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Help clients get the most from their ad agency artwork
One of Dallas-based The Red Stapler’s biggest clients is Whataburger, a restaurant chain founded in 1950 in Corpus Christi, Texas. The chain, which has more than 500 locations throughout the southern United States, maintains two e-commerce portals that feature branded products. One is for consumers and offers limited items. The other, an internal site for management and franchise owners, features a broader array of products. “On the internal site, we have everything from wearables to giveaways to gifts,” says Amy Zaike, partner at The Red Stapler, a promotional products distributor. “We usually have an inexpensive pen, a medium-priced pen and a gift pen. We needed a new gift pen.”
“Normally, you might get orders for 2 or 3 at a time, but we were getting orders for more like 10 at a time.”
Amy Zaike, Partner
The Red Stapler, Dallas
The Red Stapler is responsible for updating the portal with new products that appeal to Whataburger’s employees. They also coordinate closely with the company’s ad agency to execute promotions and campaigns. Ad agencies spend a great deal of time developing unique visual concepts for clients, but rarely are they able to repurpose the artwork beyond a given campaign. “Our clients spend a lot of time and money concepting new artwork,” Zaike says, “and they may only get to utilize it a couple times. With that expense, why not find different ways to use it?”
Zaike suggested using previously developed artwork with the LogoArt Biella pen from Logomark’s Bettoni Custom Design collection. The Biella pen includes a custom molded barrel. “I’d always wanted to use the Logomark pen, but how many times can you put someone’s logo on a pen and make it different?” she says. The solution Zaike proposed not only resulted in a unique application, it allowed Whataburger to draw on concepts the ad agency had already generated for a T-shirt using old photographs that highlighted the company’s history. “They had taken some older photos, including one of Harmon Dobson, who started the company. There’s also a picture of the original A-frame. We call it a collage T-shirt.”
The Red Stapler worked with Logomark to produce the pens, which were manufactured overseas. “This pen didn’t just happen. The client wanted a custom top with their company’s orange color, which we could do, and it wasn’t even an additional cost. But when they got it, they weren’t sure. They wanted to match the pewter,” Zaike says. “Logomark said, let’s take out our PMS book and see how to make this work.”
The minimum order was 500 pens, which Zaike was certain the store would sell. In fact, a reorder was needed within two months of introducing the pen. “For that pen, which is a little more expensive, that’s really good. This isn’t something they order 200 at a time. Normally, you might get orders for 2 or 3 at a time, but we were getting orders for more like 10 at a time.”
Zaike credits the success of projects such as this one to strong partnerships with her clients. Their collaboration leads to solutions rather than product orders. “We believe in Whataburger and their philosophy, and that helps,” Zaike says. “We’re not trying to just sell to everybody. I don’t want to just sell a product. There’s always room to do something that truly has value and says ‘This is our company.’”
—Andy Brown