Modern companies have realized the importance of presenting their corporate social responsibility vision–how they are taking care of the environment, their customers, and their employees in a way that respects diversity and well-being of all interests. While these policies are often found within the confines of corporate documents like annual reports and business plans, there are many ways where it can be communicated to relevant parties. Promotional products are one such method a company can employ as it relates to customers, business partners and staff.

Spreading the Good Word with Promotional Products

To duly position a brand and its image, it is wise to use promotional products that offer more customizable space to publicize social messages and philosophies. That means looking for items that have a large imprint area so as to include more than just the company name or logo, telephone number, and web address.  Some excellent products that may have a larger imprint area include:

• Apparel, including hats and t-shirts;
• Bags, backpacks, and totes;
• Calendars and posters; and
• Journals and notepads.

 There may be other key socially-driven communication channels to promote on your branded promotional merchandise, including a blog address, Facebook fan page, LinkedIn profile or even a QR code. This provides a way to let others know the level of interaction and engagement you desire and have available.

 Motivating Staff through Socially Responsible Promotional Products

Another way to look at spreading messages and a company culture of corporate social responsibility is to focus on motivating staff to live the company’s vision by providing them with products that foster this mindset.   Promotional items with short, poignant messages about social responsibility can help them keep these ideals top of mind. Some fitting products include:

• Awards and recognition plaques for achievement of a certain socially responsible company ideal;
• Badges, buttons, or magnets that they can post somewhere to remember what they should focus on when making key strategic decisions;
• Gift baskets and drink bottle labels with key messages about social responsibility;
• Clothing that combines the corporate brand and socially responsible messages; and
• Jewelry, such as watches or cuff-links that symbolize the corporate commitment to social responsibility.

 Today, the marketplace cares about companies who conduct business in a socially responsible manner. Strategic promotional products can ensure your efforts and ideals are visible and aptly considered when decisions are being made.

 In Summary

Here are some key ideas about promotional products and corporate social responsibility:

• These products are a great way to get messages about the corporate vision in this area out to clients, potential customers, and employees.
• Select a product with a larger imprint area to list all the communication and engagement channels so clients know where they can hear more about these messages.
• Employees can be motivated to live the corporate social responsibility strategy with products that are sure to motivate them.

 References

Source: Premium Incentive Products, July/Aug 2012, p. 12

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

With more concern and focus on health and wellness in the workplace, it makes sense to address the issue in your corporate logoed gifts strategy, whether the recipient be internal staff; current business partners, clients or customers; or would-be prospects. When customers and employees know you have their health at heart, it helps strengthen those bonds of loyalty and motivates them to continue working with you.

There is a wide array of health-minded corporate logoed gifts on the market today starting at extremely budget-friendly price points.  We’ve done the heavy lifting to gather this quick list of some popular health and fitness-minded merchandise that can be branded with your logo:

• Pedometers track just how far a person can go with their exercising each day, including steps taken, distance walked, and calories burned. You may choose pedometers in different sizes – even those with wide screens for clearer viewing – and a wide range of colors to match your logo and company colors. Some pedometers even have extra features, such as BMI and body fat measurement functions to track progress on health goals.
• Heart Rate/Pulse Rate Watches help ensure that you keep your heart rate and pulse rate at a safe level when exercising and even when at rest. This can help a person better understand how their body is working to ensure they are exercising effectively and generally staying on track.
• Multi-function Exercise Sets provide a way to address many areas of the body that may need some attention with respect to physical fitness. As a gym-on-the-go, these sets make it easy to exercise anywhere, anytime plus it allows you to put your logo on more than one item! Typically, these sets include exercise items like a pedometer, jump rope, stretch exercise band, hand grip and sport towel. Other kits are also available for specific exercise or health interests like a walking enthusiast’s kit or a wellness kit.
• Individual pieces of exercise equipment also make good corporate logoed gifts, including such items as an exercise ball, jump rope, yoga mat and stretch band. Each of these is a great portable exercise tool that will help a person stay in shape at home, at the office and even on the road.

In Review

In summarizing some of the best ideas for health-oriented corporate logoed gifts, consider these options:

• Pedometers and heart rate/pulse rate watches all help a person track their progress on health and exercise goals, providing a way to celebrate any accomplishments and understand how much more needs to be done.
• Multi-function exercise sets help take an exercise regimen on the road or to the office while offering a way to undertake multiple types of exercises to address all parts of the body.
• Many types of individual exercise equipment are available to appeal to certain people’s preference for types of exercise, such as strength building, yoga, and cardiovascular exercise.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

With the New Year upon us, it is time to revisit those resolutions to get in shape and take better care of the body, mind, and spirit– and encourage your customers, employees and business partners in kind. To help those within your network achieve their wellness goals in the New Year while also increasing your company’s visibility, it’s wise to structure your upcoming branded merchandise campaigns around health, fitness, and beatify products.

Here we detail some of the top trends in health-related branded merchandise that’ll make the recipient feel good on the inside and out while concurrently achieving strategic promotional objectives:

• Yoga mats are very popular as the practice has rapidly increased in popularity for its ability to trim and strengthen the body while calm the mind and alleviate stress. As a branded product that you can give your clients and staff, there is considerable room to advertise your company thanks to the various mat styles and print customization options now available. Even better is when you can supply your clients and employees with a yoga mat that can be rolled into a convenient carrying bag with a handle, which provides a second place to get your company mark and message noticed with an imprint.
• Sports armbands for electronics have become more important as runners, walkers, and exercise enthusiasts rely on music or audio books to motivate them through their routine.  Your clients and staff will love this convenient accessory where they can safely store their iPod or MP3 player while they exercise, keeping it clear of harsh weather elements as well as ensuring it doesn’t drop or get damaged.
• Fitness journals are being used more often to track progress, especially as more walkers and runners and weight lifters want to keep on top of what they have accomplished and set new goals to go farther or faster. Tracking your fitness accomplishments is certainly a great motivator to stay on track with those resolutions.
• Calorie/Fat/Carb counter guides are also a good way to stay on top of health goals in the New Year. It’s become so popular that even restaurants in some states must now publish their calorie and nutrition information, which makes it easier to track this information and manage dietary intake as a key factor for losing weight.
• Hand sanitizer continues to grow in popularity as more people seek to avoid germs in order to stay healthy. These branded merchandise bottles now come in all sizes, including those that go on a key chain or clip up to larger bottles for the desk or counter.

In Review

To summarize some of the popular trends in health, fitness, and beauty branded merchandise, here are some products to consider to help staff, clients and others achieve their New Year self-improvement goals:

• Yoga is hot for helping both the body and mind, so yoga mats and yoga mat bags are a well-loved promotional item.
• Sports armbands help exercise enthusiasts protect their electronics while they run, walk, and workout so they can remain motivated while they sweat it out.
• Fitness journals and food counter guides help to track progress on goals and stay on target with specific health and fitness goals or resolutions plus serve as motivators when it’s easy to see just how far a person has come!

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

One of the most popular and enduring promotional products has been the pen. And with good reason as pens are a ubiquitous front-line, high-use, readily visible tool in the business world and beyond.  For these and other reasons, including their affordable price point, pens are one of the most practical promotional products on the market and remain a highly effective strategy for getting a company’s name and brand seen in the marketplace.

 Here we’ll cover a few current trends in the promotional pen marketplace.

 Pen Trends

Recent surveys illustrate just how much consumers appreciate promotional pens with 46% of all U.S. consumers noting they have at least one in a drawer or bag, according to ASI Ad Specialties Impressions Survey. These often come from hotel rooms, offices, beauty salons and service-based businesses.

 And, with the fact that pens are such a low-cost promotional item, averaging a tenth of one cent per impression, it makes good business sense to select this as an investment that pays a significant return.

 While pens certainly serve a function, there are some notable ways to make your promotional pen a standout amongst the competition’s promotional products:

• Expensive-looking pens that cost less than they look is one of the biggest trends. Indeed, manufacturers are re-designing what had been mid-range pens but using lower cost materials in order to lower the price point for customers. These include sleek brass and stylish aluminum pens that can cost as little as those basic plastic stick pens that didn’t exude style per se. Even the ink in these modern pens has been upgraded as technology has improved, also allowing these promotional items to come down in price.
• Savvy marketers will look to pop culture for inspiration to design appealing and eye-catching pens. These include everything from pens with neon colors or pearlescent shades to a wide range of cool and hot ink colors that reflect trends in clothing, automobiles, and interior design.
• It’s always wise to add more, and today’s pens can offer multiple functions that serve this purpose. This includes features like a light on the pen, a stylus tip, or even a key chain. Provide consumers with more functionality, and they will be more likely to hang onto that pen rather than misplace it, providing a longer period of visibility for the brand detail imprinted on the instrument.
• More people are looking to buy products made in America to support growth in the national economy rather, and are even willing to pay a higher price per unit for domestic manufactured goods over those produced in other countries.
• There is an ongoing trend toward customization of products where customers have more options and versatility in the type of personalized information that can be imprinted on pen barrels, which can readily set their promotional endeavors apart from the competition. This could include photos, graphics, textures, grips, and more colors or specialized logos that stand out.

 In Summary

Here is a summary of the pen trends and their value as one of today’s most popular promotional products:

• Pens are one of the cheapest promotional items but also one of the most popular ones for their practicality.
• Everyone is looking for pen manufacturers to raise the bar on quality, performance, and functionality but maintain the same low price.
• Pen designs recently have been inspired by consumer markets like clothes and interior design.
• Customization remains an important trend in pen design to help businesses differentiate themselves among the competition that often uses the same type of promotional products.

 References

http://counselor-digital.com/publication/?i=127096&p=92

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

With an often limited budget to put toward marketing and advertising, companies are regularly challenged with deciding which channels or vehicles will deliver the most ROI. For their part, promo products are often compared against traditional forms of marketing such as television, radio, print advertising. In a recent survey, it was found that promo products actually deliver the best return for investment—one that extends beyond just reaching existing clients. 

The Return from Promo Products

Findings published in Advantages magazine indicate that the majority (60%) of people who receive promotional merchandise then decide that they will do business with the granting company, and experience an overall increase in their favorable impression toward that company. 

Also of benefit is the fact that promotional products often commonly get passed on to others if not used by the original person rather than being thrown away. This actually provides a viral way for the company to reach more of its target audience and beyond without having to do the work or pay for additional impressions.

 Even better is the fact that this strategy is so much cheaper than traditional marketing and advertising mediums, offering a considerable payoff for what can be as little as half a cent per impression than, say, a few dollars or more per impression utilizing the traditional route.

 In order to get the best return, however, it is recommended that a company does its homework and get an idea of the individual preferences among various demographic groups that may be targeted as part of such as promo product campaign. Some promotional items are more attractive to certain groups than others and it’s imperative to strategize accordingly.

 Promo Products that Fare Well

In listing those items that appeal to the largest audience and deliver an attractive return among the many choices of promotional and branded products, the most ROI was gained from:

• Bags, backpacks, and totes
• Caps and headwear
• Writing instruments like pens and pencils
• Shirts of all different styles
• Calendars, diaries, and planners

These are practical items that most anyone can use so the recipient is likely to hold onto the item and even wear it if it’s apparel-related. In turn, become walking billboards for the company whose logo and information are on them, which enhances the potential ROI. These items also have considerable room to put critical contact information, including name, address, phone, email and website address.

 In Review

Here is a summary of the key ideas about promo products and why and how they deliver a significant return on investment:

• They cost less per impression than traditional marketing channels like television, radio, and magazines, which immediately drives up the return.
• Those that receive them either keep them or pass them on both of which have been found to leave the recipient with a positive impression of the company and a greater likelihood of buying from them.
• Promo products should be suited to certain demographics but the overall products that do best are bags, headgear, writing instruments, shirts and calendars.

 References

Source: Advantages Magazine, Feb 2011, p. 107

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Today’s marketplace is rife with options…there’s always a company purporting to do it better, faster and cheaper, making fostering customer loyalty more important—and challenging—than ever. Given the high costs associated with finding new customers and distributors, it’s imperative to find effective ways to strengthen existing relationships. Popular methods include sending logoed corporate gifts, executing giveaways, and engaging with customers via social media. 

Corporate Gifts 

Customer loyalty can be fickle, and business decisions are often based on emotion as it relates to a relationship that’s been pre-established and well nurtured. Of course, it’s easy and common to lure business your way or show gratitude with a logo laden gift. And with good reason…it works! However, corporate gifts are quite powerful in strengthening a relationship when a problem presents.  In fact, problematic situations can actually create an opportunity for a marketing savvy company. Compensating for a customer’s poor experience, like recognizing and reversing the impact of a service error, can actually pay off in spades.  Rather than losing a customer or risking poor word-of-mouth buzz, go above and beyond to convey your desire to apologize and otherwise “make good” on the situation with notable branded corporate gifts. These can take many forms, such as a gift basket, a clock or a watch, wine or wine glasses, or a golf gift set. You would be surprised how appreciative a formerly disgruntled customer can become with this simple gesture.

 Giveaways

Another way to leverage logoed corporate gifts is to create giveaways that not only incentivize long-standing customers to keep doing business with you, but these giveaways can also be used to encourage customers to provide valuable marketing data. This can include taking a survey or providing feedback on their experiences with various facets of your business. They can also be used to motivate, incent and reward employees in various creative ways. The giveaways show that you have their interests at heart and seek to provide them with items of value, while concurrently achieving strategic marketing goals.

 Social Media Engagement

Another effective way to engage with your customer base is in the social media arena through Facebook fan pages, Twitter exchanges, and Pinterest pins. Here you can elicit dialogue directly with your customers and find out what they are thinking about you…and the competition. By leveraging social media to tap into your customer’s needs and impressions, you can then address this key learning with your marketing engine. You can also utilize social media channels for branded corporate gifts giveaways or contests that keep your company top of mind.

 A Word of Thanks

Even in today’s virtual world, there’s still room for tradition that seems simple but means so much to customers, and that is a ‘thank you’ in the form of a handwritten note. Send this along with a gift, even as simple as a branded pen, to up the appreciation ante.

 In Summary

Here is a summary of the ideas connected to corporate gifts and maintaining customer loyalty:

• Corporate gifts and giveaways are a way to keep customers interested in the company and also help to smooth over service mistakes when they occur.
• Social media engagement is a way to find out what is on the minds of your customers so you can address those things.
• Traditional tactics still work, especially when it comes to a genuine ‘thank you’ by phone, handwritten note, or in person.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }