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December 31, 2005Happy New Year's!
Since it's the last day of 2005, I'm posting an image of our New Year's Card from 2005. It seemed like a lot of us back then, but this year we'll have to do a double-sided card or a panorama.
Posted by mark at 1:56 PM. Permalink: Happy New Year's! | Comments (0)
December 30, 2005Predictions 2006: USB Gets Fun
| 2005 was the year USB promotional products got big, and 2006 is going to be the year they get fun. With widespread adoption of USB 2.0, which transmits more power through the USB connection, USB products broke out of the memory stick box and started to get more interesting. This year most of the growth was in business and business travel related areas, such as this USB cell phone charger, but did extend to some quirkier products, like the USB cup warmer and some stylish items like these Vase-shaped USB speakers. I think the duck-shaped USB vaccum we featured here a few weeks ago is a harbinger of what's to come. More gadgets with more style, more color, and a lot more fun. I think by the end of the year we may even see USB items that are fuzzy, pastel, or both! |
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December 29, 2005Predictions 2006: Electronic Paper
Okay, so maybe this won't happen in 2006, but within the next three years, electronic paper technology, essentially inexpensive, paper-thin, flat screen displays, will make its way into consumer products and promotional items. The research has been going on for decades, but now many different manufacturers are making large strides towards making this technology affordable. When this technology does roll out on a large scale, it's going to have a huge impact on promotional products, replacing traditional pad printing and screen printing methods in many situations. (via MIT Advertising Lab)
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December 28, 2005Predictions 2006: Organic Growth
This time of year, everyone's making predictions about 2006, and we've got some of our own about promotional products and the promo industry. First off, we predict that organic products hit the big time this year as more companies and organizations decide to showcase their community and environmental values with their promotional products. Organic promotional food and wine will lead the way, but organic cotton apparel will make an impact, too. Also, we'll see biodegradable plastic alternatives for many disposable products and promotional packaging. For a preview of what's to come, check out this biodegradable highlighter.
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December 27, 2005Mood Radio Update
| A quick update on the cool promotional mood radio. Here's a photo of the one that Google gave out last year. |
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December 26, 2005Mightier Than the Pen: Hydro Promotional Power
Sometimes pens are the write promotional product, but active brands might be better served with custom bottled water. In this example, we feature bottled water as an inexpensive promotional pen alternative. The larger imprint area makes for clearer, more present branding, and the bottled water sends a pro-health message.
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December 24, 2005Look out kids, he's comin' to town!!!
And, if you've been nice, you might get some toys.
Happy Holidays!
Posted by mark at 2:29 PM. Permalink: Look out kids, he's comin' to town!!! | Comments (0)
December 23, 2005Supercute Promo: Penguin Bib
| This is just too cute, it's a bib from Penguin Books that says "Future Reader." We definitely don't have enough baby stuff on our site, although this baby photo friend is pretty cute. (via 50 books) |
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Posted by mark at 3:53 PM. Permalink: Supercute Promo: Penguin Bib | Comments (0)
December 22, 2005Jets Collector Pins
| The New York Jets did a promotion this November with a series of ten collectible pins and a collectible lanyard. The lanyard was given away at a Jets game, and the die-stamped pins that go on the lanyard were available at newsstands in the city. A great promotional combo to promote the Jets at the game and after, made possible by finding the right promotion products. |
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Posted by mark at 10:22 PM. Permalink: Jets Collector Pins | Comments (0)
December 21, 2005Inverse Magic Mat
Strange New Products just featured a product that is kinda the opposite of the magic dashboard mat. Instead of sitting on your dashboard, the "magic" stuff attaches to your phone or whatever item, then you just set the item on the dashboard and it sticks. I wonder if this is the same technology used by wacky wall walkers. According to the comments, these things really work.
Posted by mark at 12:13 PM. Permalink: Inverse Magic Mat | Comments (0)
A Tale of Two Holiday Gifts...
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A Detroit-area copywriter posted images of two holiday gifts received by his agency on his blog, a box of chocolates and a gift wrapping set. Both were nice, but as he says about the gift wrap "I got this box of gift wrap and supplies from one of our vendors (Unlike the Yahoo chocolates, when you don't slap your name on it, people forget who it's from... oh well)" The branding didn't make the chocolates any less tasty, but it did make the difference between being from Yahoo! and being from "a vendor." |
Posted by mark at 8:35 AM. Permalink: A Tale of Two Holiday Gifts... | Comments (0)
December 20, 2005Boom Bag: But Can It Keep My Beverages Cold?
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Popgadget featured this "boom bag," which reminded me of our Radio Coolers, which are also iPod-compatible and have a 24-can capacity. While the bag is cool, I think I would rather have a boom box filled with |
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Posted by mark at 3:12 PM. Permalink: Boom Bag: But Can It Keep My Beverages Cold? | Comments (0)
BIKEA Seat Cover
I saw this and immediately liked it. Then I thought, but who rides a bike to IKEA, and how do they attach the Klaus bookshelf to it for the ride home? Then I figured that young people ride bikes AND get furniture at IKEA, and if I was in college and got this on my bike seat I would remember IKEA sells linens next time I borrowed my parents' car to pick up some stuff for my dorm room, which I guess is the point. Anyhow, I give it a thumbs up. If you want to do something cool like this, we love to make custom merchandise. (via Advertising/Design Goodness)
Posted by mark at 1:25 PM. Permalink: BIKEA Seat Cover | Comments (0)
Graceful Corporate Gifting
A recent Dallas Morning News article discussed how companies can give corporate gifts gracefully. According to the article, "For the past four years, the largest segment of corporate sales has been in the under-$30 range," but "This year, more companies are opening up their wallets to at least $50 to $150." One of the keys to giving gracefully is to give something that of quality that isn't over the top. One way of doing this is to find something creative and relevant to the recipient that isn't expensive or showy. For some great business gift ideas, check out our corporate gifts department.
Posted by mark at 8:39 AM. Permalink: Graceful Corporate Gifting | Comments (0)
December 19, 2005Promotional Mug Just Waiting to Happen
| Every once in a while, I feature a promotional product that isn't quite promotional yet. While this mug is geared towards practicality, imagine how much fun you could have with it as a promotional mug. I'm thinking branding meets mug meets refrigerater poetry magnets. Is it too late to be an inventor when I grow up? (via strange new products) |
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Posted by mark at 9:19 AM. Permalink: Promotional Mug Just Waiting to Happen | Comments (0)
December 18, 2005Mightier Than the Pen: A Brand's Best Friend
The latest installment of "Mightier Than the Pen" features a great idea for a dog-related business. If you were a pet store, pet supply store, kennel or other dog-related business, why not get promotional flyers instead of a promotional pen. They're inexpensive, and have a much larger imprint area than a pen. Plus, it's something both the customer and the dog could enjoy, without getting ink all over the place. (I've seen how dogs enjoy pens.)
Posted by mark at 2:31 PM. Permalink: Mightier Than the Pen: A Brand's Best Friend | Comments (0)
December 17, 2005Creative Corporate Gift Ideas
Kelli Mitchell at the Tampa Bay Business Journal has some corporate gift pointers:
Make it stand out, be creative and make it meaningful.
Make it personal, by considering the interests and tastes of the recipient.
Pick something that will serve as a lasting reminder of your relationship.
Some of her top product picks were:
Leather goods, especially travel products are tasteful. Silver plated clocks are a classic, and a good gift basket works well, too, especially if it's a group gift to an office. Or, just check out our site for great business gift ideas.
Posted by mark at 10:55 AM. Permalink: Creative Corporate Gift Ideas | Comments (0)
December 16, 2005Top Hotel Promotional Products
| Middle East Hotelier magazine recently did a feature about how hotels can use promotional or corporate gift products to help guests enjoy their stay, and remember it. Essentially, as they say in the article, "There is no other way of ensuring that the guest has something physical to take away with them to remember their stay." |
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Posted by mark at 8:36 AM. Permalink: Top Hotel Promotional Products | Comments (0)
December 15, 2005Best Use of a Promotional Bandana
The Oscar will definitely go to Brokeback Mountain for this promotional bandana.
Posted by mark at 8:49 PM. Permalink: Best Use of a Promotional Bandana | Comments (0)
If I Could Put Brands in a Bottle...
| I would love to work at the MIT Advertising Lab. The only thing I would love more is if we could put promotional items in "impossible bottles" like this one. Unfortunately, Harry Eng, the inventor and master of impossible bottles passed away and took his secrets with him. (Yes, I'm totally serious.) We do have non-impossible bottles like this candy filled champagne bottle and a variety of non-filled polycarbonate water bottles, but they just aren't quite the same. They're just too...possible. |
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Posted by mark at 9:02 AM. Permalink: If I Could Put Brands in a Bottle... | Comments (0)
December 14, 2005Promotional Project: How to Use 2,000 Promotional Post-its...
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What do you do if you have 2,000 promotional Post-its? Well, one option would be to create an Elvis mosaic, and another is to line an entire bedroom with them. Follow the Elvis link for instructions. In other news, the Post-it turned 25 in April of this year. Not sure if they were the first sticky notes ever made, but they did celebrate by releasing super sticky notes this year. |
Posted by mark at 9:14 AM. Permalink: Promotional Project: How to Use 2,000 Promotional Post-its... | Comments (0)
December 13, 2005Mood Radio: Google Gift and Gizmodo Gadget
| If there are two things I really like to point out, they are companies making great use of promotional products, and promotional products that are so great they get featured along side "regular" products when people are discussing cool products. This promotional mood radio did both. Top gadgets blog Gizmodo featured it in their holiday gift guide, and Google gave it as a gift this year. It's a perfect product for Google, because it changes colors to match Google's branding. Apparently the execution was good, too. One recipient commented that this product "It looked much cooler with the Google logo." Now that's a great response to a promotional product! |
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Posted by mark at 3:38 PM. Permalink: Mood Radio: Google Gift and Gizmodo Gadget | Comments (0)
Promo News: Sports Desk
According to an article in the Philadelphia Daily News, the 76ers are "not fan-tastic." Specifically, their promotional giveaways lineup "still needs some tweaking," according to Steve Albertini. His recommedation? "Better giveaways. 'The Flyers just gave away a Peter Forsberg bobble-head the other night. Those still work.'" Well, that's it from the sports desk, now back to you...
Posted by mark at 9:30 AM. Permalink: Promo News: Sports Desk | Comments (0)
December 12, 2005ePromos Holiday Party
| We had our holiday party on Friday at the UN Plaza. We had a great room on the 29th floor with an amazing view. It was lots of fun, and we even had (almost) everyone come out from our office in Florida, Arizona and California. Maybe I can get one of our production artists to do a better collage to put up here. |  |
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Vintage Apple Memorabilia
From way before the iPod...
For your enjoyment, a selection of promotional buttons and custom lapel pins from the DigiBarn Computer Museum.
Posted by mark at 3:42 PM. Permalink: Vintage Apple Memorabilia | Comments (0)
December 9, 2005Dog Tags: The Next Big Awareness Product
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The Wall Street Journal just did a feature about how The Christopher Reeve Foundation is raising awareness about spinal cord injuries and research funds to develop treatments and cures. They're using dog tag necklaces and keychains to promote awareness and raise funds at the same time, just like the Live Strong silicone awareness bracelets used by the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
From a promotional perspective, this is an ideal combination of form and function, and it's hard for me to imagine another technique (i.e., any media-based form of advertising) being able to accomplish the same results. Awareness products accomplish fundraising and awareness-raising goals on a personal, tangible level that's incorporated into people's daily lives on an ongoing basis. Promotional dog tag keychains and dog tag necklaces have been around for a while, but with the visibility they're getting from the Reeve Foundation, there couldn't be a better time to use them to promote your organization. |
Posted by mark at 5:06 PM. Permalink: Dog Tags: The Next Big Awareness Product | Comments (0)
December 8, 2005Fantastic Flip-Flops, Perfect for Promotions
| These flip-flops are just begging to become promotional flip-flops. They could basically be a full page ad that turns into footware. I'd love to see what a creative designer could do to use the negative space once the flip-flops have been removed. (via make) |
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Posted by mark at 7:31 AM. Permalink: Fantastic Flip-Flops, Perfect for Promotions | Comments (0)
December 7, 2005Put Together Great Conference Promo Bags...Without the Work
Sue Polinsky has a mini photo essay about putting together some goodie bags for a conference, which made me think of a couple things:
1. Putting together a kit from multiple items is a great way to make a bigger impact than just giving out a single item.
2. Putting together a promotional giveaway like this is a lot of work.
Luckily, we can do it for you. We offer custom packaging and fulfillment options for tradeshows, new employee kits, holiday gifts, or any situation in which you want a big impact without doing all the work. We'll even do it to your exact specifications including inserts, shipping and packaging. Which is nice, and easy.
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December 5, 2005Promo No-No: Weigh Your Product Options
You'll get more mileage from a logo pedometer.
Posted by mark at 9:34 AM. Permalink: Promo No-No: Weigh Your Product Options | Comments (0)
December 2, 2005Retro Promo: Got a Cool Mascot? Make Custom Products.
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Nice peanut, eh? I saw this vintage Planter's peanut and it reminded me that if you do have a cool mascot, we can turn it into custom promotional merchandise. Click to find out more about our overseas sourcing and custom merchandise capabilites. |
Posted by mark at 9:52 AM. Permalink: Retro Promo: Got a Cool Mascot? Make Custom Products. | Comments (0)
December 1, 2005Promotional Products Make Events Memorable
Planning on participating in a conference? I just noticed this on a conference wishlist, along with things like a coherent agenda and knowledgable participants:
"Send me home with a coffee cup, a flash drive, a canvas bag, something that I can put my monkey paws on later and remember the day."
Just a reminder that promotional products can make an event more memorable long after it's over. In all fairness, these aren't necessarily as important as, say, good speakers, but they can help participants remember good speakers.
Posted by mark at 2:39 AM. Permalink: Promotional Products Make Events Memorable | Comments (0)
Planning your next promotion? Find promotional items, corporate gifts and promotional marketing articles at ePromos Promotional Products, Inc.
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