PMA April 2009 : Page 10
Business & Marketing Promotional success By Amanda Yeager Fullerton Photographics wins grand prize in PMA Custom Photo Gift Promotion Competition at PMA 09 The time and effort put into creating custom photo gift campaigns is paying off for finalists in the PMA Custom Photo Gift Promotion Competition. New this year, the competition asked PMA members to submit their best custom photo gift campaigns for a chance to win up to $25,000. Entrants were allowed to submit two promotional campaigns, which incorporated three to seven promotional pieces, and could include print, audio, video, and specialty items. The three first-round trade winners were announced before PMA 09 and include Fullerton Photographics Inc., Fullerton, Calif.; Magenta Studio Photo, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; and SeeHere.com, a consumer website from Fujifilm U.S.A. Inc., Valhalla, N.Y. Each trade winner received $5,000, a Crystal award, and an All-Conference Connection Pass to PMA 09. The supplier winner, ISIS Corp., West Bend, Wis., received an All- Conference Connection Pass and Crystal award. The trade finalist campaigns were judged March 3 during PMA 09, and Fullerton Photographics Inc. was announced as the grand prize winner on March 4 during the Official Business Session. Fullerton Photographics received $20,000 in addition to prior first-round awards. Fullerton Photographics “Celebrate, Create, Donate” is the promotional title for the campaign submitted by Fullerton Photographics President GabyMullinax. The campaign consists of several components, including an invitation, store signage, in-store media, and PowerPoint presentations; quarterly marketing direct mail; On the supplier side Supplier winner ISIS Corp. (www.isisphotogifts.com), West Bend, Wis., submitted a seven-piece campaign consisting of specialty advertising materials. The campaign, which began in August 2008, focuses on the ISIS Magic Photo Gift Maker. Supplier en- tries were not eligible for the initial $5,000 prize won by trade entrants or the $20,000 grand prize announced at PMA 09. 10 PMA — April 2009 — www.pmai.org Gaby Mullinax of Fullerton Photographics accepts the grand prize in the PMA Custom Photo Gift Promotion Competition. website promotions at www.fullertonphoto.com; and a customized mug. Characterized by vibrant colors and the animated characters of Mullinax, Director of Operations Leasha Hartig, and Lab Man- ager Allie Hopper, the campaign began in the spring of 2008. “The premise for this campaign started with an email from an industry friend, Chris Lydle,” says Mullinax. “He mentioned the idea of an in-store philanthropic event, which I thought was brilliant. There is no better way to engage customers than to talk to them about what they’re passionate about.” Mullinax came up with the campaign after examining her resources – 11 HP kiosks in the Fullerton Click Café, a well- trained staff, and a community to involve. The idea for “Celebrate, Create, Donate” begins with customers who want to earn money for a specific charity. Fullerton will sponsor an in-store night of creating photo products, which is hosted by the consumer; and 20 percent of the sales go to the consumer’s charity of choice. Photo by Bill Fitz-Patrick
Promotional Success
Amanda Yeager
The time and effort put into creating custom photo gift campaigns is paying off for finalists in the PMA Custom Photo Gift Promotion Competition. New this year, the competition asked PMA members to submit their best custom photo gift campaigns for a chance to win up to $25,000.
Entrants were allowed to submit two promotional campaigns, which incorporated three to seven promotional pieces, and could include print, audio, video, and specialty items.
The three first-round trade winners were announced before PMA 09 and include Fullerton Photographics Inc., Fullerton, Calif.; Magenta Studio Photo, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; and SeeHere.com, a consumer website from Fujifilm U.S.A. Inc., Valhalla, N.Y. Each trade winner received $5,000, a Crystal award, and an All-Conference Connection Pass to PMA 09. The supplier winner, ISIS Corp., West Bend, Wis., received an All- Conference Connection Pass and Crystal award.
The trade finalist campaigns were judged March 3 during PMA 09, and Fullerton Photographics Inc. was announced as the grand prize winner on March 4 during the Official Business Session. Fullerton Photographics received $20,000 in addition to prior first-round awards.
Fullerton Photographics
“Celebrate, Create, Donate” is the promotional title for the campaign submitted by Fullerton Photographics President Gaby Mullinax. The campaign consists of several components, including an invitation, store signage, in-store media, and PowerPoint presentations; quarterly marketing direct mail; By Amanda Yeager website promotions at www.fullertonphoto.com; and a customized mug.
Characterized by vibrant colors and the animated characters of Mullinax, Director of Operations Leasha Hartig, and Lab Manager Allie Hopper, the campaign began in the spring of 2008.
“The premise for this campaign started with an email from an industry friend, Chris Lydle,” says Mullinax. “He mentioned the idea of an in-store philanthropic event, which I thought was brilliant. There is no better way to engage customers than to talk to them about what they’re passionate about.”
Mullinax came up with the campaign after examining her resources – 11 HP kiosks in the Fullerton Click Café, a welltrained staff, and a community to involve.
The idea for “Celebrate, Create, Donate” begins with customers who want to earn money for a specific charity. Fullerton will sponsor an in-store night of creating photo products, which is hosted by the consumer; and 20 percent of the sales go to the consumer’s charity of choice.
Fullerton provides invitations including an idea of what to bring for the night (photo Cds, media cards, etc.), and an evening of in-store kiosk use for the host and guests.
“We hosted 16 events last year,” says Mullinax. “The events usually involved 12 to 15 people and turned into 3-hour social gatherings where guests could create anything from posters to photo books. If not everyone could attend in one night, we provided the event host with a marketing piece to hand out that extended the 20 percent sales contribution for a month.”
The various promotional elements to “Celebrate, Create, Donate” have helped increase interest in the event, as well as store sales, says Mullinax.
“This campaign has, without a doubt, helped sales – especially add-on sales after the events,” she says. “Anyone with a few kiosks and customers can do this. It’s not a seasonal campaign. We haven’t even scratched the surface with it yet.”
SeeHere.com
The SeeHere.com media campaign includes six campaign components. SeeHere.com is a consumer photo printing and sharing website from Fujifi lm U.S.A. Inc. Th e campaign was entered by Joan Rutherford, vice president, Marketing Web for the Imaging Division of Fujifi lm U.S.A. Inc. It includes online banner ads, a billboard display, TV spots, email blasts, and photo gifts.
Launched in October 2008, SeeHere.com allows consumers to share, organize, and customize photos, or develop galleries, websites, blogs, and create custom photo gifts.
“The campaign to promote SeeHere.com consisted of two main elements,” says Rutherford. “Online and TV promotions helped establish the brand and drive revenue.”
Ongoing online campaign elements include banner ads and promotional offers. The colorful banner ads feature a mother with young children. The website home page includes several promotional offers and a slide show of site capabilities.
The centerpiece of the campaign was a direct response TV advertising spot demonstrating diff erent features of SeeHere.com.
“The 30-second TV spots showed people how the website works,” says Rutherford. “The spots highlighted gift selections, the composer tool for creating unique gifts, and why SeeHere.com was the best choice [versus other photo sites].”
The TV spots featured the same young woman demonstrating various tasks – such as building a photo greeting card or photo book, and using the sharing feature. The TV commercials ran from October to December 2008, and aired nationwide in the United States.
Each spot featured an offer for 100 free prints to consumers who visited the website and entered a promotional code featured at the end of the commercial. There were also promotions off ering a percentage off holiday greeting cards.
“The promotional codes allowed us to track how eff ective the TV advertising was,” says Rutherford. “It was responsible for more than 55 percent of our fourth-quarter revenue.”
The TV spots ran on cable networks targeting women, such as Lifetime, says Rutherford.
“We ran the spots on these networks because it was more effi cient than airing the spots on a broad network. We talked to our target audience this way,” says Rutherford.
Magenta Studio Photo
The Magenta Studio Photo campaign, submitted by owner Magda Slezak, centers on the theme, “Keep your loved ones close to your heart.” The campaign began Jan. 2, 2008, and is ongoing. The studio has 15 locations across Quebec, and targeted its audience by placing promotional ads and inserts in selected magazines and newspapers, and also sent out press releases to capture media attention.
The direct campaign within its studios features various product displays and promotional posters. The company also launched an updated website at www.magentaphoto.com last fall, which Slezak says helped increase consumer interest and awareness.
“This is a convergence campaign, integrating several diff erent media,” says Slezak. “It was developed to capitalize on people’s desires to keep their memories alive, and how photo accessories can do that.”
Slezak says, prior to the campaign, she was aware of photo accessories, but never interested in what she calls typical photo gifts such as mugs and mouse pads.
“I wanted to sell photo products that were high quality and original, something people would be proud to use or wear,” she says. “I wanted to market to a diff erent type of consumer.”
With the start of the campaign, Magenta began to off er handbags, scarves, pillows, lunch boxes, and ties customized with customer photos.
“These items not only gave customers the option to wear their favorite photos in some manner, but provided a gift idea as well,” says Slezak. “We also released a photo umbrella in the fall that became very popular.”
Since the beginning of the promotion, Magenta has experienced increased sales in photo gifts, says Slezak. The campaign continues to run with the aim of showing consumers what else they can do with their favorite photos.
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