Giveaways that Give Back

You've seen them before, silly tsochkes, corporate swag, seemingly useless client giveaways that somehow you never seem to throw away.

Giveaways can be a good way to continue your relationship with your customers during the time when they aren't thinking about your products or service.

Two new ideas popped up online recently that deserve a bit of attention, Reactee and QIGO.

Reactee is the more traditional of the two new ideas. Using the online interface, you can create a t-shirt that gives a text messaging address. Anyone who sees the shirt can then send a message to the texting address and make contact with your organization. The idea takes logo-wearing to a whole new level.

QIGO uses a different approach. Their idea is to build off of the Staples Easy Button and give your potential customers USB key chains that when plugged into a computer allows for one button access to any website anywhere.

They're nifty ideas, and a step further out than just slapping your logo on some gift bags.

Nicely, AdSymetrix can help you understand just how effective any of these methods are for bringing new business to your business. The contact information given through both Reactee and QIGO can be Tracked and Monitored through AdSymetrix. Simply Tag Your Ads - in this case, your t-shirts and key chains - and watch as the responses roll in.

Give AdSymetrix a try, sign up is free.

Branding and Entertainment - A Way To Combat Shrinking Audiences

It seems to be a common problem: How can advertisers get their messages to an audience that increasingly doesn't want to be bothered with an ad?

Everywhere you look, there's a new solution popping up. I could be through cross cultural education at the hands of a large broadcast network, or it could come in the guise of doctored Diggs or even by way of pay for play Blog entries. The problem keeps showing itself, and it leaves many advertisers cold.

One other way to battle the shrinking audience is to change the way you view advertising. Using entertainment and branding to get people to think of your product when they're involved in something else. You'll see this as product placement in movies and television, or as co-branded games on your cell phone or even as the star of whatever you happen to be watching.

Removing the separation of advertisement and content can be helpful, but the only way to gage the effectiveness of this way of advertising is through the kind of testing that AdSymetrix can provide.

Simply Tag Your Ad and let AdSymetrix track and monitor the responses. Knowing whether people react to your message is as important as getting that message in front of them in the first place.