Naomi Marr.com

What is the one item you need in your 2010 marketing/brand budget?

I’ll give you some hints.

• Apple has used them for many, many years.
• They come in varying shapes, colors and sizes.
• They are typically affixed to things.

Have you figured it out yet?

Did you guess notebook bumper stickers?

That’s right. Notebook bumper stickers. The rainbow Apple logo was designed in 1977. When turned into a sticker and placed on notebooks, car windows, and suitcases, it became a badge of innovation and creativity. The stickers have changed over the years and they are a simple white graphic now, but the concept is still the same and many people show their Apple loyalty with the stickers — even covering up their logos on their PCs with the iconic Mac brand. Now days, the Apple sticker still stands for innovation, but you would have to add superior customer experience and technology to the list of attributes assigned to the company reputation. It’s become a technical “political” statement and a visible, yet passive, way to buck the norms of the enterprise IT/technical environment being drowned in stifling audit processes.

I’ve been meeting with, and talking to, a lot of people recently. During all of these conversations I’ve begun to notice a trend. The notebook bumper stickers are back in the emerging social media technology space and it is again becoming a badge of honor to show your company loyalties. Companies like Radian6, HubSpot, The Community Roundtable and more have begun producing and distributing their logo stickers and people are once again plastering their meeting notebooks, laptop covers and  hand held devices with them.

So why is this an opportunity for you?

Notebook bumper stickers are back, but not everyone has jumped on board again, yet. There’s still an opportunity to be the first in your industry to dole them out like candy to all your customers. It’s an easy way for your customers, partners and general enthusiasts to show their loyalties and to spread the reach of your brand without having to do too much work on their own.

The bar is low for participation. Unlike with logo t-shirts (which most people can’t wear to the office or to business meetings), the notebook bumper stickers are portable and all a person has to do to participate is peel and stick. It couldn’t be any easier.

The notebook bumper stickers are cheap. With sites like Branders.com, it’s very easy to create and print your own stickers. They run anywhere from $.06 to $1.47 per sticker and the more you order the cheaper they get.

So here’s a photo of the cover of my meeting notebook. I’ve got just one so far, but hope to build my collection as I receive them from my favorite companies. I’m happy to share in their brand impression.

What does yours look like? Post a comment and link to a photo of your notebook bumper sticker wall of fame (you’ll need to host the photo in Flickr or some other photo sharing site) for all of us to see!