The Redbows Promotional Gifts Blog

This month we have focused on increasing our range of promotional bags. These make great wonderful gifts because they can be reused and have a long life expectancy, as well offering a very large area for a customised imprint. In terms of leisure bags one of my new favourites is the Backpack with Cord Ties – the number of times I needed one of these with the kids with all their clubs and after school activities. They are great for summer and winter time promotions and their low cost, even with branding means that they can be squeezed into most budgets. On the new ECO Gifts Store we have also been working on our environmentally friendly bags collection for shoppes and general leisure use. The Jute Multipurpose Shopper is a firm favourite here and I am getting quite attached to mine.

One of the most powerful promotional giveaways is a promotional bag. In today’s environment we are all conscious of the pollution and general environmental damage done by plastic bags. For this reasons, supermarkets in particular are now turning their attention to ‘Bags For Life’. Some of these may be plastic and made from recycled plastics but more and more are turning to Totes and Shoppers made from natural and sustainably managed materials such as organic cotton and recycled clothes. What’s more these types of shopping bag are very durable, with a long life expectancy and you can imagine them being used several times a week. Promotional bags or personalised bags as they are sometimes known also have the added benefit that they provide a large advertising space; in fact you have two – one either side and it is possible to print two different messages or imprints to get the maximum possible impact. This means that they can also be extremely useful at exhibitions, trade shows, seminars and conferences – in fact anywhere you have to distribute a largish quantity of promotional materials, corporate gifts and marketing literature. The adage that you get what you pay for certainly holds true with promotional gifts. Sure you can find cheaper promotional gifts such as plastic promotional pens or ceramic promotional mugs, but bags tend to currently be very in vogue.  Off course materials aside, you can also choose your Totes and Shoppers from a wide range of sizes, styles and colours, including short or long handles. Most promotional gifts suppliers tend to carry reasonable sized quantities in stock for a quick personalisation but larger orders may have to be brought in from factories overseas. As an aside off course you could also consider other bag types including executive, laptop, PC, backpack and rucksacks. The promotional bag is here to say – not just as a shopping accessory but something that can have a stronger impact on our environment.

I’ve been wondering whether the Labour government or any of the political parties should be advocating a little retail therapy. Firstly as we all know it does you good to have a splurge from time to time. Secondly UK retail needs it, as does manufacturing, services and most other industries. But not every silver lining has a clould behind it. Look at this week’s news – we hear that over 12,000 retail stores have shut up shop over the last year or so. Now you have to delve a little deeper here because there is a missing statistic – how many have moved to an online operation only i.e. Woolworths? Whatever the stats say though we all need to keep investing and spending. We just need to make it more strategic and thoughtful. Looking at our own ecommerce statistics, I am amazed at the sales growth of some of the promotional products we supply – such as bags and stress gifts. We have even recently supplied bespoke stress shapes including a handheld speed camera – yes they even sent us one to model from….great fun. What do these trends tell the Redbows team? That people are stressed and being subjected to a flood of stress balls and shapes? Or that buyers are getting out into their markets and ‘bagging’ all those special offers? I am not sure what the answer is. All I know is that if you are strategic and focus on growing your marketing momentum, your sales will follow.

Within retail bags are one of the hottest topics at present. We are being asked to move away from traditional plastic bags to become more ECO friendly and in most instances now have to pay extra if we want one. We reckon that this is one of the reasons why Promotional Bags have seen increased sales within the gifts industry. At Redbows we offer a variety of bags for personalisation and this appears to be the key. Bags whether they be shoppers, rucksacks, document or laptop bags offer great advertising opportunities, centred around a personalised gift. What makes our shoppers environmentally friendly? Well they can be purchased in a variety of materials including organic cotton and Jute. We can also supply bags made from recycled materials. There are no stats or market research on which sectors of the promotional gifts market have seen the biggest switch over to ECO friendly versions but we would put our money on promotional and personalised bags being top of the list.

So the other half came back from Barcelona and the Catalunya Moto GP last week and for once he managed not to get sunburnt. I put this down to the welcome pack he received which included (thank goodness) a baseball cap. Now he has quite a selection of caps and hats but never remembers to pack one. So I got to thinking about corporate events this summer and what to suggest to clients to include in their welcoming packs. The thing is, if your event covers a conference and then some sort of activity – you always manage to remember to include pens and paper pads, but there is so much more in the world of promotional gifts to consider. For example in addition to branded baseball caps, you could consider a lightweight backpack bag, and perhaps some branded lip balms and clic clac mint tins. We can even provide branded flip-flops and beach chairs. So if you are holding a corporate event this summer, remember think of it as a PR activity, which can generate a substanstial amount of goodwill. Besides having everything planned like clock work, companies also get remembered for providing those extra little ‘goodies’ that make the whole event that little bit extra special.

I have yet to start Twittering – a term that I always associated with people having what I would call ’senior moments’ but I still love technology and the impact it can have on business. Whenever we change something on our website or add new products I am always very interested in the effect that takes place in new leads or conversions. Take our updated promotional bags range. Enquiries are going off the chart for these promotional items. I think that this range more than any other provides prospective clients with great options in terms of bag formats, styles and colours with the option for ECO environmentally friendly alternatives. Bags also offer greater advertising and promotional opportunities and off course they can be used over a very long time period. It just goes to show, whatever the promotional item you run with, make sure it really is going to offer something really of value to your clients – and you.

Well there is quite a choice to be had in promotional bags and nearly every product is available with some form of environmentally-friendly ECO variant. Let’s take the Tote Shopper for example. These promotional products can be supplied in plastic or cotton and sometimes even an organic or Fairtrade version. When it comes to choosing carrier bags the main question is one of longevity. Take a ‘bag for life’ and make it plastic and you can imagine that over time the handles will pull and stretch. If they are part of the bag itself, the actually manufacturing technique can weaken the design. A promotional bag that could provide longer service will actually be made from cotton. This has the advantage of being able to be repaired and patched off course but the imprint may not be as vivid. Our advice therefore is to apply the 3 golden rules of promotional merchandising – budget, impact, longevity – what is your budget, what impact are you looking to make and over what period. When you have these nailed down the choice of whether to go for a plasic carrier bag or cotton Tote shopper is easy.

Last week we were working with a client who wanted to look at promotional bags as a product to use at tradeshows and exhibitions. Now these types of promotional products do vary considerably in their price range and the types of materials they are made from. There are also several different types of bag including document, laptop, executive, sports, exhibition and backpacks. Price often reflexs the complexity of the product. Take a drawstring bag compared to an executive laptop case for example. Visually you can immediately see the simpliity of one product to the complexity of another with its carry handles, shoulder straps, zipped pockets and pouches. However what both have in common is a great print area and one that can take a number of different print options. There are several imprint techniques when it comes to promotional bags including digitial transfer, screen print, laser engraved and embroidery. We always recommend one that is suitable for the bag material, cost of the product and expected life. You see bags have a life that can extend far beyond a tradeshow or exhibition. Get it right and a promotional bag can last for several years, always getting used and advertising your brand. So how did we end the week with this particular client? Well they opted for a quantity of drawstring bags for their show next month but they also ordered a small quantity of the executive bags for their top clients as a ‘thank you’ gift for last year. Not a bad way to end the week.