How Mission Protection Won the 2019 SAMMY Award for Best Promotional Giveaway
Mission Protection gave out 400 hundred cooling towels at competitive go-kart races and recouped its out-of-pocket expenses with just one residential contract.
Andrew Smith with the Mission Protection Systems-branded cooling towel.
2018 marked the first year California-based Mission Protection Systems marketed its brand via a promotional giveaway item. The chosen article? A cooling towel, and the story behind it is pretty darn cool.
Andrew Smith, 11, is the grandson of the company’s president, Larry Tracy, and son of the company’s vice president of sales & marketing, Susan Tracy-Smith. Andrew and his father race quarter midget cars competitively.
Andrew was given the opportunity to race in two Grand National events this past summer. One of the races was held at his home track, Tri-Valley Quarter Midget Association in Livermore, Calif., and the other at the Capitol Quarter Midget Association track in Rio Linda, Calif.
Mission Protection was approached by both clubs to donate to their driver’s bags that were given to each child motorist.
“We took advantage of this opportunity to market to other businesses affiliated with these races, to gain residential accounts from the parents, families and racing spectators who come from all over the United States and Canada, and to gain brand visibility to other potential customers thru the live Facebook and YouTube feeds during both weeks,” explains Tracy-Smith, daughter of SSI Industry Hall of Famer Larry Tracy.
Instead of giving out small trinkets they knew would likely be tossed aside or not be of much use, the company used the theme of “stay cool” by giving out reusable cooling towels with its logo and website, along with a sunscreen and electrolyte drink packets.
“The hot weather is a huge factor at these races and at one point the temperature reached 115° at 5 p.m.,” Tracy-Smith says. “There wasn’t a child or parent without a Mission Protection Systems cooling towel around their necks throughout the two weeks of racing.”
In all, 400 hundred cooling towels were given out at a cost of approximately $1 per towel. Mission Protection was quickly able to recoup its out-of-pocket expenses for the towels and with just one residential contract from one of the racing families.
The giveaway has opened doors for Mission Protection Systems to provide intrusion alarms to more tracks, as well as video systems they can use to live stream races on YouTube and Facebook.
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About the Author
Rodney Bosch, Senior Editor
Although Bosch’s name is quite familiar to those in the security industry, his previous experience has been in daily newspaper journalism. Prior to joining SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION in 2006, he spent 15 years with the Los Angeles Times, where he performed a wide assortment of editorial responsibilities, including feature and metro department assignments as well as content producing for latimes.com. Bosch is a graduate of California State University, Fresno with a degree in Mass Communication & Journalism. In 2007, he successfully completed the National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association’s National Training School coursework to become a Certified Level I Alarm Technician.
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