Dads & Grads Advertising/Merchandising Ideas

Maria Nucci Designs

CGF, Certified Grumble Framer
Joined
Jul 13, 2002
Posts
173
Loc
Asheville, NC
Hi All,

Welcome back from a glorious holiday week-end! ( At least in New England.)

I'm planning on running a diploma special this month. (I've stocked some appropriate moulding at a great price.)
I'll be offering 6 or so mouldings at a special "Grad" price.

Any interesting ideas for advertising such a promotion?
Other than the "Hey man, 20% off diploma framing!"

Also have some great examples of shadow boxes of sports stuff going for the Dads. But how to inspire them to go through their memorbilia?

Any ideas?
 
I have always had the urge to advertise a special. "Frame Your Diploma for Less than the Cost of One Semester Hour!"
 
Yes, isn't it amazing that people place a framing dollar based on how much they spent on whats going in the frame.... right up untill they have that diploma.

$103,245 for 12 yrs of rent, clothes, pizza & beer
$328,784 for 12 yrs of college for doctors diploma
$3,948 for 6 mountain bikes rode to death in 12 yrs.
$2.95 for Thank You card to your folks for 12 yrs of indulgence.

$27.69 for frame from Walmart for your Doctor's Degree . . Tasteless.
 
I always like the $60,000+ cost of a 4 year degree and then the "we don't want to spend that much on framing it"

Education - a wonderful thing.
 
I don't like % off promos. My suggestion to a friend in the business was to come up with a flat price on any diploma up to 11 x 14 for a basic framing job. She has a selection of in-stock mouldings she uses. Then charge extra for any add-ons, like a v-groove, second mat, filet, etc.

She displays the basic job and has add-on samples handy to lay over the display.

She will be doing a graduation window display with a sign made by using the Wizard. I think Wizard has graduation-themed cut art.
 
Our local college, Colorado School of Mines, has the most unique diploma I have ever seen. It's a metal plate engraved with all of the information about 5 3/4 x 4 3/8. I have borrowed a few diplomas from my friends and framed each one differently and display them in May around the graduation.
What we get the most comments on is our outside reader board. For the two weeks prior to graduation we post:
1. Graduate
2. Frame Diploma
3. Get Job.
Just had a graduate come in with his diploma and he said he saw the sign his first year and kept it in his mind ever since.
 
I find I don't do many diplomas around graduation time?!?

I get a nice flood of them for the Christmas holidays, but very few now.

Either the parents frame them as a gift, or they drift in over time.

I would guess that the average diploma is a couple of years old when they bring it in.

I attribute this to a number of factors like:

1) they don't have a job or money yet
2) they don't have a job or an office yet
3) in some cases the diploma gets shipped to them later.

The first couple of years I was open I tried some diploma specials and they had what I would call a very low return on effort.

Is this just me?
 
At our local university, they don't get their diploma for six weeks so there's little point of advertising at graduation time. We keep a diploma display year round, if they see it and like it, they generally return to have it done when they get their diploma.

Colleen we recently framed one of those diplomas. Very unique.
 
Originally posted by Cliff Wilson:
Is this just me?
Nope. Same thing with any kind of "June Bride" display I've ever tried. The brides are in Hawaii. THe parents are so numb from spending $32K on a party that they're not shopping...

I see bridal portraits wehn people have moved or expectant mothers are "nesting". I can't tell you how many moms to be have patted there tummies at me and said "Guess I ought to get this framed before the little one gets here"

And last Christmas I framed a diploma from 1968. A gift from a wife to her husband who has everything, but had never framed his diploma.
 
OK, so this morning I got 2 diplomas in from two different people.

But, I'm not changing my story! They were circa mid-80s. Both getting a new office and thought the diploma would make for appropriate decoration.

Maria, any display and promotion gets in people's heads, and they ARE thinking of graduation at this time, so that is reinforced, but I wouldn't expect to use all the moulding you stocked up.
 
Maria. How did this go for you?

I was sitting here looking at six diplomas all from about 10 years ago that they finally decided to frame and I remembered this thread.

So, how did the promotion go??

Anyone else have success with a diploma promo that actually brought in THIS years diplomas?
 
So I'm wondering too. Maybe a fall ad for dips?

Maybe there will be something in the September issue of PFM.....

gotta advertise something... nothing else going on untill Valentines day.. :D
 
Hi All,

Well, the diploma special didn't pan out...for diplomas anyway. We have been using the moulding I stocked for other things, so I can't complain.

I think it could be successful if you have direct contact with the graduates, maybe through the schools. We happen to have 2 prestigious private schools in our town. I'm trying to make contacts there...and not just for diploma framing.
 
Maria, you might want to talk to the Alumni Association instead. They are usually in more of a position to frame, and understand the value of their piece of paper.
 
Not trying to be a wet blanket, but if you are trying to get "other framing" (a good idea) I would suggest the admissions office, and the alumni assoc as Baer suggested.)

For "diplomas" it will get much harder. I have discovered that schools (the colleges here in the Worcester area at least [12 at last count]) have their own "diploma frame sales" that they purchase in bulk somewhere. I'm sure you've seen them ... the logo cut in the mat, and bendable points in the back. Some aren't bad, and some are pretty tacky. They don't seem to want me muscling in on their profit.
 
Thanks, guys.

I will be walking the hallowed halls of these institutions looking for other opportunitites in institutional framing.

Cliff, I hear you on the bulk diploma frame sales.
Don't want to compete there.

But I gotta think the two prestigious schools here might give me some business.

A bunch of retailers in my town have started a little merchants association to contact such institutions in town, (As well as collaborating on other projects)

I'll start a new topic.
 
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