My First Memorable Promo Product

A family from Florida moved into the vacant unit of our duplex. They were exotic to me because they came from a land filled with swamps and alligators. Their daughters wowed us with stories of their past life in Florida. I must have been 8 or 9.

Their dad had a job doing something nobody else's daddy did. He was working for a hamburger place that was going to be everywhere. It was 1968 or 1969 and we just didn't have a clue yet.

One special sunny day, Mr. T (I wish I could disclose his name) took us to a field at 49th and "L" Street. I was really tickled because the field was adjacent to a best friend's yard. Mr. T was showing my father, who was also in retail, where the construction was to begin on a restaurant he was involved with. I remember standing there, listening and wondering what the heck they were jabbering about. Then Mr. T reached into his pocket and pulled out a round wooden object. He asked me and my sister "Did you get around to it?" Of course, I didn't know how to answer him so I asked, "What do you mean?" He repeated himself, carefully hiding the object in his hand "Did you get around to it?" I was not able to answer him. He then took my hand and placed the wooden coin in it. On it were the words "A ROUND TUIT." On the flip side was a "coupon" stating that it was good for ONE FREE WHOPPER.

What in the world was a WHOPPER? A couple of months later, the first location opened at 90th & Center. My family made the "Grand Opening", armed with our ROUND TUITS. I feel lucky to have witnessed the birth of a fast food giant in Omaha... I hope you have guessed by now that it was BURGER KING!

Mr. T and his family later moved from our duplex into something palatial and then to places beyond and out of our lives.

A few weeks ago, on a sunny Saturday afternoon, I drove through the Burger King 49th and "L" and this memory came alive within me and it made me smile. What a clever use of a promo product. I don't recall anything else in the past 50 years that I've seen that has rivaled it.

REPRESENT

REPRESENT

Such an interesting word. Just 9 letters but says so much about who you are, the message you give to others, what you believe in.

On October 14th, a multitude of Omaha businesses will be coming together in one building, to showcase what their business offers. At this gathering new friendships will be started, potential customers will be found and support for our community will be displayed. The spaces these businesses will occupy were procured with a common purpose: to be seen, to be heard, to raise awareness, to grow.

Will your booth attendants and promotional marketing items be able to REPRESENT you? Will you see welcoming smiles or boredom? Will your table reps be handing out "freebies" or "promo items"? (I hope you said "promo items"). Will your promotional materials attract people to your booth out of curiosity? Will materials be used as an ice-breaker to get a conversation started?Perhaps they will be used as a "thank you" for listening to your message.

People love gifts, whether in the form of an inexpensive useful item or something extravagant. However, don't forget that these "freebies" have a purpose and that you are using them to "bait your lure". Hopefully, you will have selected the perfect bait for this occasion!

Don't be cynical about biodegradability....

We all need to be "green" yet we voice skepticism on what we don't understand.  

Unfortunately, the nature of a human being is to question or to doubt. That is a good thing, to be cautious, to be curious or to require an explanation.   A product is labeled degradeable/biodegradeable, because it is.  They achieve this by putting TDPA additives into the plastic (Totally Degradable Plastic Additives).  

Let me give a very basic explanation of degradeability and biodegradability. These are two separate processes that occur while turning a TDPA treated plastic into a bio-mass. After a plastic is discarded, TDPA's are activated by oxygen and UV rays to break down into smaller molecules that can be wettable.  This degradation process will begin in 1.5 to 2 years after a plastic is discarded.  When the molecules are small enough biodegradation begins and tiny micro-organisms consume the smaller plastic fragments until the process is complete, leaving a harmless goo.  Even buried in a landfill the TDPA plastic gets the combination of heat, moisture or oxygen necessary to complete biodegradation.

I personally have attended more than one product presentation where the rep touted the "green" aspect of their product but didn't "believe" it.  How did I know this?  Because they said so or made a suggestive facial gesture (hard to catch those facial gestures for posterity on an audio recording!)

After I left the meeting I was confused and curious.  Why did I just leave this education feeling like somebody is not telling the truth?  Why would the company put that "green" statement on their product if it wasn't?  Where did that person's negativity come from?

Well, I let these thoughts float in and out of my mind for the past couple of years now.  Every now and then I'd see a commercial, run across another advertisement or product that caused my doubts and curiosity to resurface.  Then I got a phone call and the conversation centered around concerns, doubts and skepticism about a particular product and this very subject.  I did not have the answers so I decided to get some.

I called suppliers and spoke to their internal representatives about their "green" statements and I was both enlightened and reassured.  There were studies done and reports written on results by qualified individuals (like engineers and scientists).  I figured this was the case and it was good to hear that it was.

Where has the skepticism come from?  From people not believing a TDPA plastic will complete the process in a landfill. However, it will and it does because it still has the ingredients it needs to get the job done.  Lastly, lets make a comparison: traditional plastic item in landfill takes 250-300 years.  A TDPA plastic item in a landfill takes maybe 5 years? Hmmmmmmm....a TPDA plastic disappears harmlessly over 50 times faster than a traditional plastic.  I bet anyone that understands this will find lots of inspiration to be a "green" advocate.

Word to all the product salespeople out there...understand what you are representing, then shout its praises.  We all know it costs a couple of cents more but don't let your customer focus on just the price, our world needs your help to get this "green" thing going!