Evolving Communication Trends

Marketing has changed. If we don’t embrace emerging trends, we as distributors and suppliers will miss the opportunity to distinguish our businesses from competitors. 

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Scare Up Business with Halloween Marketing Tips

Halloween presents the promotional industry with a ton of cool ideas. Looking to go beyond the standard ghosts and goblins? Here are 3 ways to market the scariest time of year.

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Greenwashing: Are You a Co-Conspirator?

Marketers bombard us with claims every day: “Bigger,” “better,” and of course, “cheaper.” But have you also heard “greener?” What about “greenwashing?” Have you heard of that term? Greenwashing is marketing-speak for product descriptions that are deceptively used to promote that an organization’s products, aims and/or policies are environmentally friendly.

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Whose Fault Is It?

Even as a commodity, what we sell is a branding and awareness-building staple. It’s fascinating to me that those who degrade our industry with fervor STILL use these products.

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Think Outside The Pillbox!

We all know a pill box is used to organize medicine and vitamins, but what if the business you are promoting has no relation to the health or medical field? Think “outside the box” for very creative ways of promoting with pill boxes and pill trays.

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Bobbleheads: A Story of Promotional Products Delivering Measurable ROI

Successful promotional products are all about developing brand affinity—an emotional connection made with a brand through the magic of 3-D advertising. But calculating the ROI of using promotional products compared to other marketing tools or tactics often presents a challenge for brand management. For example, a statement like, “This creative giveaway resulted in this specific sales result,” is a calculation all too frequently unavailable. Enter the mighty Bobblehead, or even better yet, the calculable ROI of the powerful resin figure.

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No Single Raindrop Believes it is to Blame for the Flood

Our industry has been much maligned. We may dislike it, but the proven effective branding strategies we offer have been devalued in many ways. We’ve embraced terms like swag and tchotchkes, because the terms are so commonly used. It may be argued this contributes to the image of our industry as trinkets and trash.

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The Price Is NOT Right

The lowest common sales denominator in our industry is the product-based sales person, i.e., promo-peddler, trunk-slammer, tchotchke-chucker, ad nauseam. The mere fact that you are reading and digesting this means you most likely aren’t one of those. I’m addressing this article to you—the thinking sales person, the promotional partner, the extension of your client’s marketing department. You Think, Therefore, You Am. (I gotta stop talking like I’m Popeye.)

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Why Do We Do This?

There are many things in life and business that are important to us. We have a passion for what we do in our personal and professional lives. And many of us are quite passionate… myself included.

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