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February 28, 2006Wienerwhistle History: 1989
| Oprah guests weren't the only ones getting makeovers in 1989. The Wienerwhistle got a sassy new look for the first time ever. (Previously on Wienerwhistles: intro, 1952, 1964) |
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Posted by mark at 6:48 AM. Permalink: Wienerwhistle History: 1989 | Comments (0)
February 27, 2006Selling Your Brand to Potential Employees
What does it take to recruit top law school students? According to one NYU law student, more than just an everyday pen. Her favorites were a mini office supply kit or, as she says, "little plastic kits, filled with a miniature stapler, staple remover, and a tiny tape dispenser" and USB drives, which were handy enough to stay on her keychain for months. With the baby boomers edging towards retirement, now is a great time for recruiters to take advantage of opportunities to get their brand out to potential employees.
Also, wouldn't our pocket office be the ultimate survival tool if Jack on Lost was a lawyer or accountant and had to prepare briefs or ledgers in the wilderness with no real office? These situations do happen, on TV.
Posted by mark at 6:50 AM. Permalink: Selling Your Brand to Potential Employees | Comments (0)
February 26, 2006Virtual U2 Promotional Merchandise
| Although I don't actually play video games, I've been reading a lot about them in the past year or so, particularly the large, multi-player games that are like virtual worlds, complete with their own social structures, political processes and economic markets. Ilya Vedrashko is doing a thesis on advertising in games, and posted this image from a free U2 concert that happened this weekend in Second Life (a video game). It would be interesting to know how much virtual promos and promotional merchandise from real companies impact gamer buying preferences once they're back in the real world. |
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Posted by mark at 5:47 PM. Permalink: Virtual U2 Promotional Merchandise | Comments (2)
Low Budget Kinks Promo
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Promotional ashtrays aren't as popular as they used to be, but neither are The Kinks. This one is presumably from 1979, when they released Low Budget. Personally, I'd love a Village Green Preservation Society gardening set. |
Posted by mark at 8:57 AM. Permalink: Low Budget Kinks Promo | Comments (0)
February 25, 2006Meta Promos: "Vintage" Baseball Jersey
| I say "vintage" not because because this promotional baseball jersey has a retro feel to it, but because it features a version of our logo from at least a couple years before I started working here. You can tell because it says epromos.com instead of just ePromos. Oh, those heady dot-com days, so full of promise! |
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Posted by mark at 12:09 PM. Permalink: Meta Promos: "Vintage" Baseball Jersey | Comments (0)
February 24, 2006Nothing to Hide
There are plenty of times when promotional caps are ideal, but in this case I reckon a promotional comb would be more appropriate (and optimistic).
Posted by mark at 5:11 PM. Permalink: Nothing to Hide | Comments (0)
Free Marketing Advice: Listen to Your Fans
There's a saying that if one person asks a question, many others are thinking it. I think the modern equivalent is, if one of your customers is blogging about it, many others are thinking it. For example, here's what some bloggers are saying about video game promos:
- I do appreciate some of the nicer, more subdued pieces of gaming schwag.
- One such developer is Bungie, a company that is currently in the process of auctioning off tons of their gear for the American Red Cross to help support recent hurricane victims.
- Bungie has been at the forefront when it comes to developers selling their wares directly to customers...creating a virtual storefront and selling t-shirts, posters, and various other gear direct to fans.
- I would love to see a greater number of video game art pieces...or attractive developer specific t-shirts, especially for those that are committed to maintaining quality and integrity in the industry.
- You could always send out little charms related to the game in question. Mushroom pencil toppers for the newest Mario game would be classic. So would a back scratcher shaped like Sly Cooper痴 hook. If Microsoft and Bungie worked with Lego to make an official Master Chief minifigure, I think the entire geek population of North America would happily explode.
Companies pay good money to find out how to reach their target audience effectively. Taking the time to scan blogs for free feedback from your biggest fans and evangelists seems like a no-brainer to me.
Posted by mark at 11:57 AM. Permalink: Free Marketing Advice: Listen to Your Fans | Comments (0)
Promo Photography
| Is it art because you hang it on a wall? I have no idea. I do know that one of the easiest ways to make art is to have many, many of something. It works if you're painting soup cans or erecting decorative gates in Central Park. Or get some promotional bottle openers, arrange them on a table and take a photo. Art? For sure. |
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Posted by mark at 7:03 AM. Permalink: Promo Photography | Comments (0)
February 23, 2006Generate Buzz for a New Product Launch
This Leatherman promotional chapstick generated some blogosphere buzz for an upcoming tool that will feature "full on shears." This item was given out at a trade show and I wonder what other new products at the show didn't get mentioned because the blogger didn't have a promo handy to jog his memory. Also, the tiny promotional screwdriver is pretty cool.
Posted by mark at 7:11 AM. Permalink: Generate Buzz for a New Product Launch | Comments (0)
February 22, 2006Package-zines? Labeliterature?
| I'm about the ten millionth blogger to post about the iLove magazine-on-water bottle advertising, which is an interesting idea and takes promotional bottled water to a new level. I am going to point out, though, that my friend Dave runs his grandfather's company, Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap and Dr. B's on-product literature is not only the original, but also, the best. |
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Posted by mark at 1:00 PM. Permalink: Package-zines? Labeliterature? | Comments (2)
Wienerwhistle History: 1964
| In 1964, the Wienerwhistle made a splash at the World's Fair in New York City. A vending machine sold them for two cents, which was worth maybe ten dollars back then. (Previously on Wienerwhistles: intro, 1952) |
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Posted by mark at 6:43 AM. Permalink: Wienerwhistle History: 1964 | Comments (0)
February 21, 2006Target Audience: Bloggers
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If you're reading this, you probably already know that a) a lot of people read blogs and b) a lot of bloggers blog about the promos they receive. Ergo, sending promos to bloggers is a good idea. But don't just take my word for it, take Guy Kawasaki's:
Give schwag. In case you hadn't noticed, most bloggers don't make a lot of money from their blogging efforts. Thus, samples of your product, t-shirts, tickets to the Stanley Cup Finals, etc can go a long way. I'm not saying you can buy bloggers, but you can make them happy pretty easily. Dollar for dollar, schwag for bloggers is one of the best marketing investments. |  |
Posted by mark at 7:50 AM. Permalink: Target Audience: Bloggers | Comments (0)
February 20, 2006Interactive Promos: Leave Some White Space
I was browsing a rather incredible collection of coaster art, and the image below caught my eye because it was the only one that preserved the original advertising. If you know that people love to doodle on coasters and business cards, why not take advantage of that? Leave some white space on your custom coasters, give out some pens, and maybe even set up a gallery where people can submit scans of their coasters.
Posted by mark at 2:45 PM. Permalink: Interactive Promos: Leave Some White Space | Comments (0)
Promo Alert: Free Comic Book Day!
| Here's some news you can actually use: May 6, 2006 is free comic book day, and apparently you can get free comic books at thousands of comic book shops around the country. They're promoting the event with t-shirts, caps and other promotional items, most importantly: free comics. Mark your calendars! |
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Posted by mark at 7:01 AM. Permalink: Promo Alert: Free Comic Book Day! | Comments (0)
February 19, 2006Say It With Buttons: A Show of Support
Behold! Small, round messages from distant times and places for your viewing pleasure. Last summer we got a bunch of vintage promotional buttons at a flea market, so I'll be posting them here in themed collections. What became of Shalit, Bill St. John and those Rowdy Rebels? We may never know, but their spirit lives on in these buttons.
Posted by mark at 10:11 AM. Permalink: Say It With Buttons: A Show of Support | Comments (0)
February 18, 2006Punk Rock Duck
| I don't have a whole lot to say about this, except that it's a punk rock rubber ducky that you can custom imprint with your logo. I guess it's also worth noting that it's one of 37 promotional rubber ducks we have on our site. That's what I call selection! |
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Posted by mark at 10:47 AM. Permalink: Punk Rock Duck | Comments (0)
February 17, 2006Soup with a Side of Promotion
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This is a photo of my lunch after I ate it. There's a new SoupMan franchise near my office, and I have to say, the chowder was pretty good. While I was eating, I found myself reading the reviews and information on how to open my own SoupMan franchise, which was imprinted on the napkin. The custom chocolate also made the price of the soup seem a tad more reasonable.
The bottom line? For the SoupMan, imprinting these items accomplishes several goals. First, it increases brand awareness and differentiates SoupMan from his less famous competition. Second, it shows a higher level of professionalism, which people tend to expect when they're paying a premium for anything. Third, it's an opportunity to promote their franchising business to the people who are most likely to be interested (i.e., people who like the soup). Best of all, it's almost free because they would have had to buy napkins and bowls anyway. |  |
Posted by mark at 7:01 AM. Permalink: Soup with a Side of Promotion | Comments (0)
February 16, 2006Promo News: World Edition February
There's been some pretty important promotional products news rocking the music industry lately. Here's your update:
Albequerque, NM: The band Zagadka was chosen for high school battle of the bands. Adam Abeyta, 17, Matt Garcia, 18, and 17-year-old Jameson Ray make up the band, which means enigma or puzzle in Russian. All are honors students at Grants High School. The band plays a mixture of what Matt Garcia calls experimental/progressive rock with an emphasis on positive messages. The contest is this Saturday, and all attendees will receive free goody bags containing promotional items.
Lethem, Guyana: According to the Starbroek News, the Junior Mash Calypso competition in Region 9 was poorly advertised. The magnitude and impact of this occasion was lost on the community due mainly to poor advertising which resulted in poor knowledge and attendance of the event. The only advertising was a virtually invisible (and poorly designed) banner. There may have been other promotional items but they were probably too inconspicuous to note.
Posted by mark at 5:30 PM. Permalink: Promo News: World Edition February | Comments (0)
Promo No-no: Highlighter Hijinks
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From The Onion, CIA Realizes It's Been Using Black Highlighters All These Years:
"A report released Tuesday by the CIA's Office of the Inspector General revealed that the CIA has mistakenly obscured hundreds of thousands of pages of critical intelligence information with black highlighters." This would never happen to anyone buying promotional highlighters from ePromos. I swear. I would even testify before congress. |  |
Posted by mark at 7:24 AM. Permalink: Promo No-no: Highlighter Hijinks | Comments (0)
February 15, 2006What's Next, the Carabiner iPod?
| Apple can reasonably claim to have the best product design of any company on earth, so it's pretty important that their promos look nice. Here you can see an Apple-branded carabiner stopwatch that was used as a promotional giveaway. I'm sure if Apple put an R&D team on the carabiner stopwatch project, they would have come up with something even sleeker that held 8GB of music, but like any other company, they focus on doing what they do best and trust their promos to promotional product experts. |
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Posted by mark at 6:49 AM. Permalink: What's Next, the Carabiner iPod? | Comments (0)
February 14, 2006Wienerwhistle History: 1952
| The Wienerwhistle was invented in 1952 and was originally given out by hand from the Wientermobile. (Previous Wienerwhistle commentary.) |
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Posted by mark at 4:38 PM. Permalink: Wienerwhistle History: 1952 | Comments (0)
Happy Valentine's Day!
Posted by mark at 8:22 AM. Permalink: Happy Valentine's Day! | Comments (0)
February 13, 2006Mets to Celebrate '86 Champions with Special Promos
This year is the 20th anniversary of the Mets' 1986 World Series Win, and they're celebrating with special promotional giveaways and various other commemorations. I don't know what promotional items they've picked for the giveaways, but I've got a few 1986-style suggestions: swatch-style watches, Jelly Belly candy (Reagan's favorite!) and Rubik's cubes. If they have a special game where all the fans have to dress up in 1986 clothes, I'm there.
Posted by mark at 8:53 AM. Permalink: Mets to Celebrate '86 Champions with Special Promos | Comments (0)
February 12, 2006Promo No-No: Snow Blower
Posted by mark at 12:30 PM. Permalink: Promo No-No: Snow Blower | Comments (0)
February 11, 2006Meta Promos: Wall o' Backpacks
I cleaned up my office, so now I'm not only totally organized, but I also have a wall of self-promo backpacks, mostly drawstring backpacks, that would otherwise be piled in the corner. There's also a cool little tote bag in the lower middle of the shot that's been at ePromos longer than I have. And notice my inbox in the upper right corner: empty, 'cause I'm on top of things.
Posted by mark at 8:17 AM. Permalink: Meta Promos: Wall o' Backpacks | Comments (0)
February 10, 2006Promo Blotter: Burglars Love Free Stuff
From the Lake Country Reporter Police Blotter:
Oconomowoc, Wisconsin - A local company reported that more than $1,800 worth of items was stolen sometime between midnight and 8:20 a.m. Feb. 2.
The entrance door to SECO/Carboloy, a machine tooling company in the Old Theater Mall, 169 E. Wisconsin Ave., #D, was not forced open. The burglar rifled through documents and promotional items. Discovered missing were numerous baseball hats with the company name printed on them and about 300 pens valued at $6 each.
While in your typical robbery-type situation, the burglars sell the stolen goods, in this case I suppose they'll just be giving the stuff away. (Note: I did not make up this story. I didn't even make up the name Oconomowoc.)
Posted by mark at 4:49 PM. Permalink: Promo Blotter: Burglars Love Free Stuff | Comments (0)
Bagvertising Revisited
| Another great custom bag, and this time it's a (jump) rope handled bag. (from Twenty Four via the adverlab) |
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Posted by mark at 1:41 PM. Permalink: Bagvertising Revisited | Comments (0)
How Promotional Is My House?
We were cleaning our apartment this week and I found these fabulous promotional rubber gloves that my girlfriend got at a cable TV event. They were given out to promote the Lifetime show "How Clean Is Your House?" They're not your everyday promotional item, but they are a good example of what you can do if you have the time and the creativity to custom manufacture your promos. Also, that is a cutting board with a logo burned into it in the background.
Posted by mark at 8:42 AM. Permalink: How Promotional Is My House? | Comments (1)
February 9, 2006Web 2.0: Technorati Promos
As someone who was around back when the Web was in beta, I don't necessarily understand this Web 2.0 stuff, but I did think it was interesting that when Technorati sent out their holiday gifts, they chose some pretty traditional items: a wall calendar, and some custom stickers. I think it would have been cool if they gave out flag pens so bloggers could add tags to all the stuff in their apartments.
Posted by mark at 1:12 PM. Permalink: Web 2.0: Technorati Promos | Comments (0)
Meta Promotional Products: Tiny Stuffed Animals
| Promotional products are imprinted items given away as a form of advertising or marketing. As a promotional products company, ePromos uses promotional products as part of our marketing as well. These are what I would call meta promotional products - promotional products that promote promotional products. Pretty deep, eh? So this series is going to feature promos that we've done over the years, and I'm starting with these tiny stuffed animals wearing miniature ePromos t-shirts. They're so cute they don't even know how postmodern they are! |
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Posted by mark at 7:01 AM. Permalink: Meta Promotional Products: Tiny Stuffed Animals | Comments (0)
February 8, 2006Promotional Magnets Case Study: My Fridge
Here's a little case study about how two very different companies used promotional magnets to get on my fridge:
Antonio's Pizzeria: When I called for delivery, they asked me if I had a magnet yet, I said no, so they sent one. They could throw one in with every pizza, but waste not, want not. The graphic design isn't groundbreaking, but when there's nothing to eat in my fridge, I have their number right there.
American Express: What's the point of those fake credit cards they send in direct mail to get you to get a real credit card? Their only possible use is to pretend you have a credit card. Someone at Amex (or their ad agency) had the same question and came up with a better idea, a magnet that looks like an Amex card. It does everything a useless piece of plastic does, and you can use it to stick stuff on your fridge. The only thing that would be better is if they printed my actual credit card info on it so I wouldn't have to go find my wallet while I'm on the phone with Antonio's.
Posted by mark at 3:58 PM. Permalink: Promotional Magnets Case Study: My Fridge | Comments (1)
Community-building Promos
Shaun Dewberry donated to Creative Commons, and received the package of thank you gifts pictured below. Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that offers flexible copyright licenses designed to foster community-based sharing of information. According to Shaun, "Free goodies definitely breed content!" What I liked best about this set of promos is how they selected items (t-shirt, sticker and button) that people use to broadcast their identity, and used them to build a sense of community. For example, the t-shirt says "Creative Commoner" rather than just Creative Commons.
Posted by mark at 7:05 AM. Permalink: Community-building Promos | Comments (0)
February 7, 2006The Best Ever Promotional Product Ever of All-Time, Ever!
| I think the title of this post pretty much sums it up. Sure, we've got safety whistles, but Wienerwhistle is something else entirely. They even have a web page where you can learn to play the secret Little Oscar Song. And a virtual Wienerwhistle, if you don't have a real one. |
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Posted by mark at 2:03 PM. Permalink: The Best Ever Promotional Product Ever of All-Time, Ever! | Comments (0)
Hypercolor Shirts for the New Millenium
Internet-enabled "smart shirts" that can change color and pattern by downloading information from a computer? That's perfect for branding and advertising applications. It's like hypercolor-meets-internet-meets-plasma tv-meets-sandwich board. Check 'em out.
The one catch is, they don't exist yet. While you're waiting, you can check our our 3D Sonic Welded T-shirts, which are pretty cool and already exist.
Posted by mark at 7:04 AM. Permalink: Hypercolor Shirts for the New Millenium | Comments (0)
February 6, 2006Ancient Treasure Map of New York
I was just cleaning out my messenger bag, when I found this. It's a credit card size foldable promotional map of New York City. I got it from Kozmo. What made it interesting to me:
1. I got this map at least 5 years ago. That's before I lived in New York and before I owned the messenger bag I have now.
2. The map shows the Q train running up the West Side in Lower Manhattan. It also shows it being orange. (See inset.)
3. It shows you where all the Kozmo drop-off locations were. Of course, this is of no practical value now.
(Previous Kozmo post)
Posted by mark at 3:42 PM. Permalink: Ancient Treasure Map of New York | Comments (0)
Super Bowl Promos
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How do you win a Super Bowl? I think it has a lot to do with team spirit, expressed through team logo apparel and those foam #1 hands. In the case of the Steelers, though, it's mostly the Terrible Towels:
"Is not an instrument of witchcraft
It is not a hex upon the enemy. THE TOWEL is a positive force that lifts the Steelers to magnificent heights and poses mysterious difficulties for the Steelers opponents only if need be." -Steelers.com online catalog |  |
Posted by mark at 9:58 AM. Permalink: Super Bowl Promos | Comments (0)
Promotional First Aid: Brandages
| Volkswagen has always had great advertising, and their promos are no exception. I think this is the best execution of promotional bandages I've seen. Incidentally, we also have bandaged-shaped promotional magnets, which you could actually use on your VW. They're also great for robots. (via MIT Advertising Lab) |
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Posted by mark at 6:51 AM. Permalink: Promotional First Aid: Brandages | Comments (0)
February 5, 2006I Saw the Future and It's All Coming True
Remember, way back at the end of December, when I predicted USB products would become fun in 2006? Well, if you didn't believe me then, look what we just found in a magazine. Incidentally, your lucky lotto numbers are: 4 8 15 16 23 and 42.
Posted by mark at 10:29 AM. Permalink: I Saw the Future and It's All Coming True | Comments (2)
February 4, 2006Send Me Your Promo News and Ideas
Seen a great promo? Done a great promo? If so, I'd love to hear about it. Send me info (links and photos are especially great) about promos you've done or seen or any other interesting stuff that's related to promotional marketing or custom products. Send email to mark@epromos.com and, if you remember, put Blog Idea in the subject line. Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you!
Posted by mark at 1:49 PM. Permalink: Send Me Your Promo News and Ideas | Comments (0)
Tiny White Stripes Records
The White Stripes have always been good at self-promotion, and this limited edition record player and set of three-inch records is pretty darn awesome. Jack White puts it this way:
"I just wanted you to know that we are keeping all of our campaign promises to our fans. And we will never forget the promise we made that we will always do our best to provide our true fans with items of merchandise that they can get from no other band and cannot get on the internet, and cannot be used for any practical purposes."
And he's right, it's cool and it satisfies the true fans because it is impractical. It exists purely as a signifier of the relationship between artist and fan and would actually suffer if it did have pratical value to people besides fans. And it looks cool. And it plays tiny records. And tiny records are cool.
Posted by mark at 9:47 AM. Permalink: Tiny White Stripes Records | Comments (0)
February 3, 2006If You Want to Be a Giant Daikon
| Seeing this photo of someone dressed up as a giant daikon reminded me that we now sell custom mascot costumes. This means we could, and would, make a giant daikon costume for you, although no one's asked for one. Yet. |
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Posted by mark at 8:55 PM. Permalink: If You Want to Be a Giant Daikon | Comments (0)
Brand's Best Friend, and the Way to His Heart...
Someone once said the way that the way to bring your brand to a man's heart is through his stomach. Or his best friend. Or something. Someone also wondered which was imprinted first, the chicken or the egg. Apparently the egg. But if find your target market a tough nut to crack, go nuts with your logo.
Posted by mark at 8:16 AM. Permalink: Brand's Best Friend, and the Way to His Heart... | Comments (0)
February 2, 2006Double Brand Point
I was riding on the elevator with this gentleman and couldn't help but notice he was wearing a matching Babolat t-shirt/sweatshirt combo. The backstory is that they're promotional items he got when buying tennis raquets, and the double play was unintentional. He put the t-shirt on before realizing that all his other sweatshirts were at the laundromat. I gotta say, the combo is certainly more eye-catching than either garment would be alone.
Posted by mark at 8:13 AM. Permalink: Double Brand Point | Comments (0)
February 1, 2006How to Use Promotional Products in Direct Mail Without Sending the Product
I got this direct mail piece from OnRequest Images, which uses a promotional product to get qualified buyers to fill out and return a survey about their needs. It's a great idea because the value of the item gets users to open the marketing piece, but they only have to send the usb mini-hubs to the folks who respond, reducing their cost (or expanding their reach, depending on how you see it). Here's the recipe:
Ingredients
1 vellum envelope so they can see the picture of the gift before they open the envelope
2 well-designed print creative pieces, divided
1 call to action
1 promotional product that the target audience will want (reserve entire portion until after the first mailing)
Directions
Mix envelope, one creative piece and call to action, then mail. Upon receiving responses, add second creative piece and promotional product, then mail, calling periodically until sales are closed.
Posted by mark at 7:19 AM. Permalink: How to Use Promotional Products in Direct Mail Without Sending the Product | Comments (0)
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