PEOPLE WANT TO “PERSONALIZE EVERYTHING THEY DO”

We thought this article in USA today was a great tie-in for our Creative Images Program. Here’s recap of what they had to say about “personalization”.

People want to be creative and personalize everything they do. Banal is out. Dramatic, dynamic, kooky, artsy and inventive is in. People want “concepts”. There are props and costumes readily available for personalization.

Families dream up themes and photographers stage settings. They want to pose outdoors, shoot in black and white and have everybody wearing red shows. And the dog…do not forget the dog: some photos are all about the dog, even when there are children in the family. Others try to make their photos sensational.

We’re all marinating in a media soup of fabulous photo-graphic images that influence our view of the world and ourselves even if unconsciously. “Customers today know that with digital we can do things we couldn’t before.” Because they know this they have more ideas. They’re inspired by things in stores, magazines, movies, TV. Everybody wants to see themselves – or their animals – as a star.

Life is very fragile. How incredibly valuable those pictures are to that family. We have a fantastic opportunity to offer “personalized photo’s” in our industry using the Creative Image Line, photographs and bisque. We would love to hear from anyone who has put the Creative Image program into their, studio. How’s it working for you!

Become a SunPower Kidz®

We have all heard these words! Isn’t it amazing generation after generation kids just seem to dislike fruits and vegetables? With the “organic craze” and “healthy lifestyle” advertising read daily in newspapers we see that fruits and vegetables are getting headlines.

A company called SunPower Kidz® approached Mayco to develop molds for their line of SunPower Kidz® fruits and vegetables. This company has a website (http://www.sunpowerkidz.com/) you may visit and download delightful “ fruit and vegetable education” write-ups that tie in directly with these SunPower Kidz® Bisque. Wouldn’t these be great for spring break and summer camps? How else would you use these SunPower Kidz® to increase your business? Please blog us back with your comments.

28 Brand New Bisque items just released from Mayco. Pirates of the Caribbean, still a huge hit with the “tween” market and will continue as another movie is coming out. Mayco has released quite a few dynamite new “pirate” pieces. Check out the other items like the Masks, Totem Poles and Crystal Ball pieces. They have also introduced 12 tiles with different designs all in 1 box… interesting!

As you can see we are getting a fantastic abundance of “bisque”. The SPO program allows you to continually “theme” your studio, now that we have enough bisque pieces from all lines. We will continue our efforts to improve upon our shopping on line to assist you with your ordering. Briing on your thoughts, comments, suggestions and ideas... we are listening!

USA TODAY – SMELL THAT?

This article was in USA Today newspaper and relates directly to the importance of smell in your studios… here are some excepts from the article.

Someone’s trying to sell you something – Scents, which now can linger longer, drift into ad campaigns. Take a deep breath and get ready for an olfactory onslaught: Nostrils are becoming a target for marketers. As more jaded consumers turn up their noses at traditional ads and marketers scramble for alternatives, scent-based promotions are growing. Trade journal “Advertising Age” named scents as an expected top ad trend in 2007.

The use of scents is one more way to break through clutter says Yankee Candle marketing head, Yankee’s December catalog offered more than a dozen candle fragrance samples such as cinnamon and “Christmas Cookie”

Other recent aromatic advertising:
Kraft Foods. One million People magazine subscribers last month got a special Kraft-sponsored holiday issue featuring “rub-and-smell” ads for products such as cherry Jell-O and white fudge Chips Ahoy. PepsiCo. Diet Pepsi Jazz promotions have included print ads, coupons and store signs infused with the new soft drink’s fruit and French vanilla fragrances. Verizon Wireless. Stores in the northeast used Chocolate “scent strips” to hype LG Electronics. New mobile phone and music player named Chocolate.

Companies spend $50 million to 80 million on scent-related marketing in 2006. Boosting the trend is improved technology for more creative, cheaper and longer-lasting fragrance-based ads.

Scent is integral to the customer experience – it creates the atmosphere.

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, we even have a “heart shaped” bisque wrap. We are hearing great comments re our soy-based candle line. Coming soon our spring collection.