Ring-O (IMC-AW85)

Objective: An advertising agency was seeking a product for its quarterly self-promotion direct mail campaign. In its search for new business, the agency was looking for a way to communicate its forward, out-of-the-box thinking. To that end, the item had to be unique, attractive, and be an effective medium to communicate the agency's message. The agency also wanted to showcase its own creativity and show businesses how even simple promotions could help their businesses.

Strategy: After seeing the IMC Ring-O and receiving input from the distributor, the agency adopted the theme of "Do you want to run rings around your competition? We can help." As part of the IMC 'Plan Ahead' program, the distributor was able to offer the agency free laser set-up which helped make this promotion more cost effective for the agency. The agency sent the pen decorated with its company logo to businesses with a short note touting its capabilities and the offer to help businesses "run rings around the competition."

Result: The promotion was a success. Everyone who received a pen had the agency in their mind and on their desk, and just the sight of a reasonably modest promotion had new businesses calling the agency for help with self-promotions of their own.