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

Thinking of You Custom Giveaways

It's probably not the best way to come up with ideas for AbsolutePromo, but I find I tend to highlight products that I would want or that I think are useful.  I just moved into a new home and it's still a little scary in the dark, in the middle of the night.  I would love one of these safety night lights.  They can be so many things:  a customized emergency light - if the power goes out they will automatically turn on.  You can take them out of their little AC plugs and they become a flashlight, or simply rotate them to use as a nightlight.  

For giveaways, I was thinking a nice welcome to our bank gift!  Or welcome to the dorm! for new students, Enjoy the rental!  Safety First for a work promotion, Welcome to your new home! 

They each have a rechargeable lithium-ion battery which will last for 7 hours.  They can be considered  Eco too since they will never have to have their battery or LED's replaced.  They're always ready to go.

While I'm talking about lights, here is another new light that I thought was cool. I like the modern style.  They're made of rubberized ABS plastic.  The lights can shine from the top and from the side at the same time.  They're like a promotional flood light. On the side of each are 24 LED lights which gives you some good coverage.  They have four LED's on top that you can use as a traditional flash light.  They feel soft to the touch with a matte finish.  They each have little wrist bands and arrive gift boxed.

New Technology Leads to New Promotional Products

I read that as of June this year, Apple had sold 25 million iPads.  That's like 87,000 per day, 8 million per quarter?  Wow, now with the iCloud incentives, updated iPhones?  iPad sales are probably going to be soaring even higher.

In the spirit of innovation, our promotional world is working hard to stay on top of it all. We have a boatload of new customized iPad and tablet products that will enhance the world of you tech users. Logo iPad cases, customized sleeves, imprinted docks, branded iPad speakers, logo styluses and more.  Big hits this year for corporate holiday gifts.   Here's a peek -

I like this cover for Guerrilla Branding.  It's a customized iPad protector that we can decorate with full color graphics.  It feels like leather to the touch but it's earth friendly. It has a tab lock type of system that lets you read hands free.

 

Here is another leatherette style that's lightweight and protects your iPad.  This one has a two way adjustable fold, so you can use your tablet horizontally or vertically.

 

Maybe you need a branded computer tablet sleeve:

This accessory is padded with memory foam so it can fit your Kindle, netbook, iPad, or whatever you need to carry.  It has full zip for the main compartment as well as an exterior pocket with a full comfy body strap.

 

An even simpler style is this sleeve.  It has security fast pass too, which allows the electronic device to remain protected inside the sleeve when going through airport security screenings.  It's made of that neoprene scuba like material.

 

Or how about a stylus/pen combo?  It has a soft rubber tip to use on your touchscreens.  (No more fingerprints)

 

or a stylus meets ballpoint meets laser pointer meets LED light?

 

Branded keychain stylus?

Perhaps a customized tethered stylus?

Microfiber cloths with your logo on it?  USB Speakers?   Docking stations?  You need it we can probably get it.  Or maybe you'll think of something new for us to customize.  We're up for the challenge.  I can't wait to show you what we're doing for AbsolutePromo's holiday gift. Think - Urbanears.  

The promo world is dancing as fast as it can.

Thanks for reading friends, Brand on and Happy Weekend.

Pets Need Promo Products too

So I got a puppy, his name is Desi. I love him already. (I'm thinking I should've named him Tank or Shredder though, the way he plows through my perennials, but that's another story)  He is 8 weeks old, a Rottweiler and he's a busy guy. I took him to a bike path along the Mohawk River yesterday for a puppy adventure. 

Help him become more familiar with new smells, new people, new energy, he liked it.  I thought I was prepared, only going a couple of miles from the house.  He had his new shiny collar on and I had grabbed our leash.  I'm quickly learning I have to pack a puppy travel bag. He needed water, it was hot and he was a bit nervous.  A toy would've been nice too, so he could relax and play in his new environment.  

On the way home, I thought of a few cool things in the promo world that I now know would be good giveaways for pet owners. 

Have you seen this? I like how it works. It's a stainless steel pet water bottle. It has a little roller ball on the top to allow the water to easily flow out. It is BPA free, has a wide mouth, so you can get in there to clean or add ice cubes, if your puppy likes it cold. It has two leak resistant caps and will even fit your car cup holder.  The Carabiner is a nice touch too.

The minimum is 25 pieces to customize as a giveaway.  I think it's a beauty for convenience and uniqueness as a giveaway for pet owners. 

I like this toy too:

I know Desi would love it. You can get them customized for under $5.00 each and the fabric can have up to 8 custom colors sewn to one side of the webbing.  And it's a "Tuff Ball" made from Petsport USA Inc, designed and manufactured in the United States. (Yay)

Here is something I could just keep in my car for road trips/puppy adventures like the bike path, cause I'm pretty sure I'm gonna want my dawg with me most times. 

It's a lightweight nylon, collapsible water bowl.  My puppy would've been so happy if I had this with me yesterday. It has a waterproof inner lining that easily folds down for quick packing and drying.  It can hold up to 2.5 liters of water or food, so when your puppy is no longer a puppy and needs a bit more to keep going.  It comes in the blue you see here, green, red or Black. 

There are some nice organic collars and leashes out in the promo world now too.  The quality of the embroidery is really impressive, check out this collar example:

 

Or maybe you're not the pet type of person at all.  Totally understand - No problem, how about a USB aquarium?  Where the fish never need feeding or care. Just add water. plug into your computer and you're ready to go.  Seriously, they have these.

Brand on....

2010 Promotions We've Been Working On

We're one of GE Energy's Brand Partners and here are a few of the promotional products we've produced for them this year.  I'm not sure if you can tell from my photo, but the silver piece you're looking at is a ruler paperweight that looks just like a paper airplane.  It was created for a division of the Operations Council Members.   The customized bag that I have everything shown on, is made in the USA, 100% organic cotton logo bag.  Here is the other side, which has a four color process customization showing a great clear image of a neuron:

It's great to work with GE, number one they are always eager to see new products that are out, number two they raise the bar for Absolute Promotions, most certainly and number three they keep coming back and appreciate unique Branding.  One of my favorite clients to work with.

Oh my goodness, this was a fun project to be a part of.  A referral from our client MEGAFORCE RECORDS. The band The Cringe was looking for a way to promote their new CD Play Thing. After a lot of thought, they went with this customizable Monkey's in a Barrel.  Remember that game from when you were little?  You can see from the artwork on their new album how it tied in:

Here is the top of the barrel: 
They are intended to accompany samples to DJ's across the United States. Great music, give a listen, it's their third album.

Another unique promotional project we've been working on is for the launch of a new product called miniCHILL.  You know how there are those energy drinks out there that hop you up on caffeine and other fun stuff?  Well this drink naturally chills you out.  It relaxes you and helps you mentally focus.  From what I hear, combined with a little "Spirits",it's a totally different buzzz. "Twice as Nice"  No calories, no sugar, no caffeine and none of that melatonin either.  You should check it out.  (We totally love our clients.)  These guys are risk takers when it comes to promotions too, love that.

Please let me know if any of my male Branding friends run into these around the world.  Tell me the location and I'll get you a free starter pack of miniCHILL.

A few of our clients needed some inexpensive giveaways that everyone could use.  They went with mobile phone promotional products.  You recognize the Driin Cellphone charger?  I spoke of that in an earlier Blog.  It rocks for recharging your cell phone or iPod and keeping them easy to locate and off the dirty floor.  The other piece you see is to keep the screen of your cell phone clean.  It is a little sticky cloth that adheres to the back of your device.  You know how sometimes your screens get a bit of sweat or makeup on them?  Well this little baby doesn't take up any space so you can still use your case, it can be rinsed under water and keeps its stickiness like new and it sends a positive Brand message every time your clients use it.  I have one for my iPhone and Love it!  I use it all the time. 

This is a mouse pad made of recycled tires.  It's a great promotional product for the eco conscience.  I think there was a time when all that companies gave out were mouse pads.  I think it's time we all get some new ones.  Especially green mouse pads that look cool and won't break the marketing budget. 

 
One more quick one:

I like these mints.  They can fit in your back pocket, two location Branding opportunity, they hold mints and toothpicks.  The rulers?  The back is already imprinted full-color with the presidents of the United States, so that cuts down on a lot of extra charges for extra colors.  The pricing includes your one color imprint on the opposite side.  The best part?  USA Union Made.  Killer plus now days!

Brand on Friends, Happy Summer ~ off to the CEG Technology Awards 2010

Health and Wellness Promotion

This week we were invited to display some of the  products we've produced over the years for the  2010 Eat Smart New York! Conference.  ESNY is a great nutritional education program held all around New York State.  It's free and the organization's job is to increase food security and reduce hunger.  They work with kids and low income people to access food, understand a healthful diet in a way that supports American agriculture.  It's a partnership between Federal, State and the County levels of government.  They all work together with community agencies and private businesses.  They're all about self-sufficiency.  

The place was packed with people, who you could tell were all very passionate about their work.  Eager to learn new ways to help people within their districts.  A lot of their work consists of traveling to different locations and leading classes at area cooperative extensions, individual homes, on-site agencies like senior centers and head start locations.

Here are the customized organic aprons some wear while leading the classes, the totes they use to carry their nutritional tools from place to place.    

These are some food safety promotions we've done.  They help with lessons showing the importance of rinsing and scrubbing vegetables using the promotional veggie scrubber, their customized colander and the personalized vegetable peeler.  They ordered the refrigerator thermometer and the meat thermometer with their logo too.  This helps establish the significance of keeping foods at a safe temperature for families.  At the end of each class each attendee gets to keep each of the promotional health tools.

It's not always about food.  It's about promoting a healthy lifestyle.  ESNY has created fun products like customized balls, toss games and water bottles.

This healthy education program is funded through a federal grant by the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Food and Nutrition Service.  They don't have a lot of money and have to follow strict guidelines regarding the cost of each item, the message the product sends out, as well as it's safety.  

I liked their conference slogan this year:  Energy in Food, Empowered by Nutrition.  Thanks Tarasha and Sandy for the honor to attend, it was really a great day.  Special shout out to Ms. Cindy Walsh, thank you.

Census Promotional Products

It's 2010 Census time here in the United States, the questionnaire is scheduled to be mailed to every household in March.  It's going to have just 10 questions.  That would make the 2010 Census the shortest and easiest to complete since the first one was issued way back in 1790. Governments, businesses and non-profits all rely on the data collected from the Census.  It determines the number of Congressional seats each state has, it decides city, county and school board seats.  It directly affects how more than $400 billion per year in federal and state funding is allocated to our communities for neighborhood improvements, public health, education, transportation and much more.  Helps with Civil Rights too. 

I know this sounds awful, but I'm especially excited over the Census this year because we were able to score a few gigs for customized Census promotional items.  So the 2010 Census for sure helped this small woman-owned business!  We did some work for the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) and the KAFSC (Korean American Family Service Center).  You think small businesses have it bad? Non-profits are really struggling right now, so it's cool that the Federal Government gives grants for promotional materials.  You have to meet their criteria but we were able to exceed their requirements by not only keeping within budget but using eco-friendly promotional items too.  Best part ~ All were made in the USA.  

Each product has to carry the Census Partner Organizations logo and the 2010 Census Logo.  The project can not exceed $3,000.00 including charges from artwork to shipping.  So really, you need a lot of bang for your buck.  You want to reach as many people as you can to educate them about the importance of the Census.  You have to get as many customized products as you can for the money and of course you want the product to be useful.   

We did full color sticky note pads, pens and 100% cotton tote bags.  Thanks for the trust, thanks for the business and special thanks to Paul Webster for thinking of us.  We very much appreciate it. Brand on...

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.

Got another one for you ~ Cool eco-friendly promotional product

Love 'em.

They are little eco notebooks.  Rather than blank paper within, they hold four pages of different sized recycled sticky notes.  The cover and back page are created from a 100% recycled paper board.

I think what I like best about this idea is the unexpected.  Since they are so new, people aren't thinking "little post its" when they open them.  They'll think clever new idea. Which is what you want them to think of your company, isn't it?  And offering so many sizes, there are little notes for all kinds of office needs from marking pages to leaving little recycled reminders for people.

There is a colored version too but you have to be able to compromise some of your recycling goals.  Only the eco brown notes will be created from 100% recycled materials the colored cover is created from paper board.  It's still strong baby steps to full green marketing.  You can still hold your head up and know you're doing the right thing as a company "Going green". 

If you need a full color branding vehicle for your message, know this can handle four color process on the cover too.  I hope you like them, I'm pretty sure your clients will.   

New Idea for Eco Meetings

New eco friendly logo product in the hood. 

This is perfect for the "one meeting" kind of event, where you have to give out something with your logo and you want to make a green corporate statement.  Just goes without saying you don't have a lot of money to spend and for sure you don't want the environment to take a hit. 

This is offered in all the new hip hues and the minimum to customize is 250 pieces to start. It has a soft saddle stitched cover, 20 lined pages within and each piece is created from 100% recycled material. 

I love new logo stuff that has a fresh look.

Biodegradable Trade Show Bags

A branders nightmare.  Your logo bag stuck in a tree, flapping in the wind for all to see.  Rats! That's going to leave a mark.

 
Good news ~ We can now customize, true ~ no confusion, biodegradable, reusable bags. The bags meet and exceed FTC regulations. They hit the environment, they begin to break down naturally.  You don't have to formally compost them.  If they do get mixed in with other recyclables, they're not going to contaminate the process.  And the price has dropped too, so you're not going to be punished for doing the right thing.

Here is what I found from the Federal Trade Commission's guidelines: "An unqualified claim that a product or package is degradable, biodegradable or photodegradable should be substantiated by competent and reliable scientific evidence that the entire product or package will completely break down and return to nature, i.e., decompose into elements found in nature within a reasonably short period of time after customary disposal." 

Here are some other clarifications I found: 

Biodegradable plastic - A plastic that biodegrades anywhere that natural organic material will biodegrade.

Compostable plastic - A plastic that biodegrades a little quicker and under more controlled conditions but certainly both aerobic and anaerobic and certainly not requiring extremely high temperatures.

Plastic that is Compostable in Municipal and Industrial Composting Facilities - A plastic that degrades very quickly under very specific conditions that requires a processor.

We like happy biodegradable plastic conference bags.

 

Every bag will also have a small symbol stating the guidelines they meet, so there will no be room for confusion.

Some day, when only biodegradable products are produced, people will look back at photos such as this and probably wonder what the heck we were thinking.

  

Until then we could make some nice furniture out of the bags?

This is so cool, have you seen the street art created by Josh Allen Harris in NYC?  He takes garbage bags and turns them into creatures utilizing the airflow created from the subway moving below the city.  His work is amazing.  Below is a photo of his bear and here is a video by New York Magazine explaining his animated bags.                Brand on...