Cannon Advertising Specialties

A desk drawer full of pens from various events. A refrigerator covered with messaged magnets. An assortment of coffee mugs bearing the company crest. It seems everybody loves free stuff. Who knew free stuff could cost $17.8 billion?
That is what corporations, organizations, churches and schools spent on product giveaways in 2000, according to the latest industry sales figures released Friday by the Promotional Products Association International, a trade group in Dallas.
The promotional products, or advertising specialties, industry has been growing rapidly for about 10 years. In fact, PPAI spokeswoman, Cherri Gann said industry sales have tripled over the past decade.
In Cleveland, Cannon Advertising Specialties has done a growing business since Chief Executive Officer, Ross Salupo closed his self-named, full-service advertising firm to focus on promotional products in 1989.
Cannon, strictly a distributor, employs 12 workers and has seen consistent sales growth of 8.5 percent to 10 percent each year, Salupo said.
The company is among the top 5 percent of distributors in the country in sales volume and its East 40th Street store was honored in March by The Advertising Specialty Institute as distributor showroom of the year for companies with sales of less than $2 million.
As Salupo is quick to point out, the industry is much bigger than pens, coffee mugs and magnets printed with the company name and handed out to clients or customers. “It's not just trinkets,” he said while showing off one of the more than 30,000 magnets his company designed for University Hospitals. Ginny Globokar, Cannon's director of sales, came up with what seemed like an

his company designed for University Hospitals. Ginny Globokar, Cannon's director of sales, came up with what seemed like an obvious idea two years ago for the company that handles concessions at Cleveland Browns Stadium.
Last year, 75,000 orange dog food bowls with the Browns logo and that of the Dawg Pound were sold with nachos at the stadium. In the new Brown's first year in 1999, 5,000 were ordered.
“The bottom line is it's a very inexpensive item,” Globokar said. “I can make a few cents on it, (the concession company) can make some money and the end user is happy, too, because they have something to go home with.”
This upcoming season, the order will be larger and the bowls may be used in stadium restaurants with salads and soups, she said. A similar promotion is in the works for the Carolina Panthers.
According to Salupo, the Dawg Pound dishes are an example of the creativity that has made Cannon and its clients successful.
Joey White, President of Handouts, a division of The Oakwood Group, Inc., said the residual effects of promotional products are what make the medium so effective.
Hundreds of thousands of other items are listed in product catalogs, waiting to be emblazoned with the name of a school, organization or business and put on display at home, in the office or in the car.
White and husband Pat said they can find the right product in their Euclid office to carry anyone's message as long as they know the target audience and the objective.
One customer brought pens with loose caps intentionally, White said. The theory was a pen without a cap never leaves the desktop because people won't put it in their drawer or pockets.
“He specifically bought it so

they would lose the cap and have to keep the pen on their desk,” she said.
Cheaper products are not watched carefully, said Pat White. Low-cost pens get passed around from one potential customer to another and each reads the company name emblazoned on the side, sometimes without realizing it. Expensive products are intentionally put on display. Either way, the purpose has been served.
According to a Harvard Business Review study, the recall rate for advertising specialties is up to six months. Customers remember where they received the gifts and 74 percent had returned to purchase goods or services.
Handouts' sales are driven by a strong recall rate. Joey White said the company has no sales force and doesn't advertise beyond the Yellow Pages, though the company does practice what it preaches.
“There really is no company we can't help,” she said. Other advertising media cost money each time the message reaches the customer base, but

promotional products keep earning their cost, according to those in the field.
“The idea is that it's a longevity thing and it stays in your mind,” Pat White Said. Handouts, founded about seven years ago, will have sales growth approaching 50 percent this year, Joey White said.
“We have a lot of different types of clients,” she said. “It's a very growing industry.” John Citraro, a graphic artist and designer who has been with Cannon since its inception, said the industry used to be the “stepchild of the advertising industry,” but has outgrown that moniker. Citraro designs the awards he called the Oscars of the Cleveland advertising industry. “You're only limited by your immigration,” Citraro said. “It's not just putting a logo on a mug.”
Membership in the PPAI is on the rise and Globokar and the Whites all said the number of companies in the industry is growing along with their own sales. That all means more free stuff for customers.

Cheap, effective marketing is why the $15 billion advertising specialty industry is so popular. By Morgan Lewis Jr.

John Citraro doesn't want to take all the credit for bringing the NCAA Women's Final Four Championship to Cleveland in 2007, but he can rest on the fact that his promotional idea and the tournament's selection committee members thinking about Cleveland as they drift off to sleep. Citraro's company, Cannon Advertising Specialties, designed pillowcases with a city of Cleveland logo and artwork for all the pillows in the all the hotel rooms of the Final Four selection committee members. Hotel staff and cab drivers also wore buttons designed by Cannon wel- coming the committee to the city."It's a small thing, but it might have been that extra touch that none of the other cities thought of," Citraro says. "So if we helped out there, then we did our jobs." Advertising specialty items such as coffee mugs, T- shirts, baseball caps and pens have been around for decades. The tradition started with a savvy printer who printed calendars with other companies' logos on them. The idea was that not only would the company get a year- long advertisement, but the printer would get a regular customer, as well. Today, there are more than 711,000 promotional items that, can be emblazoned with a company logo or promo- tional event design, says

What's your objective? The specialty advertising item may be used to introduce a product, to introduce a new phone number, to encour-age people to test drive a car or to motivate staff. It could be a way to reward a client base or of saying thank you to a business partner. What are you trying to accomplish? Once you have an objective, it can help focus your search among the dizzying array of items.

Who's your market? A windshield ice scraper might be a great idea for your clients in Northeast Ohio, but what do you send to those in Florida? As with any advertising, the target audience is important when considering a promotional gift. The target could be as broadly defined as women ages 18 to 35, or it could be as narrow as workers who have been with your company 25 years or more.

What's your budget? The question that can best focus your search is, how much do you want to spend? Salupo has $12,000 Ebel watches and $2,000 Waterford crystal vases, but he also sells stickers that cost less then a penny each. "You'll have your mainstays, mugs, pens, but there are so many other items that might better fit into their market- ing objectives," Salupo says. "I think you'll find that any- thing -anything - can be customized."

Ross Salupo, Cannon CEO. If that sounds like a lot, you'll believe it when you step into Cannon's museum-like showroom, a converted Catholic elementary school on East 40th Street in Cleveland. The brick schoolhouse, built in 1906, features eight rooms, including a main classroom for crystal, watches and high-end items. A cloakroom holds clothes and other apparel, which make up about 30 percent of Cannon's business. Salupo is often faced with clients who are a a little over- whelmed by their choices. In a panic, they often pick the most basic promotional item, a coffee mug or pen, which works effectively if those items meet the need. But really, how many mugs or pens do you need? Here are three questions to ask when deciding what kind of promotional item to use for your company.

While a showroom is the essence of a company's mission and creativity, it can also be a revenue-generating sales and marketing tool. See how your company's space measures up to some of the industry's "premier" showrooms.

by Kathy Huston

Cannon Advertising Specialties went back to school in order to design its very unique showroom. No, they didn't take classes. The company actually packed up and moved from Cleveland's high-rent advertising agency district into a "funky old schoolhouse", according to Ross Salupo, vice president. Built in 1906, the building maintained its schoolgirl charm, even after getting a facelift with the addition of updated motion-activated lighting and computer technology. The various rooms are used as fun backdrops for the company's products. For instance:

The "main classroom" holds high-end crystal, watches and other corporate gift items.
The "cloak room" contains hundreds of wearables, including sportswear, sweaters and jackets.
The "study hall" displays pens and pencils and all kinds of imprintable desktop items.
You'll find safety kits, bandage holders, thermometers and such in the dispensary.
Visit the "lavatory" for personal care items, such as combs, and sewing and shoeshine kits.
Stationery, briefcases, portfolios and the like, are found in the "business office."
Where else would the research, accounting and graphic design be done, but in the "faculty room?"
And, last but not least, many "students" of promotional products are sent to the "principal's office," where meetings and presentations take place.

Cannon even features its showroom in virtual splendor on its Web site (www.cannonadvertising.com). So far, you can zoom in and out and take a walk around one of the nine rooms. Plans for putting all of the rooms online are underway, and music and animation will eventually be added. The showrooms are constantly updated with new products and seasonal displays. "On average, most of our clients visit us at least three times a year," Salupo says. "Sometimes they just stop in to see what's new, even if they're not in the market to buy."

The nine rooms of the "funky old schoolhouse" hold different displays, according to designation

MEETING & EVENT PLANNER
Free never fails. Giveaways of all shapes and sizes help companies promote their products, brands

According to those in the business of giveaway promotions, we’re all alike. Everyone wants the same thing — something for nothing.
In fact, it’s likely one of the principles that John Citraro, director of marketing at Cannon Advertising in Cleveland, counts on for business.
“We help clients get their company name into the public eye,” Mr. Citraro said. “That’s what giveaways are all about.”

Cannon provides branded promotional items for numerous Cleveland companies and organizations. Mr. Citraro estimates 99% of the firm’s work focuses on product distribution.

And with everything from pens to crystal bowls, Cannon is part of a giveaway industry that logged $18.8 billion in annual sales during 2006, according to Promotional Products Association International, a nonprofit trade group based in Texas.

“We started out in the 1980s as a traditional ad agency,” said Mr. Citraro, whose firm operates out of a former school building on East 40th Street in Cleveland. “One of our clients asked that we provide some items to support a campaign we’d developed. From there, we followed the industry trend.”

Pens, shirts and lip balm

Stephen Schuldenfrei, president of the Trade Show Exhibitors Association in Chicago, sees that industry trend taking shape firsthand.
“I seem to see more and more companies using giveaways,” Mr. Schuldenfrei said. “More are using a two-tier system with less-value items for the masses and better items for customers and top prospects. It’s a huge industry and growing.”
As director of corporate marketing for Developers Diversified Realty of Beachwood, Lauren Wallace coordinates gift products for 25 trade shows throughout the year.
Developers Diversified’s hottest items include pens, hand sanitizer, lip balm, mints and identification badge neck lanyards, all of which are emblazoned with the company logo.
Although Developers Diversified routinely purchases in bulk, it reserves giveaways for prospective clients who approach its booth for information on leasing, building and shopping mall investing opportunities.
“Our most popular item is our pen,” Ms. Wallace said. “It’s better quality than most giveaway pens. People come back year after year to get another one.”
According to figures from Promotional Products Association International, writing instruments are the second-favorite giveaway, making up 9.95% of profits from promotional products. The top giveaways are wearable items, which comprise the largest segment of sales, earning 30.78% of the profits.
So how does Developers Diversified keep its giveaways from becoming yet another piece of trade show swag?
“We can’t,” said Ms. Wallace, who declined to provide details of Developers Diversified’s annual marketing budget. “We hope we’re picking useful, good products that people want to have. We’ve never felt the need to offer high-tech items, since that’s just a way to draw people to your booth at a show, and we’ve never had to resort to that — people always come to us.”

Seeing green

Tom Van de Motter, president of Distributors Choice Inc. in Solon, another giveaway supplier, said at the moment, everyone’s after anything eco-friendly. Clocks, calculators, electric desk supplies, which run on water — anything without batteries,” he said. “A lot of customers are also requesting items made of natural materials, such as organic cotton T-shirts or anything bamboo.”
The latest pro-environment item to hit the market is an “eco-button,” a device designed to plug into a computer’s USB port. Once installed, the eco-button saves energy by reducing the electrical output of an inactive computer, going well beyond what the traditional sleep mode can offer. Additionally, it provides statistics on the energy saved.
Due to expense, trendy tech items such as USB ports or iPods usually are reserved for contest winners or gifts, Mr. Van de Motter said.
“Items costing between $1 and $15 are generally priced for giveaway,” he said. “Anything above that amount tends to be saved for incentive or prize-winning purposes.”
Regardless of budget, Mr. Van de Motter believes that promotional products are more effective than any other kind of media.
“Whenever you give someone a gift, it provides them with a happy feeling, “ he said. “They then associate that feeling with your product. It’s all about branding. That’s always the goal.”

Ten years ago, Ross Salupo, VP of Cannon Advertising Specialties, moved the company from the high-rent advertising agency district into a funky old school house in a warehousing and industrial section of Cleveland at East 40th between Superior and St. Clair Avenues. Many people thought the move was crazy, but what they didn't know was that Salupo had a vision. Now, that vision has been rewarded as the Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) presents their prestigious national award, ASI DISTRIBUTOR SHOWROOM OF THE YEAR to Cannon Advertising.

In an industry that imprints company messages on over 711,000 products and has grown to approximately $15 billion dollars, the citation for entrepreneurial vision, dedication to craft, and innovative ideas has special meaning for Cannon Advertising.

In becoming one of the premier showrooms in the United States, Salupo's vision to retain the charm and symbolism of the 1906 school house has been vindicated. Salupo says, I wanted to make the advertising specialty business fun by recalling the nostalgia and excitement of those days so it was natural that I turned all of the classrooms and other school areas into thematic displays of product.

The Main Classroom displayed high-end crystal, watches and other corporate gift items; the Cloak Room displayed hundreds of wearables including sportswear, sweaters and jackets; the study hall contained pens and pencils and all kinds of imprintable desktop items; the Dispensary, Lavatory, Faculty and Principals room received the same thematic treatment.

But the most significant factor responsible for Cannon's growth to one of the top 5% distributors in the country was Salupo's decision to utilized the most modern technology available starting with motion activated lighting for each room, telephones that permitted total flexibility and privacy and recall, high speed fax and copy machines, computers to harness quick and accurate access to the 711,982 products available, and of course, the Internet that literally hooks up Cannon employees and customers the world over.

Ross Salupo VP of Cannon accepts the ASI Spirit Award for Showroom of the Year in Las Vegas.

Cannon even features its showroom in virtual splendor on its Web site (www.cannonadvertising.com) One can visit the web site and take a walk around any of the nine rooms by zooming in and out and around the room and its products. The visitor can select a product and impose their own logo and get a color printout and total information as to cost, quality and delivery. Customers can even access their own accounts on the Cannon web site for inventory history, graphics and ideas!

Ross Salupo says, The national recognition the ASI Award bestows on Cannon Advertising Specialties should dispel any question marks of ten years ago. I'm particularly proud of the fact that once again it is a Cleveland company that has gained the national spotlight!

For the second year in a row, the Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI), a national representative for over 15,000 distributor members and 3700 suppliers in a $17 million dollar industry, has singled out a very special award for Cleveland's Cannon Advertising Specialty Company.

Cannon was honored with the Distributor Showroom Of The Year Award, and this year, Cannon has received the 2002 ASI Best Website Award! These two consecutive awards represent an unprecedented achievement for a Cleveland company in the promotional products industry.

In an effort to share their award-winning showroom with the world, Cannon Advertising developed a fantastic website featuring the latest technology such as a 360 degree virtual tour of each and every room in the old school house facility. Or, you can easily confer with your sales rep, the ordering process staff, or everyone on Team Cannon. If you simply want to catch up on the latest information you can move swiftly to the most current news release or published articles. To make it completely effortless, the site provides a detailed map to show you how to get where you want to go fast.

For those customers who prefer to shop online before they visit the Cannon facility, Cannon has teamed up with ASI Promomart to enable the viewer to access over 711,000 imprinted products, along with receiving thousands of creative promotional ideas! Overall, the goal was to expand Cannon's strength of customer service on a 24/7 basis, expand customer education by empowering them through the website, and most importantly, to keep it fun and exciting.

www.cannonadvertising.com is promoted through all media advertising, e-mail links, and most of all, through word of mouth. People refer other people to our site just because it is unique. It's working so well the site has averaged 12,152 hits for the last three months, or over 4000 per month, and incredible achievement for the industry!

It is interesting to note that while businesses in general have been downsizing in the present recession, Cannon has continued its steady growth and is interviewing for qualified professional account executives to continue its forward momentum. Salupo says,"A company can create a wonderful environment, supply the best technology and staff support, but it is the individuals who form the team that deliver the services that creates the best word-of-mouth advertising fueling our consistent growth."

In an exuberant spirit, Salupo says, The national recognition that the ASI Awards bestows on Cannon Advertising makes me particularly proud of the fact that once again it is a Cleveland company that has gained the spotlight!