I saw a couple of neat business cards the other day that had been issued by a couple of law firms. They showed an unusual eye for something different, while also offering real value to the person who had it. I thought it was an ingenious way to use a card as a marketing tools and as something of value.
The first of these legal business cards was a flyer which was being left in bars for patrons to read. It said something along the lines of “The county law enforcement has been targeting local bars in this area, cracking down on DUI’s. To prevent losing your license, eat a good meal before coming out, then plenty of non alcoholic drinks to slow alcohol absorption. If you have to drink, get a cab home. If you are stopped while driving, be courteous to the officers. Don’t swear or insult them. Don’t volunteer any information or get out of your car unless instructed to. Give the attached business card to the officer and tell him you want to call them before submitting to any questioning or testing.”
Now a cynic might think this isn’t any better than ambulance chasing, but I think this is a well thought out idea. Offering practical information and being useful is a great way of having your business cards retained and used when needed, which is the whole point of having them.
The other example is of a similar vein, but done slightly differently. This legal business card was standard on one side, and offered a bit of legal advice on the other. This version was again around the subject of DUI. It read something like; “Officer, you have stopped me presumably in accordance with state law. If you are going to give me a citation, please do so and I can be on my way. If I am free to go, I wish to do so immediately. If I am under arrest I won’t answer any questions without my attorney. Neither will I perform any voluntary agility tests or do any preliminary breath tests except those prescribed by law in order for me to avoid losing my license or obstructing the law.”
Although not a fan of lawyers, I applaud this imaginative use of the humble business card in order to assist people, while promoting themselves. Other professions use similar value add tactics in order to increase retention and use of business cards, such as adding calendars, rulers, or even combining a phone card and a business card. This last option is going to be quite expensive to run, so wouldn’t be feasible unless the company was of a size big enough to support it.
So while the remit of a business card is fairly limited, i.e. the promotion of a person or business, the implementation is not. The ways in which this little piece of advertising is used is only limited by imagination and application.
Filed under: Business Cards
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