In this episode, I had a fantastic conversation with Kirby Hasseman. We discussed the importance of creating memorable experiences for customers and how tangible items like t-shirts can leave a lasting impression compared to digital ads. We explored the power of branded merchandise and promotional products when done right, and how they can elicit strong emotions, take people back to specific moments, and even influence human behavior. We also delved into Kirby’s journey into the world of branded merchandise and his experience writing three books on marketing, personal development, and the concept of giving first in business. Join us as we discuss the excitement and fun that can be found in the marketing process and how embracing joy can make a huge difference in both business and life!
Highlights:
0:03:53 – Creating a Mission Together (30 Seconds)
0:07:36 – Impact of Promotional Products (66 Seconds)
0:14:48 – The Benefits of Personalized Promotional Products (119 Seconds)
0:20:57 – Delivering Marketing Joy (45 Seconds)
0:28:52 – The Power of Intentional Joy (52 Seconds)
A historical change is upon us from a marketing standpoint, the change has been coming… We have lived in an age of “push” marketing forever, since the beginning of sales and marketing itself. But now, more than ever, the customer has a voice. The customer has clout and power. And the customer wants better.
We need to GIVE first. We need to work at providing value to our customers so they trust us. We need to be playful and connect first. Kirby shares how promotional products provide an amazing way to “give” first to your customers and prospects and deliver joy! These products have the power to help you create real and lasting bonds with your customers and employees.
Kirby Hasseman is the owner of Hasseman Marketing, a promotional product entrepreneur, the author of Delivering Marketing Joy!, and the host of the podcast by the same name. He also wrote Fan Of Happy and Give First Economy. Kirby is a happy husband and father and a Playful Human!
Find Kirby at https://hassemanmarketing.com/ and search for the Delivering Marketing Joy wherever you listen to podcasts or buy books!
Episode Highlights
Creating a Mission Together
0:03:53 – 0:04:23 (30 Seconds)
“And I knew I had something, and you’ll appreciate this, Mike. When all of a sudden, my employee started using it as a comeback to me, where they’d be like, “Well, wait a second, Kirby. I don’t think this delivers marketing joy,” and I’m like, okay, so now that you’re throwing it in my face. I think that we actually have a mission worth chasing. And so that’s kinda been our mission.”
Impact of Promotional Products
0:07:36 – 0:08:41 (66 Seconds)
“And I think that’s what I love working with clients to help them do that. Whether that’s, you know, driving somebody to your new website or to your actual physical location, or honestly, like, We work with a lot of folks in HR or safety where it’s just like we just want people to do things safely or, you know, attend a wellness seminar. But Done right. A piece that’s not crappy. You know? Our mutual friend Danny Rosen would call it brand fill. Right? The stuff that is cheap and crappy. No, that isn’t going to affect any human behavior. But done right, it really can make people do the things that we know that they should do. And I think in those moments, not only is it fun, but it actually creates a positive impact across the world. So awesome. And there’s a lot I wanna unpack here because playful humans, we’re talking about playing for a living. And there are three things that can’t come to mind here, and I’ll let you pick the order. So we’re gonna do a little choose your own ending podcast. Near Kirby. Okay. I love it.”
The Benefits of Personalized Promotional Products
0:14:48 – 0:16:47 (119 Seconds)
“Now here’s another one that I’m maybe not as quite up on. This could be a tough choice. But I feel like the magic these days is in personalization that you can actually get one promotional product now. So especially for a charity event came to mind as like, if you had an auction winner, and you put their face or their logo or their kid’s names on something, that’s when things really get interesting. And I think people still think about it often or maybe just they default to buying ten thousand pence. But maybe one really cool custom shoe or something could change the game and be a lot more interesting. What do you think about really creating meaningful giveaways? Either for employees or customers? I love that you brought this up. I think you’re a hundred percent one thousand percent spot on. And it’s actually one and this is a weird little caveat to the pandemic is one of the things that I saw is that people during that time, everybody was working from home for a window there and you’re like, well, I’m not going to spend, you know, twenty dollars to ship this one pen. Right? Because the pan is a dollar and a quarter. I’m not gonna spend ten dollars to ship it. So what people started to shift to doing is to doing nicer things, individual nicer things and that’s when we got back to the technology of saying, you know what? We should actually put their name on it. And it raised, like, the game of just all of the branded merchandise and people it seemed like organizations all of a sudden were willing to spend that another dollar. And again, when you’re already spending twenty-five on it, spend that extra dollar, and now it says Mike Montague on it. And nobody ever throws something with their name away. And especially if it’s really nice, and so I think you’re exactly right and the other piece is that the decoration technology has changed so that you can do it eat much easier.”
Delivering Marketing Joy
0:20:57 – 0:21:42 (45 Seconds)
“So delivering marketing joy was one of my first books, and it is really just about how to do branded merch. Right? Right? Like, I think that you know, because as you mentioned, people kind of end up in this space. I wrote it for, like, the person who is the new marketing person at a company, and they’re now tasked with having to buy and merge. And so that’s where this came from. It’s like, okay. Here’s how to do a trade Here’s how to direct do direct mail. Right? Here’s how to do all these different sections. But what’s happened is it’s become a training tool for people in our industry too. You’re new to the industry. Hey, here’s a book to read to give you the basics. And so that’s where that came from, and it’s a great tool for us just to kinda help prospects and customers go. Okay, you’ve never done this.”
The Power of Intentional Joy
0:28:52 – 0:29:44 (52 Seconds)
“Anything you can do to help us or we can do to help you? Yeah. I would love it if people would go get the book, there’s no cost or obligation to that. That would be the given piece. And then really what I wanted to say, Mike, was I just love what you’re doing. Thank you so much for letting me be a part of it, and I will tell you that I think that the world does need more intentional playfulness and more intentional joy. And so you leading the way on this is really, really cool, and I’m an honor to be a part of it, man. I love that.”
