Promotional Blunders and other parts of my day
by William Kestin (Former – APPA CEO)
As the CEO of APPA, I’ve heard some amazing stories. Unfortunately, they will seem far more amusing to you than to the people who contacted me to tell them.
Marketers usually find out about APPA after they have had a promotion implode. They contact us to mediate a dispute or find recourse on a job gone wrong. In almost every case, the company is not an APPA member and the association is powerless to intervene.
These are a few cautionary stories on why it is so important to ensure the company you are dealing with is an APPA member.
| TUNE IN AND TUNE OUT The portable radios worked well when they arrived in Australia and the marketer was very happy to have found a promotional company who undercut the competition by almost a dollar. This made the promotion come in under budget, what else could they possibly want? The radios arrived in Japan. None of them worked. Why? Because, as any trained promotional product professional could have told them, Japan has its own radio frequencies and radios for the Australian market won’t work there. The promotional company almost ended up in court before finally replacing the radios, but the promotion was a bust and the company’s embarrassment was worth far more than the dollar saved. |
HOLLY COW!
The intent was wonderful. Reward the workers on the oil rig in Africa with a gift from the company. The first year this was tried ended in disaster as the oil company took it upon themselves to source and supply a high end leather compendium for the gift. How was the marketing department in Australia to know that leather goods offend certain religious sects in Africa, as the cow is considered sacred? After speaking to Salmark (an APPA member in Perth) research and design took place to find out exactly what these oil rig workers needed. The promotion suggested? American styled running shoes (made from cloth with rubber soles of course) which carries more worth in a third world country than any other type of promotional product. The shoes were branded not only with the company logo but the two flags of the cooperating countries. The promotion went on to win both Gold and Silver Pyramid Awards in 2003.
| JUST SAY NO…. Anyone with teenagers will attest, never give them an opportunity to make you look stupid. Unfortunately the anti-drug campaign didn’t use an APPA member when they decided to give away pencils to students across the country. “Don’t do drugs” boldly printed across the pencil proudly stated their mission. Since the promotions company was inexperienced and printed it around the wrong way, it only took the teenagers a matter of days to figure out if the pencil was sharpened a few centimetres you had “do drugs” clearly emblazoned for the teachers to see. Pencil sharpeners have never been as busy as when the students made that connection. What a difference to a promotion the direction a logo is printed can make! |
JEM Promotional Products have been proud members of APPA since 2001
Article written by William Kestin – APPA CEO – Copyright © 2006- All rights reserved
If you have any questions relating to promotional products, please don’t hesitate in contacting us on (02)8205 1334 or enquiries@jempp.com.au
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