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Defending Our Turf
By: Sherri C. Lennarson, MAS
Issue: 2009sep
A recent investigative report titled “The State of Your Money: Taxpayer Trinkets” by an NBC affiliate in Indianapolis is the catalyst for this column. The report opened by stating, “While Idaho brags about its potatoes, Indiana can boast about something else: potato chip clips. State agencies have recently purchased thousands of them—part of $1 million spent in the last two years on trinkets, doodads, gizmos and gadgets designed to promote state agencies and their messages.”
I can feel the hair on the back of your neck rising. Yes, the reporter used all the terms that make us cringe.
“The state’s promotional purchases come from state and federal tax money, which means you are paying for it. At $0.16 per pencil and $1.69 for a pen, many of the promotional purchases are relatively inexpensive. But state agencies bought more than 75,000 custom-made pens and pencils last year, costing taxpayers about $26,000. Add to this what Indiana spent on inscribed coasters, Frisbees, golf shirts, luggage tags, umbrellas, Post-it® Notes, notebooks, tattoos, lapel pins, golf balls, bandage dispensers, mouse pads, rulers, pill boxes, ponchos and other items, and the total bill for Hoosiers is $1,051,836 for promotional items over the past two years.”
In addition to sending a written response to the reporter, I personally talked with him. He adamantly stated the story was not meant to be an indictment of promotional products. His purpose was to focus on fiscal responsibility. Like many other states, Indiana is revenue challenged and the station felt it important that state expenditures be carefully scrutinized. Promotional products were just one of the areas evaluated. The reporter told me, “We have the state’s checkbook, and we will be running this series for a full year.”
I thought to myself, “Perhaps it is best to be first in this case. Humans have short memories and soon someone else will be under the microscope.” My first thought was quickly followed by another: Our responsibility as an industry is to deliver ROI (return on investment) and ROO (return on objective) on every campaign.
Unfortunately, our collective first response to the story is filled with emotion and indignation. That’s not fair. They don’t understand our medium. They are singling us out. Understandable responses but perhaps misdirected. Perhaps we should instead take a long, hard look at how we sell. Certainly the story emphasizes the need to educate the public about our medium. It illustrates the need to do a better job sharing our research and our success stories.
Today more than ever we need to understand public and private budgets and recognize the scrutiny individuals, agencies and marketing departments are under to develop results-oriented strategies that deliver value. When we do this, we have nothing to worry about.
All of us know that well-planned and well-executed promotional campaigns are wise investments and represent powerful ways to communicate important messages. In today’s economy, our medium is more effective than any other medium. Promotional products are viable, tangible and personal. They create mind-capture and help increase market share. At least they should.
The missing element in some of Indiana’s campaigns may have been an effective promotional consultant. Someone who understood the target audience, the budget, the campaign objectives and desired outcomes and asked the right questions from the onset.
Dan McQuiston, chairman of Butler University’s department of marketing and management weighed in on the story. “What the state is trying to do is to create awareness for an agency or a message, and if an item can create that awareness, then it’s worth it,” he said. He added, “The state’s promotional purchases have potential to be very effective.” McQuiston gave high marks to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management’s purchase of pencils made of recycled denim and money to teach children about recycling, and to the Indiana Department of Child Services, which purchased book bags (each filled with 25 donated books) for children in foster care. But while all states buy promotional products, McQuiston said the money is not always well spent.
And whose fault is that? I believe the responsibility rests firmly on our shoulders. Distributors, promotional consultants and suppliers must all work together to ensure successful outcomes. Remembering, it’s not about the product, but about the message. We need to concentrate intently on how results will be measured. We should determine the appropriate metrics upfront with the client before any campaign is launched.
Increased scrutiny is not going away, whether you’re consulting at the federal, state or local level. For-profit firms as well as not-for-profit agencies are closely evaluating their annual promotional spend. We must be ready to defend our turf and to do so in a compelling, articulate way.
Be prepared to defend your case just like Indiana’s Supreme Court did when the television station called on them. The court prepared a two-page response detailing how and why promotional products are a vital part of its outreach programs, volunteer appreciation and employee engagement. “The Indiana Supreme Court is dedicated to fiscal responsibility, in tough economic times and in times of prosperity. The judicial branch is proud to promote its programming. The Indiana Supreme Court plans to continue outreach programs with enthusiasm and an eye on the bottom line.”
It’s an honor speaking for the defense, Your Honor. I rest my case.
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