The prescription bag that my pharmacy uses is called a "medibag" and according to the little note on the bag, it's recyclable, renewable, and biodegradable (Yes...I'm impressed). It's roughly 5 inches wide and 10 inches long and room for 5 space ads on each side. Each two-color ad would be approximately 1.25" by 4.25." You can of course, commit to double for even triple the ad space.

Here's a few of the national demographics on this type of advertising according to the www.medibag.com web site:

An average pharmacy fills about 500 prescriptions each week...74% of pharmacy customers are 50+ years of age...The average customer has an annual income of $59,000, owns a home, and has 2.6 children...Adults over 50+ have over 1.9 trillion in spending power and a net worth almost twice the national average...Adults 50+ age group have a per capita income that is 26% higher than the national average.

You can check your local demographics and how they compare by going to Google, and then searching using the following statement: "your city state demographics." What did we ever do before Google?

As you all know, I'm not a big fan of expensive space advertising such as newspapers, magazines, and the like. Regardless of the claims of publications like this, I have found the life span (or readability) of this type of advertising is much too short.

This idea caught my attention because of the huge number of exposures in comparison to the investment. For about $364 you'll receive 24,000 exposures. In other words, your ad will appear on 24,000 bags for your local pharmacy. That's about a one year's supply of bags at your pharmacy using an average of 500 prescriptions per week. That works out to about 1.5 cents per bag or exposure. You'll have to agree...that's extremely reasonable.

Your contract period is for 24,000 bags and not connected with a time period. If your local pharmacy fills 600 prescriptions per week, then your contract period works out to about ten (10) months. If the pharmacy fills 400 per week, your contract period will work out to be fifteen (15) months.

The breakdown of the ten available advertising positions on my sample bag showed the following advertisers: the pharmacy (2), a dentist (1), a florist (1), a fitness center (1), an optometric physician (1), a cosmetic surgeon (1), a nursing facility (1), and a local bank (2).

As you can see, there are no Realtors/Agents, Mortgage Companies, Loan Officers or Mortgage Brokers as advertisers. The local bank is a new single branch operation making a big push to gain depositors.

Should you commit to this type of program, try to secure an exclusive agreement up-front which effectively locks-out and prevents other mortgage professionals from advertising as long as you continue to re-new contract. You should even try to eliminate Realtors/Agents as well. As you know, their mortgage entity will follow on their coat tails and could destroy the exclusivity of your advertising.