Calendars are a year-round marketing opportunity

company calendars As new calendars are tacked up in Janaury, businesses that use them as a marketing tool are already well into planning the next year's edition.

For such companies, the start of a new year is the perfect time to think about a future calendar. You have the advantage of seeing the various types going out, plus it's early in the financial year so you can budget all the necessary production components.

While calendars aren't as popular as they once were, Richard Mikes, executive director of the Calendar Marketing Association in Naperville, Ill., believes that they are still a highly effective way to put your company's name before customers and potential customers 365 days a year.

"If you can snag a place by the phone, whether at the office or at home, the investment you make in this promotion will be worth it," Mikes says.

Linda Shunk, president and CEO of Cookies By Design-Cookie Bouquet, agrees wholeheartedly. When the company's advertising agency, Jordan Assoc., in Oklahoma City, Okla., urged Shunk to consider a date book as a marketing tool for her Plano, Tex.-based firm, she was dubious.

Cost-effective, regular promotion
Shunk's hesitancy, however, was eased when the agency provided her with research that suggested the planner's useful life extends at least through the year. They make cost-effective gifts for new accounts, uncomplicated thank-you gifts to old accounts and can even be sold at the company's 200 stores.

The planner is spiral-bound and its front cover folds out to provide the company's standard catalog. There are instructions for ordering and a gift-order record on the back.

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In addition, each month features one of the key holidays targeted by a gift company like Cookies By Design-Cookie Bouquet. In January, for instance, the featured event is the Super Bowl and the calendar offers a cookie plate for sports fans.

Shunk acknowledges that the project isn't cheap to get started: "I have to write a big check each year."

But the average cost per book is around $5. When she looks at it that way, it's a reasonable price for a year's worth of targeted promotion.

When Shunk attended an annual trade fair with the planner, she was thrilled with the response. "As people talked to us about our gift arrangements, they were drawn to the calendar planner," she says. "Everyone wanted one.

"The combination of a planner, address book and product catalog has taken our marketing to a new level."

Seven steps to a successful calendar
If your company wants to plan a calendar promotion project, here are some things to consider:

1. Start planning early.
Shunk calls the calendar committee together in January, just as the old calendars go out. They gather suggestions that are fresh in people's minds, and target photo opportunities throughout the year.

Another good reason for starting at the beginning of the year is financial. Ash Abhyankar, director of sales and marketing and business development for Blaine, Wash.-based Teldon International, one of the world's largest promotional calendar companies, says his firm, like others, gives deep discounts for calendars they can print early.

2. Make the calendar useful and a reflection of your business.
If your audience is a higher-end demographic, realize that the calendar should mirror that with classy paper and sophisticated design. If you're in the salvage business, you may be able to aim lower. But in either case, calendar maker Gary Ford, president of American Custom Publishing Corp. in Libertyville, Ill., urges big, clean blocks and square type that is easy to read.

3. Partner with somebody else.
The New Smyrna PennySaver in Volusia County, Fla., devised a 13-month calendar featuring the work of a local artist and gallery. The artist traded the right to print a selection of his work for the advertising value of being featured on the calendar.

4. Consider a standard model.
These can be very cost-effective; in many cases, you can get basic models for as little as $1 apiece even if you only want the minimum order of 100 calendars. For only a few pennies more, you can highlight some select dates like your company's annual sale or anniversary event. Teldon has thousands of images from which to choose. Select a style, and Teldon will print your company's name and contact information prominently on every page.

5. Think about designing a calendar from scratch.
If you're in a creative business, this can be a great way to show off your company's expertise. But proceed cautiously. If you undertake the design tasks and turn the finished product over to a printer that doesn't specialize in calendars, you could be responsible for any errors that make it through the printing process. While you may get a great price for a beautiful product, reprinting to fix an error can cost a bundle

6. Consider how you'll deliver.
The most expensive part of a calendar project is often delivery via the mail or a private service. If salespeople can distribute calendars in person or if they can go along with other deliveries, the price can be low or even free.

7. Promote, promote, promote.
Let your customers know that if they stop by, they'll get a free calendar. Or use the calendar as a carrot to get customers to sign up for e-mail reminders.

With a little early planning, you can schedule a daily reminder of your business for customers, new and established, all year long.

Jennie L. Phipps is a contributing editor based in Michigan.

-- Updated: Dec. 31, 2002