People who don't know me but work with me will usually tell you that I am pretty creative when it comes to marketing and promotions. Frankly, I have them fooled! 

Virtually everything I do in marketing is either someone else's idea or an adaptation of someone else's idea. I'll grant you that after I have used and adapted an idea for ten or twenty years the originator might not recognize it. My problem then is not creating new ideas, because I rarely do, but rather keeping track of other peoples ideas and then measuring the success of the ones we try. 

Keeping track of ideas is fairly simple. One simply has to organize them in a way that will allow them to be found in a timely manner later. On the surface that would seem simple enough, just set up some file folders with headings for each different type of event, holiday, etc. Where that system might fail is in cases where a promotion might apply to more that one holiday with a little bit of adaptation. The same holds true on theme events for coffee breaks or tour bus welcoming parties. When you get right down to it everything needs to be cross referenced in some manner. Here are some ideas to solve the problem and keep your ideas available for use and make implementing ideas easier. 

Create a three ring binder that is the detailed resource file, where can you get various types of decorations, special equipment, entertainers and so forth. Who is willing to provide free materials in exchange for a little promotional exposure? Also note each time you use the individual or company, what they did and how well they did it. Even make a note when they turn you down and why. This resource file will grow over time as you do more promotions. 

As for the various ideas themselves, it all depends on how your mind stores and retrieves information. Consider putting the information in file folders using headings that are clear to you. These might include holidays, cultural affiliations for theme parties (Mexican, for example), seasons, activities, etc. More importantly get in the habit of making cross reference notes on file folder covers. When you clip out an article or hear about a promotion that interests you make a few notes about it and file it in the most logical place. At the same time make notes on every other file folder cover that the idea might relate to. All you need to note is a line describing or titling the promotion and what file it is in. This cross referencing will help later. One of the most important things you can file are the details of promotions you do along with an after-action report.

This leads me to another important area. Why do so many good promotions fail? When I ask our marketing departments that question I get a lot of different answers. I don't doubt that most of them are accurate to one degree or another. What I rarely hear is that the promotion may have been done badly by them! 

Here are some causes for failure that people don't volunteer too often:

• The promotion may not have started off with brain storming sessions that included most of the people that had to buy into the idea and execute it with enthusiasm. The lack of some brainstorming with the line staff usually results in failing to adapt the promotional idea to fit the local situation and circumstances. 
• The manager wasn't enthusiastically supportive of the idea and plan. He or she didn't get sufficiently involved. 
• Lack of lead time and attention to detail usually results in failure unless the promotion has been done several times before and the wrinkles have been ironed out. The two most important aspects of lead time relate to actually communicating the promotion to the intended audience and the fact that promotions are usually executed by people who already have other time commitments. Who can afford a full or part time promotions coordinator? Attention to detail is primarily a result of insufficient lead time and to some degree a lack of organizational skills in the person a lot of the work may have been delegated to because the responsible person is too busy.
• Failure to keep detailed notes at planning meetings causes a lot of problems. First, people forget some of the things they are supposed to do or when they are supposed to do them. Follow-up becomes a problem. These events should be treated with as much care as an event for a paying customer. The lack of notes also leaves you with a weak basis for doing an after-action analysis to examine what went right and what went wrong. It makes it kind of hard to improve! 
• One error I have observed numerous times is inadequate staffing. If you draw the expected crowd or even more you will need staff available to service them properly. If attendance falls significantly short, the extra staff can either be sent home or used as shills. Don't laugh, spreading your extra staff around (in street clothes) to be active and enjoy themselves accomplishes a lot. They have fun and feel rewarded and important. They create an active energy which will carry over to your real patrons. Most importantly it will keep the promotion from looking like a failure to those that contributed time and materials and the patrons that did come won't go away saying it was lousy because no one was there. 

Another activity which will help you avoid problems is going to promotions put on not only by your competitors but also businesses in other industries. You will get lots of ideas, see new ways to do things and get new sources for your own promotions. If you see their promotion failing remember that the best kind of bad experience is a second hand one!