Don't Judge A Laptop by Its Cover
I'm not sure if this laptop sleeve was designed for stealth purposes or just to look flat-out awesome. Most of the laptop bags I've seen have trendy and modern designs, but this "leather book" cover easily stands out. Logo laptop sleeves are becoming a popular employee gift as more workers are required to travel with their computers.
Posted by josh at 8:09 AM. Permalink: Don't Judge A Laptop by Its Cover
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Promotional Calendar: An Apple A Day
I gotta say that I've been really impressed with the promotional calendars we've seen this year. Today I'm adding another to my list of favorites - the "Apple-a-Day" calendar from AOK Insurance. The old "apple a day keeps the doctor away" adage is the theme behind this calendar, which is a long clear tube that holds up to 31 apples. The calendar probably wouldn't work as a direct mail gift, but it does work well as the official calendar in AOK offices around the country.
Posted by josh at 8:28 AM. Permalink: Promotional Calendar: An Apple A Day
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Avatar Merch
Any time you have the birth of a billion dollar movie franchise, you can expect tons of promotional merchandise to follow hot on its heels. This Avatar schwag stash - t-shirts, ski hats, and messenger bags - was recently spotted by our CEO Jason Robbins.
Posted by josh at 12:41 PM. Permalink: Avatar Merch
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PC Load Letter?
| Every now and again a promotion leaves me asking, "How has nobody thought of that before?!" This is a classic case. To encourage companies to switch to their non-jam photocopy paper, Double A had these custom tissue boxes designed to look like jammed copy machines. As you pull tissues out, you're reminded of the soul-crushing frustration of battling a paper jam. Plus, we already know that people love free tissues (in Japan anyway). Bonus points on this one for turning an office essential into fun ad space. |  |
Posted by josh at 8:35 AM. Permalink: PC Load Letter?
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2010 Balloon Calendar
A big thanks to Balloon AA for making an effort to liven up stuffy corporate offices. This balloon company chose a promotional balloon (shocking, I know) to use as their 2010 calendar. Each month is imprinted on a separate balloon, and the package also comes with a red magic marker to circle dates and make notes. The company wanted to remind customers that they were a fun and creative brand - I'd say a balloon on your desk year-round is a pretty solid reminder!
Posted by josh at 10:34 AM. Permalink: 2010 Balloon Calendar
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This One Takes The Cake
| Just when I thought I had seen the coolest promotional calendar of the year, someone had to go ahead and make me eat my words. This 2010 Worldwide Bakery calendar may not be the most practical way to keep track of the date, but it definitely leaves a nice impression. |  |
Posted by josh at 2:54 PM. Permalink: This One Takes The Cake
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A Cut Above The Rest
Promotional calendars are always a hot item around this time of the year, but this is one of the better ones I've seen. To illustrate just how sharp Wusthof knives are, this tear-off calendar features an onion that is sliced thinner and thinner on each day of the year! This is just one of many memorable campaigns that have found new ways to make common promotional items stand out.
Posted by josh at 3:35 PM. Permalink: A Cut Above The Rest
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More Foodvertising
This is how you do stationary for your charcuterie:
And, though times are tough, the Obama brand still has some legs. Obama sushi anyone? It goes great with the Nemo maki.
Posted by mark at 12:16 PM. Permalink: More Foodvertising
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Yahoo! Schwagstravaganza
Yahoo! may be done as a search engine if their deal to have Microsoft provide their search results goes as planned. They may also be sad that their advertising campaign based around Yahoo! being all about "you" is not as popular as the one HTC just started with the exact same theme. Still, they've got some great promos, like this corporate colors gum:
Of course they have baseball caps, what company would go without them:
Emoticon stickers bring instant messaging into real life:
Non-woven totes help them stay noticeable at trade shows:
Oktoberfest steins through the years reflect their longevity:
You gotta have your logo SUV:
And don't forget your keys!
Posted by mark at 9:50 AM. Permalink: Yahoo! Schwagstravaganza
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Flake-vertising
Perhaps there has been widespread counterfeiting of Kellogg's Corn Flakes. After all, how would we even know? Well, now you would know because corn fakes would not be laser etched with the Kellogg's logo. It seems like a crazy idea, but we've actually already done this with nuts, eggs, sausage and bologna. Basically, it was only a matter of time. Imprinting the milk should be tricky, though. (Hat tip to Dave.)
Posted by mark at 11:12 AM. Permalink: Flake-vertising
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A Cue from Guinness
Once again we have a promotional product that approaches perfection in being appropriate for the brand. In this case, we have pool cue tips that are designed to look like frothy pints of Guinness. I find it hard to imagine that anyone could play a game with these and then order anything else.
Posted by mark at 2:20 PM. Permalink: A Cue from Guinness
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The Many Faces of Fruit-vertising
In Hebei, China, a farmer has figured out how to grow pears in a variety of shapes using plastic molds. Right now, he's making pears shaped like baby Buddhas, but he plans to expand to biblical characters and celebrities in the future. Could corporate logos be that far away?
These miraculous fruits may also be an indicator of China's increasing wealth and rising stature on the global stage. After all, oddly-shaped fruits and otherwise altered produce have traditionally been the work of Asia's first economic powerhouse, Japan.
| Meanwhile, Kleenex has made their packaging a little more interesting by coming out with some creative tissue boxes designed to look like slices of watermelon. Very cute, and another thing that has basically been done before in Japan. |  |
Posted by mark at 4:52 PM. Permalink: The Many Faces of Fruit-vertising
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Cassette Business Card
Here's an awesome take on the business card from Mixtape Generation. Clearly, these cassette tape shaped business cards fit in with their brand. Their shape also makes it really easy to find business card holders. As long as cassettes are still around, that is. Of course, by the time cassettes are totally gone, perhaps business cards will be, too.
Posted by mark at 1:17 PM. Permalink: Cassette Business Card
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Cute Product Alert
Here's a cute product that is not in the promotional market yet, but certainly has potential. These German tea bags help you have a relaxing cup of tea with global leaders. The RoyalTea set features various members of England's royal family, while the DemocraTea set features heads of state of various democratic countries. And Vladimir Putin. I guess these probably won't catch on in the United States, but they would be a great way to promote a cricket team or BBC television show.
Posted by mark at 10:49 AM. Permalink: Cute Product Alert
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Beef Jerky Business Cards
| When business cards made out of beef jerky are given out to support survival training school then perhaps we are living in a mad world gone out of control. On the other hand, business cards made out of meat have been around for a while now. |  |
Posted by mark at 6:27 PM. Permalink: Beef Jerky Business Cards
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TIRED OF EATING COLD BEANS FOR LUNCH?
Everyone wants a hot single-serving container of delicious beans for lunch, but how many of us have the time these days? We're chained to our desks! A survey by Heinz found that "69 per cent of office workers find they are so busy at their terminals that they do not have a chance to go out for lunch every day." Did Heinz just say, "I guess that's the way just the way it is in the modern world" and go back to business as usual? Heck no! They hired microwave expert science guys to design the world's smallest portable microwave and make it USB powered.
They named it the Beanzawave.
According to an article in The Daily Mail, "the key breakthrough is the use of a combination of mobile phone radio frequencies to create the heat to cook both on the outside and within in under a minute." Although the item is only a prototype now, the inventors of the device, Heinz and office drones everywhere are hoping that falling production costs will make this dream a reality soon. Stay tuned!
Posted by mark at 10:52 AM. Permalink: TIRED OF EATING COLD BEANS FOR LUNCH?
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Foam Microphones
Foam microphones were featured on the today show to promote the Toyota concert series. In the American Idol era, everyone wants to be a star, and with foam microphones, everyone can be. Mercifully, without amplification.
Posted by mark at 10:04 AM. Permalink: Foam Microphones
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Keep Your Projects on Target
If you're on tight deadlines and you are allowed to fire guns in your office, this is the perfect desktop calendar. In order to promote their precision firearms (think James Bond's gun), they made little desktop calendars out of practice targets, with a bull's eye on every day. I would go out on a limb to say that this is probably a really awesome gift for a sport shooting enthusiast. It would be even better if they had come up with a way to "shoot out" the days without actually, you know, shooting them with a gun. (via Direct Daily)
Posted by mark at 9:46 AM. Permalink: Keep Your Projects on Target
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Magic Salad Plate
Had enough of health fanatics hassling you into eating balanced meals? Tired of those disapproving looks you get when you're at a social event and all you eat are meat pies? Australian pie company Four 'n Twenty has a solution for you: the magic salad plate. Perfect for holding your pie, it has the salad built right into the plate. Perfect for looking at least a little health conscious while making sure no actual vegetables inadvertently touch your food. Apparently, their gambit worked: they sold 25,000 plates in the first two weeks and pie sales went up about 30%. (via Direct Daily)
Posted by mark at 11:53 AM. Permalink: Magic Salad Plate
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Zubbles Are Go!
After years of development, the first colored bubbles are now available from Zubbles. Think of the branding opportunities! Also, just think about how cool it is to have colored bubbles. Around the world there are hopefully thousands of other tinkerers working to make already very cool things even cooler.
Posted by mark at 9:26 AM. Permalink: Zubbles Are Go!
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Travel Beans
| Zuji, which is a Travelocity company, wanted to help people save money so they could go on vacation, which they could book through Zuji. So, they had to come up with a promotion that would increase brand awareness, while also helping potential customers save some cash. With this in mind, they did what any organization in this situation would do: they started manufacturing private label baked beans and selling them for ten cents.
The musical fruit made sweet marketing music, driving up their web site traffic by 38% and getting them featured on 3,550 blogs in Australia (which must be pretty much all of them). Kudos to Zuji for showing many disheartened folks that there was still hope for a vacation through the magic of beans. (via Direct Daily) |  |
Posted by mark at 11:07 AM. Permalink: Travel Beans
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A Pair of Shellphones
| If a Corona can change your latitude, I'm sure shellphones can as well. These were created to promote Club Med as a relaxing vacation getaway. I think they're interesting in that they buck the current trend towards useful promo items. Then again, I guess Club Med itself runs counter to the current trend of being poor and worrying about money. At any rate, it is a striking item that makes its point instantly, an excellent execution of a creative idea that perfectly reinforces a brand message. That said, if they killed molluscs to make these, I'm pissed at them. |  |
Posted by mark at 9:52 AM. Permalink: A Pair of Shellphones
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For My Awesome Idea File
| No one likes to wait around. Right now, if you walk into a shop and need to take a ticket, you probably sigh and maybe just walk back out. But what if the ticket was...candy? Actually, though, why stop there? You could probably make these with hand sanitizer or aspirin. Or little pieces of jerky. I guess candy is probably best after all. |  |
Posted by mark at 3:50 PM. Permalink: For My Awesome Idea File
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Yo-yo Promotes Antacid
This promotional yo-yo was created to market a product that prevents heartburn. It's a pretty cute promo, with the tagline "Don't let food repeat on you." I believe this is an Italian brand, so perhaps something is lost in the translation. Next year, boomerangs perhaps?
Posted by mark at 3:29 PM. Permalink: Yo-yo Promotes Antacid
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Free Range Business Cards
From cool to crap, lego to peanut, we've seen all types of business cards. Now we have meat cards: "MEAT CARDS do not fit in a Rolodex, because their deliciousness CANNOT BE CONTAINED in a Rolodex."
Posted by mark at 4:45 PM. Permalink: Free Range Business Cards
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Loyalty Card for the Sweet Tooth
Here's a clever twist on the loyalty card from The Chocolate Bar: with each purchase you get one of your teeth punched. Once your card has been fully punched, you get a free chocolate. I'm not sure how they prevent fraud, since presumably one could punch their own holes pretty easily, but it is a cute idea. Better than a punch in the teeth.
Posted by mark at 2:58 PM. Permalink: Loyalty Card for the Sweet Tooth
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Henna Sausage
We imprint everything, from soup to nuts. What was promotional first, the chicken or the egg? We may never know. But we have found plenty of ways to make our meat more interesting, like this sausage, decorated with henna.
Posted by mark at 7:04 AM. Permalink: Henna Sausage
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Mini Map of Anything
TripBuilder Mini Maps are an awesome promotional product. They're pocket-sized, useful, easy to ship, carry to and hand out on location at events, and you can customize them to feature anything you want. Why limit yourself to street maps or subway lines, for example, when you can create a map to marketing success? Go crazy!
Posted by mark at 8:46 AM. Permalink: Mini Map of Anything
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Now Even Beefier & Juicier
I post photos of the Wienermobile whenever I find them.
Posted by mark at 12:05 PM. Permalink: Now Even Beefier & Juicier
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Mood Mini Cooper
We've seen mood pencils and mood radios, and some creative Mini Cooper Promotions. Now, we've just found out that Mini is going to start making the Mini Chameleon, the world's first color changing car. The key is a special kind of coating: "Cars treated with FeintPaint comprises tiny magnetic iron oxide particles which can interact with a low grade magnetic field to change the spacing of the particles, and hence its ability to reflect light and change color."
Posted by mark at 10:21 AM. Permalink: Mood Mini Cooper
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Getting a Feel for Breast Cancer
Here's a terrific campaign that puts a creative twist on a familiar product in a way that really drives home a message. Portugal has the highest rate of breast cancer in Europe, so Roche decided to raise awareness about the issue and teach women how to properly perform a self-exam. They had 50,000 custom stress balls made with a hard ball embedded in the foam, simulating a tumor and distributed them along with a pamphlet outlining the proper way to perform a self-exam. Breast cancer awareness promos are nothing new to our industry and we even have stress balls designed specifically for these campaigns. However, as far as I know this is the first time anyone has come up with this simple, elegant twist on the product. (via Direct Daily)
Posted by mark at 10:03 AM. Permalink: Getting a Feel for Breast Cancer
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Coolest Business Cards Ever
Damn, I Wish I'd Thought of That! also brings us news of what are probably the coolest business cards ever. Of course, there has been a lot of competition in that area, from: nut business cards, the karate card, business shards, dog bone card, yoga card, and ch-ch-ch-chia card. I could go on all day, but I won't.
Posted by mark at 11:50 AM. Permalink: Coolest Business Cards Ever
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Creative Promo Pencils
Her'es a really clever implementation of a customized promotional pencil. In this case, the pencils advertise drumming lessons, and the end of the pencil is shaped like the tip of a drumstick.
In another clever twist, a proofreader promotes her skill with a promo pencil that is almost all eraser.
And some promotional mood pencils to promote ThinkSpace:
Posted by mark at 7:21 AM. Permalink: Creative Promo Pencils
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A Business Card Goes to the Dogs
Here's a clever business card for a dog trainer: contact info laser etched into dog biscuits. That's some tasty promotion right there. These were left at the point of sale at local pet stores. We've covered dog-related advertising previously. As well as edible promos. It was only a matter of time before the two came together.
Posted by mark at 7:18 AM. Permalink: A Business Card Goes to the Dogs
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Anti-theft Lunch Bags
Here's an interesting way to customize a sandwich bag: imprint it with mold graphics and presto! no one in their right mind would want to steal your sandwich. I predict it could be useful in offices, schools and even in the home. For more, visit the.
Posted by mark at 10:07 AM. Permalink: Anti-theft Lunch Bags
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Holiday Cheer: VH-1 Hip Hop Top 50 Promo
Here's a promo that would make an absolutely amazing Christmas gift for that b-boy or b-girl on your list. Created to promote VH-1's top 50 hip hop artists of all time, it includes a turntable-shaped radio, a promotional t-shirt, a sampling microphone keychain and a whole lot of classic hip hop cds. Even better, it comes in a custom cardboard box that's printed with breakdancing instructions. Dope. (via Behance Network)
Posted by mark at 2:03 PM. Permalink: Holiday Cheer: VH-1 Hip Hop Top 50 Promo
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Holiday Cheer: Burger King Flame Gift Bag
Here's a nice addition to the previously mentioned contender for best promo of all time ever: a custom gift bag.
Posted by mark at 2:02 PM. Permalink: Holiday Cheer: Burger King Flame Gift Bag
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Holiday Cheer: Burger King Flame Perfume
In a move that instantly challenged the Wienerwhistle for best promotional product of all time ever, Burger King has released a signature perfume, Flame, just in time for the holidays. The perfume's web site does not exactly skimp on ironic sexiness, either. The scent is available now at Ricky's in New York and online for just $3.99. How does it smell? Well, here's how they describe it: "The WHOPPER® sandwich is America's Favorite burger. FLAME™ by BK® captures the essence of that love and gives it to you. Behold the scent of seduction, with a hint of flame broiled meat."
Posted by mark at 1:38 PM. Permalink: Holiday Cheer: Burger King Flame Perfume
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Holiday Cheer: eBay Chocolate
In addition to their custom wrapping paper, eBay (at least in the UK) has also been giving out custom molded chocolate coins this holiday season.
Posted by mark at 12:32 PM. Permalink: Holiday Cheer: eBay Chocolate
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IKEA Promotional Puzzle Cube
There are several reasons why an IKEA promotional puzzle cube is not particularly surprising. First, Rubiks sounds exactly like a name IKEA would use as a cabinet. Second, assembling IKEA furniture has many shared qualities with trying to solve a Rubik's cube. Third, as a promotional product for their Besta modular storage system it is perfect. While each side of the cube shows one style of cabinet, the units can be combined in any combination, much like the scrambled cube that you have no hope of solving. (via Direct Daily)
Posted by mark at 10:52 AM. Permalink: IKEA Promotional Puzzle Cube
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Grace Jones in Chocolate
Grace Jones has pulled out all the stops to promote her new album, Hurricane. Particularly in the chocolate department. To create the artwork for her new album, the Tom Hingston Studio created custom molded chocolates of 16 different body parts. More information and images at the Creative Review Blog.
Posted by mark at 5:33 PM. Permalink: Grace Jones in Chocolate
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One More Doughnut for the Road
2007 was in many ways, the year of The Simpsons and their movie. Which also made it the year of the doughut. Here we feature the special limited edition soundtrack to The Simpsons Movie packaged in a limited edition doughnut case. (via The Dieline)
As an added bonus, here are instructions for how to make a Simpsons doughut trophy.
Posted by mark at 10:52 AM. Permalink: One More Doughnut for the Road
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Eco-button Makes the New York Times
| The Eco-button was just cited as a top gadget by the New York Times. Essentially, it's a button that plugs into your computer and you press it to go into super-energy-saving sleep mode. It's both high-tech and eco-friendly, and when you get them customized with your logo, they're about half off the retail price. |  |
Posted by mark at 2:59 PM. Permalink: Eco-button Makes the New York Times
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Credit Crunch
The official promotional candy snack of the financial crisis. It melts down in your market!
Posted by mark at 1:53 PM. Permalink: Credit Crunch
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Gift Cards as Gifts
Gift cards are a popular way to give a gift when you're not sure exactly what someone will want. They're also a great way for stores to boost business - it's kind of like the ultimate referral. In order to make them more gifty, gift cards are often packaged in a special box, bag or envelope.
But what if someone took gift cards one step further, and made them actually also gifts? As it turns out, a couple major retailers have done just that this year. Target has a gift card that is also a 1.2 megapixel camera, and Best Buy has a gift card that is also a functioning speaker you can plug into your iPod. Rumor has it that Circuit City may be producing gift cards made out of the empty retail space from all the stores they are about to close.
Seriously, though, if you have a business who uses gift cards or certificates, why not make them more compelling by using an actual product? A customized wine opener, would make a perfect gift card for a wine shop or a pocket-sized aromatherapy stick as a gift card for a spa. Any pocket-sized item that relates to your business would make a better gift card than, well, a gift card. Plus, since there are so many items that are relatively inexpensive compared to the value of the gift card, even a small boost in sales will more than cover the cost. Chances are, having something way more interesting than a gift card at your point of purchase will boost gift card sales considerably. (via The Adverlab)
Posted by mark at 10:22 AM. Permalink: Gift Cards as Gifts
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Banana Juice Box
This banana juice box is a remarkable piece of packaging.
Posted by mark at 1:56 PM. Permalink: Banana Juice Box
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Musical Soup
| Necessity is the mother of invention, and soup is good food. While the music industry battles declining sales, Max Tundra has come up with a surprising way to promote downloads of his new album: soup. He's made 250 cans of kosher chicken soup, which are available through his record label's website. Soup orderers also get a free digital download of his new album. It is perhaps the perfect promotion for these troubled times. |  |
Posted by mark at 12:30 PM. Permalink: Musical Soup
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Google Apple
| In other strange and edible logo foods, we have a laser engraved apple from the lunchroom of Google's Zurich office on the day it opened. It reminds me a little of the laser engraved nuts from Japan we featured earlier. I actually just refer to them as laser nuts. |  |
Posted by mark at 5:10 PM. Permalink: Google Apple
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Ghostbusters...Now on USB
| So, the first film to be released on USB drive is Ghostbusters. We've seen albums released on USB before, so why not a movie? It is perhaps a bit odd that it is a Sony movie, considering they developed Blu-ray disc technology. The movie is protected by DRM, so while you can copy the movie to your computer and then delete it from the USB drive, you do need to have the USB drive plugged in to watch the movie. But will it catch on, as movie studios try to avoid the same fate as the record industry? My guess is probably not, or we'll all own a lot of USB drives. |  |
Posted by mark at 9:34 AM. Permalink: Ghostbusters...Now on USB
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More Monster Promotion
Here are a couple more really cool Monster.com promotions which play on the idea of being the right fit for the job. It's not the first time we've seen foosball-based promotions or toy-soldier promotions. The tagline, "Stuck in the wrong job?" pretty much says it all.
Posted by mark at 5:23 PM. Permalink: More Monster Promotion
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World's Best Mug
Monster.com has a new online ad campaign featuring a new twist on the classic "World's Best..." mug. The mug itself works because the World's Best Boss and Worlds Best Grandpa love getting reminded how great they are every day with their morning coffee, (even if Michael Scott had to buy his own). Monster.com may want to take it a step further and actually produce the mugs, like another career placement agency we know.
Posted by mark at 9:00 AM. Permalink: World's Best Mug
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Wii Love Promos
Everyone loves the Nintendo Wii. In fact, it just became the top selling game console, beating out the Playstation 3 and XBox 360. In some ways, the rise of the Wii is pretty amazing. Rather than compete to have the most cutting edge hardware and graphics, Nintendo did something new and focused on fun. They also kept their price lower than the competition even when they were selling out of consoles. I suppose someone who couldn't get their hands on one could get some console-ation from getting a free Wii hat like this:
The Wii Fit, an add-on for fitness-related games, actually came with a free tote bag and towel:
Need more Wii? Check out this Wii guitar t-shirt, another Wii t-shirt and the very popular Wiichain!
Posted by mark at 4:28 PM. Permalink: Wii Love Promos
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Tech That: Microsoft Stuff
In a series of posts compiling tech company promotional products, I guess I can't skip Microsoft. Via Schwag Addict, here are a ton of Microsoft giveaways, from a promo bag, to pens, USB flash drives, mints, a carabiner and more. If I were a Microsoft fan, that would be all I need. Oh, and this paddle ball game. And that's all I need.
Oh, well, maybe also this Ogio backpack cobranded with Intel:
And this special computer mouse:
And that's all I need. Oh, and the chair...
Posted by mark at 11:39 AM. Permalink: Tech That: Microsoft Stuff
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Tech That: Button Bonanza
Promotional buttons: not just for presidential candidates anymore. Of course, they never really were. They are however, the original, inexpensive way to make a highly visible statement on your person. Of course, now we have temporary tattoos and silicone wristbands, but buttons are still a great way to get the message out. Here are some for Creative Commons, paired with the original, inexpensive way to make a highly visible statement on an object: stickers!
Another good thing about buttons is that you can get a lot of them, and they're relatively compact:
Also important, you can have animals printed on them:
And you can get them in lots and lots of colors:
You can also make different versions for different recipients:
Buttons go great with t-shirts and hats:
And if you're a schwag addict, you can collect them and eventually post them on your blog:
Can't get enough buttons? In addition to tech-related buttons, we've got election buttons, "I'm A.." buttons, surf buttons, teen buttons, fan buttons, and Apple buttons.
Posted by mark at 1:29 PM. Permalink: Tech That: Button Bonanza
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Tech That: Paypal
Here's a great trio of PayPal promos, via Schwag Addict. Over the last couple years, PayPal's parent company eBay has been trying to find a way to satisfy both the mom and pop sellers that made it popular to begin with, as well as larger companies who increasingly make up more of eBay's auctions. Perhaps a little bit of PayPal schwag would help smooth things over with the smaller sellers who feel eBay is giving the bigger players an advantage.
Posted by mark at 1:14 PM. Permalink: Tech That: Paypal
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Tech That: Apple Promos
| With mere hours to go before the iPhone launch, I figure why not feature some Apple promos. In the past we've featured Apple apparel, Apple lunchbox, Apple carabiner watch and, vying for oddest: Apple nails and Apple crochet. In a bit of a twist, here's a BP branded iPod Shuffle. |  |
We've also got the very strange Apple monster:
Apple keychain:
Apple pen set:
Apple notebook:
Apple pen and lanyard:
Apple keylight keychain:
And some vintage Apple stickers:
Posted by mark at 5:53 PM. Permalink: Tech That: Apple Promos
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Tech That: Media Temple Goodies
In an age when web site hosting is largely seen as a commodity, Media Temple manages to have a dedicated following of happy customers. And while their competitors may be focused on offering rock bottom pricing, Media Temple is able to charge a little more for value. This also allows them to spring for promos, which in turn drive awareness, which gets them more customers to satisfy. Even their name signifies that they care about what they are hosting!
Posted by mark at 6:34 PM. Permalink: Tech That: Media Temple Goodies
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Tech That: Modern Domainer Keychain Bottle Opener
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that perhaps the times when you need a bottle opener and the times when you think of a great domain name that you just have to register have a tendency to coincide.
Posted by mark at 6:31 PM. Permalink: Tech That: Modern Domainer Keychain Bottle Opener
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Tech That: Hacker Safe Etched Wine Bottles
Here's a great customer gift. Hacker Safe, a service that verifies your ecommerce web site is, well, safe from hackers, gave out these custom etched wine bottles. Since the Hacker Safe business model is an annual subscription to their service, this makes a lot of sense as a corporate gift. They can give them as an anniversary gift, which happens to coincide with when the contract needs to be renewed. If things are running smoothly during the year, clients probably don't have the service on their mind, and there's nothing like a beautiful gift to remind them.
Posted by mark at 6:24 PM. Permalink: Tech That: Hacker Safe Etched Wine Bottles
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Tech That: Triple reddit T-shirts
Here's a nice example of having some flexibility with a logo, while retaining a relatively consistent image. The reddit logo can be used on different colored shirts, and even transformed from a simple, one-color line brush stroke drawing to a slicker, multicolor version without losing continuity. Of course, it helps to have a really distinctive mascot-logo. In fact, so distinctive the shirts probably don't even need the reddit name on them.
Posted by mark at 6:15 PM. Permalink: Tech That: Triple reddit T-shirts
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Unique Recycled Bag Promotion
Tom Szaky from TerraCycle reports on a unique promotion done by Newsweek, Target & Terracycle. Basically, the cover of a Newsweek issue was designed to convert into a postage-paid mailer and readers could fill it with plastic bags and send them to TerraCycle, who made them into reusable bags (plastic bag bags, to be precise). With more and more retailers and governments doing something about the volume of plastic bags we use, it's nice to get a reusable shopping bag which is also a recycled tote bag.
Posted by mark at 7:08 AM. Permalink: Unique Recycled Bag Promotion
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Tea That Says Adventure
The House Cafe in Istanbul wanted to promote the healthiness of tea, so they customized the little tag thingies to be people doing adventurous stuff like rock climbing. The effect is really cool, but to me it says cool tea bag tag more than "tea is healthy." (via Direct Daily)
Posted by mark at 3:48 PM. Permalink: Tea That Says Adventure
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Latest Flickr Promos: Mini Stickers
| Really cute mini-stickers are the latest in a long line of cool promos from online photo-sharing service Flickr. Past items include: beach balls (designed to be thrown at peoples' faces), lens cleaners, big stickers, buttons and more. |  |
Posted by mark at 10:36 AM. Permalink: Latest Flickr Promos: Mini Stickers
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Blob Head Door Stop Promotes Headache Drug
Here's a recipe for a cool promotion. Start with one Uglydoll-ish, blob head doorstop, then give it to doctor's offices to promote your headache medicine! Simple and fun, yet effective as well.
Posted by mark at 3:56 PM. Permalink: Blob Head Door Stop Promotes Headache Drug
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Wii Guitar Shirt
If the Wii Guitar Hero guitar controller is sold out, perhaps you can at least get the shirt. Wii promos are definitely a huge hit, from Wii t-shirts to Wii-themed Nintendo recruiting promos.
Posted by mark at 3:27 PM. Permalink: Wii Guitar Shirt
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Bagvertising: Hot Bags & Bag News
| Bags: you pretty much can't live without 'em. But you can stop stores from giving them out for free, which is what China is doing, effective June 1st. Following the footsteps of Ireland, China is banning shops from handing out free plastic bags, which are a major source of plastic pollution in the country. In the US we haven't banned disposable bags, but at least we have celebrities promoting alternatives. Below, there's an amazing wooden bag created for Booji Tea House & Spa, which while probably not practical as an everyday tote, is quite amazing. |  |
Posted by mark at 10:15 AM. Permalink: Bagvertising: Hot Bags & Bag News
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Making Promos that Match
| I just wanted to highlight this photo of a promotional notebook and promotional paper clips done for Google, because they looks go great together. Google has a somewhat challenging logo to begin with. Although it's simple, it has five colors, which means to match items you need to find ones that can be printed in five colors (or full-color). Beyond that, it's important to find items that look good together and make sure and make sure your logo size is proportionate both to the items and to the other items. One hint: if you're doing multiple items of similar size, make all the logos the same size, even if it could be a little bigger on one of the items. |  |
Posted by mark at 10:09 AM. Permalink: Making Promos that Match
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Sausage Calendar
If there's one thing I really like, it's a pork-based promotional product. From the hamerang to the porknament, nothing says good taste in promos like pig. So it is with great pleasure that I bring you this delicious sausage calendar, a delightful yuletide promotion from German meat and sausage producer Koenecke. It differs from a normal promotional calendar in many ways. For starters, it's made out of sausage, and most calendars are not. Also, the sausage wrapper is marked with 24 lines so you can slice off a little bit each day in December until Christmas...if you have the patience. (via Direct Daily)
Posted by mark at 5:13 PM. Permalink: Sausage Calendar
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Fancy Schmancy Apple Calculator
| What kind of promos do you do when you're selling some of the best designed products in the world? Well, they'd better be pretty cool and at least somewhat stylish. It's also best if they match your current design aesthetic fairly closely, like these Apple lunch boxes. This Apple promotional calculator does a pretty good job. It's also delightfully thin, as you can see below. |  |
Posted by mark at 6:11 PM. Permalink: Fancy Schmancy Apple Calculator
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Branding Blocks
What better promo for an architecture firm than LEGO-style building blocks? (Well, chia card for landscape architects, but that's a different story.) Anyhow, the building block as architecture promo does a couple things. Obviously, it conjures up the idea of construction or building, which is relevant to any architect. Perhaps slightly less obviously it evokes the idea of creativity, which is probably something that most architects want to evoke. Lastly, it conveys a sense of fun and whimsy, which is great if that's what your firm is all about, but is probably the least universal of the three feelings.
Posted by mark at 4:21 PM. Permalink: Branding Blocks
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Soapvertising
Google has done tons of cool promos in the past, but this one is pretty unique. Soapvertising comes in many forms, such as putting lots and lots of stuff on your soap label, but this Russian promotion for Gmail was targeted at students and used actual soap to promote their advanced spam protection. Part of the concept was that the spam filtering "cleans" the email, but also, the Russian words for soap and email also sound the same.
Posted by mark at 12:22 PM. Permalink: Soapvertising
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Bear Market: Zagat Guide
| Customizing a Zagat guide with your logo is a great idea that is probably underrepresented outside our financial clients. This is a particularly great product if you're based in a city that has a guide and your are visited regularly by clients or business partners from other places. If that isn't true for your company, there are also some great national guides to restaurants, hotels, golf courses and more. And I just did a whole post without poking fun at Bear Stearns. |  |
Posted by mark at 9:56 AM. Permalink: Bear Market: Zagat Guide
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Aquent Beach Ball
Here's a cute promo done by Aquent, a custom beach ball to promote their pool of talent. Very clever guys! I actually used to work for them. I can also say that one thing they used to do and probably still do, is purchase promos centrally to ensure they meet brand guidelines. I think this was important as they were going from a niche staffing agency to an international company that's probably the largest of its type in the world.
Posted by mark at 6:40 AM. Permalink: Aquent Beach Ball
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Blogger Gloves from SXSW
| South by Southwest used to be a big music conference, but now it's so big (and what with the Internet and all) they also have an interactive conference there. These promotional gloves from Blogger, the blogging software owned by Google, were one of the giveaways there. What's so cool about these gloves? Well, they're fingerless gloves, so you can blog even when it's really cold. |  |
Posted by mark at 9:12 AM. Permalink: Blogger Gloves from SXSW
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Clever Custom Plate Gives Credits
Here's an attention getting customized plate that credits the chef and others responsible for the dining experience at a restaurant. And I guess if the food is too bad to finish, you don't know who to blame.
Posted by mark at 8:30 PM. Permalink: Clever Custom Plate Gives Credits
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Callaway Promotes Hot New Driver with Scorched Tees
Here's a beautiful promotion done by Callaway to promote their latest drivers. Sure, giving out customized golf tees is about the oldest move in the book. Giving out burnt golf tees to make a point about just how powerful your new clubs are? That's brand new and sure to get noticed.
Posted by mark at 12:20 PM. Permalink: Callaway Promotes Hot New Driver with Scorched Tees
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Onion Swagology: Kung Fu Panda Punching Bag
From The Onion:
Item: Punching bag
Promoting: Dreamworks' upcoming CGI film Kung Fu Panda
Relevance to product promoted: Presumably high. A punching bag no doubt figures prominently in a training montage or two. Like Bee Movie, the Jack Black-as-incongruous-animal-martial-artist laugher Kung Fu Panda has accomplished the formidable feat of being ridiculously overexposed months before its actual release.
Item quality: ? Who the hell knows? It would be hard to imagine a more unwieldy or time-intensive piece of promotional crap. The 10-step inflation-instruction manual makes the process sound more time- and labor-intensive than planning D-Day. Don't even think about blowing this thing up the old-fashioned way: "Inflate by small hand pump or electric inflater," the instructions prissily demand. Fuck, when is Dreamworks finally going to send us a promotional hand pump or electric inflater? It'd be the perfect tie-in for their upcoming slate of CGI cartoons about the madcap adventures of a group of anthropomorphic hand pumps and electric inflaters.
Posted by mark at 3:00 PM. Permalink: Onion Swagology: Kung Fu Panda Punching Bag
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Onion Swagology: Man of the Year Wigs Out
The Onion reviews:
Item: A George Washington wig
Promoting: The DVD release of the terrible Robin Williams film Man Of The Year
Relevance to product promoted: Justifiable. Williams dons such a wig in the film as a publicity stunt, and a picture of him in the wig, looking something like a poorly made rubber Robin Williams mask Photoshopped with comedy hair, served as the film's poster. There's even an bewigged image of him glued to the wig box, just to make things clear, in case people have already forgotten the poster image the way they've thankfully forgotten the movie.
Item quality: 2. It's a reasonably well-made wig that showed up wrapped in and stuffed with red tissue paper, to keep it smooth; the sausage curls on the side are small enough not to be easily noticed, but the big blue "MAN OF THE YEAR ON DVD"-emblazoned ribbon fastening the ponytail is likely to get all the attention anyway. If we at the A.V. Club normally wore ridiculous wigs for no reason when we were sitting around the office, we might wear this.
Posted by mark at 3:33 PM. Permalink: Onion Swagology: Man of the Year Wigs Out
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Onion Swagology: The Talkin' Optimus Prime Blues
From my favorite swagologists:
Item: Talking Optimus Prime Action Figure
Promoting: Transformers
Relevance to product promoted: Huh, let's see, a Transformers movie and a giant, expensive toy of a robot that changes into some sort of automobile? Call us dense, but we really aren't seeing a meaningful connection between the two.
Item quality: 5. According to its box, the figure's "Advanced Automorph Technology Triggers Electronic Lights And Sounds." So, you know, it's got that going for it. Additionally, it's got all the strengths of the Transformers movie (a neato robot-truck dude, weird noises, shiny lights) with none of its weaknesses (incoherent editing, labored scatological humor, a bloated running time, etc. etc. unto infinity).
Posted by mark at 3:10 PM. Permalink: Onion Swagology: The Talkin' Optimus Prime Blues
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Bagvertising Unlimited: Necklace Upsell
Here's the perfect way to your clothing customers on some jewelry. Perhaps the bag can't make the sale, but it's sure to get them thinking. Another great execution of a handle doing double duty.
Posted by mark at 11:50 AM. Permalink: Bagvertising Unlimited: Necklace Upsell
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Bagvertising Unlimited: Hair Carry
The execution on these haircare product bags is phenomenal. They take your normal shopping gift bag and turn it on its head with braided "hair" handles. Extra points for doing bags in different hair colors.
Posted by mark at 10:50 AM. Permalink: Bagvertising Unlimited: Hair Carry
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Bagvertising Unlimited: Romantic Bag
| This one's a real HAND bag, he he he. I'm not sure what the original purpose was, but the bag makes it look like you're holding hands. With your bag. |  |
Posted by mark at 10:47 AM. Permalink: Bagvertising Unlimited: Romantic Bag
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Bagvertising Unlimited: Heavy Lifting
| Bagvertising is something that we've featured a lot in the past, but there's so much bag-related creativity out there I can't help but do a quick series of posts on some great bagvertising we've haven't had a chance to feature yet. This example is a custom die-cut bag as a dumbell to promote a gym. Previous bagvertising favorites include: six-pack bag, blood donation bag, helping hand bag, headache bag and the jump rope bag. |  |
Posted by mark at 10:26 AM. Permalink: Bagvertising Unlimited: Heavy Lifting
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Yellow Tail Tattoo in the New Yorker
| Here's a promo that seems a little strange at first, but has some sense to it. Yellow Tail, which seems to be doing a pretty good job becoming the hot brand for inexpensive wine amongst young urban folk, put a promotional temporary tatoo in the New Yorker. Basically, it positions them as the hip, edgy brand in a product category that is seen as stuffy and snobby, and advertising in the New Yorker gets the attention of the kind of hip urban young adults who also drink wine. |  |
Posted by mark at 6:58 AM. Permalink: Yellow Tail Tattoo in the New Yorker
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Duracell Screwdriver Promo with Purchase
| Here's a perfect promo with purchase that came in a pack of Duracell batteries I picked up at Toys R Us. Since battery-powered toys generally have screw-shut battery compartments for safety, this little battery-shaped promotional screwdriver comes in mighty handy. |  |
Posted by mark at 4:55 PM. Permalink: Duracell Screwdriver Promo with Purchase
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The Perfect Match?
Here's an example of great execution of a classic product. Promotional matches aren't new. In fact, as we enter the era of widespread bans on indoor smoking, they are a bit anachronistic. That doesn't mean that they aren't useful, or that they aren't an effective promotional tool. Especially when they look awesome like these!
Posted by mark at 7:06 AM. Permalink: The Perfect Match?
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Promotional Sock Monkey
| It is hard not to love any type of promotional monkey, but the sock monkey is always a special favorite. |  |
Posted by mark at 4:19 PM. Permalink: Promotional Sock Monkey
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Best of 2007: Awesomest Calendar
We've seen some pretty cool calendars this year, but this custom calendar produced for DHL is the awesomest. To emphasize the world-wide reach of DHL, each time a month was turned, the calendar transformed into a new national flag. This was accomplished by dividing the calendar into three independently-flippable vertical sections, each containing one month, allowing for a wide assortment of flagalicious combinations.
Posted by mark at 11:28 AM. Permalink: Best of 2007: Awesomest Calendar
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Google Gift 2007: A Little Video (Camera) for Everyone
We've featured previous Google Christmas gifts on the blog and now, thanks to Shimon Sandler, we've got some footage of this year's gift, a Flip Video Camera featuring the Google logo. For one thing, it's a great way to get more content on YouTube. After all, they did spend $1.65 Billion to acquire it. For your reference, previous gifts included: a digital photo frame, a USB travel kit and a color-changing mood radio.
Posted by mark at 3:56 PM. Permalink: Google Gift 2007: A Little Video (Camera) for Everyone
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Choco Promos: Chocolate Jeep
Yummiest of all is chocolate-covered Jeep. In the Sweetest Day the Jeep Way promotion, contestants first had to write an essay (not fun), then those selected had to lick through the grills of these chocolate-covered jeeps (fun), then the lucky finalists had to find the keys in a jeep filled with 45,000 pieces of chocolate (kinda fun?). As you can see from the photo below, I am not making this up.
Posted by mark at 12:08 PM. Permalink: Choco Promos: Chocolate Jeep
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Choco Promos: Google Fountain
| You know what? Chocolate Google fountain is also pretty awesome in my book. |  |
Posted by mark at 12:06 PM. Permalink: Choco Promos: Google Fountain
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Choco Promos: Chocolate Google
Nothing says class like fine custom chocolates in an imprinted box made out of delicious chocolate. Google, you've really outdone yourself this time. (via Search Engine Land)
Posted by mark at 6:56 AM. Permalink: Choco Promos: Chocolate Google
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Choco Promos: Chocolate Keyboard
Pretty much any thing is better in chocolate form. This goes for promotional chocolates and computer keyboards. Therefore, it must also be true for promotional computer keyboards. Qwertylicious!
Posted by mark at 6:50 AM. Permalink: Choco Promos: Chocolate Keyboard
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A Simple Promo with the Power to Save Lives
| Promotional refrigerator magnets are a simple, inexpensive giveaway that is associated with pizza delivery more than heart surgery, but that may change. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal showcased a little magnet that made a big difference in the lives of heart attack victims. In this case, the magnet simply had a checklist of heart failure symptoms and a place to put the name and phone number of the patient's doctor. |  |
Posted by mark at 5:18 PM. Permalink: A Simple Promo with the Power to Save Lives
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Morph Ball Animation
You kind of have to see the Morph Ball in person to appreciate its coolness. However, this animation does help convey its near-magical properties. Basically, when thrown in the air, it turns itself inside out, thus reversing its color from black to white with each toss. While I am not a scientist, I have surmised that this has something to do with aerodynamics, and perhaps even space age engineering. The perfect product if you're looking to both promote and blow minds!
Posted by mark at 2:41 PM. Permalink: Morph Ball Animation
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Evian Bottle Blurs Line Between Packaging and Promotion
As popular opinion turns against bottled water for environmental reasons, Evian has introduced a new, ultra-fancy bottle for the fancy restaurant market. It's an interesting approach, and the bottle itself looks pretty cool, especially the cut-glass base. Still, it's perhaps to crazy to have all that design for something that, in this country, is free: good drinking water.
Posted by mark at 4:00 PM. Permalink: Evian Bottle Blurs Line Between Packaging and Promotion
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Best Use of Promotional Chopsticks...
this year's award for best use of promotional chopsticks goes to Planet Drum. To paraphrase the old adage, when you've got a pair of drumsticks in your hands, everything looks like a drum.
Posted by mark at 6:43 AM. Permalink: Best Use of Promotional Chopsticks...
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Napkin Notebook: Now Why Didn't I Think of That?
The perfect gift for anyone organized enough to carry around a notebook, but still likes writing their most important ideas on the back of a napkin. Also perfect for the A&R man who needs to hastily draw up recording contracts any time, anywhere. This item was actually created by an ad agency and will be available at the MoMA store soon. It achieves what promotional notebooks and promotional napkins can't do by themselves.(via Direct Daily)
Posted by mark at 10:36 AM. Permalink: Napkin Notebook: Now Why Didn't I Think of That?
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Aveda Brush Makes Perfect Gift with Purchase
My friend got this imprinted hairbrush when purchasing Aveda products. Now, the thing about a gift with purchase for a high-end personal care product company is that it better be nice. Luckily, Aveda knows how to take care of their brand: we actually spotted the same brush in a magazine feature on top brushes. Also, the wooden brush and recycled cardboard box fits nicely with Aveda's commitment to the environment.
Posted by mark at 7:11 AM. Permalink: Aveda Brush Makes Perfect Gift with Purchase
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Optical Illusion for Hearing Aid Packaging
Here's some pretty amazing packaging for a digital hearing aid. Using patterns on the box and the transparent sleeve, the packaging emulates a moving sound wave as it is being opened or closed. Pretty darn awesome, see it in action below. (via The Adverlab)
Posted by mark at 10:05 AM. Permalink: Optical Illusion for Hearing Aid Packaging
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Udderly Fresh Cream Cups
| Here's an udderly unique way of stressing the freshness of these single serving coffee creams. And really, as crazy as it seems, I think it's a great idea, since these little containers always create doubt about not only the freshness of the cream within, but whether the contents are anything remotely resembling actual cream at all. Besides, it could be crazier than printing a cow on a cream capsule, someone could actually be printing on the cow itself. |  |
Posted by mark at 5:55 PM. Permalink: Udderly Fresh Cream Cups
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Promotional Detergent? Not Exactly
Here's an interesting promotion done by a Turkish advertising agency, R2D2. They used a detergent theme, including a "stained" promotional t-shirt to convey their strengths. Their powerful advertising detergent cleans up everything from cheap designs and wasted budget to a lack of strategy and an inability to reach the target audience. (via Direct Daily)
Posted by mark at 6:36 AM. Permalink: Promotional Detergent? Not Exactly
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Custom Doll Face-off: Ghostface vs. Cowgirl
Only 56 shopping days until Christmas and it looks like we're in for a serious showdown when it comes to this year's favorite custom doll. On the one hand, we have the long-awaited Ghostface Killah doll bringing some Wu-tang Clan cheer to the holidays. On the other, we have the new Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader Barbie. The cheerleader Barbie was done in collaboration between the Cowboys and Mattel to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Dallas Cowboys cheerleader costume (seriously). The Ghostface doll? Fans have been waiting almost two years for it, but with a new Wu-tang album out soon, it's right on time. Perhaps you could use a totally custom doll of yourself or a friend. Or super recruiter.
Posted by mark at 2:57 PM. Permalink: Custom Doll Face-off: Ghostface vs. Cowgirl
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Lowes Coasters Are a Home Improvement
Here's a perfect example of a well-done promo. These promotional coasters were done for Lowe's, a national home improvement chain. They're practical and fun, and more importantly they reinforce the Lowe's brand in several ways. The natural wood grain, evoking lumber and carpentry is an obvious reminder of what Lowe's stands for, and the fact that they fit together and can be used to build things also promotes this brand identity. (via Direct Daily)
Posted by mark at 7:13 AM. Permalink: Lowes Coasters Are a Home Improvement
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More Mac T-shirt Goodness
Here's a t-shirt celebrating the operating system of the future while paying homage to a blast from the past.
Posted by mark at 7:25 AM. Permalink: More Mac T-shirt Goodness
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LinkedIn Promos
It's kind of like Friendster for grown-ups, and like any good Web 2.0 company, LinkedIn has it's own promo products. I believe the shiny button thing is a promotional lapel pin, but it would be cooler if it were a cuff link.
Posted by mark at 7:09 AM. Permalink: LinkedIn Promos
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Leopard Launch Means New Apple T-shirts
| The leopard has landed! The latest version of Apple's Mac operating system was released on Friday, along with a bunch of new apple t-shirts to celebrate the event. This is the official shirt, worn by employees and given out by Apple at their stores. Hopefully if you're an Apple fan you got your shirts. If not, don't say we didn't tell you. The question remains: Will the Leopard shirt someday look as dated as this Apple shirt? |  |
Posted by mark at 11:18 AM. Permalink: Leopard Launch Means New Apple T-shirts
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Mini Car Kit Makes for Fun Promotion
Here's a great promotion and a great example of how much you can do when custom manufacturing overseas. What I really like about this particular promo is that it really conveys two important messages very well. The first, which is pretty obvious is the idea that the Mini is small. The second, which is probably more important and less obvious, is that the Mini is fun to drive. This kit is a cute - and compelling - way to convey that message. Previously, we've also featured the exact opposite juxtaposition of real car and toy car. (via Direct Daily)
Posted by mark at 5:39 PM. Permalink: Mini Car Kit Makes for Fun Promotion
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Hair Shirt Simulates Long Locks
Here's a fabulous use of a promotional t-shirt, simulating the long locks that H4H hair products can give you. The concept reminds me of the old Nike t-shirt that made you look like you had a pair of Air Jordan's slung over your shoulder, or this more goulish variant on the same concept. (via Ads of the World)
Posted by mark at 6:42 AM. Permalink: Hair Shirt Simulates Long Locks
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Rockstar Straightjacket
| Promotional jackets? Sure, we see them all the time. Here's a promo you certainly don't see every day: a promotional straightjacket. This was done by Rockstar Games to promote the release of their game Manhunt 2. More sinister than a Pita, but just as creative! (via Kotaku) |  |
Posted by mark at 9:12 AM. Permalink: Rockstar Straightjacket
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IFC Murder Magnet
| The Independent Film Channel used this promotional refrigerator magnet to promote its new web series, "Getting away with Murder." As the first ever web series on IFC.com, they're promoting it with both virtual (screensavers, buddy icons) and physical (magnets, iron-ons) promotional items. It goes to show, even an online venture can use an offline boost. |  |
Posted by mark at 1:38 PM. Permalink: IFC Murder Magnet
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Chili Club Lighter Makes Hot Promo
| Here's another entry into the "making good use of the innate properties of the item" promo category. How hot is the grub at the Chili Club? It's on fire. Promotional lighters aren't as hot as they used to be, but perhaps they'll have a bit of a resurgence now that they're allowed on planes again. At any rate, this is definitely a great example of how to use them effectively. (via Direct Daily) |  |
Posted by mark at 8:17 AM. Permalink: Chili Club Lighter Makes Hot Promo
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Yes, We Have No Promotional Bananas
| One of the keys to creating an effective promotion is finding a promotional item that is somehow relevant to your brand and is appealing to your audience. Jungle book, meet banana. |  |
Posted by mark at 4:25 PM. Permalink: Yes, We Have No Promotional Bananas
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Ads on Toilet Paper
| In Japan, advertisers tend to use tissues and high-tech toilets take care of everything else. In America, we prefer promotional toilet paper. Only recently, though, did I learn that we've actually been putting people we hate on toilet paper since WWII, when toilet paper featuring Hitler was available in both Britain and the US. |  |
Posted by mark at 7:23 AM. Permalink: Ads on Toilet Paper
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Hamvertising Revisited
Is any form of advertising more delicious than hamvertising? I'm sure some folks may prefer candy, but my promotional instincts tell me meat gets the message across best. This Australian promo for Weight Watchers is clever, but I doubt it would help me lose weight. It is the season for promotional food gifts, so dieters and chocoholics beware.
Posted by mark at 12:47 PM. Permalink: Hamvertising Revisited
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Great Direct Mail Promo from Geni.com
Here's a great example of an effective direct mail promo, done by Geneology site Geni.com. It's pretty straightforward, with a custom printed t-shirt and promotional pen, but they were well done and the package looked great together. So great, in fact, the recipient took a bunch of photos and posted them online. Extra points for the clever "Who's your daddy?" print on the back of the shirt and the great job printing a gradient in the logo!
Posted by mark at 8:50 AM. Permalink: Great Direct Mail Promo from Geni.com
| Comments (1)
Heineken Speaker Crates Make Big Splash
Here's a great product: speakers in the shape of little plastic crates (like the kind you would use to carry a bunch of bottles), or Speakerkratjes, as they say in the Netherlands. This custom speaker promo was great because the item was loved by their target demographic, reinforced their other music-oriented promotions and worked as either computer speakers (connecting via USB) or MP3 player speakers, using a 1/8" jack. (via Direct Daily)
Posted by mark at 11:55 AM. Permalink: Heineken Speaker Crates Make Big Splash
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Six-pack Abs Bag
Ah, bagvertising! Here's a clever custom Wheaties bag that will either inspire you to get in shape, or inspire you to carry a bag in front of you wherever you go.
Posted by mark at 5:16 PM. Permalink: Six-pack Abs Bag
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Heavyweight Brochure Motivates Would-be Gym-goers
| Gyms and health clubs go to great lengths to attract new members, and in the process they come up with some pretty great promotions. Like the Professor Frink show, they're designed to make you laugh and make you think. In this case, perhaps a bit of both. This "brochure" actually weighs several pounds, prompting recipients to consider hitting the weights. |  |
Posted by mark at 4:07 PM. Permalink: Heavyweight Brochure Motivates Would-be Gym-goers
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More Blood: Horror Film Fest Promos
Here's the third part of our bloody trilogy. First, we featured these blood donation promo bags, then some slasher t-shirts. This time, we have some blood-themed transparencies left under doors to promote a horror film festival. The idea is actually really similar to these Maestro Limpio door mat promos. Perhaps the Maestro could clean up after the film fest?
Posted by mark at 11:16 AM. Permalink: More Blood: Horror Film Fest Promos
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Promo Yoga Clock with a Clever Twist
| Would I suggest a promotional wall clock to promote a yoga studio? Probably not, at least until I saw this one. Much like the bag below, this clock is customized to make the most of its intrinsic qualities to convey a message. When done well it seems simple, even obvious. What product can you twist in your promotional direction? |  |
Posted by mark at 11:13 AM. Permalink: Promo Yoga Clock with a Clever Twist
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Freedom...in a Box
If you're Harley Davidson, you sell motorcycles, but you also sell freedom and the thrill of the open road. Of course, freedom is hard to mail, but their ad agency was able to figure out a way to do it. This unique direct mail promo looks like an ordinary black box. When opened, however, a small fan blows a breeze on the opener's face, giving them a breath of fresh air and a little taste of the Harley experience. The piece uses the simple black style to avoid interfering with the experience of the "wind." They even go so far as to print the Harley Davidson logo in an unobtrusive tone-on-tone.
Posted by mark at 5:39 PM. Permalink: Freedom...in a Box
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Promotional T-shirts
| There isn't a lot to say about this, but I thought the t-shirts in this propane company ad were funny. They're a little hard to read, but one says "In an effort to improve customer service" and the other says "We now wear shirts." |  |
Posted by mark at 5:31 PM. Permalink: Promotional T-shirts
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Guerrilla Marketing Voodoo
These self-promotional direct mail pieces were created by a guerrilla marketing agency to showcase their creativity, and I think it's pretty clear that they do that. These voodoo marketing kits were sent to marketing managers to announce the opening of the guerrilla unit of Arnold Worldwide in Italy and ended up raising a lot of awareness as well as some calls from interested marketers at some big brands, including Coca Cola. (via I believe in advertising)
Posted by mark at 4:43 PM. Permalink: Guerrilla Marketing Voodoo
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Perrier Promo: USB Powered Light
| Here's a great promo for Perrier spring water. It's a USB powered light, and it actually does a really good job conveying the lightness and freshness of Perrier. Having it custom manufactured in the distinctive shape of the Perrier bottle makes it even more effective as a promo. |  |
Posted by mark at 8:31 AM. Permalink: Perrier Promo: USB Powered Light
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More Logo Nuts and Beans
| Here are a few more logo nuts and beans, including coffee beans, cashews and a couple other kinds of beans. The key is apparently a high-grade CO2 laser that can print up to 700 characters per second on any hard organic materials. (via Pink Tentacle) |  |
Posted by mark at 6:27 AM. Permalink: More Logo Nuts and Beans
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Magically Promotional!
Here's a magical promotion done by a department store in Sri Lanka to promote the recent Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows book release. Unlike most promotional coffee cups, this one stirs itself! I'm sure it brought attention to the book, but I wonder if it increased or decreased coffee sales. (via ads of the world)
Posted by mark at 9:14 AM. Permalink: Magically Promotional!
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Taberu Me Cards: Laser Engraved Logo Peanuts
You've seen logo imprinted walnuts before, and the magic logo bean plant from Japan, plus a variety of unique business cards. Now, we have laser engraved peanuts from Japan that are made to be used as business cards. Thank goodness, and yum! (via Pink Tentacle)
Posted by mark at 7:32 AM. Permalink: Taberu Me Cards: Laser Engraved Logo Peanuts
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All the World Is a Balloon
And we are merely, uh, people on a balloon? Anyhow, balloon as the world turns out to be a pretty common metaphor, and it underscores the fragility of our planet and the delicate balance of our biosphere. Plus, both are relatively round in shape. Previously, we saw earth-themed promotional balloons were used to draw attention to greenhouse gas emissions, this time around they are raising awareness about overpopulation. See also: using a balloon to launch your logo beyond the earth, and using balloons as homage to Around the World in 80 Days.
Posted by mark at 9:13 AM. Permalink: All the World Is a Balloon
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Bear Stearns Bear
| Are promotional stuffed animals an appropriate choice for a major investment bank? If you're Bear Stearns, yes! |  |
Posted by mark at 6:03 PM. Permalink: Bear Stearns Bear
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Xbox Track Jackets Not Faulty
While the Microsoft Xbox suffers from a "serious design flaw" that the company has set aside literally billions of dollars to repair, this Xbox promotional track jacket is totally awesome.
Posted by mark at 7:14 AM. Permalink: Xbox Track Jackets Not Faulty
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Post-Barbecue Shirt
Perfect for barbecues, this shirt features a deflation nozzle for your spare tire. Originally done as a promotional t-shirt for a health club, I think the point comes through loud and clear.
Posted by mark at 10:22 AM. Permalink: Post-Barbecue Shirt
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Christmas Ham Ornament Direct Mail
Ham, the most delicious of promotional products, is featured prominently in this Christmas ornament which was used as a direct mail piece to raise hunger awareness. This piece was created for a German charity, Munich Table, and sent to restaurant owners and publications to increase food donations and media coverage of food donation programs. (via Direct Daily)
Posted by mark at 8:21 AM. Permalink: Christmas Ham Ornament Direct Mail
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Everybody Loves Broken Stuff
Following up my post on the clever use of ceramic business shards to promote a greek restaurant, we have another promo making use of something broken. This direct mail piece promoting super glue features a broken vase. It's a bit like a promotional puzzle, and it definitely makes a statement, even if you don't have the patience to reconstruct the vase.
Posted by mark at 6:20 AM. Permalink: Everybody Loves Broken Stuff
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Something Sweet from Yahoo!
Most of the news surrounding Yahoo! these days is a little troubling. Their CEO, Terry Semel recently stepped down and their market share continues to erode. These customized hard candies, however, are guaranteed to sweeten up their corporate image. Because it is possible to control the color so effectively, candies are a great way to create a promotional product that is an exact match for your logo and branding. Sweet!
Posted by mark at 4:14 PM. Permalink: Something Sweet from Yahoo!
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Business Shards
Looking for business cards? Interested in highlighting your Greek heritage? I recommend picking something from our ceramic mug collection and a hammer.
Posted by mark at 11:27 AM. Permalink: Business Shards
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Tide Uses T-Shirts and iPods to Promote a Great Cause
A recent promotion by Tide used hip, vintage-style promotional T-shirts and a totally customized iPod nano to drive their Loads of Hope program to benefit New Orleans. I think it's a great idea to tie their logo merchandise into a benefit and creating items that appeal to a hip, young demographic can serve the dual purpose of helping Tide develop brand recognition in consumers at an age when they are developing brand preferences, and encouraging them to be active citizens. I'm sure the PR doesn't hurt, either. It's also nice to see someone still doing something to help rebuild New Orleans, even though that news cycle is over.
Posted by mark at 10:10 AM. Permalink: Tide Uses T-Shirts and iPods to Promote a Great Cause
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Flickr Turns Logo into Beach Balls
Flickr has always had some great promos that make use if their simple, blue and pink circles logo. The promos are a great way to promote the flickr brand as a community, and they send out free promos to people who organize get togethers. Often, photos of the promos show up on flickr, and lately a bunch of photos show that flickr started giving out promotional beach balls in their logo colors. The custom-colored beach balls actually embody the flickr logo without even printing on them!
Posted by mark at 1:55 PM. Permalink: Flickr Turns Logo into Beach Balls
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Ch-ch-ch-chia Card!
| One way to bring attention to your marketing materials, from direct mail to books, is to make them grow. We've even seen growing keyboards. This time someone's made a great growing business card, with pictoral instructions on the back. |  |
Posted by mark at 11:53 AM. Permalink: Ch-ch-ch-chia Card!
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A New Kind of Smoking Jacket
Here's one more example of a stop smoking promo, an update on the smoking jacket. In this case, the jacket is not only designed to be worn while smoking, but also raises awareness of the health effects. According to the jacket's creator, Fiona Carswell: "When wearing the jacket, the smoker exhales cigarette smoke into a one-way air valve in the collar, trapping it in. The smoke is then channelled through some tubing to a pair of plastic lungs on the front of the jacket. Inside the lungs is air-filter material which darkens to a brownish stain after repeated exposure to smoke." (via We Make Money Not Art)
Posted by mark at 12:12 PM. Permalink: A New Kind of Smoking Jacket
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Anti-smoking Direct Mail Promo
Here's another great promo that packs a powerful anti-smoking punch. Plus, it rolls up into a tube for easy mailing. This stop-smoking promo doormat takes the dirt from your shoes to show you what a smoker's lungs look like. According to Direct Daily, these were produced for the Al Sawy Cultural Centre in Cairo.
Posted by mark at 9:33 AM. Permalink: Anti-smoking Direct Mail Promo
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Clear Ashtray Promotes Healthy Lungs
| Getting folks to quit smoking is hard because nicotine is so addictive, but it also makes for fertile creative ground. This outdoor ashtray brings home the impact of smoking on your lungs with a powerful visual. This particular installation/ashtray, produced by German insurance company AOK drove over 6,000 visitors to a stop smoking web site just on the first day they were put up. |  |
Posted by mark at 3:00 PM. Permalink: Clear Ashtray Promotes Healthy Lungs
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In Air Advertising
| The airplane isn't exactly one of advertisings final frontiers, but the cloth that goes on the headrest is, I mean, was. With rising fuel costs, increased competition and commodification of the airline experience, I would imagine we'll see more innovative ways for airlines to generate advertising revenues to replace profits lost elsewhere. |  |
Posted by mark at 2:35 PM. Permalink: In Air Advertising
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Getting People to Open Up Their Direct Mail
One of the hardest parts of any direct mail piece is getting people to open it up, but with this piece for the cholesterol reducing drug Kolestor, that's the whole point. Unzipping the "chest" of this direct mail piece reveals the text "It's not that easy." A powerful way to drive home the advantages of cholesterol control versus surgery, the "target audience responded with a spontaneous brand awareness rate of 89 % even tough the cholesterol market is one of the most competitive" according to the agency that created it. (via Direct Daily)
Posted by mark at 9:13 AM. Permalink: Getting People to Open Up Their Direct Mail
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It's a Tool...It's a Necklace...It's the Movable Type Logo!
Here's a really great promo which is in fact a tool, a necklace and the movable type logo. Combining the utility fo a promotional tool with the visibility of promotional jewelry, this item is probably the perfect promo for Movable Type, the software I used to publish this blog.
Posted by mark at 9:38 AM. Permalink: It's a Tool...It's a Necklace...It's the Movable Type Logo!
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Custom Toy Makes Bank Feel Warm and Fuzzy
In print and on TV, consumer banks are making a concerted effort to seem friendlier and more personal. I guess it's really not surprising that banks would want to shed their stodgy, uptight image. At any rate, this custom promo toy, created for First Direct Bank, encourages the customer to "build a bank around you." The felt pieces literally embody the "warm fuzzy" feeling, and the character is both a twist on the fancy-pants banker of yore and a more approachable, personal avatar for the bank itself. Rather clever, and I would like to have one. (via Direct Daily)
Posted by mark at 9:58 AM. Permalink: Custom Toy Makes Bank Feel Warm and Fuzzy
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Keyboard Direct Mail for Jingle Awareness
Apparently, music for ads and other video productions doesn't always get the attention it deserves. Sometimes the same is true for promotional products as well. For this clever direct mail promo, however, a toy keyboard was packaged with copy that brought attention to the plight of the jingle: a card was attached on the handle of the keyboard that said If you only want to have fun, making music is a child's game. If you want a better sound than this, call us! The ad agency art directors and video production producers who received this piece probably loved it. (via Direct Daily)
Posted by mark at 9:59 AM. Permalink: Keyboard Direct Mail for Jingle Awareness
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Clever eBay Cardboard Box Promo
Ah, the cardboard box. To children, a toy with vast possibilities, probably more fun than whatever came inside it. Now, the cardboard box is also a clever promotional item. eBay sent these boxes to office workers, ostensibly so they could pack up their stuff and quit their job and make a living selling stuff on eBay. The tagline "Quit your job and start your own business" reflects one of the major shifts made by eBay and Amazon towards becoming technology platforms for small businesses, rather than just auction (eBay) or ecommerce (Amazon) sites. (via DirectDaily)
Posted by mark at 12:20 PM. Permalink: Clever eBay Cardboard Box Promo
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Google Goo, More Fun from the Plex
Google seems to produce no shortage of cool promos, and has a documented penchant for playing with their name. Here's another great example of custom promotional putty they branded as Google Goo. Very clever, guys.
Posted by mark at 8:16 AM. Permalink: Google Goo, More Fun from the Plex
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PSP Ghost Promotion Eerily Effective
Promotional cameras have been a popular item for many years, from standard disposable cameras to underwater cameras and now digital cameras. One popular feature is the ability to include a custom message strip on the bottom of the actual photos. In the promotion pictured below, for the Playstation game Forbidden Siren 2, the concept was taken a step further with promotional cameras were used that had ghost images pre-exposed on the film.
Posted by mark at 4:01 PM. Permalink: PSP Ghost Promotion Eerily Effective
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More Laundry Promos
Here's another laundry-related promo, some Perry Ellis promotional laundry boxes. Much like the eco-hangers, promotional laundry boxes are a great opportunity to reach a target audience. In this case, people who get their shirts laundered at a place fancy enough to use boxes.
Posted by mark at 10:17 AM. Permalink: More Laundry Promos
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Eco-Hangers Make a Comeback (or, No Wire Hangers!)
According to the CEO of HangerNetwork, 3.5 billion wire hangers end up in US landfills every year. While the idea of an eco-friendly hanger isn't new, the idea has really gathered steam lately, with features in the Wall Street Journal and other newspapers and magazines. The hangers are both an ecological and an advertising boon. Clothing brands like Van Heusen have adopted them as an ecologically-friendly promotional product creating branded hangers to give to dry cleaners. The hangers are both made from recycled paper, and biodegradable.
Posted by mark at 10:20 AM. Permalink: Eco-Hangers Make a Comeback (or, No Wire Hangers!)
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Fancy Water, Another Great Environmental Promo
| Since we're still in the Earth Day spirit of things, here's another great environmental awareness promo. This one is from the National Geographic Channel, who put a unique twist on promotional water by packaging it as if it's a fancy vintage like wine. Truth be told, with global climate change increasingly effecting weather patterns, water is increasingly becoming a scarce resource in many areas of the globe. When groundwater reserves are depleted in many highly populated areas, vintage 2007 water may be indeed a luxury item. |  |
Posted by mark at 8:11 AM. Permalink: Fancy Water, Another Great Environmental Promo
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Perfect Match(box) for Ford Truck
Here's my nomination for best use of promotional matches. Ford picked the perfect item to promote their
Ranger Extreme, a limited edition truck featuring an expandable cargo bed. Could there be a better way to illustrate the expandable cargo bed feature? A match made in heaven if you ask me. (via direct daily)
Posted by mark at 5:29 PM. Permalink: Perfect Match(box) for Ford Truck
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The Medium Makes the Message Fun
| Here's a really cool promo that basically uses a stretchy rubber to make a business card that is really only readable when you stretch it out. Sure, using the intrinsic properties of the web or a magazine to make an advertisement stand out is cool, but using the intrinsic properties of an actual physical item is even cooler. Right? That's one of the big advantages to advertising with promotional products, but it's something that is often overlooked. |  |
Posted by mark at 11:38 AM. Permalink: The Medium Makes the Message Fun
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Custom Dice Help You Pick Your Next Drink
In a rather appropriate take on custom promotional dice, absolut vodka has made it that much easier to pick your next drink. I think this is a good promo because it gets people to interact with the brand and contemplate the various potential uses of their product. The unspoken message is that you can't lose (unless you roll absolut peppar and lemon-lime soda). And, we probably don't even need to remind you: please drink and gamble responsibly, especially if you're doing both at the same time.
Posted by mark at 9:56 AM. Permalink: Custom Dice Help You Pick Your Next Drink
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Bazooka Joe Bobblehead
| What do you get when you combine one of the most popular promotional products with one of the most popular bubble gum mascots? Bazooka Joe bobblehead, of course! If your brand has a popular mascot, start using him/her/it in your promos! |  |
Posted by mark at 5:05 PM. Permalink: Bazooka Joe Bobblehead
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Discovery Channel Ads by the Roll
In an increasingly advertising-saturated world, it's getting harder to find places to put ads. I guess it's no surprise, then, that the Discovery Channel would give promotional toilet paper a shot. While the Japanese love promotional tissues, this seems distinctly American to me. As does the toilet stress ball.
Posted by mark at 4:43 PM. Permalink: Discovery Channel Ads by the Roll
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Google Promos Focus on Fitness
| We've featured great Google promos before, and I'm sure we will again. Here we have a collection of water bottles, a yoga mat and custom promotional towels photographed by a recipient. Seeing all these google promotional products may make you wonder why they do it. After all, Google dominates online search and online advertising and their brand name has even been turned into a verb. On the other hand, when you have a strong online brand, increasing exposure offline, particularly amongst your core audience of advertisers and content providers remains important. Despite their current dominance, Yahoo! and Microsoft, as well as a host of newer companies are looking to dethrone Google, and you only have to look back a few years to a world that was dominated by search engines like AltaVista that were similarly pushed into obscurity by Google. No matter how big you are, great branding never goesout of style. |  |
Posted by mark at 9:11 AM. Permalink: Google Promos Focus on Fitness
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Leica Gummy Bears: Hidden Relevance
| What looks like an attractive, if ordinary, promotional tin of gummy bears for Leica actually has a couple subtle features that make it particularly relevant to the venerable camera manufacturer. One is that the circular tin mirrors the shape of a camera lense, which Leica happens to be famous for (along with their outstanding viewfinders). The second reason is that Leica is a German manufacturer, and gummy bears (or should I say Gummib舐?) were invented and first became popular in Germany. |  |
Posted by mark at 10:58 AM. Permalink: Leica Gummy Bears: Hidden Relevance
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Action Item One: Make Custom Action Figures
| You can get a long way with good product selection and a creative imprint, but sometimes you just gotta go all out and custom make your own perfect promo, like this truly awesome "super recruiter" action figure given out to promote Yahoo's Hot Jobs. When the stakes are high, like the competitive world of career placement, sometimes only the most unique promo you've ever seen will do, and the way to do that is to make a new product and pay attention to all the details down to the packaging and copy. You'll need to have someone help you custom manufacture it overseas, but the end result can be incredible. Or at least super. |  |
Posted by mark at 9:22 AM. Permalink: Action Item One: Make Custom Action Figures
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Leaf-vertising: Fall Foliage Will Never Be the Same
| Here's another idea for an environmental promo, imprint on an actual leaf. It's like using a tree to save a tree, and we'd better hope they're biodegradable! (via the adverlab) |  |
Posted by mark at 11:05 AM. Permalink: Leaf-vertising: Fall Foliage Will Never Be the Same
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Edible Promotional Postcard: Squid Edition
| This isn't the first edible promo, or the first direct mail promo, or even the first promo to combine the two, but I've never seen it done with squid before. While your personal preferences regarding dried squid may dictate whether you truly consider this an edible promo, it's definitely striking. It would be even better if you could write your message on it...using squid ink.(via MIT's Ad Lab) |  |
Posted by mark at 9:22 AM. Permalink: Edible Promotional Postcard: Squid Edition
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More Ads in Space: Your Logo at the Edge of Space
We've covered ads...in...spaaaaace and chicken...from...spaaaaace, but this stuff really doesn't get old. Now, JP Aerospace will send your logo into space and take hundreds of pictures of it. It's also the most affordable space advertising I've seen, perhaps because they "fly a high altitude balloon, carrying your ad, to the edge of space." Their "Edge of Space Special" is available for $100.
Posted by mark at 2:02 PM. Permalink: More Ads in Space: Your Logo at the Edge of Space
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Promotional Merchandise: More from Yahoo!
Here's a great shot of some Yahoo promotional merchandise, including a notebook, some gum, a pen and a keychain. I like how they used the same purple consistently across all these items, in much the same way they used green as the primary color for their Yahoo Answers gifts. It really brings together the different items into a consistent brand, much the same way Yahoo works to tie the different products and services they offer into a single online brand. I also like the "Yodelicious" tagline.
Posted by mark at 11:58 AM. Permalink: Promotional Merchandise: More from Yahoo!
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Anderson Varejao Promotional Wig
I don't really know much about Anderson Varejao, or the Cavaliers, but I do know that a lot of folks in Cleveland went crazy over Anderson Varejao Wig Night. People loved it so much in 2005 they did it again this year. Custom bobblehead dolls are fun, but this really takes it one step further, because you don't just get a bobblehead you are the bobblehead. I'm hoping ePromos decides to have Mark Yokoyama Wig Night sometime soon.
Posted by mark at 2:40 PM. Permalink: Anderson Varejao Promotional Wig
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Everything's Gone Green: Jungle Book
| Much like the chia postcard direct mail piece I featured a couple weeks ago, this is one promo that will really grow on you. It's a press book done for Buena Vista International that used a seed-containing paper for it's cover and sprouted into lush, green foliage when watered. I guess that makes it harder to read on the subway, but it's definitely a promo that won't be forgotten any time soon. If you like the idea, but aren't planning to print up a press book any time soon, we also have a seeded paper card that works the same way and sprouts into a mix of marigolds, cosmos, alyssum and baby's breath. |  |
Posted by mark at 3:01 PM. Permalink: Everything's Gone Green: Jungle Book
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Adidas Releases Promotional Watch Just for Kicks
Adidas created a promotional watch as a tie-in with the new documentary Just for Kicks, which is an overview of the "sneaker phenomenon" that looks at the role sneakers played in sports, hip-hop and street culture. The movie features Bobbito Garcia, who wrote the definitive book about sneaker culture from 1960-1987, Where'd Ya Get Those? I'm guessing anyone lucky enough to score one of these watches is going to hear a lot of "Where'd ya get that?"
Posted by mark at 11:08 AM. Permalink: Adidas Releases Promotional Watch Just for Kicks
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Taglines on Target: Make Your Promos Match Your Message
Here's a great promotional umbrella that uses a transparent umbrella and a clever tagline ("Hair you want to show off") to make a powerful statement. In fact, I think most really compelling promotions involve a combination of great product selection and a great tagline. Of course, sometimes you can substitute a clever graphic element for the tagline, too. Either way though, turning a promotional gift into a captivating advertisement for your product takes some creativity that goes beyond just picking a product you know your recipients will appreciate and putting your logo and phone number on it. (via how advertising spoiled me)
Posted by mark at 9:43 AM. Permalink: Taglines on Target: Make Your Promos Match Your Message
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Make Your Brand More Personal
Here's a great use of promotional luggage tags by KLM. In addition to featuring the company's logo and information, they also allowed the recipients to customize them by inserting photos. I reckon there a bit sturdier than the ol' piece of paper with a bit of elastic that you usually get at the airport, too.
Posted by mark at 5:49 PM. Permalink: Make Your Brand More Personal
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Cute Promo Alert
| I've seen a lot of promotional cell phone accessories, bu this Mr. Donut cell phone charm is perhaps the cutest of them all. The lion is named Pon de Lion, and his mane is actually a special kind of donut they have. Unrelated note: in Montreal, they call him Monsieur Donut. |  |
Posted by mark at 4:29 PM. Permalink: Cute Promo Alert
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Toast Your Brand
| One of the greatest advantages promotional products have over other types of advertising is the ability to associate brands with things people love. And what do people love more than toast? Pretty much nothing. As far as I know, toast's approval ratings have always been strong, so as soon as we get a promotional version of this toaster that burns images into toast, we'll let you know. |  |
Posted by mark at 3:56 PM. Permalink: Toast Your Brand
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New Car Smell
| In this Honda Civic Hybrid campaign in London, a familiar product, the car air freshener was put in a unique context to make a point about the benefits of hybrid vehicle technology. Of course, hybrid cars won't actually make trees smell better, but those air freshener trees don't always make cars smell better, either. |  |
Posted by mark at 1:27 PM. Permalink: New Car Smell
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Bright Lights, Clever Stickers
| Here's a creative use of promotional stickers to promote super bright headlights. Positioned on a parking garage wall they grab attention to what looks like burn marks. Definitely a bright idea. |  |
Posted by mark at 10:41 AM. Permalink: Bright Lights, Clever Stickers
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More Fun with Paper Promos
Here's another great promo that shows how creative you can get with something as simple as paper. Previously we featured these radical radial envelopes.
Posted by mark at 11:25 AM. Permalink: More Fun with Paper Promos
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Branding in the Kitchen
| This item is very much like the ancient Roman baking mold, except it's modern and it allows you to, according to the web site: "Put the image of Jesus RIGHT ON FOOD!" Technically, the image of Jesus is not a logo, but the same underlying technology can be (and is!) used to imprint a logo on food. At any rate, this will go perfectly with my Harvard waffle maker. If you're looking for other logo kitchen gadgets, you can check out a range of imprintable George Foreman products. Unfortunately, though, they DO NOT grill an image of George Foreman's face into your food. |  |
Posted by mark at 4:05 PM. Permalink: Branding in the Kitchen
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CBS Takes Eggvertising into Primetime
We've done some posts about eggvertising before, but the NYTimes just did a feature about CBS adding eggvertising to their fall advertising lineup, which is the first widespread application of this technology as far as I know. These eggs will promote CBS shows with some tasty ad copy. According to the president of the CBS marketing group, they've "gone through every possible sad takeoff on shelling and scrambling and frying." Eggcellent!
Posted by mark at 2:35 PM. Permalink: CBS Takes Eggvertising into Primetime
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Fun with Paper Promos
| A fun take on custom envelopes just goes to show that you can make anything cool if you're creative enough. These envelopes for a tire manufacturer contain a tire tread design. Lick rubber, I guess. |  |
Posted by mark at 11:24 AM. Permalink: Fun with Paper Promos
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Nemo Maki
We have a few fishy promotional items, but this is pretty darn cool. It was a direct mail piece to promote a cable channel's movie offerings, and it was a Cannes Lion Direct award winner this year. It also serves to show how important it is to know your audience. In this case, a great direct mail promo to cable operators would probably not be a very good happy meal toy. (via MIT's Ad Lab)
Posted by mark at 11:26 AM. Permalink: Nemo Maki
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Hot, Fresh Promo
Does an effective promo have to be expensive? Definitely not. I'm sure these were very inexpensive, but they're really cool. Stuck to a door in front of the little peephole thing, they make it look like there's a pizza delivery guy outside. Done for Papa John's pizza, they also won a Cannes Lions award and were also featured on MIT's Advertising Lab Blog.
Posted by mark at 12:02 PM. Permalink: Hot, Fresh Promo
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Everybody Loves Free Toys
This toy-inspired promo won a Cannes Lions Direct award. It was used to promote Bosch chainsaws. It just goes to show, everybody loves free toys.
Posted by mark at 11:57 AM. Permalink: Everybody Loves Free Toys
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More Eyeballs for Your Advertising
Um, literally. Now your doctor doesn't need any medical equipment to diagnose a serious case of World Cup fever, which means it can't be long before we have branded contact lenses, too. Soon, we may have a choice between buying contacts or wearing branded contacts for free. Or maybe get Google contacts that display unobtrusive text ads in the peripheral vision of the wearer. (via popgadget)
Posted by mark at 9:34 AM. Permalink: More Eyeballs for Your Advertising
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Here Come the High-Tech Promos
According to The Monitor, high-tech promos are the way of the future:
"Guard that logo-bearing coffee mug you picked up at a trade show, and those T-shirts marketing people drop in front of you during a sales pitch. In the future, you might be less likely to get as much of that old-fashioned stuff from companies that want your business.
"Increasingly, organizations are getting high-tech when it comes to promotional items. New items you might expect are calculators, compact discs, key-chain computer memory devices and state-of-the-art LED flashlights all splashed with a logo or containing a sales pitch."
While I do agree that high-tech promos likepromotional usb drives have become and will continue to be popular, I don't think promo coffee mugs are going out of style until people stop drinking coffee. I, for one, drink more cofee than ever in this high-tech age.
Posted by mark at 5:55 PM. Permalink: Here Come the High-Tech Promos
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Personalized and Breathalyzed
| After kind of complaining about how people ask me "What are the cool, new promo products?" I actually have one for you: a personal breath alcohol detector. Perfect for when you're about to make that phone call you'll regret in the morning. |
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Posted by mark at 8:20 PM. Permalink: Personalized and Breathalyzed
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The Benefits of Being flickr
One of the cool things about being flicker is that people will take cool photos of your promotional products and post them online. Like this:
Previous coverage of flickr promos of various types.
Posted by mark at 10:52 AM. Permalink: The Benefits of Being flickr
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Another Shot of the Da Vinci Code Cryptex
Here's another photo of the Cryptex that was sent out to the first 10,000 winners of the Google/Da Vinci Code game promoting the movie (previous cryptiness). This picture shows the custom packaging.
Posted by mark at 12:18 PM. Permalink: Another Shot of the Da Vinci Code Cryptex
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The Karate Card
This is definitely the Ralph Macchio of business cards. We actually have a few interesting takes on the business card on our site, but not nearly enough karate stuff. We do have, however, everything you need to "wax on, wax off".
Posted by mark at 6:01 PM. Permalink: The Karate Card
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Cryptex Is Crypty Times Two
I don't know how I totally missed this entire promotion, but Google sponsored a tie-in with the release of the movie "The Da Vinci Code" involving "a set of cryptic puzzles, hidden searches, and mind boggling mini games that ran for the past 3 1/2 weeks." Jason Murphy was one of 10,000 finalists and recieved this rather wicked cool looking cryptex. By dialing in the right word on the cryptex, you can open it and get a secret message that tells you where to go for the next step of the game. This is probably one of the most creative (and most crypty!) custom promos of all time.
Posted by mark at 3:04 PM. Permalink: Cryptex Is Crypty Times Two
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Don't Forget Your Sunscreen
This custom printed towel, designed to promote skin cancer awareness, is another good example of a promotional product that is designed to encourage a specific behavior (besides buying a product). It would also pair quite nicely with promotional sunscreen. (via How Advertising Spoiled Me)
Posted by mark at 9:47 AM. Permalink: Don't Forget Your Sunscreen
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Another Creative Shopping Bag
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Another great custom plastic shopping bag, this time by Panadol Extra, a pain reliever sold in the UK. Once again, this example shows how some design creativity can turn something mundane into an engaging brand experience. Previously, we featured some other cool custom plastic bags and a nifty paper bag. (via the adverlab via advertising's a bitch) |
Posted by mark at 12:31 PM. Permalink: Another Creative Shopping Bag
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Conversely Special
I just love these Converse hang tags. For starters, they look cool, kind of a cross between dog tags and baseball cards. They also tie together two major strengths of the Converse brand: its historical significance and commitment to tradition, and the fact that they actually made (and still make) athletic shoes for real athletes. I think a combination of the design and the fact that they're real metal tags instead of some kind of plastic help them have a real visual, tactile imact.
Posted by mark at 10:46 AM. Permalink: Conversely Special
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Hot New Promos For Spring!
Do you want to make a huge promotional impact this spring? Are you tired of the same old pens and mugs? If so, you'll definitely want to check out these three hot products that are going to be the most talked about promos of the season. Quantities are limited, and these are available exclusively from ePromos, so get your orders in early.
Posted by mark at 4:46 PM. Permalink: Hot New Promos For Spring!
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Cool Customization, Eh?
We don't actually sell bus passes, but we do sell customized phone cards and custom membership cards, which have essentially the same graphic potential. Pictured above are some student bus passes done for Saskatoon Transit Services that were featured in Communication Arts. I thought they were cool, and I imagine other people did, too. I guess my take-away point, with regard to promotional products and anything else, is: If it's worth doing, it's worth doing cool. (Even if you have to use an adjective where an adverb should be.)
Posted by mark at 2:45 PM. Permalink: Cool Customization, Eh?
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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
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The 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!
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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
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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
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If 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
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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...
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Promoting Health, Video Game Style
I don't know if you've been in a video game arcade lately, but these days they have various physically interactive games that involve replicating dance steps on a touch sensitive floor or drumming on touch sensitive pads. Back when I was a kid, the only extravagant arcade game hardware was the driver's seat for Pole Position. But I digress, this cool promo from Kraft is a branded game pad that works with a PC. Kraft also supplies two free games from their web site. A multipurpose promotion, it promotes physical activity, Kraft and the Kraft web site. It's also a unique product that probably has a high perceived value to their target audience and is a lot hipper than a decoder ring. Not bad, eh? Hopefully the dowloadable games aren't "the cheesiest."
We don't really have a comparable item on our site, but if it exists, or could exist, we would be happy to make it for you. (via joystiq)
Posted by mark at 8:40 AM. Permalink: Promoting Health, Video Game Style
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Digital Postcard Camera, a Promotional Product Waiting to Happen
| This postcard-sized digital camera looks like just the thing to take promotional cameras into the digital age. With four-color process printing, this has the potential to be a fun, creative promo. Businesses could even use one of the pictures to feature an ad or marketing information. Although this product isn't in production yet, we do have some digital cameras that you can imprint. My favorite is the underwater digital camera because it works underwater. (via engadget) |
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Posted by mark at 1:03 PM. Permalink: Digital Postcard Camera, a Promotional Product Waiting to Happen
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Plant Branding Update
| I'm sure everyone will be delighted to know that while I was in Japan I tracked down the original version of the plant that grows with a message on it, previously featured here. In Japan, it's branded as Ma-mail, which is a bilingual pun involving mame, which is Japanese for bean. Now you can't say we never taught you anything useful. Or, you could I guess, but that wouldn't be nice. |
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Posted by mark at 11:04 AM. Permalink: Plant Branding Update
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Meter-made Keychain
| I saw, and wished for, the parking meter timer a couple days ago at Popgadget a couple days ago, and my wish has already come true. Ours not only let's you know when your parking meter's expired, but it also holds a quarter so you can actually pay the meter. Oh yeah. |
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Posted by mark at 9:39 PM. Permalink: Meter-made Keychain
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Inverse 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
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Boom 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?
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Promotional 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
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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...
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Mood 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
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Fantastic 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
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Our USB Gadget Not Duckly Enough
We have a USB Mini-Vacuum (left), but it isn't featured on engadget because it doesn't look like a duck (right). But actually, our USB vacuum kinda looks like a duck. Well, a little. Maybe. I guess not.
Anyhow, the duck USB vacuum is so innovative they featured it Gizmodo, too. I plan to leapfrog our competitors by developing Platypus-shaped USB vacuum technoglogy, which would undoubtedly be enough get us on the front page of the New York Times.
Posted by mark at 6:48 PM. Permalink: Our USB Gadget Not Duckly Enough
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Chalk it Up to Creativity: Chalkboard Promos
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If you're like me, your image of M.I.T. is guys writing endless equations on a chalkboard, so it's no surprise that the M.I.T. Advertising Lab Blog did a feature on this chalkboard coffee mug. However, they may not know that there are also Chalkboard T-shirts and Chalkboard Tote Bags. And all of them are fully functional, in the sense that they come with chalk and you can actually write and erase like a regular chalkboard. However, if your boss wants you to write "I will not interrupt when the CEO is addressing the company" a hundred times, you may need something larger. Like an actual chalkboard. Some tiny erasers would be cool, too. Then bad employees could be sent outside to bang them together. |
Posted by mark at 6:06 PM. Permalink: Chalk it Up to Creativity: Chalkboard Promos
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Nail Your Branding
Looking for a highly-visible promotional product with up to ten different imprint areas? Look no further:
Via Brand Infection
Posted by mark at 3:32 PM. Permalink: Nail Your Branding
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The Perfect Promo for Your Fantasy Football League
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The season's starting soon, and this Football Beverage Insulator is the perfect promotional product for your Fantasy Football league. I know playing fantasy football doesn't require any actual exercise, but you still get thirsty, right? |
Posted by mark at 9:14 PM. Permalink: The Perfect Promo for Your Fantasy Football League
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Advertising Candy: From the MIT Advertising Lab to Your Mouth
I saw these a while back on the MIT Advertising Lab Blog and thought they were pretty neat. Now we have them on our site. We actually had some samples here last week, too. While they look like something that could be made from Fimo, which reminded me of hippies, they actually taste great. In fact, I don't think we have any samples left in the office. Check out the many varieties of customized hard candy we have on our site. Mmmmmm.
Posted by mark at 4:49 PM. Permalink: Advertising Candy: From the MIT Advertising Lab to Your Mouth
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Cool Product: Digital Photo Keychain
| Here's another imprinted promotional product that's cool enough to be featured on a gadet blog. This time it's a digital photo keychain (on Shiny Shiny in pendant form) that holds and displays up to 56 digital pictures. How cool is that? Pretty cool. |
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Posted by mark at 3:22 PM. Permalink: Cool Product: Digital Photo Keychain
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Promos that are as cool as regular products...
| Gizmodo, the gadgets arm of the Gawker blog empire just did a feature on this cooler with built in radio. It just goes to show how far this industry has come in terms of product innovation. We actually thought this was one of the cooler things we've seen lately, and it even has an audio input to make it iPod-compatible. |
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Posted by mark at 9:27 PM. Permalink: Promos that are as cool as regular products...
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Next year, maybe we'll get one that just reads your mind...
There are lots of cool, futuristic promo items, but this one is REALLY cool and REALLY futuristic. It's a USB flash drive with biometric fingertip technology. This means you actually have to scan your fingertip to access the data on the drive. A tiny scanner that recognizes your fingerprints. Perhaps I'm getting old, but to me this is serious James Bond stuff. Did I mention that it ACTUALLY SCANS YOUR FINGERPRINTS?
Bonus fact: The drive can actually remember multiple fingerprints, and the manufacturer recommends you scan at least a couple fingers in case you lose one (or injure it). Seriously.
Posted by mark at 4:10 PM. Permalink: Next year, maybe we'll get one that just reads your mind...
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Wizard Stress Ball Sales Up Ten Million Percent!
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Actually that's not true, but with more than ten million copies of the new Harry Potter book about to hit the shelves, the wizard stress ball would make a pretty good giveaway for bookstores this summer. After all, flying broom would be too expensive, and magic wand - unless it's actually magic - is just a stick. |
Posted by mark at 5:49 PM. Permalink: Wizard Stress Ball Sales Up Ten Million Percent!
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There's Still Time to Order Space Shuttle Stress Balls
| With the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery temporarily delayed by a sensor malfunction, NASA still has time to order shuttle shaped stress balls for the shuttle crew and ground staff. Speaking of which, can we please go back to the "worm" logo that they used from 1975-1992? Not only was it cooler than the logo they're using now, it was also a 1-color imprint. Plus, it's painted on the side of the Hubble telescope and I think it will be a while before they get around to re-branding that. |
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Posted by mark at 4:29 PM. Permalink: There's Still Time to Order Space Shuttle Stress Balls
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