Winning Promos for Political Campaigns (Winning Choices: Sizzling campaign promos prove vital in hot races)

Printed paper products such as postcards, door hangers, brochures, rack cards and posters are huge sellers to the election market, maintains Lisa Goebel, a marketing manager for ColorWorx in Macomb, Mich. Many of these items are mailed or handed out to provide information on a candidate’s experience, qualifications and political platform.

At Stouse Inc., the best election sellers are yard signs, corrugated signs, doorknob hangers, rally fans and bumper stickers, with a recent rise in demand for car magnets the size of traditional bumper stickers. Tim Bayne, the company’s marketing analyst, says yard signs are a popular means to reach many people with “per view” savings, and they’re an especially good way for a community to share political views.

Marketing Coordinator Scott Meng of KTI Promo in Houston reminds distributors to take advantage of the information age. “Items themselves can communicate a succinct message with a tagline or logo,” he says. “They can also be used to drive eyeballs to a Web site for more information.”

During his own time as a political candidate, Allen Pitner, president of Economy Pen and Pencil in Shelbyville, Tenn., says he handed out pens at countless community functions and through a door-to-door campaign. “A number of businesses such as country stores and locally owned restaurants were kind enough to allow me to leave boxes of pens for their customers to pick up – reaching many more folks than I would have had opportunity to,” he remembers. “And, in sort of a back-handed way, winning me endorsements from respected local business owners.”