Cheers for your comments, I totally agree with having the right staff at the races, it’s the right place for it and I think it would go down well. I also have a pound holder key ring for my supermarket trolleys and I agree, it’s one of the best freebies I’ve had!

I should have explained myself a little better in the blog post perhaps too! - I agree that you need to give people a reason to hang on to a leaflet or bag or the more “rubbish” end of the freebie spectrum. The competition we had in mind to put on the bag, the leaflet and keyring or whatever product we decide on is a VIP day out for four people. They will get = transport to and from BTCC race, a night in a four star hotel, Pit access and a chance to meet Martyn and his team, hospitality for day (free beer) and a load of HW goodies too.

We planned to run this competition on the telly with a text in competition, on the carrier bags (more on them in a mo), and any other merchandise we run. Each can have a seperate code you put into the HW site so we know where the hits came from.

I think this is enough of a pull for people to have a look at HW and enter the comp. Plus - the comp details would be printed on the back of every bag given away too. I agree that they will chuck it when they get home, but maybe after they’ve entered the competition which is fine. For the money, we would accesss thousands and thousands more people.

I don’t think it’s the best option or that we should just hand out bags but for me, it’s the best way of guaranteeing that we have enough stuff to hand out for the rest of the season without spending thousands and thousands.

If we could hand out keepable stuff that we can fit the competition onto as well, that would definitely be my preferred option but it would cost us around 45p per person/lead which is just too much this year - hopefully in the future we’ll be able to do it all.

For me the queston is: How do you best weigh up your options? If we hand out keyrings, we can get to say 15,000 people plus those that see the keyring at a later date - mates in pubs etc. Say that you would probably get 90% of people to actually visit the site = 13,500 New visitors - plus mates later.

If we hand out bags, for the same money, we could get to 75,000 people but say that only half of those will bother to visit the site say 35,000 to be sure. Plus people on the day who see the logo on the bag and visit.

To me, they both have various pros and cons and ideally, we’d do both I reckon. But when you nail it down to getting as many new visitors as possible - the bag wins.

The other issue to consider of course is that of quality and company image. There is no contest there for me, the keyrings win everytime although the bags would be full colour logo good quality bags. Well - we’ve done our bit Iain, I’ll let the bosses decide - it’s their money……. lol!!

The staff could be you or anyone associated to the website including the mods. Get them in HW branded gear…..jackets, hats, t-shirts etc. I wore my HW t-shirt in Egypt a couple of times and it was noticed by loads of people.

So the staff dressed in HW gear spend time around Martyn and the car or the hospitality suite and / or walk around the venue giving away various freebies.

I dont think carrier bags will work that well. Most will be disposed of by the time folk have left the circuit. However thinking around the keyring gadget…..I received a £1 coin holder keyring about three years ago and I’ve still got it attached to my keys. Best little freebie I’ve ever received. My locker at the gym is £1, the supermarket trolly is £1 and best of all I’ve always got an extra £1 for emergencies. The one I have holds 2 x £1 and had the company logo and website on the back.

So get the staff dressed in HW gear walking the crowds giving away freebies such as a £1 holder keyring, a pen (you always keep them!) along with the promotional leaflet.

So what to put on the leaflet……how about a free prize draw via the websit (unsure of the rules surrounding draws) for holiday vouchers…say to the value of £500. One £500 prize per circuit or perhaps a BIG ONE. One prize of £1000 of vouchers per season? You must give people a reason to keep the leaflet and then visit the site otherwise the rubbish bins will be full of HW leaflets at the end of the day!

So get the HW staff, dressed in HW gear giving away lots of HW freebies whilst also giving away ££££ holiday vouchers.

One last thing…..if this is a major promotional exercise then you MUST MUST get the right staff doing the promotion. You will be promoting a holiday site……holidays =happiness = HW happy promotional staff

The HW staff must have the confidence to approach people. You must think about your target audience. I would suggest that it is mostly females that research and book holidays but what age group do they come from? I would suggest the majority come from the slightly mature group. So the HW staff must approach lots of this group as well as many other groups as possible.

Hope this helps and gives you something to think about.

If I can be of any further help….just ask!