Save the Dates
How do calendars stay relevant in a digital world?
There is still a place for paper in business. Dated products like calendars, planners and journals are coming into season in the second half of the year, adding value daily to brand awareness campaigns. Cheryl Daurie 0f Magnus Pen Corp has been helping organizations and businesses share their message for over 14 years, promoting the Galleria collection of calendars. “Calendars are a product that continuously offer an advertising value proposition that can be easily understood by the purchaser. They are practical and functional and can be used daily regardless of the age or lifestyle of the recipient?”
As marketing and communications manager for Bic Graphic North America, Carrie Lewis nods to the studies and reports about the powerful positive impact of engaging with dated products. “Writing details a down in a planner, journal or on a calendar stimulates an area of the brain that helps people focus and recall information. The physical act of flipping back and forth between planner pages for the week ahead influences memory, making it easier to remember the sequence and times of upcoming events. Plus, writing things down by hand helps people feel satisfaction when they physically check an item off a list.”
A marketer with Beacon Promotions, Gwen Brey cites industry statistics for reasons why calendars continue to be an annual value-add promotion solution. “Calendars provide incredible value, averaging fractions of a cent per impression in product lifetime. Nearly every home or business has a calendar. About 62 percent of those were received from promotions, and the others are purchased. Seventy-seven per cent of home owners and 84 percent of business calendar users can recall the advertising message on their calendar and have a more favourable impression of the advertiser. They also scored more likely to refer a friend, relative or co-worker to the advertiser?”
The focus for providers has been on improving imaging to better compete with retail options. Many custom imprints are now available in full photo colour, covering large areas of the calendar, even the back cover. Original photography and engaging content, like recipes, life hacks and inspirational quotes, further the effort to connect with the intended audience.
Case studies show that as an annual mailer, calendars influence the growth of a tribe and followers who share the message, and recruit referrals. If yours is not the calendar on the wall of your consumer, perhaps your competition’s is. The time of year to engage your audience and make the change is now.
Article courtesy of marketingedge magazine