Absolute Promotions Ecofriendly Promotional Products, Corporate Gifts, Printed Logo Items

Vintage Giveaway with New Appeal

I love nice matches.  I found this article in the NY Times last week and smiled. I'm definitely not alone.  Custom matches are inexpensive, useful, and allow a company a good imprint area to be creative with a lot of color.  Or you know what?  Even simple design can be great. Personalized matches used to be the party favor for weddings.

Box matches, book matches, tent box matches, cylinder matches...have you seen the pillow matches?  The matches are in a little envelope held within a little customized pouch style box. Girls love these.

You can pick colorful tips, go with super long matches, 12 matches, 20 matches ~ you design what you want for your budget.  You can imprint on the inside cover too.  Looks like these were used for some goodwill on the dating scene.

I still have a book of matches that I picked up in a cigar shop in Paris over 8 years ago.  I just love them so much and have never seen anything like them. They make the most sense especially as cigar matches.  Each match is about three inches long and made from a very thin piece of wood.  They are wider than a standard match stick though, each one about a quarter of an inch wide.  They burn slow with a nice size flame, perfect to light your cigar.  As you can see, I have about 9 matches left in the book.  They live in my desk drawer.  Love 'em and too scared to use anymore of them until I find another pack.  Gotta get back to Paris. 

I think customized matches may be a good giveaway for a trade show.  Could also be clever for the right company as a business card too.

Well designed matches are about the same price as an inexpensive pen.  Just thoughts....

New promotional Ideas that follow trends

I got my first pair of fingerless gloves in New York City at a flea market about two years ago.  They're fun, they're striped... I love 'em 

 

I have a new pair for this winter, thanks to Louis from the Rosebud Casino in Nebraska.  Louis wanted to do a giveaway for the bikers attending the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in 2009. He did customized fingerless gloves. They came out great and he took the time to send me a few photos and a nice note.  That's Louis on the right.

 

"The gloves look great.  I'm fighting off our staff with a stick so that we can make sure we have enough for our promotion.  Great work.

The gloves are a hit, our promo ends this week.  The Rally ended the 9th, but we started a week before and are ending a week after because most of the traveling is done in that period. 

 

This was the first time we had done something like this.  And it was a success.   

The good deal is that we know they are wearing them when they leave.  A few us ride motorcycles (myself included) and we've spotted the gloves on the interstate and at gas stations. 

Good work. "

This is the part of my job that I get high on.  Producing a cool product that enhances a Brand. Promotional items don't have to be stick pens and white 11 oz coffee mugs.   

I have a motorcycle.  When I started riding, I found out there is like a secret motorcycle hand shake.  I'm not sure how to describe it, kind of like a low hand wave.  Whenever you're cruising up the road on your bike and you come upon a fellow biker you both give each other a slow, low sweeping hand to acknowledge each other. It's cool.  I remember the first time I got one.  I felt like I was part of a secret club.  Makes me smile to think of the Rosebud Casino custom fingerless gloves.  It makes them doubly cool.  So now with the wave, they're not only fellow bikers but they shared a rockin good time at Sturgis at the Rosebud Casino.  Memorable. 

See you next year at the Rosebud, thanks Louis.

  

Custom Conference Giveaway

We just completed this new custom conference giveaway for the IT Solutions Management for Human Services 2009 Conference in Chicago.  It came out really nice.  The idea was to not only have a killer giveaway but to save money.  In the past they have done several giveaways at each show:  Bags, Conference programs and Pens separately.  This year we did it all in one shot and saved the ISM a bunch of money with a useful gift for the attendees.

We designed the piece to hold the greeting letter from the President, Mary Ellen Bennard, the hotel maps, plenary sessions, breakout sessions, sponsor descriptions, exhibit spaces, hotel maps, four color intro page, business card holders, pocket folder, a beauty of a Uniball pen also customized and held in an attached pen port.  We did it all on FSC Certified recycled paper and included 100 lined blank sheets so the attendees could take notes and use the notebook after the event referencing the valuable presentations they attended.  Can't wait to hear what they think the conference starts the 30th.

New Eco Desk Accessories

Here is a new eco-friendly idea for a business giveaway that screams natural. It's a business card holder created from 100% recycled cardboard.  You can have your logo customized on the small top centered front panel.  It also has, debossed into each piece, the universal recycled symbol. I like how it easily collapses too, makes for a great light weight mailer. 

Or how about its little cousin the 100% recycled cardboard mouse pad?  Both are easily under $5.00 with a logo, useful and they clearly say eco-friendly branding. 

Did you see the new mouse pads created from recycled rubber tires?

I love those.  I always wonder what will become of all those tires you see on the side of the road piled up.  What could be done with them to make them useful?  I've come across a couple small items that may help us to utilize those old tires, logo jar openers and mouse pads.  We're getting there.

Nest your Brand

 

You all know the bobble head dolls, created from resin plastic in the likeness of popular sport players, political players, television stars, singers, etc...    I didn't know this, but these are believed to date back to 1842.  Around 1950 the first modern bobble heads started to appear in the United States.  The process was a bit limited though.  The dolls all came out with the same faces and body style.  It kicked up a bit in 1960 with them being produced for some of the players in the World Series.  They were the first player-specific baseball bobble heads.  

 Things sure have evolved.  

Here is a new style figure we can "corporate" customize.  Nesting Figures or Nesting dolls ~ like the Russian Matryoshka doll.  Nescafe did the one below to introduce a new line of products. 

 

As you can see, non-traditional shapes can be done. I think they would be a big hit. Again, here I go with the value of giving away the unexpected.  Check out the traditional shape with a not so traditional look.

Caution: #Blggr@play

It's great when a company has the ability and the dough to produce a fun logo product. Clever promotional products, that capture the unexpected, make people smile.  Smiling is good. One promo product that is still one of my favorites is the logo stress sumo wrestler.  He's simple, happy, makes me feel good.  Don't know why.  I like the Hula dancer too, she's fun.

I found a new one I like.  Maybe not as funny, but with imagination, it can be.  It got me with the unexpected factor.  You know those hazard signs you see on the floor in public places?

 

We have these now desk size.  They are 3" wide and about 5" tall, made of that same heavy weight plastic you see the commercial signs made of and you can completely customize both sides. 

You could really have some fun with your employees or your clients.  Come up with lines ...like:  Caution: Hackers at work, BEWARE of Programmers That Carry Screwdrivers  You could even just use a warning that is commonly used outside but not expected in a say a ...cubicle: Caution: Personal Protective Equipment Required Beyond This Point  Or how about a funny warning hash tag:

Caution: #pmp@wrk

There are standard templates available too.  The imprint area is 2.5" x 3.5".  I would want one. I once heard an expression "A person's desk is like high priced real estate".  You have to be good to warrant space on it for your logo product.  I think done right, this would get space.

You know what else is good?  They are really easy to mail too.  That's always a great way to get peoples first time attention.  This one is worthy.  What do you think, like it?

Promotional buying is down.  I don't care what anybody says, they can paint all the happy pictures they want...every body is still cutting back.  They have to. 

Who would think a McDonald's commercial could make me so happy?  I smiled last night to see a commercial by McDonald's featuring a new Coca Cola collector's glass.

How cool I thought, two of the world's brightest brand icons get it.  Desirable logo giveaways will get people in the door, will make them feel good, will help relay good long-lasting feelings toward your brand. Coke did a great job with the glass design and offering a different color a week, making them a collector's item.  Really smart. 

I remember going to mickey dees when I was little.  The first time my Mom let me graduate from the cheeseburger to the Big Mac.  I was so happy. McDonald's and coke have been doing their thing since 1955, know what's really sad? I think there was a time that McDonald's glasses were the only glasses we had in the house. 

I'm going to McDonald's tomorrow, get my glass and do a little silent toast to promotional marketing at it's finest.