The Redbows Promotional Gifts Blog

Promotional Gifts Sourcing is our latest website. This is a themed-search website that allows users to create Ideas Lists to send to clients and colleagues, or to generate an Enquiry List for Redbows to provide a written quotation against. The website provides access to information on over 100,000 products. Typical search criteria on the front page drop down menus include: search by product type, themes, product category and type, and price range. The website is ideal for clients wanting to explore potential gifts and ideas for specific campaigns. The website is powered by an industry sourcing database that contains up to date information from over 2,500 suppliers. Promotional Gifts Sourcing – an ideas generating website for clients looking to fulfill a wide range of merchandising demands.

We love to say ‘thank you’ and in May we launched our Marks & Spencer rewards scheme for new orders. This latest promotion has proved a real winner with clients and we are just drawing up the list of the clients who will receive their Marks & Spencer vouchers over the next week. Rewards are based on the value of an order placed for promotional gifts with Redbows. For those clients who cannot receive a gift from our company, we are more than happy to donate the gift voucher value to our chosen charity – Starlight.

Our new promotional gifts catalogue was launched in May and has been flying off the shelves. Available in hard copy and digital versions, the new catalogue features over 300 pages packed with almost 2,000 different promotional products. The hard copy version can be ordered from Redbows and is sent via normal post. The digital version is available as a link from our Promotional Gifts Store website and uses the latest ‘flip n turn’ technology, including a very fast download. Within the catalogue products are grouped into collections with further information including prices, published on our website.

We live in a very connected and internet ‘savy’ world but some of our general back-office functions are still paper-based. Artwork sign-offs for promotional gifts are just one area where it is impossible to optimise the process without an industry-wide investment from promotional gifts manufacturers and printing-houses. Once we receive your artwork we send this to the supplier/printer after our Design Studio has verified that it meets our artwork guidelines. They then download the artwork and produce a paper version for their sign-off records. All of this could be done online with the right technology but that technology has to provide a secure portal so that only relevant access is possible, signature or some other form of sign off capture and off-course a 100% accurate representation of your artwork in terms of fonts, sizes, etc. All of this is possible but Redbows, like all promotional gift distributors is supplier-led in this particular area. We could off-course provide an electronic front-end for our clients but then would still have to operate the paper-based system used by our manufacturing and supply partners. It is a case of ‘chicken and egg’ I am afraid but we are trying to investigate a more modern and innovative approach.

Looking for campaign ideas for the summer? Then check out some of the latest products on our website What’s hot right now includes merchandise for campaigns centred around summer events including golf events (branded scorecard holders), outdoor items like compasses, backpacks and even printed lipbalms. Promotional Merchandising is a 365-day event at Redbows. It’s what we do every day of the year to make sure we have the right promotional gifts around for any event or promotion.

Good luck to all those competing in the London Marathon. Promotional Water Bottles are great for events like this and over the years we have supplied several thousand of them. What makes a running promotional water bottle is its grip handle as opposed to the traditional cylindrical shape. Both types are ideal for promotions because they an be easily branded. Water bottles like this have a large print area and one in which we can print a one, two or sometimes three colour imprint.

Promotional pens are one of the most popular promotional marketing tools around. What makes a promotional pen so unique? Quite simply it is the fact that it is a very effective platform for your marketing message. Within any organisation, pens are a necessity. Even within organisations adopting a ‘paperless’ environment, promotional pens can still be found.

So distributing promotional pens with your logo and contact details on is a great way to promote your organisation. They may be kept within the office environment or find themselves placed handily and to the ready in briefcases, home offices and cars. The important point is the most effective promotional pens are those valued by their users. Pens that get used time and time again. Pens that promote your brand everytime they are used.

The more your brand is subconsciously identified with, the more likely the user will turn to your organisation and business when they require your products or services. The most attractive and useful pens will be highly valued and sought after, creating a viral marketing effect for your brand. So when choosing a pen, it pays to select the most appropriate for your brand style and colouring, and perhaps one that would be considered a bit more unique than others available.

Promotional pens are off course volume priced and thanks to low-cost screen printing techniques, they can easily be branded in either one, two or even three positions. It is also possible to consider full-wraps and even laser engraving. For more information check out our Promotional Pens Store or visit our wider promotional gifts website.

Today is St David’s Day (Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant) and with Spring well and truly upon us now is the time to think about a clean out of your promotional gifts and a little re-stocking to prepare for the rest of the year ahead. There are a number of stock promotional items that no organisation should be without. These include general giveaways and merchandise such as promotional pens, mugs, mousemats and small sticky note pads. In addition, as we prepare for the months ahead, think about seasonal and holiday relevant promotional gifts such as umbrellas – most relevant for sheltering from April showers and especially useful for golfing enthusiasts – and off course promotional Easter Eggs, with Easter just around the corner at the end of April.

So later this week the Chinese will celebrate the start of another year. This time its the year of the Rabbit, bringing a time to rest and retreat from the battles we experienced during the 2010 year of the Tiger. However, in resting one cannot become complacent and must prepare for new battles and trials. In terms of business this all seems to make sound sense and especially in the promotional gifts industry. The last two years have forced many companies to refocus and fine tune their marketing and promotions. Survival and prosperity has rested on an organisation’s ability to survive, adapt and above all innovate. Fortunately innovation and adapting to market conditions are within the Redbows ‘DNA’. What we are best at is listening to clients and aiming to deliver the best possible service. This means constantly reviewing our methods and practices, benchmarking and looking for new ways to innovate. Our latest website, the ECO Promotional Gifts Store is one such innovation. Responding to client requests for a more specific eco-friendly range of gifts we launched the website late last year. Judging by traffic and customer comments, the ECO Gifts Store is already finding its place within an emerging market space. Over the next year Redbows will continue to expand its recycled promotional products ranges and develop new ways to market these within the social media mix.

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.