Happy New Year!
Now that the holiday season is over, we can get back to our normal routines. One of my routines is writing this column every two weeks. Of course, coming up with new material can sometimes be a challenge – like this week for instance. So, because no one topic popped into my head, here are some of my observations/experiences over the last few weeks.
World Junior Hockey
Like many people, I watched the World Junior games. Every so often, they showed flashbacks of the 1972 Summit Series. I hadn’t noticed this before, but the games played in Canada in 1972 had no advertising on the boards. The games played in communist Russia had ads all over the boards. That certainly begs the question – why? These days, rinkboard advertising is just the norm at any arena, and very effective by the way. If you have the budget, you should give it a try.
Travel Head Scratcher
Many Canadians travel south in the winter. Like most, I like to get the best deal I can. One of the ways I do this is to amass travel dollars from my TD Visa card. They offer triple points if clients book their trip through their travel centre. I have done this many times in the past and reaped the benefits. I went to book my winter vacation to Cuba through their new travel provider, expedia.ca, and was told that expedia does not book trips to Cuba. I don’t understand why a Canadian company like TD Canada Trust would partner with a company that won’t book to one of the most popular destinations for Canadians. I think they lost sight of who their target market is. Sure doesn’t make any sense to me.
Calendars
Looking back to December 2010, we would receive about ten calendars from customers and suppliers. This year, we didn’t get any! I think the reason is that smart phones and other electronic devices have taken away the need. Each year, we send calendars to our clients and try to make it unique so they will get used. This year, we tried something completely different and the positive feedback has been amazing. We put two old school advertising premiums together to make one unique gift. A mouse pad imprinted with a 2015 calendar. Everybody loves it. Why? Because it was different.
In 2015, try to be different with your marketing efforts. When it gets noticed, it works. Happy 2015!