History of Vintage Images |
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Souvenir Products Origin |
Vintage Images was established 25 years ago, and primarily sold retail stationery products, consisting of postcards, novelty door hangers and greeting cards. These products were sold largely through independent reps to retail establishments in all 50 states and over a dozen foreign countries. With the changing retail environment of the mid-1990's onward, it became uneconomic to continue investment in retail product lines. |
| Vintage Images | The company name is also a description of the product concept. Vintage B&W photos, primarily c. 1880-1930 are combined with humorous captions or slogans to create memorable retail items. It turns out that such images and concepts can also be used to create high-impact, advertising media, targeted by industry and concept. |
| Advertising Media | With no sales effort or marketing materials, Vintage Images sold both postcards and novelty door hangers for advertising use to a sizable number of enterprises, including some major hotels, and Budweiser, for example. Although a number of products and services are currently listed on the Home Page, the two major product lines will be advertising media and coupons. Advertising media primarily refers to postcards and novelty door hangers while coupons represent an entirely new concept in advertising. |
| Unique Appeal | Vintage Images advertising media provide unique appeal for several reasons. Because of their unusual nature and style, they are high-impact and generally have longevity; with recipients sometimes saving and displaying them for years, which is rarely true with other ad media. The reason is partly due to perceived (and actual) value. These items are often the same as or similar to products that consumers purchase in stores. Note that other forms of physical media or ad specialty items, such as baseball caps and pens, do not carry an advertising message. |
| Use of Humor | Humor is a strong element in advertising, because of the emotional impact created. However, it is generally not an option for SMB advertising, but with Vintage Images products, it is affordable by even the smallest firms. |
| Samples | To view samples of Vintage Images advertising media, click Here. (Coming) |
| Dallas Ad Specialty Show | Vintage Images, working in joint venture with Texas-based Teraco, a major ad specialty firm, unveiled a complete line of products at the 1993 Dallas Ad Specialty Show. Teraco was a major supplier and the president was also president of the national ad specialty trade organization. Together with his VP of Marketing, they had over 50 years of industry experience. Despite this new product line being considered the hit of the trade show, it ultimately proved unsuccessful. |
| Problems & Resolution | Initially, no one involved could pinpoint reasons for lack of success, despite strong enthusiasm by both buyers and reps. However, after a very long period it became clear that there were four major problems, each one of which was fatal. Those problems have all now been resolved, opening the door for reinvestment and rebuilding. |
| Viral Transmission | Viral transmission is well accepted in the context of the Internet, but has limited applicability in advertising for several reasons. Vintage Images introduces this concept to the world of distribution advertising. |
| New Coupon Media | In addition to the advertising products noted above, a new form of viral, printed coupon has been developed. It will be offered in two formats, one similar to existing products and utilizing vintage photos. The other format is still being kept under wraps but will be shown to relevant individuals. |
| Distribution Strategy | Advertising media will be marketed in a number of channels. Direct sales will utilize Web site + in-house reps as well as an outside sales force. Other channels will be advertising specialty distributors and traditional ad agencies. |
| Current Status | Vintage Images is not currently operational but operations can be started as soon as a suitable sales executive and potential CEO can be identifed. No outside funds are required to fund rampup and expansion. |
| Revenue Potential | It is believed that revenue potential should be in the range of $20M when full-scale operations are achieved, after approximately three years of sales. |
| Quponz | Quponz was designed as an in-house marketing function, however, it became apparent that it had a larger potential than Groupon and LivingSocial and was split off. If this entity can be financed and developed, it has the potential to at least double Vintage Images' revenue. |