The Redbows Promotional Gifts Blog

Handy promo packs are a growing range for Redbows. With several combinations to choose from they are ideal for business start-ups and marketing campaigns. So why do they work? Well they meet the tests of any promotional gift in that they are easy to personalise, useful and offer value for money. Off course mat sets have always been quite popular but these latest promo packs offer rulers, keyrings, coastes, paperpads and mugs.

I came across some research the other day about the most favourite promotional gifts found within company cars. ????????Promotional pens are off course the leading item followed by ice scrapers and umbrellas. Now I have to say that a promotional umbrella is a firm favourite for me. I often carry at least one umbrella in the boot of my car at all times. It is simply one of those long-lasting items that I never want to be without. Though I may only use it a couple of times a year, when ferrying visitors around, going to meetings or even just trekking to the shops with the family, I know that my personalised umbrella is there for me - come summer shower or winter storm. This type of gift really does bring home the true essence of promotional marketing. Umbrellas are useful and practical, and can be used within both a business, social and personal environment - making sure your marketing brand is always in mind.

Dare I risk it and say that we may be seeing the first signs of summer ? Each season at Redbows has its own favourite products. Water Bottles and Bottled Water are firm favourites during the ‘hot’ period we sometimes experience between May and September. The actual UK market for bottled water is is worth £1.7bn and the market is growing at about 28% a year. Now I am not saying that we are turning away from our favourite tipple but when you are considering a promotional incentives campaign, personalised bottled water can make a refreshing change. For a related product that will keep your brand and marketing message before your audience and literally in front of them, why not consider a branded running water bottle.

We’ve been doing a bit of testing with our Google Adwords campaigns recently. Pens and Mugs are still the hottest gifts going with confectionery following up a close third. What’s so striking about these types of promotional products is their versatility and appropriateness to the corporate and business markets. Not only do they offer the opportunity for a great branding opportunity, but these types of gifts are always found in an office environment, where they are seen and sometimes admired by the many. Google produces a wonderful Zeitgeist as a reflection of the most searched for words by people across our planet. The 2007 list reflects the rise of the social blog - if only I could predict the 2008 list…

The Royal Mail has announced that 94% of online shoppers are more likely to purchase from an internet retailer if they are happy with the delivery of their goods. Their checklist includes several good pointers including specifying your delivery promise on your homepage, making delivery charges transparent, advising customers when they can expect delivery, offering a range of delivery options and confirming details by email. Are we seeing the end of the days when the websites offered the earth but failed to deliver very little? I am not so sure and would expect that most people need to add their own further checks. I am always a little dubious of websites that use a trading name for their website operation rather than a Ltd or Plc company. If in any doubt, check out their ‘bricks and mortar’ operation with a quick telephone call before parting with your money.

It is really nice to see that Fairtrade has extended its reach into the realm of promotional gifts. This is a result of suppliers now actively looking for materials and sources of Fairtrade produce. The first such gifts ranges coming through are chocolate and confectionery items. As we try to take a very ethical stance in all our lives, this now gives marketing people the chance to support this worthwhile initiative. We will keep you up to date with developments in this area and our environmentally friendly gifts over the next few months as we bring more products to market.

In our bid to deliver the best possible customer service within the promotional gifts industry we publish articles and guides. This latest one on Solving Artwork Problems is probably one of the simplest we have ever produced. We basically went back to the drawing board with our Promotional Gifts Consultants team and brainstormed the major problems that client have with artwork. The resulting list covers 8 different areas. If you get a chance to review it please feel free to send me an email and let me know if you were left in any doubt as to how to produce the best possible artwork from which to create your branded gifts.

The Institute of Sales Promotions recently published a newsletter article on how the government is planning to restrict the use of the word ‘free’ in promotional activities as part of the Unfair Commercial Activities Directive which is due for implementation around May 26th. The directive brings the UK into line with the rest of Europe and means that promotional companies can no longer describe a product or gift as free if it requires the enquirer to part with money for them. The word can be used where samples are free and which do not require any more investment other than the cost of a postage stamp or telephone call. All good stuff and designed to protect the less sophisticated in the market place perhaps. One of my husband’s favourite marketing books discusses advertising in the US from the 1930s onwards and I just wonder what the likes of the some of the early pioneers of direct marketing would make of this.

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.

They say that if you are not in Google, you do not exist. I reckon Wikipedia is approaching a similar stage when it comes to describing, well almost anything - take the current hot topic ‘Credit Crunch‘. This phrase needs to come with a health warning. If you lend money to people with a limited ability to pay it back, gamble on interest rates and disposable incomes, and make it your main revenue earner then you are sure to have created a business that is too sensitive to economic swings. The world is changing fast and the internet and our demand for data is driving it. Economic growth in the UK for 2008 may only be forecast at 1% by Ernst & Young, but this is an average with both lows and highs at opposite ends of a Bell Curve distribution. The UK promotions industry continues to expand - rapidly. A slower economic growth rate is actually useful. It forces organisations to step back and realign their strategies to the environment they find themselves in - or should do. At Redbows we are seeing clients focusing their spends on more measurable promotional activities - they are increasing their direct mail and sales promotions budgets. Promotional gifts are also being used as part of wider PR and advertising campaigns to help improve call-to-action response rates and drive prospects towards tailored-landing pages - all easily measurable activities. So, we need to appraise what is happening in our industries, keep scanning the horizon for changes but perhaps relax a little and question whether we really do always need to catch a cold if America sneezes.