tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16726900.post116388102756721093..comments2024-01-18T12:05:00.152-05:00Comments on The 'M' Word - Marketing Libraries: 50 reasons not to give away pens when you are marketing your libraryNancy Dowdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05334494927083951535noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16726900.post-91119228413865719062008-08-13T19:29:00.000-04:002008-08-13T19:29:00.000-04:00great post! So now that drug companies won’t be ha...great post! So now that drug companies won’t be handing out those ubiquitous pens and other trinkets to doctors any more, what are they going to do with the leftovers? Turns out getting rid of this stuff is a delicate matter, as we learned from talking with AstraZeneca today.<BR/><BR/>bag<BR/><BR/>This “doesn’t mean we’re dumping stuff out there, or filling closets of favorite customers, or selling stuff on eBay,” says AstraZeneca spokeswoman Leslie Pott. “We’re very sensitive to the public perception of these items, and are not looking to flood the market.”<BR/><BR/>soap<BR/><BR/>Pott rattled off a list of inventory AstraZeneca has on hand: pens, mugs, notepads, tissue boxes, hand sanitizer, clipboards, exam-room paper, clocks. Many of the items the company handed out “were of practical use,” she explains.<BR/><BR/>AstraZeneca’s sales reps, who number about 5,200 in the U.S., are not being told to throw away the freebies, Pott says. But they’re not supposed to pile them up in doctors’ supply closets, either. A governance team will meet in a couple of weeks to hash out a trinket-reduction action plan.<BR/><BR/>It’s not always so easy to give these things away: AstraZeneca recently offered some of its logo-laden clothing and blankets to the Red Cross to help out victims of the floods in the Midwest, Pott says, but the Red Cross didn’t accept the offer. She says the company got the impression the Red Cross just didn’t need the stuff — not that it was turned off by the concept of accepting items that advertised AstraZeneca products.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16726900.post-1164113189642792782006-11-21T07:46:00.000-05:002006-11-21T07:46:00.000-05:00I think you are right on target with the course, o...I think you are right on target with the course, outreach is sales; it is just that our products are free. I’ve seen colleges give away ipods, but the flash drive is a neat idea and affordable. <BR/><BR/>As public libraries we conduct so many outreach events large and small that the big challenge is to find something that is cheap enough to bring every time we go out. I was talking to a woman from a small town and they have their local businesses provide a small gift basket. It works as a nice cross promotion- but the difficulty for them is to make sure the target audience is one that works for the business so that they see it as a business partnership rather than a donation.<BR/><BR/>Do you have the students sign up for your listserv at the table? We are playing with the idea of just bringing a laptop and let them sign up directly so we don't have to enter the data ourselves.Nancy Dowdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05334494927083951535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16726900.post-1164057673372993672006-11-20T16:21:00.000-05:002006-11-20T16:21:00.000-05:00Hi, Nancy!Thanks for sharing your thoughts on work...Hi, Nancy!<BR/><BR/>Thanks for sharing your thoughts on working the table. When I came onboard at VCU, I hadn't prepared for the fact that I'd be doing a lot of these kinds of things and it's difficult to find just the right approach that will grab people's attention. I agree with your raffle idea. I tried this last year at our new student orientation and had a raffle for one of five flash drives if students signed up for our listserv. Most were interested, and we got hundreds of sign-ups. The listserv has proven to be an important communication tool between me and students who opt-in as wanting to know more about the library, so this raffle had lasting value for both parties (unlike those pens!). I'm taking a personal sales course next semester, so I'm hoping to pick up some more techniques on how to do this right. Thanks again for the tips! I look forward to your future thoughts on this.Jillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09831759940834361548noreply@blogger.com