Clever Swag

If as a marketer I am going to hand out a promotional item, I want it to have three attributes,

1. I want the item not to cost too much, because I want to hand out a lot of them
2. I'm willing to pay more for an item that is so clever that I believe people will hang on to it, or even show it to their friends and family
3. Most importantly, I want the recipient I give it to to pause for at least a microsecond and think about the organization I am promoting.

I once directly stole an idea from a church in Colorado, figuring that no one could accuse me of poaching in their intended market. At a street fair on a hot a dry day, the church set up a booth and handed out cups of cold water. My church did the same thing. We still don't know if we had extra Sunday visitors because of the booth, but it was so inexpensive that it really didn't matter. The fairgoers appreciated it, especially the bagpipers, who guzzled the stuff.

On Saturday I saw two more clever ideas for swag. I attended the Self Magazine Workout in the Park in Central Park in New York. I intended to arrive early because I recalled that the lines for the free give-aways were very long when I attended two years ago. Getting in line for promotional items would have kept me away from the exercise classes. I preferred to take the classes, but I didn't want to miss any good promotions, either.

Actually, I did not get their early, but it didn't matter. The lines for promotional items were much shorter. Marketing departments are cutting back on spending. Last time a plastic surgeon gave away handbags. This time my most expensive gift was probably the Asics backpack. Last time Physicians Formula gave away compacts. This time they gave away lip gloss.

I am looking forward to using both of these gifts. But the gifts that made me say, "Wow!" as a marketer were the ones that the users really appreciated and that cost next to nothing.

The Jell-O people had a challenge. The Workout in the Park took place on a warm day at 105% humidity (according to my personal barometer). They could have arranged for refrigeration and handed out thousands of 2-ounce cups of Jell-o with teeny spoons, but that would have been a lot of work.

I'm not even sure I took one of their give-aways; it was a coupon for your next purchase of Jell-O. Yawn. And yet their booth was one of the most popular at the event. Why? Because they invested $50 in Hula Hoops. Women flocked to the booth to twirl their hips and recall their baby boom childhoods, days of Wham-O and Jell-O.

"Where did you get that?" I importuned a fellow attendee. I had just finished an exercise class. As I said, it was 105% humidity. Instead of perspiration cooling me down, the moisture in the air was condensing back on my brow. This young woman had a bandanna. It clashed with my shirt but I didn't care. I wanted that bandanna, to stop the sweat from dripping into my eyes. She pointed me to the Ford booth. Way to go, Ford! Other than the fact that it was a special Ford calico print, this was a very ordinary inexpensive bandanna, but that does not stop me from being grateful for it.

I'll have to try hard to think of give-aways that inexpensive and memorable.