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

Wish List

Things like this make me want to be a kid again.  3D Sidewalk Chalk  I'm going to figure a way to use it as a corporate branding idea for my clients.

Smart Environmental Logo Item

Went on a day trip last weekend with a good business friend of mine.  She too is always looking for the next great adventure. We went Spring white water rafting down the Indian River through the Hudson River Gorge.  Full day event, stopping for lunch along the way and following up with a great barbecue dinner in the evening.  You can't see her, she's being pummeled by water in the front on the left.  That's me next to her on the right.  We had a great time, met some new friends. 

Jen, in the office was doing some research the other day for Michigan State University and found this new cool product.  I was wishing I had it on our rafting trip.  The water was beautiful, and the water I was hammered with tasted fresh too; but the safety and quality couldn't be ensured.  If I had this filtered water bottle with me that day, I would've been all set. You could dip this baby in a puddle and it would filter.  Pretty cool useful environmental logo gift, thought you'd think it was cool too.  Have a great weekend.

Tradeshow Talk

We may have a new client (Yaa!) We had our first meeting yesterday. I love first meetings.  I'm usually pretty fired up, listening, trying to learn as much as I can about the company.  I get high on researching, trying to think of cool ideas. This company is a billing software development company and participates in a lot of trade shows.  One of the things they are looking to do is drive traffic to their booth. 

As I was driving back to the office and thinking about some of the issues we discussed, I thought of a few things that maybe I should talk about here. In my experience, I find trade show attendees are similar to onions.  There are many levels that an exhibitor has to peel around to find their "Sweet spot of a possible client".  I have nicknames for a few trade show characters.
 

• Fanny Packers ~ You know the ones. After a few shows you can even spot them coming. Their mission is to go home with the most free stuff they can stuff into their bags. 

• Slickers ~ Definitely have influence in buying, but cruise the floor scoping out the exhibitors avoiding eye contact.  Deciding who is worthy of their attention.

• Buyers ~ Bingo.

I am grateful to everyone who takes the time to visit my space.  I want to share a positive experience. I want them to feel good when they walk away.  I just don't have the budget to buy everyone a giveaway.  So I am prepared with different promo items.  For the Fanny Packers?  I have displayed some type of retro candy, like Mary Janes.  Most people love them, they are a bit unpredictable, not readily available and not expensive. They're more than a mint, it shows we put some thought into it and they make people smile.

I was at a trade show in San Francisco a couple of years ago and they had a water globe that contained a golf ball and a tee.  The visitors had three tries to get the ball on the tee to win a prize. It's just simple fun, lightens up a trade show floor.  (PS: We can produce these custom golf globes with your logo golf balls too.  Just saying...)  

Slickers?  I have to pique their interest, get them to stroll over and give me a few minutes to help them understand how we can make their life easier. I think the logo screaming monkey is an unusual trade show logo gift that gets attention pretty quickly. Every industry is different, but it should be something a bit edgy and fun.  These are stashed somewhere in the exhibiting space. 



Buyers?  Now  we're talking.  Here is a visitor that perhaps is an existing client who has taken the time to locate you on the floor,  blocked out some time in their busy day to speak with you,  wants your product, and has the power to buy.  This is where we take it up several notches, it's spoilage time.  I don't think it has to be expensive, I just think it has to be thoughtful.  Has to do with your industry, and will delight your business friend.

What are some of your experiences at shows?  Any tips?  Always trying to learn, would love to hear your feedback. 

Eco-friendly Corporate Gift Ideas

It's an ongoing struggle to keep corporate giveaways fresh.  Now add the challenge of making sure the logo gifts are eco-friendly too. No fear, it can be done! I have a couple of new suggestions to toss out.  They're made of bamboo.  (One of the fastest growing plants on earth, it continuously. naturally replenishes itself.)

The first Eco logo idea is a funky custom bamboo business card holder.  I think it's unique and the glass ball gives it that natural contemporary look.  The logo is laser engraved into the bamboo, which takes the value up a notch. The minimum to customize is 100 pieces and they're in the $7 range to start, including your logo.  If you're an association, this would be a good way for your members to brag, naturally.

My other thought for the day, as a new environmental corporate giveaway, is a soft cozy fleece blanket created from bamboo and natural cotton.

When you're hosting an annual conference, one of your goals is to keep the event fresh, to have the attendees looking forward to new experiences each year.

One of the best compliments we ever received was when we were told by an executive how much they love to see it's our company sponsoring an event.  When they see our logo, they know the giveaway will be really cool and different.  That meant so much to us.

Whether it's a $1 trade show giveaway or a $25  executive  gift, know there are some cool logo giveaway ideas out there that can fit your budget, your theme and build/maintain your reputation as having the best giveaways. 

Recycled Promotional Ideas

Its great when new logo products come out that have great style, are offered in contemporary colors and are 100% Recycled. Four color process, custom imprinting capability too?  STOP IT!

It's true. All this is created from recycled fiberboard. You are only limited to your imagination when designing your piece.  What you see above is a small folio that can hold something about the size of a CD.

Is there a particular size you need for your custom Eco project?  It can be done.  Information kits?  Eco-friendly media kits?  Custom boxes with fitted inserts can be created too.  Check out some of the color and texture options: 
With the fun colors and the weight of the recycled fiberboard, it makes for a high perceived value promotional piece that will get noticed.

Choices of the hoop, pigskin, and golf textures ~ even sport corporations can get in on the Eco-friendly action. (Cool co-marketing opportunity for games and outings.) 

To the right is a style you can create in small quantities.  No minimum required. For small businesses this would be ideal for saving some cash.

Finally score an appointment with one of the "Big Dogs" you've been after?  Need a professional kit to make the pitch?  Here you go.  No set-up charge either. Sweeeet.

This decorating style is a digitally printed shaped plate. It's nestled into a debossed area on your recycled packaging, so that it becomes flush with the item.  You have 6 sizes to choose from with this no min method and they can be done on either a black or white fiber board base.

I'm loving the increase of cool Eco promotional product choices that are popping up.

So what's new?

It's not easy to answer this question when I'm asked.  There are new promotional products that are developed, it seems, every day. Businesses have their own identities.  A bank wouldn't customize the same thing as a cutting edge technology company, well maybe they would.  Maybe banks should?  Break out of their stiff molds. But that's a Blog for another time.

I discovered this product the other day.  I think it's pretty cool because it makes me think.  I imagine gum, so I'm curious, I notice the logo.  It's compact and useful for my lifestyle.  It is different.  Decided: I keep it. 

They're wipes.  Just add some water, perfect for traveling.  I'm not lucky enough to do the First Class travel yet.  My plane lands ~ I want to freshen up.  I'd prefer one of these to a scratchy paper towel.

Parents?  (Notice I didn't just say "Mom's".  Dad's are in the picture too)  Easy to carry with all the other stuff we're responsible to lug along to the playground, park, ball field, etc...  You get the picture.  They are 100% natural cotton, 10 inch X 10 inch, they naturally dissolve, so they have the environmentally friendly factor too.  You like?

Brand Worthy

The cool brand factor ~ Google, Apple, and Nike are some big names in the Brand world who have achieved it. The goal in marketing Brands, for most companies, is to get and keep their brand loved and considered genuine. By creating great products, staying on top of trends, and keeping the core message distinctive, great corporations can easily stand out expressing their individuality. Their loving consumers become even more dedicated to the brand for standing out as leaders in the industry. The consumers become the Brand’s best speakers. I have always loved the term “Sneezers”. 

Choosing logo promotional items is an important piece of the marketing plan to maintain the Brand image. If I received a logo gift from BMW and it fell apart, I’d be sad. I’d think that BMW didn’t care enough about me to invest in a worthy present. The gift, even though it is a logo item, should be  as cool and high quality that I perceive the BMW brand to be. I am a fan of their product, I’m proud of the brand I drive, I appreciate their cutting edge development I follow, and will continue to be unless... I start to get a bad message. There are a lot of car manufacturers upping the ante and trying to get my attention.  It may seem silly to some, maybe just because I’m in the business, but logo items speak volumes to me. 

I like this new promotional product. I think it’s Brand Worthy. Especially for those brands that are creative enough and earning their way into the "Brand Envy World". 

They are custom graphic skins 

They peel on and off, can be done in any size and they won't leave any residue.  You can do full color graphics and can stick them just about anywhere:  Painted walls, filing cabinets, laptops, doors, and more. 

What about creating one as a dry erase board?  Send one out to every corporate office as an introduction/ roll out for the new safety/quality/marketing program.

Need to attract the hard to reach, deep pocketed teens with something cool? ~ Great possible locker graphic or bedroom wall art.

The design should be "Stand out" and "Worthy" ~ just like your Brand.

 

 

 

Corporate Solar Bags

New corporate gift ideas?  Hmmmm...everyone wants a new worthy gift for their people. We've all done the padfolios, umbrellas, fancy pen sets, fleece ~ you know the routine.  There is a new kid on the block and it rocks as a new eco-friendly corporate gift.  It's a custom green energy bag. Let me tell you about a few product highlights:  It is a mobile solar power generator designed to charge all hand held electronics. Embedded on the outside are tough, waterproof solar panels.  The panels are so powerful that one hour in the sun will power 3 hours of your MP3 player or an hour and a half of your cell phone talk time.  Impressive.  There is a battery and an AC travel charger included just in case you get a cloudy day.  Also included are standard adapters for phones, laptop, car, USB and other hand held devices. 

The fabric is created from recycled soda bottles. (PET)  It is light weight, durable, UV and water resistant.  Amazing...there are a few different styles and the minimum order is 25 pieces to customize with your logo.  Great gift for a corporate eco lifestyle

Latest trend brief

One of my favorite trend websites has posted their latest briefing and it's all about eco, or Eco-iconic as they say.

Trend Watching  It's a great piece, hope you enjoy.

Eco Gadgets

It was just a couple of posts ago that I spoke of Eco-friendly custom Flash drive ideas.  We came across these cool custom Eco gadgets yesterday and wanted to share as soon as we could.  They are environmentally friendly custom USB memory sticks.  The style on the left is 100% earth-friendly bamboo.  Each stick will vary with the natural bamboo tones.  There are two options to customize this environmentally friendly flash drive.  You can pad print your logo in color or have your logo engraved, keeping the natural look.  I like the option to include a bamboo gift box too with the slide off cover.  Adds a nice touch!  The logo Eco USB stick on the right is created from recycled ABS plastic.  The recycled casing can be in any PMS color.  You also have a choice for corporate USB customizing style.  You can have the logo imprinted on a silver metal plate, or choose a full-color dome imprint.  They are high speed USB 2.0 and meet all RoHS standard's for environmental protection. They are ergonomic with their curved shape and have a contemporary matte finish. This style includes a recycled cardboard box.    USB's are the norm for custom corporate giveaways, so why not hand out a cool one that helps the earth?