Merchants find calendars let them advertise all year

Chick-fil-A's annual calendar featuring its famous bovine mascots is on track to sell more than 1 million copies this year.

At $6 a pop, some might call that a cash cow.

But along with sales and a little bit of fun (this year it has a police theme: "The Bovines in Blue"), the calendar promotion is also a shrewd marketing move that is being copied by retailers nationwide.

With more than $30 in coupons, the calendar helps Chick-fil-A drive repeat traffic year-round and may even encourage new customers to visit if they receive a calendar as a gift.

"We're in the food business, not the calendar business," said Chick-fil-A spokesman Jerry Johnston. "But it's become a fully integrated marketing program."

At the Ace Hardware in Raleigh's Seaboard Station, owner Bob King is giving away Ace calendars for free. Like the Chick-fil-A calendars, the Ace calendars contain monthly coupons such as $5 off a $25 purchase and buy one/get one key-cutting offers.

King said the 1,000 calendars he ordered cost him about $500, plus the additional money he will lose when he honors the coupons.

But that cost is a lot less than some of his past marketing efforts.

"I've spent a ton of money on direct mailers, and the return on direct mailers was so dismal it just makes me nauseous," he said.

The calendars also help keep a company on consumers' minds, said Chuck Howard, CEO of Charlotte-based Auto Bell.

His company has offered a calendar for the past several years. This year's retails for $6.95 but contains myriad coupons, including two for free car washes.

Howard said offering the calendars is not about making money from sales of calendars. He's happy if they sell enough to cover publishing costs. For him, it's about getting customers to hang the Auto Bell name on their walls.

"We want to keep our name top-of-mind when someone is thinking of getting ready to wash their car," he said.

The introduction of such calendars is smart, especially with retailers concerned that consumers will continue to limit spending into 2009, said Mike Gatti, executive director of the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association.

"You're making sure that that loyal customer stays loyal to you," he said. "It's little incentives. Right now everybody's looking at what it's going to take to get that customer out of their cocoon."