Tag Archives: promotional products

Heidi Thorne Named to ASI Hot List for Promotional Products Industry

Promotions marketing expert Heidi Thorne, Thorne Communications LLC, has been named to the Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) Hot List for 2013. This list recognizes promotional products industry thought leaders “who are shaking up the ad specialty market, creating unique business plans, networking like maniacs, and overall, making the industry a fun and successful place to work” (Counselor magazine, April 2013).

As noted in Counselor, Heidi was included on the list for publishing five books on various aspects of the promotional products industry, a speaker at ASI Shows, and for her active social networking. She is one of the most followed people in the industry on Twitter (@heidithorne) with over 4,500 followers.

“I am certainly honored to be a part of ASI’s 2013 Hot List class,” says Heidi. “We have so many bright and innovative people who are changing the industry and redefining it for the future. So glad that ASI has found a way to showcase and help us learn from these thought leaders.”

About Heidi Thorne

Heidi Thorne is president of Thorne Communications LLC, a promotional products marketing company. She is also an author of six books and speaker on marketing topics. Her experience includes over 25 years in the fields of sales, marketing, advertising and public relations, with almost a decade in the hotel and trade show industries.

Heidi’s blog, Promo With Purpose Today (http://pwptoday.com), offers promotional product news and ideas for small business, trade shows and events.

Members of the media can connect with Heidi on the Press page. To hire Heidi for consulting or speaking, please visit the Speaking and Contact Us pages.

Popular Promotional Products by Political Party Report Published

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Source: www.iStockphoto.com Thorne Communications LLC has just published a new report on promotional products retention by political party titled, Popular Promotional Products by Political Party: 2013. Based on findings from the 2012 Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) Global Advertising Specialties Impressions Study, the report reviews promotional items that have high ownership and recall with the over 5,000 consumers surveyed worldwide in various metropolitan markets. Additional data on ownership rates by political affiliation were also done for the United States. Report author, Promo With Purpose Today editor, Heidi Thorne, then interprets what the data means for political candidates and those that are doing marketing for them.

Markets discussed in the study and this report include: Chicago, Dallas, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Montreal, New York, Paris, Philadelphia, Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver. However, since the focus of this report is on major political parties within the United States, this will only apply to United States markets.

“Many people don’t take into account ideological differences when selecting promotional products for political campaigns,” says Heidi Thorne, author of the report. “Having a good idea of what works for various political groups can help create a more successful promotion… and, we hope, more votes.”

The report includes a number of surprising statistics including:

One promotional product that all three major political factions agree on.
Which political parties exhibit a preference for low tech or high tech.
The party who’s retention of one ever-popular promotion trumps even the national average by a whopping 12 percent.
The party who owns the fewest number of promotional items it receives.

Only items with retention value are reviewed. Campaign specific items such as signs, buttons, brochures, etc. are not included.

The report is available as a free download to email subscribers to the Promo With Purpose Today blog.

Current subscribers: Will receive a special email with a link to download.
New subscribers: Click here to subscribe OR enter your email address in the form below.

Free Report on Hot Promotional Products by Region

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Thorne Communications LLC has just published a new report on regional promotional products use titled, Regional Promotional Products Hot List: 2013. Based on findings from the 2012 Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) Global Advertising Specialties Impressions Study, the report reviews promotional items that have high ownership and recall with the over 5,000 consumers surveyed worldwide in various metropolitan markets. Report author, Promo With Purpose Today editor, Heidi Thorne, then interprets what the data means for marketers.

Markets discussed in the study and this report include: Chicago, Dallas, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Montreal, New York, Paris, Philadelphia, Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver.

“Many people don’t take into account regional differences when selecting promotional products,” says Heidi Thorne, author of the report. “This is especially the case when people are planning for events that are being held in cities other than their own. Having a good idea of what works in various markets can help create a more successful promotion.”

The report is available as a free download to email subscribers to the Promo With Purpose Today blog.

Existing Subscribers: Will receive a special email with link to the report.
New subscribers: Click here to subscribe OR enter email in the blank provided here and click Submit.

Can Promotional Products be Used for Training?

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Know what evaporative cooling is? Unless you’re familiar with the building management trades, you might be scratching your head. Simply it’s a device that cools through the evaporation of water. Oooookay, now how can you explain that to a group of people who may not understand? That was the challenge facing one of my clients. And here’s how we solved the problem using promotional products.

When the client called me, he mentioned that one of the ways that it was demonstrated was by licking the back of your hand. As it dries, the surface becomes cooler. Strike that due to the “eeewwww” factor, especially with cold and flu season in full swing.

Next idea he had was to use some sort of sponge and water bowls to wet the back of participants’ hands. Less gross, but sloppy nonetheless. And slopping water around electronic devices such as laptops, tablets and mobile phones is never a good idea!

So what we came up with is to use pre-moistened, packaged and disposable anti-bacterial hand sanitizing wipes, labeled with the client’s logos. We could have also used a hand sanitizer spray, but the client liked the wipes better. Problem solved!

Beyond the practicality of the solution for this event is a powerful concept: Promotional products can become part of the learning process. Promo With Purpose in action! Let’s see why it works:

Assists with Demonstration. The promotion itself is used as part of the training event, not as a gift or afterthought.

Engages Multiple Senses. In addition to explaining the concept on the screen with yet another PowerPoint slide, using the wipes or a spray would engage attendees’ sense of touch. The more senses you can engage in learning, the more recall your message (and your marketing) can have afterwards.

Saves Money. While you may wish to provide additional gifts or giveaways, the dual duty that promotional products can serve for training eliminates the need for multiple promotions.

Got a tough concept that you think might have a promotional products solution? Share with us in Comments.

Want more promotional products ideas? Subscribe to our free email updates by entering your email in the following box and clicking Sign Me Up!

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Promotional Products in the Star Trek Age

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If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you’ve likely seen evidence of my love for all things Star Trek (especially The Next Generation for you Trekkies who are interested). One of my favorite gizmos from Star Trek is the replicator. In the far future, this could be an amazing tool for the promotional products industry, as shown in this YouTube clip from the Voyager series:

Watch Worf Gets a Quark’s Mug on YouTube

While this is sci-fi fantasy, a promotional products “replicator” is not to far off into the future, thanks to the miracle of 3D printing. Check out this video and article that appeared on the tech news resource Mashable.com:

Read Turn Yourself into a 3D Action Figure with 3D Printing on Mashable.com

This is going to be the biggest development coming in the promotional products industry. Here are the issues that implementation of this developing technology will affect:

Inventory Issues. With the possible exception of being out of material to load in a 3D printer, we’ll never have to worry about being “out of stock” on an item we want.
Customization to the Max. Over the years, I can’t tell you how many requests I’ve received for custom molded figures or custom designed products. Typically that means a large quantity into the 5,000 to 10,000 range minimum, high cost to create the design, custom molding a model, sometimes overseas production… it’s a major undertaking. And with the small business and events folks I serve, usually their quantity needed is less than 500, sometimes less than 100. It will all be possible, even on a small scale.
Timing. Need it turned around in a couple of days? Well, we have that now, especially with some of my amazing promo supplier partners. But with 3D printing, the only limitation is how fast the machine can crank out the quantity needed.
Onsite Promo. While the technology is not developed far enough to be placed on a desktop as inkjet printers are today, in the farther future, this could be used to “print” promotional products onsite at trade shows and events. No more boxes of unused and wasted promos sitting around!
Same Swag, Different Distribution. I know I may upset a few of my promo industry pals, but let’s consider the day when this 3D technology is ready for desktop use in a typical office. What role will promotional products distributors play in this future? And will there even be a role? In the transition period (could be years or even decades), distributors will be able to fill a consulting role as people learn to use the technology for marketing. Actually, this is not too much different than what has already been happening with the emergence of retail promotional product shopping sites online. Distributors have had to learn how to stay relevant by offering expanded marketing service to their customers.

What’s not clear is how on-demand “printing” will affect good ol’ standbys such as imprinted T shirts, glass and metal items. But I look at other industries where CNC (computer numerical control) machines can create custom metal parts. And from the Mashable video, it appears that ceramics or ceramic-like items are already doable. Fabrics? Well, that might be a stretch for a while (no pun intended for T shirts).

The bottom line is that 3D printing will fundamentally change the promo industry… forever.

See any other ways this will affect your marketing and promotion in the future? Share with us in Comments below. And for more promotional products news and tips, subscribe to our Promo With Purpose Today email updates by entering your email below and clicking Sign Me Up!

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The Big BUT for Imprinted Products

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Dear Client, I’m really not trying to squash your creativity, but… no can do.

Gosh, I hate having to tell clients I can’t turn their creative imprinted products vision into reality. They’re like super creative five-year olds who believe it’s all possible. They want logos running up and down the entire length of a mug, T-shirts with imprints that wrap around the entire back and front, bag imprints that run off the edge, hand tooled leather goods with intricate logos, and so many other ideas that sound so cool.

Technically, all of it IS possible. But here’s the big BUT… but these ideas are not doable on standard imprinting equipment and especially for low quantities (usually less than 5,000 or 10,000, depending on the item).

In order to imprint, the item needs to be positioned and secured on the imprinting equipment (whether it’s for screen printing, embroidery, debossing or engraving). So the machine has a limited range of space within which to actually work. As well, the promotional item itself has area limitations that need to be observed. To imprint outside the suggested imprint size often requires retooling. Retooling is expensive and out of the range of most small business budgets. Plus, many items that have tricky imprints need to be imprinted BEFORE the item is even manufactured or assembled. Translation? Expensive custom job that will require high quantities.

Here are 3 tips to get a promo that’s close to your vision, but not outside your budget:

Share Your Vision. Tell your promotional product distributor what you are trying to achieve. If you see an item online, in a catalog or in a store that’s close to what you want, pass the idea to your distributor. He or she can then tell you if that type of item exists for use as a promotion and what your realistic options are.

Be Flexible. It’s so sad when I’ve gotten unrealistic requests over the years and the client decides to not do anything at all if they can’t get exactly what they want. There are always options! Sometimes your promotional product distributor can come up with something wonderful you may have never imagined.

Don’t Go DIY. This is the saddest of outcomes. In fact, I wrote an entire post about it. I’ve seen some marketers go into Do-It-Yourself arts and crafts mode and make their own imprinted products. Ack! What a waste of valuable business time and effort! See Be Flexible above BEFORE you head to the crafts store and Click Here to Read Avoiding the Arts and Crafts Trap

Have a DIY promo story (or nightmare) to share? Or have you found a way to go total custom on a budget? Share with us in Comments.

And for more ideas on dealing with the costs of promotional products for small businesses, join our email update list by entering your email here:

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Promotional Products Low Minimum Orders – Challenges and Solutions

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Received a comment from a PWP Today subscriber who was frustrated with the high minimums she has to buy when purchasing promotional products. I totally understand what she’s talking about. You look through a promotional products online catalog and you see the absolute perfect promotion for your next event or marketing campaign. Then you scroll down to the pricing and–Egad!–the minimum quantity you can order is 500 or 1,000 or more. Next!

The challenge of promotional products low minimum orders is that your choices are low quantity, too. In general, the higher the cost of the item, the lower the quantity you are required to order. But there goes your budget.

So what can you do so that you’re not spending beaucoup bucks on promotional items, but still getting branded merchandise for your event or campaign?

Search for Low Minimum Promotional Products and Be Creative. On our USAandUnionMadePromoShop.com, we offer a limited selection of cheap promotional products in the $1-$5 range with minimums of 50 or less. But these items are also excellent quality Made in the USA products you can be proud to distribute. Even if you find similar collections on other sites, be aware that your choices will be extremely limited in this price range. Be flexible and creative to use what’s available. For example, you could fill inexpensive stadium cups or water bottles printed with your logo with unimprinted wrapped candy or snacks that you bought in bulk at the warehouse club. Plus, recipients can use the cup or bottle later.
Be Selective on Recipients. For higher priced, but low minimum promotional gifts, only distribute to those most deserving. Rank your clients in terms of revenues and select maybe the top 12 to receive. This is especially the case for holiday food gifts.
Buy for Multiple Purposes and Events. This requires some planning, but look at your needs for the year ahead when ordering your promotional products so that you can purchase a higher quantity and take advantage of volume discounts. I’ve done this myself for my own promotions and had items to distribute for the entire year. Also saves on shipping and set up costs.

Got a great idea for dealing with high minimums? Share with us in Comments.

And for more great ideas for your promotions, sign up for our email updates by entering your email address here:

The Various Uses of Wristbands at Events

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Wristbands have long been used by concert venues to keep track of people attending events. With the new technologies that have come in to play within the last few years, the standard event wristband is now able to do even more. Wristbands can give wearers access to additional information about the event they are attending, help event organizers keep track of the attendees and also provide a valuable marketing resource to venues and outside advertisers.

One of the main benefits of the new generation of event wristbands is the additional information it gives event goers access to. Event organizers are now able to set up their wristbands to allow attendees to do things like enter contests being held as part of the event. Many venues are also including access to online information about the event specifically to attendees who have the wristbands.

The most important thing that wristbands do for event organizers is to help them keep track of event attendees. The new generation of wristbands can be instantly scanned, letting the people at the gate see at a glance if attendees have prepaid for an event. This feature will reduce time in queue, which leads to fewer customer service issues, in addition to fewer frustrations for the event organizers and staff. Event wristbands also come in a wide variety of colours and they can be coded to let staff know quickly which areas of the event different attendees have paid for access to. Wristbands also can be coded to show which guests are of legal drinking age, cutting down on problems in this regard.

In addition, wristbands offer a great marketing opportunity for both the venue and outside sponsors. Logos or slogans are easily added to the wristbands and the cost to produce them is minimal. Many event attendees also save their wristbands as a remembrance of the event, meaning that they save the sponsors information as well. A variety of logos can be put on each wristband or an advertiser can pay to only have their information on a small number. This allows multiple advertisers the opportunity to reach their target audience.

Wristbands are made of a wide variety of weatherproof materials and come in a number of colours to suit any size event. They are a great option not only for concert promoters, but also for advertisers trying to reach a particular market at a relatively low cost.

About the Author

Guest blogger Craig Franks works for MPM Wristbands who are in the events industry. Whilst working for these event wristbands suppliers, he has learnt a lot about the practical benefits of using wristbands and can see them eventually being used entirely instead of tickets for some events.

PromoWithPurposeShop.com Redesigned for Fall and Holiday Promotion Shopping

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To help busy marketing professionals and business owners get what they need for fall and holiday promotions, Thorne Communications LLC has redesigned their PromoWithPurposeShop.com promotional products website with a variety of shopper-friendly features including:

Promotional product index right on the home page to help buyers find what they’re looking for quickly. Hundreds of choices are categorized by purpose including trade show products, promotional apparel, sports promotions, holiday food gifts, USA and union made, and eco promotions.
An additional short, easy to remember website address, PWPShop.com, will take buyers direct to the index page.
Shoppers can pay for their orders online with a major credit card (via PayPal processing; no PayPal account required) or PayPal.

“We know that holiday shoppers, whether they’re looking for items for personal or business giving, are looking for easy ways to get the gifts they need without the hassle of shopping in stores, crowds and parking. Promotions can be ordered online and delivered direct to their home or office,” says Heidi Thorne, president of Thorne Communications LLC.

Visit the redesigned shopsite at either PromoWithPurposeShop.com or PWPShop.com.

About Thorne Communications LLC

Thorne Communications LLC is a promotional marketing company founded by marketing expert, author and speaker, Heidi Thorne. Heidi has 25 years of experience in marketing, advertising and public relations, and is the editor of the Promo With Purpose Today blog (www.PWPToday.com) which offers small business owners and trade/professional groups advice on using promotional products for marketing their organizations.

New Items at the ASI Chicago 2012 Promotional Products Show

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I always love the summer ASI Chicago 2012 Promotional Products Show (Advertising Specialty Institute) every summer. Good way to start getting ideas for fall and holiday promotions.

Maybe I was intent on finding certain types of products and didn’t notice, but I don’t think I was struck by any breakout product categories this year. But there were some fun and interesting selections throughout the show floor. Check these out…

MOOD PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTS

Flashback to the 1970s alert! Many of my clients are always asking me what’s hot in the promo world. These items qualify! Watch the video to see how hot I really am (tee hee!):

Click Here to Watch Color Changing Pencils and Promotions on YouTube

All of these color changing mood promotional products are Made in the USA and available at the USAandUnionMadePromoShop.com.

Click Here to View the Entire Color Changing Collection

ENERGY SHEETS

Everyone wants a burst of energy these days. Those energy “shots” packed with vitamins and caffeine are keeping people going. Introduced at the show were these energy Sheets. Just pop a mint-flavored sheet on your tongue for a boost of B Vitamins and caffeine. The package can be branded with your logo. Great for sporting events and other activities relating to or promoting energy… either the human or the utility kind. (NOTE: Photo on shopsite product detail page may not be accurate; pending update for this brand new product. The view shown in this post at left is current.)

Click Here for Full Energy Sheet Product Description & Current Pricing

MOBILE

This is probably the one category that did have some interesting new items. I just reviewed one of them on our new MessagingMarketing.com blog. It’s a custom mobile skin for iPhone with a lenticular (changing) image.

Click Here to Watch the Video on the iPhone Skin

TRENDS

What I did find very interesting, and helpful, is that more and more suppliers are providing information on product origin, green and product safety features. Years back, if you wanted this information, you had to specifically ask for it. Now, it seems that product details include this data automatically. Makes yours and my jobs a whole lot easier.

Last year there seemed to be a strong emphasis on Made in the USA. Still quite obvious this year, though not to as great a degree. With the recent Ralph Lauren controversy about the Olympic uniforms, I think this will be an issue in the promotional products world for some time to come.

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Color Changing “Mood” Promotional Products
Energy Sheets (Note product photo on shopsite may not be accurate; pending update for this brand new product.)
Video on Custom Mobile Skin for iPhone

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