Calendars From Triumph® by BIC Graphic

Melissa Ralston
Sr. Product Manager
Triumph® by BIC Graphic asi/92185

Q. Please give us some company background and let us know, what's your specialty?
A. BIC Graphic is a leading supplier in the promotional products industry offering the most comprehensive product assortment with the widest variety of decoration methods. In addition to the BIC® collection of products, BIC Graphic offers well-known, proprietary brands such as Norwood®, Sheaffer®, RCC KOOZIE®, Atchison®, Triumph® and JAFFA® as well as prestigious partner brands.

Q. What are a couple of your hot sellers and why?
A. Wall appointment calendars are always popular. They work well in a cubicle or a kitchen. The most popular themes continue to be Scenic America, Cars and Animals. These themes cover a broad range – gender and age. Small-quantity custom styles continue to grow as well. These styles allow customers to create a calendar specific to their business by supplying their own images.

Q. How are your products different?
A. Because we produce our products in house, we can offer a wide range of options from insert sheets, custom mounts and custom images. We guarantee over 100 products to be in stock until December 31st. In addition to this, we are also offering over 225 products on our 24-hour production schedule for those last-minute orders. In our Triumph® calendar line, we are using innovative coatings, inks, paper and now adding dimension and technology, such as augmented reality.  

Q. Can you list the top markets for your products and services?
A. Financial, automotive, insurance, real estate, agriculture.

Q. How can distributor sales reps sell your products? What unique features should they note?
A. Our calendars are very easy to sell. If the customer currently orders business cards with their company information, they can use the same information for their calendar imprint. A calendar can tell their customer: who they are, what they do, where they are located and how they can be reached. On top of all this information, their customers can see this information 365 days a year. While some people may feel a paper calendar is "old fashioned" – you can tell them these great facts:

   
• There are an average of 3.12 printed calendars per household in the United States.
  
• 74% of recipients remember the name of the advertiser who gave them a promotional calendar.
• 75% of all households rely on a kitchen calendar – make sure it is yours!
 

A promotional calendar provides daily exposure to the information needed to stay top of mind all year long. We also offer a lot of great selling tools, including video tutorials, kits, flyers and promotions to help aid distributors.

CASE STUDIES & GREAT IDEAS

A community bank with multiple branch locations needed a year-end gift for customers. Their promotional products distributor knew that the bank featured submissions from an employee photo contest in their customer newsletter each quarter, and suggested that they turn these photo contest entries into a custom calendar. The calendar could then be given to employees as a year-end gift; it would remain useful and convey the bank’s message of hometown service for an entire year. The bank’s marketing department chose 13 submissions to feature on the calendar, and requested that employees also include some information about the pictures. Their distributor suggested that the bank take advantage of the inside back page and include financial tips and a listing of their services for customers. Each individual branch office submitted their own ad to feature on their quantity of calendars. The bank ordered a total of 4,000 calendars. The branch offices distributed them to customers during the holiday season by mailing them with year-end statements. When the distributor spoke with bank officials on a return visit, they reported that they had received many positive comments from customers. Customers appreciated getting to know the people behind the bank, and found the service listing to be a helpful reference guide. The bank plans on continuing the program next year.

farm implement dealer was planning a customer appreciation day/open house. After speaking with their distributor, they decided to customize a stockline tractor calendar. The calendars were handed out to everyone who attended the open house. Remaining calendars, all personalized with customer names, were personally delivered by the dealer’s salespeople. The effort was a huge success, and many customers mentioned the calendar months after it had been distributed. Next year, they are planning to have a photo contest. Customer pictures of their new or old tractors will be featured.

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