Nov 1, 2004 12:00 PM, Patricia Odell

INSTANT WIN GAME DANGLES ORANGE COUNTY CHOPPER ORIGINAL

IT WAS NINE YEARS AGO that Ideal Industries, Inc., a maker of products for electricians and datacomm professionals, decided to stir up a little excitement with a holiday promotion that offered customers who purchased a certain amount of wire connectors the opportunity to buy a branded toy truck. Electricians and contractors took home the few thousand trucks available to give to nephews or display around the house.

Each year, the promotion grew and has morphed beyond only trucks with about 20,000 vehicles expected to be sold this holiday season.

“It started to take on a life of its own,” says Tim Beed, product manager for the wire termination business unit at Ideal Industries.

Ideal Industries works hard to select a vehicle that matches core company values and its customer profile to something catchy and topical in the industry or popular culture. A few years back it selected the original Corvette for the promotion as the car maker was celebrating its 50th anniversary. A solid idea since Ideal Industries could capitalize on the hoopla Corvette made to celebrate its milestone. The challenge came in getting the company's brand involved without hurting the look of the classic car. The solution? Showcase the car on a trailer pulled behind an Ideal Industry-branded Chevy suburban.

“We left the car in show condition,” Beed says.

The vehicles, which are offered below retail cost at $30 with the purchase of 30,000 wire connectors, are now considered collectibles by many who purchased them over the years. Customers can buy up to six vehicles per year.

“Charging for the vehicle helped to drive demand,” he says. “The perceived value is higher when you get something you've paid for than when it's free.”

This year there's not much hotter than the Discovery Channel television show American Chopper with its enormous fan base of both men and women. Ideal choose a dye-cast motorcycle called the Fire Bike — modeled after the original bike made on the show's Orange Country Chopper segment in a tribute to the 343 firefighters killed on Sept. 11, 2000 — as its 2005 collectible vehicle for the holidays. It wasn't long until, Beed says, it was pretty easy to say ‘hey, why don't we do a real bike.’

The idea to promote a real vehicle for the first time took roots after Paul Sr. and Paul Jr., the stars of Orange County Chopper, agreed to create a $55,000 custom-designed Ideal-branded bike. Orange County Chopper garnered worldwide praise and recognition for their custom motorcycles.

Plans for an instant-win in-pack game were soon put in motion to find a winner.

More than 300,000 game pieces started shipping last month through December, or as supplies last, in specially marked packages of Wing-Nut, Twister and B-CAP wire connectors. Five customers will discover that they have won a Born to be Wired leather jacket and a trip for two to the Electric West Trade Show in February in Anaheim, CA. At the show each of the five will get a key for a chance to start the Chopper during a major extravaganza staged at the company's exhibit booth.

Posters and hanging mobiles tout the game at retail, and are supported by print ads in trade publications. Davis Harrison Dion, Chicago developed the creative and Gage Marketing Group, Minneapolis, MN, handled execution.

“With this kind of audience, to do something in-pack is kind of unique,” says Jay Zemke, VP-business development at Gage. “And if you're going to have an impact, why not have an instant-win — it's instant gratification.”

Other prizes in the promotion were Ideal-branded T-shirts.

The motorcycle and promotion have been showcased at industry events including the National Electrical Contractors Association convention held last month in Los Angeles.

In the holiday promotion, the diecast Fire Bike is paired with an Ideal Industries-branded bike that come together on a trailer pulled behind a Cadillac Escalade EXT.

“It all started with the toy truck,” Beed says. “And once we did that, we saw a golden opportunity to do something neat and build on this nine-year promotion.

“There's just something cool about a motorcycle.”

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