The Redbows Promotional Gifts Blog

Happy new year! So what does 2011 hold for promotional gifts suppliers like Redbows? The year ahead holds lots of promise and we expect to see several trends continuing throughout 2011. For example, eco promotional gifts will continue to grow in importance as more and more companies and organisations embrace the need to be green and more environmentally friendly. Redbows will expand its ECO Gifts Store with even more environmentally friendly products. We also anticipate an expansion of our promotional products microwebsites – Promotional Pens Store and Promotional Sweets Store as we develop wider global supplier relationships. Price will remain a key driver for 2011 and Redbows will continue to deliver the best possible promotional gifts, priced to give the best value and budget optimisation. In terms of marketing in general, social media marketing will continue to grow in importance within our own marketing mix. We already run the Redbows Promotional Gifts page on Facebook – check us out and click the ‘Like’ button if you want to keep upto date with our activities or follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/redbows. Linkedin is also something we will continue to explore and evaluate and Dawn Koffler our MD already has an active profile page. So 2011 is all about expansion, product range extension and increasing our client communications. We look forward to an exciting year ahead and to helping you promote and grow your businesses.

Just what is the best way to show clients pricing for sweets on our Promotional Sweets Store? The point is that some sweets are priced per kilo. For example take Bingo Jellies with a minimum price of £16.82 per kilo (min 25 kilos). The actual quantity per kilo is 85 pieces and so 25 kilos would give a client 2125 pieces. Sounds a lot but branded sweets like this go down very quickly, especially when used in receptions, meeting rooms and at exhibitions and tradeshows as giveaways. This pricing model applies for confectionery sold per kilo but is sometimes confusing to clients. Products with individually higher unit costs tend to be priced on a unit basis and this is easier to display on the website. The problem is compounded when we have to show a collection (sweets for example) combining both types of pricing model. We hope to solve the issue over the next few weeks but in the meantime if in doubt please speak to our Promotional Gifts Consultants – the sweetest in the industry!

Watching the political debates last night I was pondering their use of promotional gifts throughout their campaigns. Off course they do not use many but wouldn’t it be fun if each of the political parties used something like promotional sweets? I was looking at their rosettes and wondering if they could make use of promotional lollies. You see promotional lollies come in a shapes and sizes, some as big as a politician’s rosette down to the traditional ball-shaped ones we used to have as kids – remember Kojak? What would really tie promotional lollies into their campaigns is that they could take an imprint of their party emblem and campaign message – either printed onto the lolly packaging or the lollies themselves as part of the design or embossing. Off course we do not expect any of the political parties to adopt this campaign idea but it does demonstrate how useful promotional lollies can actually be.

Wow its almost the end of October, the clocks have gone back and we are on the run down to Christmas. Now this time of year is one of the busiest for confectionery websites like the Redbows Promotional Sweets Store and especially collections like our Christmas Chocolates. As well as offering our famous advent calendars we also include some seasonal favourites, including our promotional Christmas Crackers packed with fudge or any other confectionery, sweets, chocolates and novelties you want, mini chocolate boxes and sweet bags. So there is almost everything you could want to give your clients and colleagues for Christmas. If you want to spend a little more why not consider our promotional hampers and gift baskets. These can be made up to any budget and we made contact with a new supplier this year based in the UK who makes them up by nationality. The world as they say is your ‘Oyster’ or should I say chocolate in this case.

At a local networking event the other night, we came across a great idea for Christmas – Good Bags. So why not think about collating several promotional gifts together and supply them to clients in a branded promotional bag such as a organic cotton shopper? You see we supply a wide range of shopping bags and this means that they can be designed to suite any budget. In addition they offer great advertising space. Stuffed with promotional chocolates, sweets, mints and cakes, they are a superb alternative to Christmas hampers – and long after your Christmas goodies have been eaten, the promotional shopping bags remain behind to be used again and again, providing ongoing advertising for your brand. Now is the time to really think about Christmas presents for your corporate clients and our Christmas goody bags are guaranteed winners. You could even include promotional teddies and other similarly related types of toys and presents. Everyone loves chocolates, sweets and presents, so why not reward your clients this Christmas?

As we get ready for the festive Christmas season it is no surprise that promotional advent calendar enquiries are shooting through the roof.  This year we have provided a fairly unique range of chocolate calendars in both desktop and wall formats. There are also small and large versions and we can offer a range of print options including a part or full printed, postal cartons and even printing behind the doors. There is a twelve-days promotional advent calendar this year but alas no working day one due to the way the seasonal holidays fall this year. If you want to go the ‘whole hog’ we can also supply sweet-filled Christmas Crackers and chocolate baubles to decorate client Christmas trees. All great fun and a superb way to promote your organisation and generate goodwill. See the Christmas Collection on our new Promotional Sweets Store.

When it comes to promotional sweets and personalised chocolates does price matter? Well the answer is simple – ‘yes’ and ‘no’. Let me explain. To be environmentally friendly (ECO if you like) costs money.  The same applies when it comes to being healthy. Take chocolates as an example. Nowadays you can opt for a Fairtrade and/or organic version of most chocolate products but you expect to pay a little bit more for them. Somewhere along the line extra costs are incurred and as we know promotional products, like any mass manufactured merchandise, are priced to volume. Now take sweets, how can these be healthier? Well like chocolates we can opt for Fairtrade or organic sweets but also sugar-free options. Now sugar-free you may think, is a healthier alternative. Wrong. Not always. Take sugar, nature’s natural sweetener and replace it with a man-made chemical. Point made? Also consider colourings. Food colourings are added to get a specific colour but what are they made from, how are they applied and are they everyday approved food colourings. So, how do you ensure you are getting ‘pukka’ products? Well check out where they are made, do they comply with all relevant European labeling legislation, do they use standard everyday food ingredients, and above all remember that quality is often reflected in the price. Finally look at the shelf life and ask for the date of manufacture. If you buy sweets and chocolates, remember they may have been made en-masse and then branded in smaller batches. If brought in from overseas (yes mints do come from China) they can be several days or weeks in transit, and often not in a suitable ambient temperature. If you buy sweets, confectionery, chocolates or any other snack items, you want to ensure that they are going to be fresh and editable for clients within your expected usage dates. Presentation is not everything with promotional sweets and chocolates – often the ‘proof is in the pudding’ and how it looks under the wrapping and eventually tastes.

We are looking for a neat solution to volume pricing on the Promotional Gifts Store and soon to be launched Promotional Sweets Store. The problem is that our suppliers price their sweets and chocolates differently. On our websites we want to show a uniform solutions to visitors and this means that we do have to get creative. Chocolates and Sweets are typical examples. One group of chocolates may be priced per unt (for example ‘each’) and another may be priced per 100 pieces. This does not allow us to achieve great functionality in price comparisons i.e. listing search results from lowest to highest and vice versa. We will work on this during the week and hope to get a solution in place shortly. In the meantime ‘meerkats’ it may not always be as ‘simples’ as we want so if you are confused please call our Promotional Gifts Consultants.

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.

When choosing promotional items we sometimes forget how the seasons can play a big influence. We have just added these delicious promotional sweets to our range of products. They will be ideal for summer corporate events and hospitality.

These gourmet chocolates contain real fruit pieces, encased in rich chocolate and packed into pocked sized pillow packs. Weighing 50g these promotional items are conveniently sized and the packaging can have an imprint (your logo and message) of up to four colours. Flavours include blueberry, strawberries, raspberries and even real coffee – available in white or dark chocolate – yummy!