Summer Promotional Campaigns Full of Air

Summer time is fun time. And promotional campaigns are taking full advantage of the carefree days of summer with inflatable displays. They are easy to assemble (only requirement being a lot of hot air) and can be positioned either freestanding or hanging displays.Providing consumers with a way to beat the heat, Valvoline Oil Co., Lexington, Ky., developed inflatable rafts to function as a consumer giveaway and make a big splash in at the point-of-purchase. Replicas of two popular racing cars, the full-sized adult rafts are available in the A1 Unser Jr. Indy 500 and Mark Martin NASCAR versions, says Dennis Doggett, vice president, marketing at Valvoline. Back by popular demand, the durable vinyl rafts offer consumers a value-added premium -- buy 12 quarts of Valvoline motor oil or two professional oil changes using Valvoline, and within four to six weeks the consumer receives his own raft to splash about in, he adds.The race car rafts are a spin-off of Valvoline's 1990 Lakeracer inflatable raft, "which was the most popular value-added promotion in company history," Doggett says. The rafts are part of a marketing blitz to generate additional sales and offer the faithful Valvoline consumers, as well as other brand buyers, a value-added premium for buying Valvoline motor oil. The campaign also reinforces Valvoline's "multimega-dollar investment in racing," he explains.Accompanying the rafts are header cards and window posters, fully promoting the free Speedway Splashers offer from May 3 through Aug. 1. They will be available in auto parts stores, mass merchandisers and oil-installing locations nationwide.Not to be left out in the cold, Ralston Purina Co., St. Louis, is also sponsoring a giveaway, complete with inflatable displays, but in a sweepstakes format. Ralston Purina developed an inflatable Chevrolet truck with a bag of Hi Pro dog food in the back in order to be a smaller and more practical substitute for their original display idea -- an actual, life-sized Chevrolet truck filled with Hi Pro to promote its sweepstakes. "But there were a lot of stores that couldn't or wouldn't use the actual truck, so we compromised with 7,000 inflatable trucks," says Pat Farrell, manager of corporate information at Ralston Purina.The promotion is a nationwide tie-in with Chevrolet trucks, the prizes being 20 Chevy trucks. "The sweepstakes were designed to help move Hi Pro dog food during August and September of 1991, with a drawing in April 1992," says Farrell. The focus of the sweepstakes was on the 20-pound bag, but the offer appeared on all sizes of the dog food. Measuring 38 inches long by 14 inches wide by 24 inches high, the inflatable vinyl displays provided Hi Pro with a more dramatic appearance, attracting consumers' attention with its bright red truck and blue Hi Pro bag, he adds.Directed to all classes of trade, including grocers, mass merchants and specialty outlets, the display was designed by Purina and manufactured by Alvimar Manufacturing. Co., Long Island City, N.Y.

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