Posted: June 1, 2011
Unconventional promos -- boxes full of toys, food, elaborate scavenger hunts, etc -- are getting a lot of attention these days. Despite the fact that a lot of art buyers and editors
say they prefer simple promos, photographers are still churning out these pricey and attention-grabbing promos.
Lately, it seems blogging about the promo sometimes gets more attention that the promo itself (
Clint Davis and
Casey Templeton come to mind). I like that people are documenting the process and sharing the promos in so many ways. Seeing a video of someone's promo go viral makes all the work, and often expense, more worth it.
When planning to do a promo like these, you need to really think about who your target market is and if it's worth the time and expense to reach them. You may be more effective doing something less expensive. Obviously the scale of these promos means they are not being sent to huge lists, so working on a really tight list of existing clients you love and dream clients you want to love you is key to making the most of your marketing dollar.
Below are Maggie's critiques of a few "out of the box" promos she has received recently.
[caption id="attachment_976" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Michel Leroy"]
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Michel Leroy
http://www.michelleroyphoto.com/ New York, NY
What: 4 oranges and a promo card.
Oranges are a great gift and they were a good tie-in back to photo on the promo card. The package colors, imagery, theme and design were all in-sync with each other. The promo card is a commercial/editorial portrait that is professional and a little weird (who bites into an orange?). It is different enough to grab my attention but not so weird as to confuse me.
[caption id="attachment_977" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Eric Schwabel"]
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Eric Schwabel
http://schwabelstudio.com/ Los Angeles, CA
What: Create-A-Face game.
Peal and stick (re-stickable) photo decals to place on the face of a dude and build different (slightly frightening) characters. This was designed to impress creative directors and art buyers and I bet it will! I can imagine it was quite pricey to produce. But Eric thinks big and different. And, I think this is an unforgettable promo for tough to impress art buyers and ad agency creatives. For editorial, I think this might work with major newsstand publications but is slightly wasted on a business magazine photo editor like me.
[caption id="attachment_978" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Tony Gale"]
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Tony Gale
http://www.tonygale.com New York, NY
What: Remote control monster truck, ransom note, and promo card.
The ransom note said that; in order to get the controller for the car, I need to make an appointment to see Tony’s new book. I have heard he is getting a great response. He has an all new website and this is his best promo card so far. My main complaint with this promo is that the red monster truck toy has nothing to do with his work, his subjects or the enclosed promo card and ransom note.
[caption id="attachment_979" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Wayne Brezinka"]
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Wayne Brezinka (illustrator)
http://www.brezinkadesign.com/ Nashville, TN
What: 45 rpm coaster and a promo card.
So cool I had to pick include an illustrator. When you go to his site the postcard image is top of page. Everything ties in beautifully. I really liked this promo, Wayne’s work, and his website. It’s a total coincidence that one of our art directors commissioned him the same week the promos arrived on their desks.
(editor's note: also check out Matt Barnes' vinyl record themed promo)
[caption id="attachment_980" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Dave Moser"]
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Dave Moser
http://davemoser.com/ Philadelphia, PA
What: Custom Chocomize chocolate bar and two sets of promos.
The first part of this promo was series of long elaborately branded cards. I almost didn’t notice that one of the long cards was a coupon for a free custom designed chocolate bar. Score! I designed a dark chocolate bar with toffee, peanuts, and sea salt. It is incredibly good. This sweet promo cost him a decent amount at $10. I don’t know if it will pay off for him with me because his style and subjects don’t mesh with the styles I hire for at my magazines. What does totally work for Dave is that I spent quality time on his site and I won’t forget his name (certainly not while there is still some chocolate left in my drawer).
[caption id="attachment_981" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Jen Judge"]
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Jen Judge
http://www.jenjudge.com/ Santa Fe, NM
What: Newspaper
This mini newspaper has images and stories from her work in post-earthquake Haiti. All of the images are black & white, incredibly simple, and totally effective on the paper stock. I emailed her immediately, or maybe I called. (I do that sometimes). She told me that she just got the idea to print the newspaper and send it out. She hadn’t ever really promoted her work before but this was important to her. I love the idea. It works too because all the portraits are from the same project.
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Are you one of the photographers' mentioned in this post (or have you done a similarly unconventional self promo piece)? It'd be great to hear from you about the response you've been getting, how much you spent on the promo and how you decided who to send them to.
01. Diego Jose
June 2, 2011Hi Jasmine,
I’m a full-time photographer from the Philippines and am relatively new to the industry. Your blog is amazing and very helpful, I can’t wait to try to make my own promotional pieces and put together a book/portfolio.
Thank you so much for putting this blog up.
Sincerely,
Diego
02. Tony Gale
June 2, 2011In response to a couple of your questions…
The RC car promo has been very successful at getting me meetings. I chose people who I had limited contact with in the past, with a few exceptions. I wanted my first real contact with to be splash!
03. Michel Leroy
June 2, 2011My series of promos is a five-part campaign that goes to a select client list, about 25 mailers each time. All the objects are used in the photos and reinforce the playfully “concept” in the image. The unique interaction between average objects and playful visuals should become recognizable to even the most inundated art directors/art buyers/photo editors (I think that’s everybody…).
The objects make the viewer stop, even if just for 5 seconds, to look at the photo – setting the image apart from the hundreds of others promo cards. In the example of the Navel oranges, it also delivered a little spring color and fresh flavor to everybody’s desk.
It has been really effective; I connected with every single recipient (sooner or later) and it led to old school, face-to-face meetings. When I was at the meetings I brought an Orange; like an apple for the teacher. Everybody thought it was funny and said it told them more about my personality than my pictures – Perfect!
Budget:
Oranges (4 per box +/-) $42.00 (100 Total)
Next Day Fliers 5×7” Cards $63.00 (100 Total)
uLine Box (7x7x3”) $10.25 (25 Total)
USPS Shipping 1lb/11oz
Priority Rate @ $5.20each $130.00 (25 Total)
$245.25 TOTAL
04. Jasmine
June 2, 2011@Michel, that is a really, really effective use of $250. I am impressed and glad to hear that it led to face-to-face meetings. As rare as those seem these days, that’s where the real connections are made! Kudos!
@tony, I love that it’s been a great way for you to get meetings. You caught people’s attention, in a good way.
05. Sacha Lecca
June 2, 2011I’d like to give a slight nod in the direction of simplicity. I find such extras to be gimmicky and more of a distraction to the work and almost always discarded.
A basic card with an example/s of strong, eye catching (and relevant!) work followed up with others or a email/call is always going to best.
NO disrespect intended to the above esp as it seems to have been a benefit in a couple of cases, just not my thing.
06. John McDermott
June 2, 2011Great to hear from Sacha that for him, and hopefully for many others as well, that what really matters is the photography and not the gimmicks.
07. Heather Lefort
June 8, 2011I LOVE seeing artists think outside of the box for a select promotion! All of the above promotions show great creativity as well as the artists personalities, which makes it easier for Creative’s to connect with them. I really like how Michel Leroy broke down the overall budget. I tell the members at Agency Access all the time “It doesn’t have to be an expensive promotion to get you the attention you are looking for!” Great job and thanks for sharing your creativity.