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Solutions May 2005
Case Study
Racing to
Success with Marathon Items
As
a bronze-level sponsor and the
main supplier of promotional products
for the Twin Cities Marathon (TCM),
Minnetonka, Minn.-based Document
Resources Inc. takes its role
in this event as seriously as
participants do.
This
year marks the 24th year for the
marathon, which ranks among the
top 10 races in the country. “This
race is sort of Minnesota’s
Boston Marathon,” says Char
McNeely, sales representative/account
manager at Document Resources,
which landed the TCM account.
More than 250,000 spectators line
the streets of Minneapolis and
St. Paul, Minn., to watch the
race. This year, the marathon
has been designated as the U.S.
national marathon championships
for both men and women in the
open and masters fields. “It’s
quite an honor to have all those
designations in one race,”
says Megan Ryan, the marathon’s
marketing and public relations
manager.
In
2001, the TCM organization broke
ties with its longstanding vendor
and sent a proposal for bids to
local distributors. “One
of the TCM volunteers had worked
with me in the past on some promotional
programs through her company,
so with her recommendation, they
sent me the bid,” McNeely
says. “We managed to be
competitive enough to receive
the order for all the participants’
shirts and all the novelty items.”
TCM
is delighted with its choice.
“They deliver quality products
and superior service, so it was
an easy choice,” Ryan says.
“In races, your finisher
shirt is very important. And because
we’ve got a great relationship
with Char and we’re able
to get a really great product,
we’ve been able to increase
the quality of our finisher shirt.”
Those who complete the race—7,400
of the 10,500 participants in
2004—receive a colored,
long-sleeved T-shirt with the
word “finisher” embroidered
under the race logo. “It’s
a pretty important piece, and
we’re able to put that extra
quality and detail to the shirt
because Char is able to help us
get good prices, keeping us within
our allotted budget,” Ryan
says.
Since
the 2002 event, Document Resources
has provided each year more than
20,000 silk-screened and embroidered
T-shirts for volunteers and race
participants—“in-training”
runners (those who are preparing
for the marathon), 26.2-mile marathon
finishers, 10-mile finishers and
5-kilometer finishers. In addition,
the company supplies hard goods
and novelty items for the TCM
Expo, a temporary store that’s
open at the St. Paul Xcel Energy
Center/RiverCentre for three days
prior to the race. Fans and runners
can purchase T-shirts, sweatshirts,
jackets, caps, running gear and
novelties such as cowbells, travel
mugs, coffee mugs, beer mugs,
charms, bracelets, frames, magnets,
bookmarks, pins and more.
Last
year, Document Resources signed
on as a bronze sponsor through
2006. “We wanted to build
a long-term relationship with
them, so it’s great that
it’s not just a simple vendor
relationship,” Ryan says.
“I think we get even, if
possible, higher-quality service
from them because they have a
vested interest in this, too.”
The sponsorship stipulates that
TCM will order participants’
T-shirts, in-training shirts and
Expo novelties in exchange for
an in-kind donation of $10,000
toward items they wish for three
years.
That’s
a tall order. Each year, every
group of runners receives its
own distinct T-shirt design. The
TCM volunteer committee elects
an artist or designer to provide
ideas for different shirts. The
committee then chooses the designs
and designates coordinating T-shirt
colors. In addition, sponsor logos
are squeezed onto the front, back
and sleeves of every shirt. “Out
of these 20,000 shirts, there
are 26 different design variations,
both front and back,” McNeely
says. “It can become very
complicated at times.” The
silk-screener supplies proofs
for every design, which Document
Resources reviews carefully before
the screening and embroidery.
The
novelty items for the Expo are
provided by several suppliers,
which involves extensive coordination
by Document Resources. “Unlike
the T-shirts, where we have all
the decorating done locally, the
novelties are decorated at each
of the plants we order from. Most,
if not all, are out of town,”
McNeely says. “Typically,
we ask for pre-production proofs
on these items to assure quality.”
The
completed orders are shipped to
a central warehouse where some
of the 5,000 TCM volunteers separate
and distribute the merchandise
to the groups responsible for
the various products. And then
it’s off to the races.
—Sarah
Whitman
TIPS
Document
Resources Inc. has been in business
since 1979, providing a full line
of printed products such as custom
business forms, commercial printing,
labels and stationery. Ten years
ago, the company expanded into
the promotional products industry
to grow revenues and offer a one-stop
shop. Today, promotional products
make up 15 percent of Document
Resources’ total sales.
When creating promotional products
for a client, Char McNeely, Document
Resources’ sales representative/
account manager, recommends the
following tips:
1. Ask three key
questions:
What’s
your promotion? Who’s your
audience? What’s worked
in the past?
2. Know your suppliers.
Make sure
they offer quality products and
good services before you get started.
3. Obtain a sample.
It’s critical
to get a sample of the product
before committing to an order.
“We
managed to be competitive enough
to receive the order for all the
participants’ shirts and
all the novelty items.”
Char
McNeely, Sales Representative/Account
Manager
Document
Resources Inc., Minnetonka, Minn.
