It’s Your Move

THEY MAKE FUN gifts, bring smiles to people’s faces and might even cause folks to break out in laughter. Games and toys are among a unique class of products
in the promotional arena that oftentimes bring great joy to those putting them to use—an effective marketing ploy in itself. But, when distributors find a way to perfectly match games and toys with clients’ images and messages, the joy is spread all around, creating a winning situation for the whole team.

That’s exactly the tactic Aerobie, Palo Alto, Calif., employs with its line of high-performance flying discs, rings and boomerangs. National Sales Manager Don Abbott said Aerobie typically aligns with companies that promote high performance, reliability and anything related to aerodynamics.

“It just makes sense for us to work with companies that in some way parallel what our products are about,” said Abbott. “For instance, when Boeing introduced its 787 Dreamliner Jet, it distributed one of our flying discs to all of those involved in the aircraft’s launch. It was a perfect fit because Boeing looked at us as a partner in the field of flying.”

He recommends distributors be thoughtful when pitching ad specialty ideas to their clients and believes that while all games and toys are fun items to give away, their significance is greatly increased when a link exists between the toy and the message.

“Just because we supply flying objects doesn’t mean our discs can only be used for aircraft-related clients,” he added. “We foster an image of high performance, which is an image many businesses want to project.”

Citing a different example, Abbott spoke about a campaign used by Volkswagon some years ago. He said the popular car company included one of Aerobie’s flying discs in its press kit, because the company “wanted to imbue this message of high performance in its literature.”