The Pro

Name: Russell Bird
Title: Owner
Distributorship: The Promo Addict (asi/302225), Edmonton, AB

The Sale

Client: Self-Promo
Product: Lip Balm

Russell Bird wears two hats. By day, he’s the owner of Edmonton, AB-based The Promo Addict. In his free time, he’s a competitive cook, teaming up with his father-in-law Ron Yoneda to make a variety of foods at competitions in Canada, including creative sushi plates and delicious barbecue.

Bird quickly realized after seeing all the branded team merch at competitions that he could tap into the promotional opportunities in the food services market by drumming up business for his distributorship while competing. Opportunity came his way when he won 200 vanilla-flavored lip balms from Raining Rose (asi/80489) in a raffle at a recent trade show.

“We decided to use them as a self-promotion giveaway piece at our next competition,” says Bird. “But we wanted to have some fun with it, so we labeled it ‘BBQ-Rib Flavoured Lip Balm (Just Kidding, It’s Vanilla).’ ” Bird paired the lip balms, co-branded with his distributorship and team logos, with self-branded digital BBQ thermometers (BQ8875) from Debco (asi/48885) for $10 each. “I used them while actually cooking during the competition, so people were eager to buy them,” he says.

For Bird, it resulted in quick interest in not only his barbecue skills, but also his promotional savvy. “There was an immediate uptick in business from attendees, other BBQ teams and local restaurants who were there,” he says. “People would come up and ask us where we got our branded items, and I’d say, ‘Actually, I sold them to myself,’ and give them my card. We took any leftover items on sales calls to new food service companies. We couldn’t have done it without amazing partnerships for self-promo with Raining Rose and Debco.”

Takeaways:

1. Look at opportunities in markets with which you’re already familiar.
2. A small item creatively branded can generate big buzz.
3. Take advantage of self-promotion partnerships with suppliers.

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