I am now convinced that you can print a logo on just about anything. These are some of the more interesting products that make you go "hmmmmmm."
a cooler you can ride on
a doggie umbrella
a scented shirt
a pen inside a bracelet
a fish hotel
a gps for your body
a solar powered briefcase (to always charge your laptop and phone)
a t-shirt you can actually "play" with guitar pics
and a portable amp
It's good to know that there's a product out there to go with just about any ad campaign. If you can dream it up, it can be printed up. From a t-shirt smashed together in a package that looks like a sandwich for a local deli promotion, to a bobble head in the likeness of your boss.... it's been done.
There's just something about images from our childhood that bring back warm, fuzzy feelings of a time when everything was right with the world. These warm, fuzzy feelings are just the thing many companies want to associate with their brand. Retro advertising ranges from vintage poster advertisements to promotional product replicas of items from another era. While living in a world of uncertain times, it's understandable why people are drawn to items that remind them of happier days.
I love it when companies that have been around for decades revert back to their original commercials and ad campaigns. As a child of the seventies, the Tootsie Roll Pop commercials were my all time favorite. How many times did we contemplate that answer? I know I tried a few dozen times to count the licks. Now my own children are doing the same.
Companies such as Crosley Radio have a custom printing department for adding your company logo to their vintage radios and juke boxes. About five years ago, a client came to our office looking for a Christmas gift to give to their top business associates. These associates grew up in the fifties and sixties. To appeal to their inner child, the final gift selected was a mini Crosley juke box with their company logo etched into the glass.
I first learned the value of a sign as a struggling college student trying to make a few dollars parking cars during Memphis in May. My boyfriend and I would sit in the parking lot of Mid-South Business Forms, owned by his dad, and take up money as people would drive up to park. We made probably a few dozen signs over the five years that we parked cars in that lot. We noticed that we worked way too hard the first year. We found that a few well-placed signs with just the basic information was the best formula for filling up the lot and keeping it full. By the last year, we were pros. We sat in lounge chairs with a cooler and a money bag while the signs did all of the work. We laughed at how hard we had worked the first year, running up to cars to collect the money, waving cars into the lot and explaining the same information over and over to each customer.
Over the past decade, I’ve seen thousands of promotional products. Maybe it’s my fascination with the power of signs from my college days, or maybe not…. but I really get excited over Snapquik Interchangeable signs. These little snap-on wonders are just simple and fun. It's the only sign that can do a "quick-change" by buttoning on and off. It's also pretty cool that it was the only thing still standing unharmed in an area that was struck by Hurricane Ike.
Kudos to one of my favorite marketing tools, the Chuck Norris of signs, Snapquik!
These originally started as the new wave of drive thru signage for banks. However, they are popping up on the Memphis scene in a variety of venues from high-class salons to good ole’ McDonalds.
"Our building sustained major damage from Hurricane Ike & took months to reopen, but our Snapquik banners and frames were still in place, left completely undamaged."
Looking at the statistics from a recent study by Advertising Speciaties Institute (2008), it is clear that certain promotional products give you more bang for your buck.
There’s no doubt that social media has changed the marketing landscape over the past decade, causing businesses to adjust their marketing strategies. Businesses are finding creative new ways to use facebook, twitter, pinterest, and blogs to tie in with their existing marketing strategies.
Spending marketing dollars on newsprint, magazine ads, radio and television spots are less effective and more expensive than using social media tied in with promotional products to increase brand awareness.
So, the question is: What promotional products are the most effective? Which ones will show the highest ROI? (return on investment)
Answer: There are three key ideas to consider. Choose products that are useful to your target audience, products that will be used often by your customers, and products that will be highly visible in the public with a large number of “impressions.”
Choose products that are useful.
81% of recipients keep promotional products that they can “use” for an average of 7 months.
Top 3 products that are considered useful by recipients:
1. Writing Instruments
2. Notepads
3. Bags
Choose products that are used by your client every day.
Top 3 product categories used almost daily:
1. Writing Instruments
2. Desk accessories
3. Glassware/Ceramics
Choose products that leave the maximum number of impressions.
Top 8 products based on impressions made per month:
1.Bags
2.Caps
3.Shirts
4.Writing instruments
5.Desk Assessories
6.Glassware/Ceramics
7.Calendars
8. Awards
Finally, remember to be consistent in your branding. Look for products that are representative of your company's image. Most importantly, have fun and be creative.
What do people feel when they hear your business name? Does your brand name elicit a sense of fun, excitement, warmth, friendliness, or quirkiness? Every time you print your name on a pen, shirt, or any other promotional product, you are slowly building your brand. Keeping that message consistent is also key to a successful brand building campaign.
So what items can you put your logo on that will bring about the type of emotions that you want associated with your brand?
A snuggly teddy bear says, "I'm a friendly company. You can count on us."
A custom rubiks cube says, "We are a creative, fun-loving company. We think outside the box."
And nothing says "I LOVE you, man" to your favorite clients better than a custom labeled bottle of brew.
However, my FAVORITE promotional category that works for all types of companies is......... food. Everyone loves to find a surprise treat on their desk or to receive an unexpected package of treats in the mail. It can induce a strong emotional response in the recipient. The first thing they will ask will be, "Ahhhhh, who did this?" Now that's the type of friendly feeling that I want associated with my company name. The fastest way to a person's heart is through their stomach and that is certainly also true in the business world.
One of my very faves in the printed food category are custom candies and printed m & m's. The best thing about these is that you can get the candies in your custom company colors.
Other fun food items include custom candy bars with your logo on the label, big homemade cookies with a four color image of your logo on the icing, and custom printed donut boxes ready to be filled with fresh donuts from your favorite local baker.
Some people are hesitant to buy food items because they do not "stick around" very long in their customer's office. However, the feelings that food will elicit in your client will far outweigh the feelings brought about by a stick pen. These feelings of warmth and friendliness will forever be associated with your name and that, my friend, lasts forever.
To bring back that loving feeling with your clients,
