Each year when a Birmingham, Ala., pharmaceutical manufacturing company holds its strategic marketing meeting, Jeff Poore has a seat alongside the company's principal decision-makers. The 45-year-old Poore and his wife, Teresa, are Adventures in Advertising franchisees in Birmingham. The couple joined the AIA network in 2000 after originally launching their promotional products distribution business - Marketing Works - in 1995. There are tens of thousands of promotional products distributors � more than 22,000, in fact - according to the Advertising Specialty Institute. But AIA's national network of 315 franchised offices is truly different. AIA consultants are not just order-takers or suppliers. They take the time to understand their clients' audience, theme and marketing objectives. They combine their creative thinking and vast experience to develop promotional solutions that are tailored to a client's unique needs to help them stand out from the competition. AIA, PG. 2 "I am a full-fledged strategic partner as opposed to simply being a vendor," Poore said of the relationship he has forged with his largest customer. "You would be surprised at how many companies want that type of involvement. It makes things much easier for them." AIA locations provide local, personalized service and promotional items and corporate apparel for direct mail, trade shows, employee incentives, company events, product introductions, corporate gifts, sports tournaments, sales meetings, safety programs and more. Whether clients want to promote their own products or services, target potential customers or motivate employees, promotional products have been proven to be the ultimate vehicle to effectively communicate a message. Advertisers spent a record $17.8 billion on promotional products in 2005. "The industry itself has tripled over the last 15 years," said David Woods, president and CEO of AIA. "Although the entire advertising world is changing quickly with the Internet, cable TV and satellite radio, promotional products continue to be a very cost-effective way for companies to advertise." Poore's customer base includes predominantly small- to medium-size companies within the pharmaceutical sales, banking and finance, insurance and education industries. AIA's nationwide customer base ranges from mom-and-pop businesses to Fortune 500 corporations. Poore said there are seven primary initiatives for which clients enlist the services of AIA/Marketing Works: trade shows, meetings and conferences, desktop reminder items, outdoor/sporting events, company/sales force apparel, client/holiday appreciation gifts and direct mail campaigns. AIA/Marketing Works' customers can be separated into two main categories according to need, Poore said. There are those who need products on a recurring monthly basis and others who might place orders only a few times each year. Still, their needs are largely the same. AIA, PG. 3 "Customers who need something every month expect us to know what we're doing and to think for them. They need us to be very closely involved with what they're doing," Poore said. "Other customers might need us less often, but when they do, it's almost like an express oil change. They want it done quickly. They want it done right and they don't want to deal with it. They want to check it off their to-do list." It is money well spent. Consider the ubiquitous logoed coffee mug and its costper- impression (CPI), which measures the reach and frequency of an advertising message. According to a study done by Delahaye Medialink, mugs that stay on desks two years or more can generate 750 to 2,500 impressions a year, assuming they get somewhere between 15 and 50 impressions in a standard five-day workweek. For a $5 mug, that's a CPI of between $.006 and $.001. AIA's ability to serve its customers is also tied to its strong partnerships with 150 preferred suppliers who are required to commit to specific performance standards that include pricing, service and support. Corporate apparel comprises about 50 to 60 percent of industry spending. If a client is in a rush to meet a deadline, AIA has a variety of merchandise that can be shipped in five working days with a client's imprint and even some that can be shipped one working day from receipt of order. AIA franchisees also have the advantage of not having exclusive territories, which allows them to solicit customers or accept orders from clients across the country. While AIA franchisees pride themselves on their local, personalized service, they are also able to effectively serve clients who operate on a regional or national basis. "We are in a very relationship-oriented business," said Rebecca Kollmann, AIA's director of marketing. "By not limiting our franchisees to geographic boundaries, they are able to offer continuous service to their customers even though situations might change during the course of the business relationship." But AIA's true value to its customers is ensuring that their money is spent wisely. For example, AIA has been assisting clients with trade show promotions for years. It has long been recognized that trade-show success can't be judged by booth traffic AIA, PG. 4 alone. Instead of potentially wasting time on unqualified or under-qualified individuals, AIA consultants work with clients to choose products designed to reach as many potential and current customers as possible in the time available. "A customer might be excited about a cool product, but does it really help them?" asked Kollmann. "Our consultants look at a client's competitive environment differently because they are not within the walls of the company. It's an opportunity to present an objective viewpoint. That's where we go beyond being a promotional products distributor and become a marketing consultant for our clients." The advice AIA consultants offer might solve in-depth issues or sometimes more simpler quandaries, but important ones, nonetheless. Poore recalled one female customer who wanted to purchase 1,000 note cubes that she was going to transport to a trade show in her own automobile. "She was a very petite woman and I asked her if she had any idea how much 1,000 note cubes would weigh," Poore said. "She had never even thought about it. We consider a lot of variables that never even cross our customers' minds."
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