The Redbows Promotional Gifts Blog

Today is World Book Day and as I packed my son off to school dressed as Willy Wonka from the Chocolate Factory, complete with wig and glasses, I wondered how many schools are investing in bookmarks. We can sometimes take it for granted, but reading is one of the most important skills children learn at school and we have seen several invest in materials to help reward and incentivise this. Promotional Bookmarks and Promotional Bugs are just two of the low-cost promotional items that we supply from the Promotional Gifts Store and they make ideal handouts and giveaways for children. Branded with the school logo and/or details from their own communications programme, bookmarks and bugs can be fun and come in a range of colours, materials and a host of print options. They say its the taking part that counts but fingers crossed my son comes home with the ‘Golden Ticket’.

January is the traditional trade show season in promotional gifts. We’re off to the Trade Only show at the Ricoh Arena next week to talk with some new suppliers and catch up with old friends. Exhibitions like this are always great also for their seminars, talks and networking opportunities. What do promotional gifts companies give away themselves at exhibitions. Well we will have to keep you posted on that. Suffice it to say ice scrapers would probably go down a storm (pun intended) especially if we get more snow.

Having trouble keeping warm in the snow? One of our latest clients, just came on board with Redbows. Critical Power Supplies is a provider of uninterruptible power supplies and power protection systems. off course these are ‘all-weather’ power guys and so what’s best for them at this time of year – winter fleeces from our promotional clothing range. Branded with their logo, Critrical Power are using their fleeces to promote themselves and keep them warm. What’s more they went for the best – zipped pockets, mobile fine pockets, quality materials and waterproof lining. Another great gift for this time of year – ice scrapers and salt containers!

Now’s the time to stock up on your promotional gifts for 2010. Why? Well because its the new year and a great time to review your marketing programs for 2009 and prepare for the year ahead. Look out for some great promo offers and incentives for 2010 from Redbows. A new year, means a new start or the Omega to the Alpha in the series. Its a new decade and we’re ready to help you promote yourself with Redbows.

Well in January we roll the VAT forward to 17.5%, back to its pre recession levels. So now is a great time to get your orders in for new year stock of your favorite promotional gifts. For most business-to-business organisations the change will mean little off course but for organisations that cannot claim the VAT back they will effectively be looking at a 2.5% price increase. Its a shame but let’s hope that we do not see VAT rise to 20% in 2011.

Wow what a night we had last Friday. It was my absolute thrill and pleasure to be awarded the title ‘2009 Business Woman Of The Year for Denbighshire’ by Network She. An award like this is one for the whole team at Redbows. It is a great result for our company which has continued to develop its marketing and promotional activities during this most turbulent of years. We are already looking forward to 2010 but this award will be hard to beat. Click Promotional Gifts and the Network She Awards for more details.

So with Christmas almost upon us we are now reaching the last few days when it is possible to purchase promotional advent calendars. These have proven to a festive hit again because they tick all the right boxes for promotional gifts. You can almost guarantee that nearly everyone loves chocolate and promotional advent calendars arriving on your desk in late November or even early December are always going to generate a smile. More than that our advent calendars are off course personalised using your artwork and imprint. These types of promotional gifts are guaranteed to generate goodwill. If you miss the last production runs the next best thing are branded promotional chocolates and sweets. Off course we can supply these almost up to within a few days of Christmas and they come with personalised belly bands or tags.

Going through some financial paperwork the other day I realised what a great opportunity any supplier misses when they send out their post, invoices, statements, brochures and circulars. Let’s talk financial institutions for example. These organisations send out masses of paperwork and booklets with their proposals and statements. Most of the supporting evidence you will never read. It simpy gets shreaded or shelved. The companies are focused quite rightly on giving you as much information as they need to, to comply with regulatory body requirements and any specific statutes. However, what they all miss out on is sending really useful free cheap promotional gifts with their packs such as promotional pens or promotional coasters. More often than not these companies want you to sign and return a document – so you have to scramble around for a pen to use. Secondly the packs they send through are often weighty and a promotional pen or coaster would hardly add anything to the cost of postage or distribution. So our advice to anyone sending out circulars, invoices or statements is to think wider than the specifics of the mailing. More often than not your post will probably get inside an area of the company that was not your first point of call, but someone whom you could do with influencing and promoting to. Your statements and invoices go directly into an accounts office, so take the opportunity to sell your brand to them. Circulars and literature may go to sales teams and marketing people. Treat sending circulars as mini marketing events and include gifts like promotional pens, pencils and promotional coasters to promote your organisation.

Have you given much thought to your new year promotional gifts? Most companies enter the planning and forecasting cycle around now in preparation for the year ahead. Part of this process can include a marketing audit, review of activities and setting of marketing, promotions and incentives related objectives for the year ahead. In addition, 2010 is also the start of a new decade and with the UK recession coming to an end, what better time is there to review your marketing and plan your promotional gifts campaigns for the coming year. So what’s going to be hot and what incentives are going to prove absolute winners in 2010? This is very much industry related but there are some seasonally related products like promotional calendars and personalised diaries. This is the busiest time of year for calendar and diary suppliers with thousands leaving the print houses en route to end users within the next few weeks and months. Pens, mugs and mousemats will remain top gifts in 2010 as will flashdrives, especially if they have an ECO (environmentally friendly) angle. Off course we also have some major events coming up in 2010, like the South African Football World Cup, and we can expect to see football related promotional merchandise launched shortly into the new year. Our advice to anyone thinking about promotional gifts is to set a budet and maximise this to ensure you carry a range of suitable gifts to compliment your marketing activities for the year ahead.

When it comes to promotional products like flash drives, there is a huge range to choose from but two types out sell the rest. The first is the humble Aluminium Flash Drive. Now this is your everyday flash drive (aka memory stick), with an aluminium case and plastic sides that can be coloured matched (at the right quantity) with your logo. The aluminium flash drive case also offers a great imprint area, suitable for screen printing or laser engraving. This type of USB flash drive is also available on an express delivery with shipments possible within 24 hours from artwork sign off. Now at the other extreme of the promotional flashdrives range we have bespoke custom USB flash drives. These use the same inner workings for memory storage and off course USB connection but have a custom designed outer case. Now this is generally made to a specific mould and can be in the form of your logo or some other specific shape. The cost of mouldings has come down so much that many clients are surprised at the small price difference between a volume hitter like the Aluminium Flash Drive and a custom USB Flashdrive. So when it comes to promotional products like flash drives, you can afford to think ‘outside the box’ more than you probably realise.