The Redbows Promotional Gifts Blog

We have seen a huge increase in enquiries from business start-ups so far this year. Two things we notice: more people are turning to the internet as a technology that allows them to quickly reach a large audience – either through Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising or good search marketing, and secondly that more women are looking to enter the business world. ‘Mumtrepreneurs’ is the new in vogue term. But what does this mean for our industry? Well from the enquiries we are seeing more clients are looking to purchase start up sets and small quantity/low cost promotional items like pens, mugs and mousemats. This is great news for companies like us and we are doing all we can to help these new start-ups and ventures, with special offers on selected items including small quantity run printed pens and free origination on promotional items like stress shapes and balls. There is no doubt that there is a general levelling going on in the business world but we hope that in our way we can help new companies take that first step into promoting themselves and getting their names and contact details out there.

Promotional products are a broadcast medium just like any other print, radio or visual media. As such when designing the imprint you need to remember that there are certain key elements. Let’s start with the background. No we are not talking blue ones as in Star Wars but the materials you will be printing onto. When choosing the colour of your promotional product you need to ensure your logo will stand out. There is no point choosing a product colour that will clash with your logo and imprint. Sometimes if there is more than one colour in the logo you may decide to opt for a single colour print and one that will give a high contrast. Imagine the Redbows logo on red promotional pens and you can see that the red loops and name would not stand out. Then you need to think about the imprint itself. Try not to clash fonts and mix them up. A single font is always best for clarity, especially when the imprint area is fairly small as on a promotional pen or pencil. Then choose your imprint colour. As with your logo make sure this stands off the promotional item. Don’t let your marketing message get lost and make sure you make as much of this broadcast medium as possible.

I know that many of our clients are avid golfers. Now is the time when they put on their baseball caps and fleeces and head down to the driving range to get some practice in, before the inevitable weekend jaunts around water logged courses in freezing temperatures. Golf is one of those wide-appeal sports that offers plenting of promotional opportunities and at the Promotional Gifts Store we have a very wide range of branded golf gifts and merchandise. What I like about this range so much is the wide range of items and budgets we can appeal to. Starting with low-cost items like branded golf tees we move on to higher value items such as clothing and even golfing umbrellas. Now a personal favourite of mine are the golf putting sets – perhaps because they allow me to practice golf in my office or living room, in the warmth with a nice mug of tea and a Toffee Crisp close to hand. Nice…

In 2009 you have to make sure that all your marketing budget achieves a return on investment. The days of throwing half away in the vain hope that something will stick are gone. In the coming year we need to work on marketing activities with clear measureables and promotional gifts are one such area. So if you invest in promoional items let your clients know and create an environment where this type of gift and reward giving becomes part of the normal business and corporate relationship. Invest in a range of gifts that can be used throughout a campaign, time period or year and always carry a good stock of them ready to roll. For example, keep a stock in your office and meeting room so that you can hand them to a visiting client at the end of a meeting. Pass them out to your sales force and ensure that they are given out to clients on a regular basis. And remember that eighty percent of your turnover comes from twenty percent of your clients so make sure your promotional gifts campaign rewards your whole client base with perhaps a skew of higher value rewards towards your more profitable customers.

Well 2009 is finally here and as I write my first blog entry for the new year I am reflecting on a wonderful Christmas and the gifts we shared and received around our family and friends. The central theme to any gift giving is – it’s the thought that counts. With an interesting year ahead for the UK economy we all need to be getting the maximum return on investment from our promotional marketing and we all know that behind any great campaign or event lies clear objectives, a consistent strategy and well thought out tactics. We actually predict that the market for promotional products will continue to expand in 2009 because businesses need to become more dynamic, strategic and tactical. Promotional items remain one of the clearest marketing tools when it comes to developing new business, building brand loyalty and rewarding clients. Will there be a shift in purchasing patterns? We think not. Firm favourites are somehow now engrained within the world of corporate gifts and business gifts and you can expect to see a flourish of new pens, mugs, mousemats and other favourites appearing in your offices through out the year. Perhaps this year though they may be ‘greener’ as gift ranges expand to encompass environmentally friendly products.

Action man has just warned me that he is coming down with a serious case of ‘man-flu’ – that’s my other half for those not familiar with my blog. So as he walked in the door I gave hime some handy heat pack promotional gifts to keep him happy this weekend. Seriously, heat packs are a great ideas for winter promotions and come in all sorts of shapes and colours. We can even supply them as keyrings. They are novel and fully reuseable -simply drop into boiling water to reenergise them.

I came across the Network She website the other day – a website and community exclusively for women in business. With the UK economy feeling the impact of poor banking decisions and easy credit facilities, we really do need to support the development of a new generation of businesses. I anticipate that a large share of these will be started by women in their homes who will seize the opportunities afforded by technology and the internet. All it takes is a good idea and the determination to go for it. Starting any business, even one selling promotional gifts is never easy but organisations like Network She are there to help, provide support and contacts.

Yes this was a fascinating finding on the BBC website today – Hot Drinks Promote Warm Feelings. Now we have known this for years in the promitional industry and it is one reason why promotional mugs are such a big seller for Redbows – especially around the autumn period. What the research shows is that if you want someone to warm to you give them a warm drink. The great thing about a mug personalised with your logo is that the feelings the user has when the mug is cupped in their hands become associated with the brand itself over time i.e. refreshing, warmth, enjoyed, looked forward to, cannot live without, essential and a general all-round good feeling. So if you want to make the right impression and promote yourself this autumn go and stack up on your promotional mugs – and we would suggest go for a ceramic more than a plastic one as this adds a further level to the experience.

The internet is proving to have another major effect and this is on the environment. As websites like the Promotional Gifts Store become more sophisticated they offer visitors an electronic catalogue which can be browsed anywhere in the world. Apart from great content all the website needs is superb navigation and search facilities – something we trust our Gifts website is becoming known for. The effect on the environment is massive in terms of CO2 emmissions and deforestation. So what will we do in 2009? Is the end of the paper-based Redbows Promotional Gifts Catalogue as we know it in sight? Probably is the simple answer. Another factor affecting the decision on when to end the catalogue is its ‘updateability’. With over 6,000 products to manage (and many more we could add) we probably update around 20% of our items on a regular rolling basis. No printed catalogue could expect to keep pace with such changes and removing them will help us all move towards becoming Carbon Neutral.

How do you save costs when it comes to promotional gifts? The easiest way without sacrificing quality is to examine your imprint closely. The higher the number of colours used, the higher the print costs. The lowest cost print method is screen printing and this is the norm used for the majority of printed promotional products. With screen printing, each colour is applied separately. The higher the number of colours, the higher the number of origination charges (and processes) required to apply the colours. So look closely at your logo and see if it can be reproduced as a single colour. Most Artwork Design Studios will be able to generate a positive or negative version of your logo (using a single colour) and this will give the most-economic print pricing for your promotional gifts.