall", he recalls the smell of grass, helmets and shoulder pads as he remembers what it was like playing football in high school.
The Science of Sensory Marketing is the "real deal." Check out the article from the "Harvard Business Review" from March of 2015. Companies (our customers) are going to great lengths to enhance their marketing efforts by tailoring their marketing to appeal to the senses of their customers. It was also very interesting that Rutgers University used "Scented Pencils" to test the theory. They imbued the scent of "tea tree oil" and found that the added scent drastically increased the subject's ability to remember the pencils brand and other details. In fact those using unscented pencils decreased by 73%. Our industry even got a further boost when they mentioned the "Sharpie" and quoted Newell Rubbermaid.
My point, we have many suppliers that offer "scented" Promotional Products. Maybe it is time to offer an added "inSCENTive" for your client to buy them. Who can argue with the "Harvard Review" after all?
Coach Fred
Heading outside to "Smell the Roses"
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"Taking Sensory Communication to a Whole New Level"
Chuck Jones is the chief design and R&D officer at Newell Rubbermaid, a 112-year-old maker of tools, pens, and other products. He spoke with HBR about the company's new emphasis on sensory marketing and design. Edited excerpts follow.
Why is Newell Rubbermaid investing in sensory inputs?
The field is evolving quickly, and our corporate growth game plan, which focuses broadly on design, positions us to take advantage of the latest research. Last year we opened a design center next to Western
Michigan University and staffed it with physiologists and also experts in perception. Someone familiar only with our past efforts would be stunned. And we've expanded our definition of human sciences research.
How so?
Conventional marketing research looks at opinions. We also study unconscious behaviors and human cognitive and physical processing to extract principles that we can apply to Sharpie pens or high-performance pliers, for example.
Pliers?
We're putting a lot of energy into the heft, feel, and ergonomics of cutting pliers for skilled trades. There's a similar effort in packaging.
Why packaging?
Many of our fine writing instruments are given as gifts, so there's a ritual quality to opening the package. We pay close attention to the "hand," or feel, of the material; the resistance it presents (more is better, within limits); the sounds it makes; and the way the package opens, as a series of disclosures-an unveiling of the product, if you will. Our thinking about
packaging takes sensory communication to a whole new level.
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The Science of Sensory Marketing
from the Harvard Business Review
For two decades, marketers in a variety of industries have been building expertise in reaching consumers through the five senses-learning to deploy cues, such as the sting from a swig of mouthwash and the scritch-scratch sound of a Sharpie pen, that can intensify perceptions of brands. The past year has brought a rush of interest in the subject among academics. New research suggests that we're about to enter an era in which many more consumer products companies will take advantage of sense-based marketing.
Much of the new research centers on "embodied cognition"-the idea that without our conscious awareness, our bodily sensations help determine the decisions we make. For example, people who had briefly held a warm beverage were more likely than people who had held a cold one to think that a stranger was friendly; this was demonstrated in an experiment by Lawrence E. Williams, of the University of Colorado at Boulder, and John A. Bargh, of Yale. And warm ambient temperatures prompted people to conform to a crowd, a finding of researchers led by Xun (Irene) Huang, of Sun Yat-sen University.
Marketing researchers are "starting to realize how powerful the responses to nonconscious stimuli can be," says S. Adam Brasel, an associate professor of marketing at Boston College. Work on embodied cognition has begun "blowing up on the academic side," he adds. At the 2014 Association for Consumer Research's North American conference, Brasel heard more papers on sensory research presented than at any previous conference. That same year the Journal of Consumer Psychology published a special issue on embodiment and sensory perception, with a focus on how sensory inputs can drive consumer behavior.
Aradhna Krishna directs the Sensory Marketing Laboratory at the University of Michigan and is considered the foremost expert in the field. She says that many companies are just starting to recognize how strongly the senses affect the deepest parts of our brains. The author of the 2013 book Customer Sense: How the 5 Senses Influence Buying Behavior, Krishna got into the field
because she was fascinated by certain questions: Why does wine taste better in a wine glass than in a water glass? Why is an ad showing a piece of cake more engaging when the fork is placed to the right of the cake? Why does the smell of cinnamon make a heating pad seem to work better? Krishna realized that the senses amplify one another when they are congruent in some way. Because cinnamon suggests warmth, it can enhance a heating pad's appeal and apparent effectiveness. Such influences are subtle-and that's exactly why they are so powerful. Consumers don't perceive them as marketing messages and therefore don't react with the usual resistance to ads and other promotions.
Thinking about sensory effects is an established practice in some consumer industries, such as food, cosmetics, and hospitality. For example, Hershey's has long been aware that the tactile pleasure people get from unwrapping the foil around a Kiss transforms an ordinary piece of chocolate into a special experience. But many companies are taking their thinking much further. Consider this campaign by Dunkin' Donuts in South Korea: When a company jingle played on municipal buses, an atomizer released a coffee aroma. The campaign increased visits to Dunkin' Donuts outlets near bus stops by 16% and sales at those outlets by 29%. Another example is Olay Regenerist thermal facial products, which are engineered to generate heat upon application (although heat isn't necessary to their functioning) to signal that they are working.
Automakers have paid close attention to the senses for years: Designers work hard to optimize the feel of knobs, the solid noise of a door shutting, and the distinctive new-car smell. Recently they have turned to advanced technologies. For instance, in its 2014 M5 model, BMW mikes and amps the engine sounds through the car speakers, even when the audio system is turned off. The idea is to enhance the car's sporty feel. Still, in wide swaths of consumer industries, companies remain focused solely on visual attributes and give little thought to other sensory effects. Product developers and marketers need to change that, Krishna says. Bank executives should make sure that branch offices exude the reassuring, wealth-suggesting aromas of wood and leather. Manufacturers of products with embedded motors should think about those products' sounds-are they tinny whines or solid, low-pitched hums? Luxury clothing manufacturers doing business online should consider what message is conveyed when goods are shipped in bubble wrap versus high-quality crinkly paper. For managers looking to learn about sensory stimuli, the new academic work reveals striking instances of senses' affecting attitude, mood, and even memory more profoundly than words ever could. An experiment Krishna conducted with May O. Lwin, of Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, and Maureen Morrin, then of Rutgers University, is just one example. The three found that imbuing pencils with the unusual scent of tea tree oil dramatically increased research subjects' ability to remember the pencils' brand and other details. Whereas those given unscented pencils experienced a 73% decline in the information they could recall two weeks later, subjects given tea-tree-scented pencils experienced a decline of only 8%. "In the past, communications with customers were essentially monologues-companies just talked at consumers," Krishna says. "Then they evolved into dialogues, with customers providing feedback. Now they're becoming multidimensional conversations, with products finding their own voices and consumers responding viscerally and subconsciously to them." Such conversations, she emphasizes, should be at the center of product innovation and marketing for many brands. Every consumer company should be thinking about design in a holistic way, using the senses to help create and intensify brand personalities that consumers will cherish and remember. |
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Big News from HIT Overseas!
Good Afternoon,
I hope you guys are doing well. Attached is a flyer I wanted to share with you that highlights a new overseas charger program we've put together.
It really gets the price of these down and dirty if the end-user has 15-20 days they can wait. Also attached is another flyer that shows some spec differences on our chargers, a comparison table with technical specs and decorating options. Our team has been hard at work putting the tools in our hands and now it's time to make some sales off it.
Please let me know if you have any questions on these items or how any of the tech stuff in particular works.
P.S. Good news on the charging cable front. We look to be getting some new inventory in around May, and they will be MFi compatible. The result is the cost going up, but now we don't have to worry about apple patents or their software updates that will render the old 3rd party cables useless.
Chris Platt
Hit Promotional Products|asi-61125
7150 Bryan Dairy Road
Largo, FL 33777
Mobile: 727-518-5923
Direct Fax:727-329-5130
Check Out a Sampling of The Many Custom Products Available Through Our Overseas Sourcing Program We want feedback! Please update our Supplier Rating at www.asicentral.comClick images to download PDFs
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We had a wonderful time experiencing Yoga on Tuesday March 24th with your team!! We were excited to introduce your new Account Executive Lara Swearingen and SanMar's new National Account Manager Rob Newell as well as showcase all the new product from our Spring collection. Inspired by the current "Fit for Life" trend you can learn more about by visiting the StyleNetwork, you'll find a lot of product to love that will help drive more branded apparel sales!
Need samples? Take advantage of the attached New Product sample form or even better, project samples of Sport-Tek, District, and Port Authority are free for Albrecht through April 17th! Simply submit those orders(no PO required) to Lara at laraswearingen@sanmar.com or via phone at 800.346.3369 Ext. 7508 Monday - Friday 10-6:30 EST!! To share the trend stories and hot product, links in the Style Network can be leveraged for social media, and our digital catalogs can be found at http://www.sanmar.com/marketing/ecatalog.jsp. And don't forget, physical catalogs blank or full color custom are still a strong resource and are free to everyone at Albrecht. Talk to Laura for details!! Click images for link to full information and sample request form.
Joseph Klinger | SANMAR Strategic Business Development | Sales 22833 SE Black Nugget Road, Suite 130 Issaquah, WA 98029 Cell: 262.951.8066
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 Rock & Roll!
WOW is all I can say to this week's sales but more important, check out the "behind the numbers" "Rock n Roll."
Tracy McClure: She calls herself the "Promo Queen" and who can argue when she books over $218,000.00 in one week? Her client is a "fitness" foundation who has the goal to educate schools and children on the power of "veggies and fruits." While this is a repeat client for Tracy, it by no means is a "sure bet" as each time this client buys for the year, they ask for  "ideas". This is the third time Tracy has been awarded the opportunity and it came at the worst time, right during the Christmas Holiday and just before Chinese New Year. She had to scramble to get ideas (she presented over 40 products, mostly spec samples, which took a ton of time and work). Her presentation is in front of a committee who then "decides" which products to select. The more creative the better. It gets harder each year as she has to present new and fresh ideas. Then 3 months later, the client is ready to place the order and everything is HURRY UP, HURRY UP. This year Tracy landed orders for 50,000 flexible cutting mats from Chop Chop ASI 72795, worth over $88,000.00, 25,0000 Vegetable steamers from the Premium connection, ASI 79370 worth over $62,0000.00 and 50,000 2160 48X Leeds Vintage Non Woven Bags worth over $72,000.00.
Chan Williams reactivated an account that he has not won in over 5 years. Chan also has to compete on every level on this "electric coops" that purchase once a year for their annual meeting gifts. He  also has to present many different ideas all within a given budget. More often than not, he has to earn the business one year at a time by coming up with the most creative item that fits the demographics of the meeting attendees. In this case, the client tends to also "bid" out his ideas. So for the last 5 years he has had to sit on the sidelines and see his ideas earn the competition money. This year, he was able to work with "The Sourcing Department" (The Brentwood Line) ASI 88245 to build 5000 totally custom mesh chairs. The order is worth over $70,000.00. He added 5000 847FC Rain Gauges for close to $20,000.00. Another awesome success story, a lesson everyone can learn about persistence and the value of having a great relationship with an awesome supplier partner.
Irv Russotto knows how to sell caps. He partnered with Cap America to sell his local Dodge dealer 3370 I8007 6 Panel Unstructured Caps worth over $10,000.00.
Jo Puckett loves those "repeat" orders. She received a reorder for 8,000 CFL Light Up Key Tags for her major power client. The client is promoting "energy efficiency" and what better way than using the 778 CFL Light up Tag from our friends at Illini worth over $12,000.00
Cathy Rossner provided the idea to Genetech for a team even in "wine country". What better way to celebrate the event than 100 sets of 2 Reidel Cabernet/Merlot Stemless Wine Glasses. The order is worth over $5250.00 provided by J Charles Crystal Works ASI 62985.
Here are the details on the two large orders Chris Bowles had in March. Aristech Surfaces purchased over 200 Cutter & Buck jackets to recognize an accident free year. I received the lead from Geoff Vesicky after the VP of Operations at Aristech contacted Cutter directly. Geoff called me on a Thursday and I went there the next day with several jacket samples that I picked up at the Cutter Hebron warehouse. They had a company meeting to announce the achievement in less than two weeks. The customer asked if they could have blank samples for sizing in time for the event but we topped that by having Cutter embroider a sizing set in men's and ladies jackets. We didn't receive art from the customer until 8 days prior to the meeting. Cutter was fantastic and they arrived the day before the event. The customer was ecstatic over the quality and the fact we got decorated samples in that short window. A few days later he asked about the availability of larger sizes because some of the employees were struggling to find a good fit. The jacket came in big and tall sizes so we shipped in a couple B&T samples which did the job. I had the customer submit the sizes by employee name in Excel, after Cutter embroiders them they are tagging each with the employee name, size and location for easier distribution. When it's all said and done the order is $17,900 at over 40% margin. You may or may not remember, because it was right before you went on vacation, but this was a touchy situation at the start. As I said above, this lead came from Geoff Vesicky, who was contacted directly by the VP of Operations. Geoff asked if they had someone they usually worked with and they replied no which is when he contacted me. Conducting my due diligence after talking to the customer and assessing the lead, I was told Albrecht had a rep already in the company but not with this contact. After a little back & forth with someone out there, Dana was allowed to give me the rep name (Terri Schneider) and her contact and I was told not to approach the other contact, which is obvious to me. Anyway, I just want to point this out so you are fully aware before you publish this story.
The second big order is the one I emailed about yesterday while I was golfing in Alabama. It's a repeat order of 300 Cutter & Buck wine valets (9850-20) from Leeds for Celebrity Cruises. They ordered last year for an event and decided to reorder as gifts for travel agents. These are currently out of stock, so after Celebrity said they could wait, Dana worked with Nikki at Leeds and secured 300 of the 500 pieces that are currently on the water from overseas. Dana was instrumental in getting this one done while I got to enjoy my golf trip and Celebrity is very happy we could secure inventory and make certain they could get what they wanted. That order came in at $17,100 at 40% margin. There you go, let me know if you have any questions. Thanks! Chris Bowles
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| |  | | SCHEDULE:
Opens: March 20
Closes: April 3
Mail Date: April 24
Follow-Up Email: May 1
ASSIGN CONTACTS:
ProSMART / PROvision | | PRICING:
$1.75 per contact
Priced V-Mag
Non-Priced V-Mag
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| | 2Q Promo Mailer Campaign
Stay top-of-mind with prospects and customers with the new quarterly Promotional Mailers. Each quarter's mailer will feature topics relevant to the coming months' promotional opportunities. Mailers include a personalized 12-page mini-catalog and diecut envelope and are mailed directly to your ProSMART / PROvision CRM contacts.
As a new feature to the campaign, your Marketing Team at the Support Center will automate the follow up email one week after the mail date. Please be aware that any contacts assigned to the campaign with a valid email address in ProSMART/PROvision will automatically be included in the follow up.
To learn more about the Quarterly Promo Mailer campaign, contact Danny Trizio at the Proforma Support Center. | |
| 3 | 2Q Promo Mailer Closes | | | | 7 | May Sales Automation Closes | | | | 10 | 2Q MBA Opens | | | |
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| |  | | SCHEDULE:
Closes: April 7
Mail Date A: May 1
Mail Date B: May 8
Mail Date C: May 15
Mail Date D: May 22
ASSIGN CONTACTS:
ProSMART / PROvision
ENROLL HERE
| | PRICING:
$9.00 per Owner Provided Prospect
$10.00 per Support Center Provided Prospect
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| | May Sales Automation Direct Mail Campaign
Sales Automation is designed to systematically put you in more selling situations by 'warming' leads with a direct-mail piece that demonstrates your capabilities. These monthly campaigns are sent over a 4-week period, setting the stage for continuous follow-up calls. Follow-up phone calls are conducted by the Appointment Setting team.
ENROLL HERE
To learn more about the Sales Automation campaign, contact Danny Trizio at the Proforma Support Center. | |
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Jeff Sheeks Shares his "Life Saving Story." This is a "MUST READ" and an amazing story!
 Fred and Carl,
Yesterday my wife introduced us to a huge company in Wilmington, OH. Not far from you guys. Met with the President and CEO, his administrative assistant, and corporate communications. We had a really good meeting. More on that later. When we were finished, I asked if anyone could go to lunch? The administrative assistant was the only one who could go. While at lunch, she started choking on her burger. My wife got out of the booth and did the Heimlick on her until she lodged the food from her throat. Tough way to get a new client, but looks like we got one for life!
BTW Steven and I ran like scared Kittens! Just wanted to share. Actually it was pretty scary! At least we didn't have to go back and tell the CEO that we killed his assistant. Have a great weekend.
Jeff
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Using Linked In To Your Advantage
Hola Fred
I used some of these social media techniques and reconnected with a friend that now lives in Tel Aviv Israel and on his opening order with us, spent $65K. He is the global marketing manager for Caesars Online which is owned by Caesars Palace Casinos & Hotels.
Without social media and technology this order would have NEVER happened. We literally used LinkedIn to hear about the promotion, Facebook to reach out & Skype for free international calls.
Hope you and the family been well. Our second boy, Lennox Reid Hernandez, should be here any day.
Tony
From March 2nd Albrecht Advantage:
Linked In: Did you know that 77% of Business to Business marketers acquired a customer through Linked In? How many have you acquired? How do you use Linked In. It is truly as simple as finding YOUR existing customers on Linked In, friend them, start a conversation and then connect with their friends. Many will be in the same field, like if you are calling on a marketing person, they have a network of marketing friends. Business owners "flock together". Use your friend's influence to get to know their buddies. Find old buyers that left those "awesome old accounts". They surely work some place and most likely have influence over buying or can introduce you.
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Spring Specials from Vitronic
Please find the attached specials on Non-Woven Tote Bags, Coleman products as well as our NEW
Spring/Summer Releases. Click on the image to download full pdf.
In addition, you will find attached our file indicating the extension on Free Freight anywhere in the continental USA for any quantity (25 & up) on our FT812, F801, F702 and F737 umbrellas until 4/30/15! Please DO NOT miss out on these unbelievable specials!
Link to our website listing the products for the 2015 Spring and Summer Sale Brochure -http://www.vitronicpromotional.com/?p=search&type=speccat&special=76
I encourage you to order random samples of these. Please send sample requests to customercare@vitronicpromotional.com and please include a shipper #. Thank you.
As always, to make it easier on yourself when looking for product ideas and solutions for your clients....... send us a quick e-mail with the Project Demographic, Specs and Budget!!! We'll send you our best recommendations for those projects. We love to do this so don't hesitate to keep sending us project requests.
Thank you and Happy Selling!
Customer Service:
customercare@vitronicpromotional.com
Main Office - 877-844-5032
Inside Customer Service Representative:
Diana Carter, 877-844-5032 Ext.1731
DianaC@vitronicpromotional.com
Inside Sales Representative:
Rita Alcorta, 800-944-9957 Ext.2504
RitaA@vitronicpromotional.com
Please find attached a couple Albrecht branded flyers we put together for you and the team to help promote sales for a couple of the upcoming holidays/events.
If we can support the flyers with any samples, virtuals or specs, please let us know.
 
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If you would like to review any of our past issues, we now have them archived.
Click Here for the archive page. |
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