Anyone for Easter Eggs?

In the promotional gift marketing calendar, Easter remains one of the busiest times of the year and typically, the focus is naturally on branded promotional Easter confectionery.

For many Marketing Professionals, thoughts readily go to personalised Easter Eggs and branded Easter Chocolates as favoured options for thanking customers and staff as well as for raising brand awareness through themed marketing campaigns and at exhibitions, trade shows and corporate events. There are however many alternative options to suit your organisations branding and budget requirements so you have a great many options available to ensure that you achieve your business goals.

When planning your campaign there are some important points to consider before you choose your Easter gifts.  For instance

Are you mailing them out or giving them to your customers and staff in person?

Do you want branded or plain packaging?

Do you want the gift to be retained and used long after you have given it?

Is it a mass promotion or a high quality Easter gift to be given to a small number of people?

Who is your audience and what age are they?

Are you putting several promotional items together to create a larger gift or Promotional Easter Hamper?

Do you want to give an individual gift or is it important for it to be a sharing gift?

If you are mailing your Easter gifts to your customers then it will be important that they can be transported easily and that they are strong enough to arrive in one piece.  Solid chocolate Easter Eggs, boxes and bars of promotional chocolates and mini foiled Easter Eggs are all perfect solutions in this case.  Similarly, shaped and moulded chocolates, printed Neapolitans, sweet potsand branded sweet tins are tasty and individual.

Likewise, with postal charges in the UK now based on size and weight, a gift that can be despatched in a padded mailing envelope will save a great deal of the costs that would otherwise be involved if you need to use mailing cartons.  Whereas gifts that you will give in person can be larger, more delicate and have retail style packaging like cellophane wrapped bags and large Easter Eggs with hand tied ribbons.

If you want branded packaging as well as a branded promotional gift then this can all easily be created as part of your overall order and your professional promotional merchandise distributor will help in creating a unique bespoke solution to reflect your branding.

Confectionery is always popular as a thank you gift, especially as most people enjoy a little chocolate now and then and when you combine it with discount vouchers, marketing and incentive messages you create a powerful marketing campaign.

However, if you want to ensure that your customers have something to keep and use long after the sweets and chocolate are gone then mini foiled eggs in branded mugs or desk pots and tins of candy coated jelly eggs and chocolate covered jelly beans are ideal

Plan ahead and allow plenty of time to receive your gifts and despatch them to your customers and clients.  Although 15 to 20 working days is generally a safe bet for production and delivery of most personalised Easter gifts, there are many options available that can be delivered quickly from our Express Delivery Range.

As a fundraising tool, branded Easter Eggs and Easter Sweets and Chocolates are perfect for charities because with a little planning they can be designed and promoted in advance to motivate their supporters to buy them for family and friends.

Whatever products you choose, Easter is definitely a key themed marketing season so think differently and you will surprise your customers and staff in a positive and memorable way.

Factors to Consider When Buying Promotional Products

Are you new to buying promotional products, or are you searching for some ideas?   Here are our top tips for selecting the promotional products that will be most effective for your campaign.

1. Budget and distribution

The first thing you need to think about is your budget.  How will you be distributing the products?  If you are mailing them out then you will probably want to factor this in to your budget.  Bulky items will need to be sent as a Royal Mail packet which will cost over £1 to send so you might want to take this into account when selecting your products.  Products such as promotional mousemats and coasters are flat and lightweight to send so mailing will cost much less.

2. Audience

Who will be receiving your products?  Are you doing a mass giveaway to thousands of people or giving special gifts to select clients?  Promotional pens are still a fantastic giveaway when you are trying to reach a lot of people as they are low cost and most people will hold on to them.

3. Longevity

What is the message you are trying to get across?  Do you want something that will sit on someone’s desk for months / years or are you running a particular promotion where a more throwaway or edible item will be just as effective like promotional confectionery.  If you are exhibiting at an event, promotional bottled water is a great giveaway for thirsty delegates who will be attracted to your stand to get their drink.  Do you want the product to be useful and to be held on for longer?  We are heading into the winter months now so something like promotional ice scrapers are an ideal budget giveaway for the coming months.

If you require more information or guidance please contact AdGiftsOnline on 0870 143 0700.

Increasing mobile phone technology floods the promotional market

Did you watch the latest series of the Apprentice?  Do you remember Susan selling a large order of 1500 multi purpose spider grips to a mobile phone retailer?  For those of you who didn’t see them, they are quirky bendy product with 8 legs which resembles a spider.  The 8 legs can hold almost any device and can be attached to almost any surface.  These spider grips are now available as a promotional item which can be personalised with your logo with a full colour domed label or embossing.  What better promotional item is there than something that’s been seen on TV!

Another fantastic new product is the Zens wireless charger which incorporates Qi technology.  It is a wireless charging pad which has been developed to charge mobile phones and other portable devices up to 5W.  The technology is rapidly developing in popularity and is being adopted by many brands for an increasing number of portable devices (such as mp3 players and cameras) making this a cutting edge promotional product which your customers will love.  You can check the latest compatible smartphones here.

The Countdown to Christmas

Well it’s September 1st, the leaves are already turning shades of yellow and orange, there is a chill in the morning air, X Factor has begun – this can only mean one thing, yes we are on the countdown to Christmas again!   I will also have my hands full during these months running up to Christmas, as I am a mummy to be with the birth of first baby due at the end of November.  So this year more than any other I know I need to be organised!  Many stores have already started stocking their Christmas cards and gifts, trying to attract early Christmas shoppers.  If you are looking for personalised Christmas gifts for staff, customers or even for a personal party then now is the time to start thinking about what your requirements are.  Seasonal stock is what it says it is; seasonal.  So once it’s gone it’s gone.  Since our last blog we have introduced a lot of new products into our promotional Christmas gifts range and our selection is more comprehensive than ever before.  So don’t leave it too late and you will benefit from the widest choice and best value products available.

Lisa Gardner – AdGiftsOnline Ltd

Christmas already?

Yes so it may only be July and it’s the middle of summer (sort of) but now is the ideal time to start thinking and planning your promotional Christmas gifts for 2011.

Planning ahead ensures you will have the largest choice of products available.  While a lot of Christmas promotional products are manufactured to order, many of the items such as the very popular foiled Christmas chocolates.  These can be purchased in numerous forms of packaging such as acetate cubes with branded tags and plastic pots with a fully personalised lid.  These Christmas chocolates are only made in limited stocks, so once they’re gone they’re gone until Christmas next year!  So it’s vitally important if you have your heart set on something, then ordering well in advance is crucial to secure your chosen product to avoid disappointment.

Also ordering early also ensures you could receive special discounts so you will get the very best deal!  We always have an offer for early orders of promotional Advent Calendars to encourage our customers to order in good time.  Promotional Advent Calendars are manufactured to order but there is often a limited stock of the mailing boxes to post them out in.  So if you require these to mail out the Advent Calendars as part of your marketing campaign then early ordering is essential to ensure you don’t miss out!

Everyone Loves Promotional Mugs!

Promotional mugs are one of the most used office products.  There are so many options for promotional mugs in today’s market.  There are the old favourites which are still as popular as ever ceramic promotional Cambridge mugs and Sparta mugs and the classic promotional Bone China mugs.  But there are so many new, exciting and funky mugs to choose from these days.  Here are a few of the best new promotional mugs currently available.

AntiBug™ promotional mugs – Genious!  The perfect mugs for a busy office environment – the AntiBug™ promotional mugs are treated with a patent protected, fully certified AntiBug treatment to keep germs at bay. The specialist surface starts to fight germs as soon as they come into contact and has been clinically proven to kill 99.9% of harmful bacteria from 50 common organisms such as MRSA, E.coli and salmonella and will continue to fight for the lifetime of the product.  The AntiBug promotional mugs are available in most of the standard ceramic shapes so there are plenty of options to suit you and your clients!

Takeaway Promotional Mugs – These practical takeaway mugs for the traveller are available as ceramic mugs or insulated plastic mugs and can be printed up to full colour so there are no limitations on personalisation.

The ceramic takeaway mug has a double skinned body which traps air between helping to maintain a hot drink for longer.  A white silicon lid is supplied to avoid spills and further retain heat.

The plastic version is double-walled insulated made from PP (polypropylene).  It has a rubber grip which is available in a range of colours and offers a large branding area.  The screw lid fixes securely to the mug to create the style of a take-out cup.

Individually Personalised Mugs – You can also have mugs individually personalised with your clients of staff names.  In our office here at AdGiftsOnline we have personalised mugs with our names and preferred brew-make up on the side!

I hope this has given you some ideas on the different mugs available, for even more mug ideas click here

WE ARE MOVING OFFICES TODAY!! WE WILL NO

WE ARE MOVING OFFICES TODAY!! WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO BE CONTACTED VIA PHONE OR E-MAIL FROM 10AM WHILE OUR PHONE LINES ARE TRANSFERRED.

Time is Money

AdGiftsOnline have just launched a new website lovingly called “TIM” (Time is Money), which has inspired me to write this blog today. 

Many companies can spend lots of time dealing with things that can easily be done much more efficiently if the correct systems are put in place.  AdGiftsOnline’s new website enables customers to browse over 4000 promotional products, get prices online and order.  This saves AdGiftsOnline time in raising quotes but it helps customers too as they get instant prices and can generate as many quotes as they require.   Implementing a system like this will give you  more time to spend on other aspects of your company such as  the  things that always get put to the bottom of the list when you don’t have time to do them!  I’m sure you know what they are!

Celebrate the announcement of Prince Will

Celebrate the annoucement of Prince William and Kates’ wedding with some promotional love themed gifts! http://bit.ly/gAwzk4

A small investment in corporate rewards can lead to thousands in sales revenue

The majority of the time companies will use promotional gifts to hand out at exhibitions or as a mail out campaign to help win new business.  Equally as important as this is looking after your existing clients and is essential if you want them to stay loyal to you.  At AdGiftsOnline we send out little presents throughout the year to surprise our clients and show how much we appreciate them.  We find that this is an essential way to maintain our clients loyalty.

A good example of this was two years ago we provided a new client with some promotional sweets.  There was going to be a potential delay with the delivery as the van they were on had broken down.  As soon as we realised this, we called the client to inform them and kept them up to date with the progress.  We managed to rearrange the delivery and arranged for the promotional sweets to be delivered directly to the event just in time.  Our client was really impressed with the way we had handled the situation and was relieved that they had their sweets in time for their event.  But what impressed them the most is when two days later a box of nine cup cakes landed on their desk.  Eight of them has their company logo and “thanks from AdGiftsOnline” was on the centre cake.   They were so surprised and delighted that we took the time and effort to send them a thank you present that they didn’t hesitate in placing more orders with us and they are now one of our top 5 clients.

We have found the best type of promotional gift to reward clients is something that can be shared out in their office.  The promotional cup cakes are a great product for this, as are boxes and tins of chocolates too.  A small investment in a present for your clients can be worth thousands in sales.