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

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.

Customized Business Plan Napkin Notebook

Entrepreneurship is often associated with ideas.  Always thinking, jotting down, brainstorming, some of the best business ideas have been known to be created over a cocktail. There have been many scrunched up scrawled upon beverage napkins floating around in my pocketbook from time to time. 

When starting a business you need to have a concept.  If you can fit the idea on a napkin, in a few short sentences or diagrams that are clearly understood and easy to relate to then you're off to a good start.  This would be a great venture capital giveaway item, entrepreneurs would definitely get it.  They can appreciate the concept of this business plan napkin idea.

There are a couple of options when ordering this promotional item too:  Linen style business plan napkins or a coined edge style napkin.  Do you want 10 count logo plan napkins or 15 count?  It would be cool to include a logo gel pen too, but that depends on your budget.  When starting up a company, always have to keep an eye on expenses~ bootstrapping is definitely popular among smart start-ups. 

 

Customer-Driven Promotions

Consumer Trend Watch 2008 by Information Resources Inc was just released this week.  The IRI is the leading provider of insights for consumer packaged goods.  When I read it, I thought how helpful this information will be to help me direct my clients into powerful logo giveaway ideas. I'll get into that a bit later. Here is a quick run down on the report:

• Sustainability-Driven Consumers: Growing consumer awareness of the environmental and social impact of their purchases will drive “green,” organic, fair trade, and eco-friendly packaged product innovations and assortment options. (Oh good!...AbsolutePromo is on the right track)
• Multi-Tasking Products: With the mass expansion of product choices, consumers will be on the look out for items that cross categories and “do it all,” such as multiple ailment-treating medications and all-purpose household cleaning products.
• Redefining Fresh: Consumers are broadening their definition of fresh at both ends of the spectrum, with some placing heavier restrictions on fresh to include only local produce and others considering frozen foods “as good as fresh” in taste and nutrition due to new steam-cooking technology and premium ingredients.
• Natural Beauty: Cosmetic and skincare innovations will expand further into all-natural ingredients, offering chemical-wary consumers non-synthetic alternatives across multiple product lines.

Some people categorize promotional products with the negative title of "tchochke's".  Which, if my research is correct, is a Yiddish term meaning object that collects dust.  But they are so much more, as we all know.  They can drive business by keeping your brand top of mind.  The marketing money that stays around and keeps giving and giving and giving.  Using the information from this report, after identifying our target audience, we can figure out what style consumer we're after.  Locate a corporate promotional gift that is before it's time and would delight our client. 

Our niche is to find products that aren't offered traditionally in the promotional products industry.  Just because they are not a commodity ~ doesn't mean they can't be branded with your logo.  For example yesterday I located a manufacturer that can create custom socks made from bamboo. Which is a natural plant based fiber, completely renewable resource, naturally anti-bacterial, durable and luxusiously soft. Our logo bamboo socks would fit into a few categories above:   They would hit the heart strings of the Sustainability-Driven Consumer who buys with environmental awareness and we'd get the Natural Beauty Consumer with the all natural ingredients then we'd enfold the Multi-Tasking Product buyer who is happy to to wear something that accomplishes three desirables!  Choosing this type of eco-promotional giveaway would depend on your event and target audience of course.

There are a lot of cool branding ideas out there that are unique.  It is so important to stay on top of trends.  It can make the difference between a tchochke and a promotional homerun for your company's brand.

Made you Look

I'm always strategizing to reach new clients. How can I get my company in front of the decision maker?  How can I trigger a positive reaction to encourage a meeting?  Not a new problem, judging by all the articles and Blogs I read, I'm definitely in good company with this problem. 

When I target someone, sounds ominous I know, I research their company. All the basics of course:  Who are they, What do they do, How are they successful, How can AbsolutePromo.com help them? etc...  Then as I drill down further: Is this the type of organization that I have to turn on a full department or an individual?  What is the age range?  Are they fun? What have they done in the past for their client's attention?

This product, custom Jack-In-The-Box, if came through corporate doors, would get to the marketing decision makers desk.  It meets so many requirements:  Creative, imaginative, fun, a bit off the wall, unexpected and full of goodies.  After having your logo placed, you can either have it filled with hard candy or shipped empty.  I would have them shipped to my company empty.  Then I would personalize each logo jack-in-the-box with special candy for who I'm after.  Hot Balls for the ad agency  ~ are always under the gun/pressure, Double Bubble gum for the project managers ~ always on the run/deadlines deadlines deadlines, etc...  Logo personal notes too but that just goes without saying, right?

Cool Conference Giveaways

Wouldn't you love it if the bag you received at the next conference you attended was worthy and cool?  Wouldn't it be great if the next bag you provided for the attendees at your conference was actually used?  Your logo was seen everywhere?  People were calling to try to get their hands on one?  It can be done...

Check out this new promotional conference bag that is available to customize. Plenty of room to hold the shows agenda.  Strategically placed pockets that can hold participants conference giveaways too.  It is available in three sizes to fit laptops from 13 inches up to 17 inches.  It's made from the material they produce wet suits from, so not only water resistant but nice and cushy.  The color choices are this cargo green, black or brown. I love this laptop sleeve.

Promotional Trends

Ahhhhh  New York, I just returned from the International Gift Fair and it was fantastic.  I'm always on the hunt for new promotional items, try to beat my friendly promotional competitors to the punch.  I came away with some great new promotional ideas that I hope you like too.  It will take a couple of weeks to make them available for customization; but I'll sneak in some peeks this week as I Blog.  Please let me know if you think they'll fly for cool corporate logo items. 

There are a lot of logo accessories for the iPod, what do you think of this cute little customizeable speaker?  There is NO BATTERY required, yup that's right, runs off the iPod battery.  Great value right there, to give out for some positive brand reaction.  It is only 2.5 inches long and less than one inch wide ~ the size of my thumb! They come in all sorts of colors and have the perfect center spot for your logo!  Each piece also arrives in it's own little hard plastic case that will protect it, protect your logo and definitely add to the pieces value. I have a red one and it is so cute.  I love it.

Custom Trade Show Bags

You know when it hits the front page of the New York Times, you've got an official trend.  Retail stores are investing millions of dollars in research, design, and materials for their logo shopping bags.  In the past, shopping bags were just a means of carrying your purchases home.  Now logo shopping bags and promotional trade show bags are a statement of the businesses taste and quality.  "Fantastic products and it shows in the high quality bag we give you to carry your purchases home.  We are grateful for your business and we want to thank you with this cool bag."   And the thing is; it's working!  The bags are so nice, people are using them over and over and over again.  Customers are re-using the bags to carry their lunch, their gym clothes, return things they borrowed, carry their shoes to work, bring the kids extra toys to the sitters. The bags have become "Walking billboards" as stated in the article.  It goes along with what we said a few posts ago, premiumization of the brand. Invest a little more and raise the brands perceived value.  Here is an example with it being as little as budgeting a few more cents into your hand out trade show bag.  Have fun with the bag design, match it up with some special logo tissue, or a free custom non-stick decal.  Smile and give the final experience at your store or on the trade show floor, as your client departs, a strong spin.  Nothing beats a positive experience to bring people back.

People and families are working really hard.  We all are.  When we spend our money we want to know we're getting the best, a little spoilage for ourselves.  Be it a vitamin enhanced water, a vodka with gold flecks or a beer brewed with spring water from the Dalai Lamas personal stash. There are so many simple methods to take the customer experience up a few notches. With some thought, it can be easy to take your great business up to a great upscale business.

There are so many new styles offered in custom trade show bags.   Materials, handles, Eco bags, funky imprinting methods, it can be fun to figure out which style bag best fits with your company's message.  What can you do to make the bag become your corporate advocate?

Promotional trends

Hey, did you get your 2008 Trend report from our friends at Trendwatching?  I look forward to mine every year.  I'm always curious to see how I can apply the information to promotional products for my clients in the upcoming year.  One of the trends is titled Premiumization ~ How can we take a giveaway up a few notches?  These trends apply to regular folks, the people attending the trade show, the people opening the mail, their expectations have risen. If you're doing a giveaway, make it worthy of their expectations. Let's look at a nice promo gift, a Custom Post-it note cube.  Everyone can use them, we all love getting them and they have great staying power for your message.  Well check out this promotional premiumization for the custom note cube. Nice right?  Funky.  Attention getting.  Has the Wow status.  You can change the shape during the life of the pad, which is a long time.  Your logo will appear on each page.  I also love the fact that you can stripe it according the the colors of your logo.  Niiiiiiice.  Not only a note cube since you can manipulate the shape over and over ~ it can become the new desk stress toy too.