The Redbows Promotional Gifts Blog

This week I came across an interesting article in The Marketer (published by the Chartered Institute of Marketing) which looked at a top ten of cultural clangers to avoid. There have been many classic examples from Kelloggs launching cornflakes into India where cold breakfasts are a no-no, to Pepsico’s translation of ‘Come alive with the Pepsi generation” which in Chinese equated to “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave”. Probably the recent mother of all clangers is the US Army handing out footballs covered in world flags in Iraq - the Saudi flag contains versus from the Koran - simply crazy, insensitive and just primed to back fire.

We live in a world where clangers are common place but fail to take the time to avoid them. Perhaps they are as hard to find as the ones that live in the moon - click Clangers for more info if too young to remember. It is simply a question of understanding cultural diversity and the heterogeneity of of the target audience. So often a marketing campaign is geared towards the masses rather than more honed strategies focusing on the specific needs of smaller niches. Niches which themselves can prove far more rewarding.

With many organisations planning their Christmas gifts campaigns we always stress at Redbows the need to employ some”visioning”. Profile your target audience and then imagine yourself receiving the gifts you are considering. Try some negative brainstorming - think about how you could kill your promotional campaign and make it missfire. You can be surprised what these creative skills can uncover.

And why the clangers? Well the image is of Mother Clanger. Now my mum knew she had 30 minutes to do what she wanted any time the Clangers came on to TV when I was a kid. OK so I am showing my age but click on the hyperlink and listen to the jingle - I swear it will have a calming effect and make you smile if you are from this generation. A surreal experience and one for the deep memory experts and psychologists to figure out.

An idea that works really well when selecting promotional gifts is brand-message metaphors. What this means is that you select a gift that reinforces your promotional tagline or a particular brand metaphor. It is always about impact with promotional gifts and so making the connection between the chosen giveaways and metaphors is of the utmost importance. For example, if you are promoting skiing holidays for fitness, offer a fleece cap or beanies. If your marketing proposition is that you are offering the most in the market, choose an over-sized promotional gift, like a large latter mug. Off course, the combinations are as endless as the gifts and metaphors mixes.

Our advise is to avoid the pitfalls - what may seem appropriate or funny to you might back-fire with your audience. A classic example of this is an insurance company offering promotional condoms - yes ideas like this really do get to the board room and yes, you can actually get these products (click Condomi) which are more appropriate to other campaigns like preventing teenage pregnancy and  sexually transmitted diseases. Believe it or not we were actually also asked for these along with pants and other items for giveaways at a world-famous male singers concert!

If in doubt or in need of any advice, I suggest you talk to one of our promotional gifts consultants - they have a non-judgemental, non-blushing clause in their contracts.

There is a lot of research in the UK on tradeshows and how to get the most out of them. I came across a recent piece in The Marketer recently quoting Gordon Glenister, director general of the British Promotional Merchandise Association (BPMA) - of which Redbows is a full member - stating that the current band wagon was on gifts that contributed towards saving the planet. The main point is that if you use an environmentally friendly gift for a trade show, then make sure you (1) brand it correctly and (2) make sure people know its made from recycled materials. I guess that it is all about promotion. If you use ECO gifts and are interested in saving the planet, then shout about it.

I love this time of year and one of the gifts that really brings autumn mornings home to me is the USB powered mug warmer. This is just one of those lovely simply electronic gadgets that you simply cannot do without - especially when your in a busy office, with little time to top up your rapidly cooling latte! Believe it or not mug warmers and even the USB powered vacuum cleaner are the most popular USB gadgets at the moment. Research shows that people are particularly notice (and memory retain) the brands they see within their work/office environment. Well I tell you what - if anyone even tried to take my usb mug warmer away they would notice more than the brand!

Halloween is upon us this month and what better time to think about client promotions. According to Wikepedia, Halloween is a Pagan festival. The word actually means All-Hallow-Even, as in the evening before ‘All Hallows’ or ‘All Saints Day’. Halloween is considered by some to be one of the most potent times for magic, when spirits can make contact with the physical world. I am not suggesting that you even attempt this or prepare the way with some delightful Halloween promotional chocolates. However, you may like to consider using this annual event as an opportunity for a themed promotion for clients, resellers or employees. Given the ‘trick or treating’ tradition of Halloween promotional confectionary is very appropriate and at Redbows we can basically taken any of  our confectionary items and turn them into something rather ‘naughty but nice’. Particular favourites are foil-wrapped chocolates either as individual chocolates, balls in a net or lollipops. Another is ginger bread men or should I be saying ‘Wizards and Witches’ ?

It is not just our famous chocolate brownies that are flying out of the ovens. This is one of the biggest supply seasons for promotional gifts companies. When you stand back and reflect it is easy to see why - the Christmas Party season and the start of a new year. During the next few months the range of items supplied can be quite staggering. Sure there are some firm favourites such as calendars and diaries which are traditionally given around this time of year but other gifts can also be tailored for the season. A popular one is isotonic energy drinks. The catalyst for which promotional gifts to use simply comes down to the theme of the promotion, timing and above all the creative work done. For example, an energy drink can be turned into a promotion to get a sales force on the move again following a Christmas party or for resellers looking to restart their sales campaign in the near year. The range of options is quite staggering and is another reason why our Promotional Gifts Consultants are innundated for ideas around this time of year. We even have to let them take some of the energy drinks home for their own consumption!