Some mixed drinks stand out with ridiculous names, like “Jamaican Me Crazy” or “Sex on the Beach.” Others employ distinct and unusual ornaments, such as huge celery stalks, bright syrups or tiny paper umbrellas. These conventions likely started as a way for bartenders to brand their specialties, which was a good idea, but over time, hasn’t the luster faded a bit?
Read MoreAuthor: Michael Cornnell
Like Da Vinci, Except the Opposite
I finished up research for my article on computer accessories last week, and I can’t believe all the crazy stuff I found. There are USB watches, Internet phones that are also mice, and MP3 players so complex they make iPods seem like sleekly designed doorjambs.
Read MoreIncan Pictographs and Telephones
I’m still working away on our Top 50 Distributors List, making dozens of follow-up phone calls and trying to keep track of the results with about 15 hand-written, needlessly convoluted lists. God help me when I’m doing this again next year, as I’m sure I’ll no longer recall why I have corresponding charts and notes in Spanish, German and early Incan pictographs. Being thorough has little to do with being logical, I suppose.
Read MoreMalkovich Malkovich Malkovich
It’s been a while since I’ve told a story about my rookie adventures in this fine industry of ours. It’s probably going to be a while longer too, since this post is really more of a convoluted philosophical observation than an interesting coherent narrative. Don’t worry though, I’ll work in some jokes in about pyromania or checkerboards to keep things punchy (you scoff, but let me tell you, I can tell a checkerboard joke like no other).
Read MoreAn Editor’s Journey
Reproduced, for your reading enjoyment, is a portion of associate editor Michael Cornnell’s travel diary, chronicling his trip to Dallas and back.
Read MoreLower the Handicap
THE COMBINING OF sport and science is not a new trend, but it is a pairing that has been strengthening. Just a few years ago, it would seem like science fiction to hear a professional athlete had injected himself with his own previously withdrawn blood platelets in order to speed along the healing of an injured knee. In this year’s Super Bowl XLIII, however, Hines Ward did just that.
Read MoreA Good, Long Drive
GOLF IS A game of increments and minutiae. Misjudge a stroke by one millimeter, and a killer drive ends up being a killer search through the woods. Appropriately, golf promotions require the same kind of precision. A campaign that is even slightly off can land product meant for a promotional hole in one right into a sand trap.
Read MoreHooray Hooray for Deadline Day
I know I didn’t tease this in last week’s post, but I thought it might be fun to give you all a glimpse of what it’s like on deadline day here at Promo Marketing, mostly because it’s deadline day today, and that’s pretty much all that’s on my mind. Not that deadlines really bother me, it’s more that if you can see the finish line, you mind really isn’t on kittens or the great sandwich you had for lunch. We’re going to do this piece time-stamp style, and promise each other that we won’t think about kittens until it’s over.
Read More20 Questions
I’ve recently started work on Promo Marketing’s Top 50 Distributors List, which is amazing and wonderful if for nothing else than the fact that I’m getting paid to make a list. The Top 50, much like the masthead of our magazine, is arranged by income level, ability to wreck house at shuffle board, and whether I can get ahold of your information or not.
Read MoreHotel Redux
In my last post, I mentioned that I was going to write a bit about selling to the hotel industry this week. Larry Wilhelm, president and owner of Custom HBC, gave me a ton of information that I wasn’t able to use for my March travel feature, but I thought was interesting and useful and I don’t want to let it slip by. What follows is Wilhelm explaining different ways distributors can target the hotel industry with health-care promotions, more or less directly from our interview, edited only for length and clarity.
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