Promo Products: The Key to Marketing in the New Year

Industry analysts predict that marketing, once about how to effectively reach a unified group of consumers, will continue to evolve into a much more strategy-based science in 2010. The previous increase in news bureaus and social media outlets, combined with the increased segment differentiation, makes it necessary for companies to find unique ways to set themselves apart from the clutter. While some companies will opt for guerrilla advertising campaigns and others focus on solely Web-based campaigns, in my opinion, it all boils down to one major point: consumers no longer trust traditional media. As a result, companies must find new, innovative ways to create relationships (rather than sales pitches) and establish trust with potential customers.

Promo products are great tools for building relationships with consumers because they are useful items that recipients incorporate into their everyday lives. Furthermore, distributing promo products gives businesses the opportunity to engage in conversation with consumers by taking recipients’ wants and needs into consideration and customizing items accordingly. In order to maximize the impact of a marketing budget, companies should clearly understand their target audience and work closely with a promotional products distributor to select the gadgets that will get their brand seen and heard in 2010!

Out With the Old – In With the New (Promotional Products That Is!)

Now that the clock is a few days past midnight, “Auld Lang Syne” has finished playing, and the champagne glass is well past empty, it is time for a new year and a new set of opportunities to order promotional products for your clients and employees!

Each new year, manufacturers of promotional items release new and unique products to add to their inventory. When shopping for promotional products, it is often tempting to order these new fancy items that seem to be so special and more unusual than others available on the market. These products may attract initial attention for consumers, but they do not always tend to provide a lasting impact for your brand if they are not useful to your target audience and do not have a long life span.

Consider choosing classic promotional products that are known to be popular and useful to recipients, but add excitement with an updated spin. For example, perhaps you run an outdoor sporting company who orders promotional sports bottles to give to their customers each year. Instead of the same plastic bottle you purchase yearly, consider ordering the new Compass Hydration Stainless Water Bottles – that come with a handy built in compass on the lid!

Celebrate Your Birthday (Or Mine) With Promotional Products!

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday dear Jaime, happy birthday to me! Yes – twenty-four years ago, on this very day I came into the world. In honor of my birthday, here is a little history of modern birthday traditions and corresponding promotional products:

-Ancient humans believed that we were haunted by evil spirits and that these spirits had special strength during big changes in one’s life such as getting married, having a child, and, you guessed it, turning a year older. Thus, it was believed that by having lots of family and friend’s around, and laughing and singing, the evil spirits would be kept at bay. Bringing birthday cards with well wishes, and eventually birthday gifts evolved from this original notion. Have a top client or employee with an upcoming birthday? Be sure to send them a promotional gift to ward off evil spirits!

-The tradition of lighting candles for one’s birthday in said to in part come from the thought that the smoke from the candles helped to ward off the evil spirits discussed previously. It is also said to have begun for an additional reason dating back to beliefs from the ancient Greek civilizations. The Greeks believed that in lighting these candles, the smoke from the flames would rise into the sky where they thought the Gods lived, sending an offering or signal of a prayer to those Gods. This evolved into the modern tradition of blowing out the candles and making a wish. Companies can utilize promotional lighters to light candles for employee birthdays.

-And of course, I had to include the history of the “Happy Birthday to You” song that we all know so well. It was composed back in 1893 by two sisters, Mildred J. Hill and Patty Hill, in 1893, both kindergarten schoolteachers from Louisville, Kentucky. The melody was anyway – its originally lyrics, were “Good Morning to You,” and the song did not gain its popularity until the words were changed later. Why not order promotional speakers to sing along with the Beatle’s rendition of Happy Birthday?
(It has been rumored that Paul McCartney owns the rights to this song, but he does not.)

Achieve Your New Year’s Resolution While Branding Your Business with Promotional Fitness Accessories

This week was the season finally of the 8th season of The Biggest Loser. One of my personal favorites, The Biggest Loser is an inspiring television show that documents the challenges, determination and hard work it takes to succeed at major weight loss. It never ceases to amaze me what feats are possible when people put their minds and hearts into it!

Danny, the winner of this season’s show, lost more than 50% of his body weight! While I think it’s safe to say that amount of weight loss isn’t necessary for the majority of our society, there is no denying the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle. From the life-lengthening results of lowering your risks of heart attack, breathing disorders, cancer and even death to the smaller pleasures like being able to fit comfortably into your old favorite pair of jeans, a healthy lifestyle is an excellent goal for everyone.

As we near the midpoint of December it’s a great time to evaluate your resolutions and goals for the New Year. If getting into shape is on your list of things to do next year, consider starting the process by incorporating healthier tools into your workplace.

Healthy employees equal happy employees. Encourage a move towards a healthier way of living while promoting internal branding with promotional fitness accessories. These branded tools are great giveaways for your employees. When you show your team you care about their wellbeing, you reinforce your position as a company that cares.

Encourage your team to meet their personal goals, and give them a promotional fitness tool to assist in the process. You’ll boost productivity and morale among your team, while making a sustained effort to improve your own health and wellbeing.

image by: http://www.flickr.com/photos/flem007_uk/ / CC BY 2.0

Shop for Promotional Products and Gifts While You Brush Your Teeth? Anything is Possible.

This morning while getting ready, I flipped my TV from Good Morning America to the Home Shopping Network. Sometimes I find it relaxing to listen to the salespeople chatter about items as seemingly mundane as a lipstick or vanity table. Occasionally, a line of products created by or endorsed by a particular celebrity fill early morning time slots, as was the case with Susan Lucci’s fine jewelry line that took center stage today. Soap opera actress Susan Lucci recently launched her own jewelry line, and judging by the quick depletion of inventory shown on the screen, plenty of viewers dialed in to purchase the jewels. Why brave the mall at this time of year when you can buy holiday gifts for loved ones without leaving your couch?

The same holds true with promotional products. Web-based distributors make it easy for individuals, and no longer just businesses, to buy custom imprinted wares from the comfort of their own homes. All you need is an Internet connection and a computer (or even a mobile phone!) and you are ready to begin showcasing your creativity. Maybe instead of settling for ordinary holiday cards this year, you can mail or hand deliver digital photo frames featuring a holiday message from your family and with your family photo already loaded into the memory. Recipients will appreciate the thoughtful gesture, and your family will be fondly remembered whenever they glance at the unique gift! Personal relationships are what make life worthwhile, so go the extra mile to express your gratitude for the people most special to you.

How to make promotional products engaging? Personify them.

the X-One mug

With promotional products, the hard sell comes down to visualization. As a species we are profoundly visual, and our sight tends to dominate our other senses. Would you buy something without seeing it first?

We know that getting our customers to engage with our products means giving them the best visual we can, and that’s why we spend time, energy, and money on making sure we have high-quality images for all of our promotional products.

Visualization can and should extend to our marketing efforts, as well. If you are a Facebook user (and who isn’t?) you probably spend a lot, if the not the majority, of your Facebook time looking at photos. I’ll find myself spending twenty minutes browsing the Facebook pictures of acquaintances from high school, because of sheer curiosity — and because pictures are so profoundly engaging.

Our colleague in the promotional products industry Karen Sherrill tapped in on this human inclination with her Facebook campaign for Gold Bond’s X-One mug (xonemug.com). Her idea for distributors to engage with the personified product by taking pictures of it and posting them on Facebook effectively engaged her customer base. Let me stress how hard this is for a business-to-business company.  Yet it worked on me. If you asked me on the spot to name a promotional product, the X-One mug is probably the first thing I would think of.

How to Effectively Market your Brand: Social Media v. Promotional Products

While social media began as a fun way for friends to keep in touch and to share personal stories, it has evolved into a serious marketing tool. Many businesses reach consumers by holding contests on Facebook, by giving away prizes on Twitter, and by sharing their advertisements on YouTube. Also through the use of Twitter, many companies are moving their customer service into real time. 

 Social media provides the opportunity for campaigns to go viral, but it also takes the power from a company’s marketing team and puts it in the hands of consumers. As Facebook and YouTube capture every reaction to companies’ products and services, social media becomes a potentially risky and destructive tool. In fact, the bloggers at Penn Olson recently posted about five social media disasters, including a manager at Honda who didn’t disclose his position while posting positive reviews on Facebook about a new car model and a YouTube video that captured rats running around a Taco Bell in New York.

These social media disasters teach an important lesson: how you promote your brand (and how consumers view it) is an important decision that should not be left purely to the chance of social media. One way for businesses to regain control over their marketing campaigns is to distribute promotional products. Promotional products offer the creativity and interactivity of social media, yet they are much more predictable. Furthermore, promotional products are tangible items and more durable than the fleeting nature of social media. While no one can deny that social media offers great marketing opportunities when used sincerely and monitored closely, marketing with promotional products is a surefire way to gain positive attention for your brand.

Commonalities Among Items Ranking as Top Corporate Holiday Gifts

Still trying to figure out what to buy your top clients for this year’s corporate holiday gifts? Well Inc.com recently published an article entitled, “CEOs on Their Favorite Recent Gifts” in which they interviewed five CEOs of varying corporations to reveal those products they received in the past year that they found to be the most useful, unique, or preferred for some other reason. While the products they chose ranged from a camera to an espresso machine, I found several common aspects among many of the products:

1. They were all technologically advanced.
Like the ThinkGeek USB Rocket Launcher, which connects to the computer via a USB port, many of the products were those that would fit under the category of “electronics.”

2. Many were convenient for travel.
From the Sony PRS-600 e-book reader to the Bose QuietComfort 15 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones, the recipients commented that these items made for convenient and more pleasant traveling, something which CEOs most likely do a lot.

3. They are popular abroad.
One CEO was given the Fujifilm Instax MINI 7S at a time when it was still only available in Japan. Another received the Nespresso D90 Essenza Espresso Machine as a gift after a trip to Paris where she remarked it is “all the rage.”

It’s Not To Early To Start Planning for Next Year’s Tradeshows!

The New Year is right around the bend, and dedicated promotional products buyers everywhere know what that means…. Tradeshow Season!

January kicks off the season with tons of industry shows and events. And as December is sure to fly by with the hustle and bustle of the holidays, starting to plan for your events now is a savvy plan of attack.

Take some time to evaluate your plans for next year’s shows and promotions. Will you be traveling across the country, or staying local? Do you need a new display, new branded apparel, totes or giveaways?

Strategically planning for your tradeshows is key to executing successful events. When you know what to anticipate for next year, you can effectively plan your budget accordingly. Make sure to allow room for innovative tradeshow giveaways in your budget. All of your preparation, your informative sales pitch and your crisp collateral pieces will have no effect if you can’t get traffic to your booth first.

Hold a contest or drawing at your booth for a chance to win a premium tradeshow giveaway, like an MP4 player or digital frame. Make sure to send direct mail or an email to tradeshow attendees pre-show, letting them know about your contest. And offer a unique, yet inexpensive giveaway at your booth. When passersby see your giveaways, they will likely stop to chat for a moment knowing that they will get to take home your fun branded piece.

Keep in mind that successful tradeshow participation relies on getting your potential clients to your booth. People love free stuff! And a free-giveaway, no matter how inexpensive, will work to bring visitors to your booth.

Drive traffic with tradeshow giveaways. Once you get them in, you can work your magic to seal the deal!

Check out this video for some tips from ASI Publisher, Rich Fairfield, on using tradeshow giveaways to maximize results.

Tradeshow Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/goincase/ / CC BY 2.0

Educational Promotional Products to Encourage Tolerance Among Children and Teens

All of us have been there. We have been taunted and teased because of some aspect of our personality, appearance, or heritage. And nobody is innocent, as we have all said or thought something negative about somebody else that may have affected their self-esteem. Programs in schools often neglect to focus on tolerance as a developmental issue, but there are plenty of simple ways that educators and school administrators can inform young minds as to the importance of respecting others and keeping an open mind. Incidents involving derogatory comments and insults being hurled between elementary school students pervade mass media, so why are schools not working harder to pinpoint the causes behind these situations??

Distributing inexpensive promotional products imprinted with messages about sharing and listening is one way to build awareness about tolerance in schools from the time that students embark on their educations. School orientations are an ideal place to give parents of new students and students themselves school supplies prominently displaying the values and morals that the institution strives to uphold. Young, impressionable minds are the future of our world, and schools and families should work hard to ensure that sound beliefs are accurately communicated to children during their upbringings.