Portland-based Bench Craft Company generated $12 million in sales during 2009 by providing golf courses with benches, tee signs, ball washers, and score cards for free in exchange for the rights to sell ads on the products.
Bench Craft started in 1982 as Transportation Media, selling ads on bus route schedules on a contract with TriMet. When that business waned, the company saw growth selling ads at golf courses, which attract the affluent clientele that advertisers covet.It started with benches, then grew into wooden tee signs and continued to evolve.
But the company’s selling formula has remained the same: $400 to advertise for one year on nearly every product in its catalog.
Read more: Teeing up new sales – Portland Business Journal