A transaction conducted with a car manufacturer posed an interesting problem and a novel solution. The car company was saddled with hundreds of cars of a model that was to be discontinued. Given the company's worldwide presence, re-marketing the cars represented a unique challenge. U.S. dealers, the wholesale auction market and international dealerships were unacceptable options. The solution of IMS's management - sell the cars to several small, regional car rental companies not currently doing business with the car company. In so doing, the car company was able to book the transaction at full dealer cost without compromising the integrity of its dealer network and received valuable media scheduled against strict agency media buying guidelines, which prompted the agency to say to its client…"the buy is very solid and we are pleased with the overall quality of the programming…"

Paint Manufacturer

Barter transactions are usually a single exchange of inventory for trade credits. Occasionally, they are more complex and involve a third party. A case in point is when a well-known paint manufacturer had an excess inventory of paint, mostly in five-gallon containers. In this instance, the paint company did not want media credits, but rather sought to acquire sponsorship rights to the World Cup Soccer Tournament. World Cup did not need paint, but was interested in telecommunications equipment. IMS's management team first found a retail home outside normal channels of distribution to effectively re-market the paint inventory. IMS's group then located a telecommunications equipment company that was interested in exchanging inventory for media. Using the proceeds from the sale of the paint, IMS's team was able to supply the paint company with its World Cup sponsorship rights, the World Cup with needed telecommunications equipment, and the manufacturer with highly targeted media.

Camera Manufacturer

When this camera manufacturer had a very sizeable inventory of obsolete Photo CD Players, IMS's group stepped in to move the product as premiums through hotel casinos at the manufacturer's "suggested list price." The camera company used media credits to help launch a new consumer advertising campaign in major magazines against media efficiencies established by the agency. In a subsequent transaction, the camera manufacturer needed to dispose of a large inventory of photo scanners. IMS's management was able to sell the entire inventory through a television shopping channel. The company received an extensive infomercial schedule and Internet exposure, which exhausted many millions of dollars worth of advertising credits within a very short time frame.

Automotive After Market Manufacturer

An automotive after market company through its advertising agency contacted IMS's management to discreetly dispose of a large inventory of oil filters. Because of brand sensitivity and assorted licensing agreements, the product had to be exported to a specific part of the world. IMS's team found a customer that met the manufacturer's re-marketing requirements, which enabled this Dow Jones company to put a profitable sale on its books as needed and gain valuable media in exchange. IMS's group worked on a pre-determined cash commission for structuring the transaction, which prompted the agency to applaud our efforts with additional inventory assignments.

Telecommunications Manufacturer

At one time, this telecommunications company was spending nearly $1 billion across all forms of media. The last thing this communications giant wanted to do was barter merchandise for advertising. However, one of the business units in the consumer products group seriously overbought an item sold nationally in its retail phone centers. With technology changing every few months, it was imperative to move out old inventory and replace it with new product. Taking a significant financial loss was an unacceptable option. Barter became an appealing alternative. IMS's group stepped in, identified an acceptable closeout customer who offered enough cash to allow IMS's people to buy several million dollars worth of inventory from the telecommunications company at full wholesale - using media credits as currency. IMS's management delivered network and syndicated radio programming against a net CPM previously negotiated, to the delight of the consumer products group which used obsolete product to purchase valuable advertising on a dollar-for-dollar basis.

Click here for a printer friendly version of this page.