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Question #71020 (2010-03-11) 

  Hi there. I am doing a marketing plan for a company called
Pitch Outdoor Advertising Inc. and I am trying to think of
promotional ideas. One idea I came up with was positioning
flyers where people such as business owners or managers
would see them, however, I can't think of places that
business owners or managers would go and view these flyers
other than things like banquets. Can you give me any ideas?

Answer(s):

Hello and thank you for using the "Ask A Question" service.

You are asking us for ideas on where to place advertisements that target business owners.

ADVERTISING TO BUSINESSES

It seems to us that you are asking us to do a critical element of your assignment for you, which requires you to employ your own creative thought process. If this is the case, we cannot complete this component for you. We can, however, refer you some resources that can provide you with those ideas or concepts.

By using the library's online catalogue ( http://darius.uleth.ca/search~S2/), you will be able to locate many resources related to advertising and marketing. If you select the ?Basic Keyword? search option and enter the following terms (each individually): "advertising," "marketing," etc., you are going to recover several resources that will allow you discover a variety of locations and means to situate product placements.

You can also try some of the library's databases to search for some current events and trends in advertising/product placement. To locate these, click "Journal, Magazine, and Newspaper Articles" on the library's homepage ( http://www.mhc.ab.ca/library). Once there, select "Business/Management/Marketing" and choose the "Business Source Complete" database (you can try any of the others as well). Once you are in the database, try to locate articles by using the following terms and/or phrases: advertising, marketing, "product placement," advertising AND innovations, advertising AND locations, etc. With any of these searches, you are sure to discover many ideas about where to place your directed marketing. For more details on databases and additional search tip, please browse our "Database Tip Sheet" ( http://www.mhc.ab.ca/library/howtoguides/databasetips2009.pdf).

If you do some casual Web browsing and use terms such as: advertising, innovations, marketing, "product placement," etc., you should discover a variety of pages or news clips that might inspire you.

Other things that you could try include: contacting the Medicine Hat and District Chamber of Commerce ( http://www.medicinehatchamber.com/contact.htm). This organization might be best able to advise you about where "business owners" tend to congregate. Also search for clubs or groups (e.g., Rotary Club; http://tinyurl.com/yjoz4d4) in the community that tend to include business owners and professionals--their meeting places might be ideal locales to place your advertising.

In a time where advertising is done via guerrilla and viral marketing campaigns, directly through text messaging, or TV screens in bathroom stalls, the imagination should have no bounds about where you can find/place advertising.

Thank you again for using the "Ask A Question" service. If you need more help, please use the service again or see the Information Desk in the Medicine Hat College Library. Alternately you can contact us by: - Phone: (403) 529-3867; Toll Free: 1 (866) 282-8394 (Ext. 3867) - Instant Messenger: http://www.mhc.ab.ca/library/im/ - Text Message (403-866-5872)