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January 18, 1999 - Strategy Magazine
Special Report

Premiums & Incentives
'Clients want promos that extend image': Osicka

by David Todd
page 30

How will the face of the promotions and incentive management business change in the 21st century? What are the trends that will shape its future evolution? For answers to these questions, Strategy turned to 10 of the industry's brightest lights - both from leading promotion agencies, and promotional products companies.

Interviews by Natalie Bahadur, Sinclair Stewart and David Todd.

The days of the one-off promotion are numbered, says Peter Osicka, president of Toronto-based Opticom Promotion Group.

"Clients are getting away from that sort of thing," he explains. "They want to ensure that whatever tactic they choose, it's right for their brand or their corporate image, and will build equity over the long term."

One result is a gradual move on the part of many clients toward working closely with a single promotion agency - precisely the sort of agency-of-record relationship that prevails in traditional advertising.

"Clients want to develop promotions that reinforce the brand image, and that serve almost as an extension of the advertising," explains Osicka, whose shop specializes mainly in consumer-targeted programs. "So they want to work with a promotion agency that understands what the brand is all about. What I think you'll see a lot more in the future is a client bringing in the promotional agency during the very early stages of developing their brand plan or their whole marketing plan."

This kind of agency-of-record relationship invariably pays dividends for the client, Osicka adds.

"The agency is naturally going to be a lot more proactive on the client's behalf," he says. "You're going to be motivated to go out and look for all kinds of cross-promotional opportunities and value-added partnerships. You're going to spend more time brainstorming with clients and attending their focus groups."

One of the implications of all this, from an agency's point of view, is added pressure to find and hire outstanding promotions people - a commodity that remains in frustratingly short supply.

"Clients want to work with somebody who can come in and not only develop a promotion for the brand, but understand how all the processes work on their side," Osicka says. "They want somebody who knows the requirements of the trade, who understands the issues from a sales rep perspective and who understands the whole marketing mix. And it's tough to come by those people."

If that's to change, then the industry has to start providing better education about promotional marketing - particularly to clients, since much of the talent in the industry tends to come from the client side.

In recent years, a number of general advertising agencies have launched their own promotional marketing arms in an effort to capture some of those billings that now go to specialized promotion houses. Osicka, however, isn't entirely convinced that these spin-off shops have the entrepreneurial bent necessary to deliver first-rate programs for clients.

"When you're part of a big advertising agency, you know that you have a lot of business already in-house, so you're not necessarily going to be as proactive on your clients' behalf. I'm a strong believer in independent promotion shops."

Also in this report:

- "Partnerships will be based on results": Astle p.25

- "We're no longer just resellers": Reckziegel p.25

- "We must focus on fees, not margins": Taylor-Riley p.27

- "Clients taking a long-term investment approach": Jackson p.27

- "Clients are prepared to pay more": Thurber p.29

- "We can help build image": Germain p.29

- "We have to turn things around much faster": Hansen p.30

- "We need to quantify results": Shapansky p. 31

- "We're getting involved earlier": Packer p.31

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