Seth Godin Action Figure
Seth Godin: marketing genius or guy who makes a living pointing out little mistakes that companies make? It's hard to say, but he does have his own action figure. Of course, that alone does not make you a genius.
Posted by mark at 1:58 PM. Permalink: Seth Godin Action Figure
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Tiny Joker
Posted by mark at 2:13 PM. Permalink: Tiny Joker
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Also at the Open
| Also spotted at the US Open this year was this tennis-ball themed fan. This tennis fan from Lexus made the perfect giveaway for thousands of tennis fans at the Open. It's a great example of how a tangible product can be used to get the most out of a high-profile, expensive partnership. This inexpensive fan is cost-effective enough to give away to everyone, but also serves as a memento from the event, making it more likely to be saved - and seen - after the Open itself is over. |  |
Posted by mark at 1:15 PM. Permalink: Also at the Open
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American Express Sponsors Fifth Consecutive US Open
American Express went out of its way to show that cardmembership does indeed have its privileges. This year, they gave our portable radios on lanyards to anyone who was carrying an Amex card at the Open. The promotion had a double impact: making cardmembers feel appreciated and getting non-cardmembers curious.
Posted by mark at 9:21 PM. Permalink: American Express Sponsors Fifth Consecutive US Open
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Good Morning
See, this makes more sense to me. Incidentally, as Starbucks has stumbled with their brand and McDonald's has made more aggressive inroads into the coffee business, can you imagine the environmental impact if everyone switched to reusable mugs rather than disposable cups? It'll happen eventually, but probably shortly after we chop down our last tree.
Posted by mark at 1:53 PM. Permalink: Good Morning
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Old-timer Cruise Gift Bags
| This August, Derek Jeter hosted a special cruise to commemorate the final New York Yankees Old-timers Game to be held in Yankee Stadium. It was a once-in-a-lifetime event, full of some of the greatest players ever on the Yankees' roster, so you'd better believe the goody bag was a home run. Plenty of baseball themed promos were included, like souvenir mini baseball bats and a commemorative Yankee Stadium baseball cap. |  |
Posted by mark at 3:17 PM. Permalink: Old-timer Cruise Gift Bags
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Tech That: Grab Bag
Why do tech companies love to use promos? If they're web-based, it may be just about the closest thing they have to a tangible product. Also, though it does seem a bit ironic, conferences and other events are very important places for tech professionals to connect. Given the importance of early adopters, and the fact that particular areas may have relatively small communities where people are involved and innovating, individuals matter, and promotional products can be a great way of reaching them. To start things off, here are some promos from Search Influence, including both traditional items like promo t-shirts, but also some more unique items, like a printed guide they wrote.
Here, via Schwag Addict, we have some of those chattering teeth from Big Mouth Media, a classic example of tying in your promo to your company name, which works nicely if your name is Big Mouth.
Canvas Systems gave out these mint tins. Canvas positions themselves as a green hardware supplier, dealing in used and refurbished equipment. I suppose the mint tin itself is a piece of reusable hardware.
I can has cheezburger magnets. Because we'll never get tired of LOLcats, and because, being on a website, they officially qualify as "tech-related." But where is the set of alphabet refrigerator magnets with no S, only Z?
Dapper gave out this handy credit card USB drive to various schwag fanatics:
DivX apparently gives out notebooks, which is nice, although seemingly unrelated to video codecs:
Compete, an online competitive analysis tool, has created this convenient offline competitive drinking tool:
Episodic helps producers monetize videos on the web. I wonder if they gave away these items all at once, or in installments:
Internet marketing firm Get Updated gave out these magically expanding wipes, and took full advantage of the full-color, full-bleed package imprinting to create a special offer right on the product:
Text link broker Linkworth gave out some Sonic Rocks. Although they can get really annoying after prolonged exposure, they are a great way get attention at a trade show or event because they combine motion and sound:
This embroidered shirt from blogging platform Movable Type shows the hip (pun intended?) new place to embroider a logo subtly, the back of the left hip:
Onward Search Marketing went with the magnifying glass, which I have to say is less and less clever as a search marketing givewaway:
One of the biggest challenges when choosing a giveaway is to find something useful that people don't already have, that's nice enough to keep and use but affordable to you. This headphone winder thingy from soloSEO (via schwagaddict.com) pretty much fits the bill. I'm sure not everyone would want it, but many people have headphones and may find it useful:
Slifter uses a tape measure to convey their value proposition of measurable mobile marketing, which is a nice tie-in that hasn't been overdone:
And let's just finish up with a purple cow, or purple steer, I guess, from Steak Media.
Actually, wait, one more thing, some friends from Utterz for the Steak Media bull:
Posted by mark at 8:58 AM. Permalink: Tech That: Grab Bag
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Tech That: Google Goodies
When it comes to schwag, search giant Google has a tendency to live up to their big reputation. They have fun with their name, they have fun with their logo, and they're not afraid to use lots of color. They also find the right products for unusual events. In this case, tons of promotional camping tents for an event they do as a part of Google Campfire One, a series where they invite developers to the Google campus.
Also from Google Campfire One, a folding camp chair:
And, what office would be complete without a bunch of rainbow-colored bean bag chairs?
The Google traffic cone (and hat?) is a bit more confusing:
While the Google logo Leatherman is perfect for Hardware Operations:
This Google lab coat and safety goggles were sent out as part of an invitation to an event at Google:
And here's a really cool light-up, rocket-shaped pen (via schwagaddict.com):
Posted by mark at 11:48 AM. Permalink: Tech That: Google Goodies
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Tech That: Wordpress Promos
| Here's a great shot of some Wordpress stickers and promotional buttons, in a range of colors that is both diverse, but also relatively subdued and harmonious. This is actually quite fitting, since blogging CMS software like Wordpress is largely responsible for making it much easier for normal folks to create relatively nice looking sites from a variety of templates. Lord only knows what the equivalent Geocities buttons would have looked like, but I'm sure they would have . |  |
Posted by mark at 1:03 PM. Permalink: Tech That: Wordpress Promos
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Tech That: Yahoo, Searchmonkey and Flickr
Well, we might as well feature Yahoo! and their subsidiaries while they're still around. There are many things we know about these folks. They like having fun. They like cookies. They like schwag. So it's fitting that we've got a bunch of goofy stuff from them. Like this Searchmonkey mask:
And this screen cap from the flickr HQ office olympics:
What happens to your monitor if left unattended:
A nice shot of one of the original flickr buttons:
Someone opening a flickr lens cleaner they received in the mail:
And an awesome flickr beer stein:
Plus, we can't leave Yahoo! itself out. Here's an ice sculpture:
The top of a green taxi cab sitting on a cubicle:
A soccer trophy:
A jet airplane:
And a rocket ship:
Posted by mark at 10:29 AM. Permalink: Tech That: Yahoo, Searchmonkey and Flickr
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Tech That: Webtrends Magnets
Webtrends is a web-analytics software service and I'm guessing these magnets correspond to the buttons or iconography of their software interface. The flash in this photo has washed out the tagline on the case, but I believe it has something to do with attracting visitors to your web site. You know, magnetically.
Posted by mark at 6:43 PM. Permalink: Tech That: Webtrends Magnets
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Whole Lotta Yahoo!
After fighting off a Microsoft takeover and partnering up with Google, Yahoo! has just done another corporate reorganization in order to remain viable. Will shaking things up in the corporate offices be enough to keep them afloat? Who knows. In the meantime, we might as well post photos of lots of Yahoo! promos.
Here are what seem to be bomb-like candles from an event:
Here we have what is apparently more-or-less the Yahoo! version of the Staples easy button, done as a direct mail promotion:
Here we show Yahoo! promotional folding chair, with it's diminutive sibling:
Not to be left out, we have a royal purple Yahoo! couch, presumably photographed at their offices:
Here are some promos for flickr, which is probably Yahoo's most beloved site, and Yahoo! Shortcuts, which I never really heard of before:
One of the most interesting items is this flower arrangement, done by Infosys, the Indian technology outsourcing firm, to celebrate the anniversary of their partnership with Yahoo:
And here we've got a whole bunch of Yahoo! promos including a little hula dancing doll:
Will these promos be the Kozmo messenger bag of the future? Only time will tell.
Posted by mark at 11:06 AM. Permalink: Whole Lotta Yahoo!
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Yahoo Searchmonkey Cookies
When in doubt, try attracting software developers with caffeine or sugar. Yahoo! decided to go with sugar to promote their Open Development Platform, Searchmonkey. In this case, they used the new Mrs. Field's logo cookies, which can actually be printed on, in full color. Delicious, and visually striking!
Posted by mark at 2:34 PM. Permalink: Yahoo Searchmonkey Cookies
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Bagvertising: Canderel Backpack Cinches Up
Okay, so we've done a lot of posts about bagvetising, but this one's pretty good, if you can get over the fact that it's so shallow. Basically, by cinching up the bag, you can make the "waistline" smaller, which is something you can apparently also do by using aspartame-based Canderel instead of sugar. Unfortunately, instead of six-pack abs in "thin" mode, you basically get stretch marks.
Posted by mark at 7:36 AM. Permalink: Bagvertising: Canderel Backpack Cinches Up
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Awesome Foamee Promos
Foamee is a web site that tracks who you owe a beer or coffee, and here are some cool promos they've done, including promotional stickers and very useful I.O.U. beer coasters. It's nice to see some promos that can help people use the site!
Posted by mark at 9:32 AM. Permalink: Awesome Foamee Promos
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Google Campfire Chair
So, Google does a thing called Campfire One where they invite developers over to Google, share ideas and make s'mores. The perfect promo for such an event? Probably the custom imprinted folding chair, which is exactly what they did.
Posted by mark at 8:21 PM. Permalink: Google Campfire Chair
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High-flying Promos
Here's a classy promotional pen from when flying was cool, from the airline that more-or-less defined the coolness of air travel:
And here are some nifty luggage tags from the airline that's trying to redefine cool air travel. Small touches, like luggage tags that are nicer than the standard paper and elastic ones, can actually go a long way:
Posted by mark at 5:58 PM. Permalink: High-flying Promos
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Rangers Rally Towel
The rally towel is an interesting promo. Apparently, it dates back to a Vancouver Canucks hockey game. After what he thought was an unfair call, Coach Roger Neilson tied a towel to a spare hockey stick and began waving it as a sarcastic surrender statement. Neilson was fined, but the towels were a hit and a local businessman printed up and several thousand with proceeds going to charity. It's been with us ever since. Here is a surprisingly mustard-free, Sabrett-sponsored New York Rangers rally towel. It makes a great keepsake after the game, you can keep it with your Nathan's stadium cup and your Hebrew National clappers.
Posted by mark at 9:04 AM. Permalink: Rangers Rally Towel
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Iconic Envelope Makes for Catchy T-shirt
Promotional t-shirts: practically every business, school and organization in the world has done them, but how many are really cool or really clever? This shirt, created for a FedEx campaign, makes it look like the wearer is carrying a FedEx envelope around. It actually reminds me of the vintage Nike t-shirt that looked like you had a pair of Air Jordans slung over your shoulder. Anyhow, I like it.
Posted by mark at 3:35 PM. Permalink: Iconic Envelope Makes for Catchy T-shirt
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They're Grrrrizzate!
Silly rabbit, Trix are for thugs! Under the Hood shows us that nothing says street smart like sugared cereal cartoon mascots in this magically delicious photo set. (via Metafilter)
Posted by mark at 4:02 PM. Permalink: They're Grrrrizzate!
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Bear Market: Classy Note Holder
| When Bear Stearns went under, my natural tendency was to poke fun at them. But on the flip side, they did do some nice promotional gifts. Here's one that's up for sale an eBay, a nice desktop note holder from Cutter & Buck. When you're targeting high net worth investors, you'd better make sure your business gifts are desktop-worthy. |  |
Posted by mark at 10:03 AM. Permalink: Bear Market: Classy Note Holder
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More from SXSW: Button Collection
Who knew going to South by Southwest could put you well on your way to being the next Ramblin' Rod? When I was a kid, I really loved that guy, and his button encrusted sweater. Anyhow, yes, promotional buttons are great for both rock bands and politicians.
Posted by mark at 9:17 AM. Permalink: More from SXSW: Button Collection
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Car Thief Sun Shade Works for Insurance Company
Here's an interesting promotion done by a Dutch insurance company. They made customized car sun shades that featured a robber stealing a car stereo. Their tagline was "Just Call Us" to promote the ease with which they handle claims. Passersby had reason to take a moment to think about their vulnerability and choice in insurance companies. (via Direct Daily)
Posted by mark at 6:46 AM. Permalink: Car Thief Sun Shade Works for Insurance Company
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Rug Makes Touareg Promotion Rustic
When Volkswagen wanted to promote their Touareg SUV, they used a southwestern motif, including these custom woven floor mats designed to look like southwestern rugs. No word if they got Clint Eastwood to wear one as a poncho.
Posted by mark at 8:38 PM. Permalink: Rug Makes Touareg Promotion Rustic
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Doormat Flip-flops
Here's a really gorgeous execution of customized punch out flip-flops, which serves as a gorgeous welcome mat, and some very functional footware. Most importantly, if you use this doormat properly, YOU WILL NEVER BE WANDERING AROUND LOOKING FOR YOUR FLIP-FLOPS! Why? Because they'll be stuck back in the doormat when you're not using them. This is genius. (via Direct Daily)
Posted by mark at 10:59 AM. Permalink: Doormat Flip-flops
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Onion Swagology: Fraggle Snack
The Onion for dessert:
Item: Fraggle Rock Earth Day "dirt dessert" kit
Promoting: Season two of Fraggle Rock on DVD
Relevance to product promoted: Elliptical at best: Fraggles live in underground burrows, Earth Day is about the Earth, burrows and the Earth both involve dirt. It kinda all sorta fits together. Oh, whatever; there's sugar involved.
Item quality: 3. The kit consists of a little metal bucket with a poorly taped-on Fraggle Rock label, a box of chocolate pudding, a bag of Gummi worms, and a couple of little plastic Fraggle Rock characters. There's also an "Earth Day tip" recipe for "Fraggle Rockin' Dirt Dessert," a brown, lumpy, earth-like confection made by mixing pudding, crushed Oreos, and frozen Gummi worms in a pail. Kinda gross, but potentially tasty. Will it help save the environment, or make people feel kindly toward singing, dancing Muppets? Probably not, but it isn't likely to hurt either one either.
Posted by mark at 11:42 AM. Permalink: Onion Swagology: Fraggle Snack
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Onion Swagology: Dazed and Cuffed
The Onion takes it direct to video:
Item: Ridiculously flimsy plastic handcuffs
Promoting: Wedding Daze, a Jason Biggs movie originally slated to hit theaters in August 2007, then bumped unpromisingly and unceremoniously to a straight-to-DVD release
Relevance to product promoted: Depends on how often Biggs' character and the woman he randomly proposes to (Isla Fisher) engage in light bondage with shoddy materials.
Item quality: 1. These things wouldn't restrain a mildly determined toddler, which by the way is probably illegal and you shouldn't attempt to prove us wrong.
Posted by mark at 3:37 PM. Permalink: Onion Swagology: Dazed and Cuffed
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Onion Swagology: Disturbia Home Confinement Kit
The Onion gets an ancient Twinkie:
Item: Disturbia Home Confinement Kit
Promoting: The theatrical release of the teen Rear Window remake Disturbia
Relevance to product promoted: Creepy. In the film, surly Shia LaBoeuf is confined to his home for several months after punching an obnoxious teacher, and he whiles away the days with all-night voyeurism and weird projects like building an elaborate Twinkie tower. The kit includes a Twinkie, a can of Red Bull (for staying awake while spying on your neighbor to see if he's a serial killer), and a pair of cheap binoculars.
Item quality: 4. The binocs aren't too impressive, but the Twinkie and Red Bull are presumably the real thing. We'll have to wait until we get home-confined to find out. (Note: We will not be eating the Twinkie. It has an expiration date of March 2000. Who even knew that Twinkies were capable of expiring?)
Posted by mark at 11:04 AM. Permalink: Onion Swagology: Disturbia Home Confinement Kit
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Great Vacation Spot, Eh?
Well, perhaps Nine Inch Nails did do it first, but Canada is still gets points for being innovative with their USB flash drive tourism campaign. The red promotional flash drives were left in public places and contained an electronic brochure promoting Canada as a great tourist locale.
Posted by mark at 7:06 AM. Permalink: Great Vacation Spot, Eh?
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Don't Squeeze the Promos: Charmin
| For the second year in a row, toilet paper brand Charmin has given New York shoppers a little relief while also showcasing their latest product offerings. Quite the showroom for a hands-on experience. |  |
Posted by mark at 4:10 PM. Permalink: Don't Squeeze the Promos: Charmin
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Don't Squeeze the Promos: Dulcolax
| In this German outdoor promotion, best selling laxative brand Dulcolax intimates that it does deliver on its value proposition. |  |
Posted by mark at 3:59 PM. Permalink: Don't Squeeze the Promos: Dulcolax
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Drunken Steps Lead to New Wine Bar
Here's a cute promotion to raise awareness of a new wine bar: the traditional path of footsteps, implemented in "drunken style." (Or Family Circus Billy style.)
Posted by mark at 1:37 PM. Permalink: Drunken Steps Lead to New Wine Bar
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So Scary You'll Be Sweating?
| How scary is the new 3D Beowulf movie? Apparently so scary you'll need to wipe the sweat from your brow, hence these Beowulf promotional sweatbands. Speaking of which, somehow, through the strange machinations of style and popular culture, these have been a really popular item this year. Will it be leg warmers in 2008? |  |
Posted by mark at 1:21 PM. Permalink: So Scary You'll Be Sweating?
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