The Redbows Promotional Gifts Blog

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.

Well we are now believe it or not over half way through the year and it is almost time to start thinking about calendars and diaries for 2009. It is quite surprising how commonly used a desk diary is now considering that almost everyone drives Outlook these days on their desktop PC and PDAs. Calendars have always been a firm favourite in the promotional gifts field thanks to their guaranteed place on a wall or desk right within the ‘client space’ – 365 days a year. We have a very wide range on the Promotional Gifts Store and can supply a host of options include packaging and bespoke designs. Glamour calendars still make up a large percentage of those sold but you can still expect to see a wide range of traditional types.

Golf competitions and tournaments are great promotional events but how do you make sure it is an absolute all-around winner for your clients ? Do you choose gifts for immediate impact or longer term brand investment ? Well our advice is to choose both. OK this may seem a bit cheeky but think of it this way – when your clients arrive at the golf course it is always nice to give them a small box of goodies, say branded golf balls and tees in a golf gift set for the day. Then give them something to take away after the dinner and you get a double impact. Consider a Crystal Award for simply taking part – something that can be put on display in their office or a novelty item like a golf putting set. Above all make sure your day is fun, with competitions around the greens, and remember to pay that little extra for brand pin flags and signs around the course.

Congratulations to anyone taking part in Sports Relief this weekend. I take my hat off to them for finding the time not only for keep-fit but also to raise funds for this worthy cause. I introduced medical health insurance at Redbows recently and could not help feeling that it was very much a corrective rather than preventative action – as the ISO9001:2000 mantra goes. Now, what we really need is a private keep-fit instructor (that guy from the Aero adverts would do). For the moment our company mascot Coco, has this privileged role and perhaps that is just as well. Good luck anyone raising Sports Relief funds this weekend – go buy the socks.

Key Note, a market intelligence company is reporting that benefits from winning the 2012 Olympics are already being felt in the sports promotions industry. The organisers of the games are hoping to earn £625m from sponsors and it is expected that these will come from familiar industries such as banking, energy and sports goods. The promotional gifts industry is also starting to gear up for this event which will make up for the rather disappointing fact that we will not have any UK teams in the Euro 2008 football championships this summer. For sure, a number of traditional items will be used for Olympics-related promotions including sports bags for example and we are also expecting to see manufacturers launching a number of bespoke products. Sports marketing is an important below-the-line activity for a number of organisations and it is interesting to note that without major events like the Olympics, the sponsorship market grows by around 5% annually.

These logo kites are just wonderful for exhibitions and events. We worked with a company ‘that gives you wings’ last year and they used several thousand of them as part of a branding and awareness exercise. What seems to fascinate people the most is that these promotional kites really do fly – they are known as the World’s Smallest Kites and you can fly them within an office environment. OK, they may not knock the spots of the little helicopters going around our offices at the moment but at a fraction of the price they do allow you to spread your budget across a wider number of gifts.

A must for the new year is the National Trade Only Show at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry. Not only is it a great place for us to pick up new gift ideas, it also one where we can meet and talk with some of our suppliers, customers and colleagues from across the industry. For many this is the only time for a catch up.

Throughout the rest of the year we only really have time for phone calls or email. Oh how nice it would be to be able to say ‘I don’t do email’ as Ringo Starr did on the Jonathan Ross show last night. I recently read an article in Times Magazine on President Putin who also said that he did not do email but had a very good team of people around him who did.

Now, I am not one of these people who hates the stuff, but I kind of admire their approach because it means you have to pick up a phone or go and see someone – or at least be called for an audience. In the US, some of our colleagues have told us about the latest practice – no email Fridays – which forces everyone in the office to get face time with each other. Another practice I recently came across was to make oneself an ‘email bankrupt’. This is where you have so much email in your inbox unanswered that the only way to solve the problem is to close the email address and start with another one, which you only pass out to a select few. The internet is a fantastic vehicle for a company like Redbows but sometimes I do miss the early morning cuppa at a local cafe followed by a day actually visiting clients for a good natter, catch up and some quality time with them.

This is a great event for suppliers in the promotional gifts industry. Trade Only is a must visit exhibition held at the Richo Arena in Coventry.  As the name implies, it is only for trade suppliers and for Redbows it gives us the chance to meet up with friends and contacts within the industry, as well as discover new potential product sources. A must as well is to attend the Gala dinner which is a huge bash with plenty of entertainment. It is a great excuse for a night out and our only wish is that it could take place a little later in the year.

The final design for the 2012 Olympic Stadium was released this week. Five years seems an eternity but some marketing managers started working towards this event some time ago. I was wondering the other day just what we will see develop in terms of promotional gifts over the next few years. Certainly, this is going to be a ‘big-one’ in corporate land with many campaigns and incentives built around it. If you could predict what the hottest gadgets in 2012 are going to be and which promotional items will be ‘with it’, then you will be onto a real winner. Even with five years to go, I can say for sure that we will see customers ordering at the last minute or should I say last 1/1000th of a second to go! Well no matter, creativity, customer service and express delivery is what we excel in.