Blockbuster Campaigns: Brilliant Results
TODAY, IT OFTEN SEEMS that unless a method of advertising is in a digital medium, Marketing people are not listening. However, this month Brilliant Results decided to step outside that computer box and speak with Steve Jacobs the President of a promising new analog ad format that has been right under our collective noses for a long time…tissues. AdPack USA is an out-of home marketing company specializing in intercept marketing and place-based advertising via an exclusive line of promotional facial tissues, towelettes and wet towels. AdPack's collection of promotional products is designed to put advertisers' messages into the hands of thousands of potential customers at a fraction of the cost of conventional advertising. Their pocket-sized giveaways can be customized easily and delivered directly to the most targeted potential customers. Not only does AdPack USA provide the product, they also put at your brand's disposal teams of Brand Ambassadors ready to hand your customers your branded message wherever it will have the greatest impact: on city streets, at shopping malls or on-site at sports and special events geared to your target audience…based on international success AdPack USA tissues have the potential to make your next marketing or branding endeavor a blockbuster campaign winner.
To increase awareness for tissue pack advertising AdPack USA recently concluded a promotion aimed directly at agency and corporate creative departments.
Jennifer Bittner of Campbell-Ewald submitted the most creative campaign using the packs for their client Kaiser Permanente and won a $5,000.00 prize and 10,000-unit tissue trial run. While still an emerging medium in the U.S., tissue pack advertising has already gained wide acceptance in other major markets, especially Japan(read the accompanying text box for some interesting facts about Japanese tissue-pack advertising).
In an effort to find out more about this advertising venue, we recently interviewed Steve Jacobs, President of AdPack USA, and him for the inside scoop on tissues and promotions.
BR: What makes AdPack USA different from other promotional products companies?
SJ: AdPackUSA is unique in that we have the resources of a global giant, and the flexibility of an entrepreneurial business. We are a business group within Itochu International Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Itochu Corp., a publicly traded Japanese company doing over $100 Billion in International Trade. As part of its business Itochu owns over 300 acres of Eucalyptus forest in Brazil, and is a majority stakeholder in one of the largest pulp mills in Brazil, providing wood pulp to many of the largest tissue manufacturers in the world.
As one of the largest Japanese companies in the world, Itochu is constantly watching the Japanese market with an eye to replicate successes in other global markets. Itochu decided to take a very successful intercept marketing idea from Japan and import that business model to the U.S. In Japan alone, over 4 billion packs of tissues are given away annually in an intercept environment, which translates to over $1 billion dollar in annual business in Japan.
AdPack's collection of promotional products is designed to put advertisers' messages into the hands of thousands of potential customers, at a fraction of the cost of conventional advertising. Its pocket-sized giveaways can be customized easily and delivered directly to an advertiser's most highly targeted potential customers. They can be distributed at a company's place of business, on city streets or at event sites and result in maximum advertising impact. We are able to literally put our products in the hands of consumers in all of the top 20 DMA's.
BR: How do you plan to achieve the same level of success the product enjoys in Japan in the U.S. market?
SJ: We have a very active PR and advertising program in place, and we are investing in the future, building our team, and building our market. Tissue pack marketing is essentially non-existent here in the U.S., so we are starting out with a blank slate. We have just completed our first Tissue Tactics contest where we encouraged the creative community to interact with the medium-so we are doing some really fun, creative things to get out medium recognized as an impactful marketing tool.
BR: What are the most important benefits your clients realize by using AdPackUSA tissues in a promotional campaign and what factors make tissues a successful promotional product?
SJ: We make the highest quality tissue products available in the market…softness counts in our business. We also have the highest quality graphic capabilities with very large "billboard" space for messaging. When a customer or prospect receives an advertising message delivered on one of our tissue packs they keep it and continue to be reminded of that message until they run out of tissues.
Additionally we can incorporate measurable call to action messages on the package and provide real ROI measures. As an example, Commerce Bank, one of our first corporate customers included a coupon in their package, offering customers who opened a new qualifying account a gift of $25.00. This program has proven to be the most successful promotional products program in Commerce's history. They have opened significant new account business and continue to use our product. One of our new customers, Winebaskets.com for whom we gave away 10,000 tissue packs on the streets of Manhattan in 2 afternoons, included a message on the pack sending people to a unique webpage offering a discount for mothers day purchases. As a result they were able to measure the specific effect of this promotion.
BR: In your opinion what is/are the key(s) to a successful marketing campaign?
SJ: In planning a successful marketing campaign, the first and most important task is to identify the goals and objectives of the campaign and then identifying the target audience. After having identified your audience, goals and objectives, selecting the appropriate medium to reach that audience, the right tools the most useful products for that audience well help insure success. So in brief…know your audience, know what they do, and provide them with products that they will find useful in their daily news.
BR: How can promotional and/or incentive products be used to enhance the success of a marketing campaign?
SJ: Promotional products enhance a clearly defined marketing campaign by reinforcing a message and delivering that message to an identifiable market. If your know who your customers and prospects are, the best way to keep your message top of mind is to put it in their hands, in their pockets or purses and on their desks.
BR: Do you have any final thoughts or advice for our readers?
SJ: I'd say call us. We're the best at what we do. We can not only provide you with quality promotional products, but also help develop a campaign and distribute product for you with street teams. Intercept marketing is effective and measurable when you use AdPack products.
BR: Do you remember the last promotional or incentive merchandise you received? Where, when and from what organization?
SJ: The last promotional product that I received was a litterbag from my local car wash. It's in my car now.
For more information about AdPack USA visit their website at www.adpackusa.com
Top Ten Things You Should Know About the Japanese Art of Tissues
10) Tissue-pack advertising was "invented" by the Japanese in the 1970s.
9) Until very recently, pocket tissue advertising has been found only in Japan and a few other countries in East Asia.
8) Despite its being one of the lowest-cost media an advertiser can buy, Japanese advertisers have found tissue pack advertising to be an ideal tool for building brand awareness, even for the most "upscale" brands.
7) With a Japanese tissue pack, even the outside packaging is soft and luxurious. And it comes complete with space for a card or a coupon.
6) Every year, over four billion tissue packs are distributed in the Japanese market alone.
5) Pocket tissue advertising in Japan is today a $1 billion business.
4) One of the major benefits of tissue pack advertising is that, unlike many other giveaways, everyone can use and appreciate a free supply of tissue!
3) Tissue pack advertising may also be unique in that, in Japan at least, it manages to be both unobtrusive and ubiquitous.
2) Everywhere you go in Japan today, you'll see someone distributing free pocket tissues printed with a company brand or advertising message.
1) In Japan, pocket tissues hardly exist as a retail product anymore since almost everyone expects to get them for free!