Building Business With Audio: 10 Examples of Marketing With iPods and MP3 Players

Branded iPods and MP3 players may be the ultimate promotional product and marketing tool because of their high perceived value as an incentive or gift and ability to carry a custom marketing message via pre-loaded audio. And that's just the beginning. An MP3 player in the hands of your customers, or potential customers, is also a pipeline for a relationship marketing campaign that you can deliver via podcasting, the method for publishing audio files to the Internet for download.

Here are 10 industry specific scenarios of how custom MP3 players can be used to attract and engage customers or members:

1. An airline offers MP3 players as an incentive to promote a new premium service or destination. Qualifying passengers receive branded MP3 players pre-loaded with an audio magazine about other exotic destinations served by the airline.

2. A luxury automotive manufacturer offers MP3 players as an incentive for test drives. The branded players are pre-loaded with an audio infomercial that includes customer testimonials and interviews with engineers and designers.

3. A professional sports team sells collectable MP3 players, or gives them away as a season ticket purchase incentive. Each MP3 player features the team's logo and is pre-loaded with a broadcast replay of the their greatest game.

4. A public radio station offers MP3 players as premium gifts during membership drives. Each player is pre-loaded with spoken word or musical features from their most popular programs.

5. A financial institution offers MP3 players as an incentive for new accounts. The branded players contain an audio magazine that promotes other investment and money management strategies that compliment their product offerings.

6. An entertainment company includes MP3 players in their press kits touting a new production. Each player is imprinted with the show's icon and includes cast interviews, sound bites and music from the production.

7. A university provides MP3 players with built-in microphones to incoming freshman as a study tool. The players feature the school's mascot and is pre-loaded with orientation information and promotions from the various campus organizations.

8. A training service provider offers MP3 players, combined with a library of training modules, as a learning platform to enable remote and on-demand training programs to their clients.

9. A manufacturer uses MP3 players as a B2B relationship marketing tool by giving them away free to their distributors and customers. Each player is pre-loaded with the first issue of a monthly audio newsletter featuring industry news and instructions on how to subscribe to future editions via podcast.
Tip! CD players with mp3 capability - CD players have been around for quite a while now and most people are very familiar with them. Many newer models now have the ability to play mp3 files that are recorded onto CDs from your home computer.

10. A church raises funds by selling MP3 players pre-loaded with special sermons or music collections and parishners are instructed on how to use them to download future sermons from the church's website.

Dan Safkow is a marketing consultant, promotional products distributor and podcaster. His marketing properties include Logo Your Audio Custom MP3 Players, Promo Ideation Promotional Products and Podcast Optimization Podcasting Tips. Contact Dan Safkow at 949-394-4742 or Dan@LogoYourAudio.com.