Eco-Friendly and Socially Responsible Promotions

We all know how much damage plastic bags do to the environment. High-end retailer Fred Segal Santa Monica is tackling the problem by teaming up with a locally relevant organization. “Heal the Bay is a leading activist group whose charter is to clean up the Santa Monica Bay,” says Todd Singleton, CEO of The Singleton Co., who partnered on the project.
Singleton’s challenge was to find an alternative to disposable shopping bags that would appeal to Fred Segal’s high-end customers. Singleton came up with a quality cotton-canvas bag with the retailer’s logo on one side and the cause logo on the other. “They made the bags in the U.S.A.,” he says, “and we had a custom-woven label sewn into the inside seam.”
The bags were distributed at a Heal the Bay annual fundraising dinner. Before the event, bags were also sold at Fred Segal for $18, and 100% of the proceeds went to the cause. “The entire front window section of Fred Segal had the bags floating in the display against a faux blue sea background,” Singleton says.
Why it worked: Replacing plastic bags with reusable versions is huge right now, but tying in with a local activist group made this campaign particularly strong. “The offering was directed to Santa Monica residents, local business owners and friends of Heal the Bay,” Singleton says. “You have to understand how passionate this community is about political causes like water quality and the need for reusable bags.”
People were eager to help, purchasing 5,000 bags to raise an additional $35,000 for the cause. They also proudly carried the totes around town. “The status of being associated with Fred Segal and Heal the Bay makes these a sought-after item,” Singleton says. “We have plans to repeat the program.”
Take advantage of this trend: Nonwoven bags are pretty much a must-have for supermarkets now and are very cost-effective. But other types of retailers, like Fred Segal, are now beginning to offer more upscale reusable bags. Reinforce the message by looking at eco-friendly fabrics like organic cotton, bamboo or recycled material.
In addition, green alternatives can now be found for just about any promotional product or program. Wearables made from organic and sustainable fiber are hotter than ever, and today’s recycled products are as beautifully crafted as traditional choices.

- Jen Zorger, Advantages Magazine
Advertising Specialty Institute

Earth Day, Every Day

Earth Day is on April 22nd every year. Earth Day is a
day to remember to take care of our planet, Earth. We
can take care of our planet by keeping it clean.
We can keep Earth clean by following the rule of
“reduce, reuse, recycle”. We can reduce our use of resources like water or
gasoline. We can reuse many things, such as jars,
plastic bags, and boxes. Recycle means to make
something new from something old. We can keep
Earth clean by recycling materials such as aluminum,
paper, and plastic. If we take these materials to a
recycling center, they can be used again in a different
way.
We must do these things every day, not just on Earth Day. We
must all do our part, and we can make a difference.
On April 22nd, remind everyone you know that Earth
Day is every day!


©2005abcteach.com

The Value of Promotional Products

When working on your marketing plan, do you consider just the cost of your program or do you also consider the value of it. For instance, you sell a product or service. How do you get that out to market? Through trade shows? TV or print advertising? Networking? Promotional Products? What's the value of each of these? What is your return on investment for each of these? TV and print advertising lasts as long as the commercial airs or until your throw away the newspaper or magazine. Networking? How long does someone really keep your business card, or even if they keep it, how often do they look at it? Here's the value of promotional products. Choosing the right product for your audience can have lasting value for weeks, months and years. They can be used in conjunction with events where you market your services. Next time you go out in public, look at how many people are wearing a tee shirt advertising something, how many men are wearing a golf shirt with a corporate logo on it? How many backpacks or computer cases are branded? They are everywhere! If you're considering a promotional product to give to clients, rather than just give someone a pen (and the right pen is a good gift!) consider these things. Giving something that is useful will typically give you continued face time with the recipient and something they will appreciate. Give something they will remember. If you're giving chocolate, give them the best piece of chococlate they have ever had. Make your marketing dollars an investment, not an expense.

USB Drive Standards and Quality

In the promotional products industry, there are about 3-4,000 suppliers who can logo anything from a pen to a refrigerator and just about anything in between. So I was recently doing research for a client for some usb drives. Because they wanted a small number, I contacted 3 different suppliers who each had a 5 star rating (the highest) and the prices were just about the same. In the distant past I had shied away from selling them because I wasn't educated enough with the quality or guarantee or pretty much anything else about them except that I knew you could store data and transfer data using them. Here's what I've discovered over the past year or two. USB drive technology is a commodity and prices are usually set every week by the factories that make them for that week. And as I read in a recent article, you get what you pay for. There are no standards to supervise the quality. Manufacturer ID is very important when buying them as it's just about the only identifying quality standard. USB drives usually have a failure rate between 2-10% on a straight duplication of information. USB drives purchased from a top tier supplier have a failure rate of .1%. Big difference! In the article, the writer stated he was duplicating drives for a top end car manufacturer and discovered a 30% failure rate. He went back and reran the 70% that had passed on the first run and came up with another 30% failure rate - in the end, most of them were bad. So, if you're in the market for usb drives, it's important to know the brand and that it's from a top tier manufacturer. Be sure that the company you purchase from is going to guarantee the product. Sometimes the quality of the logo product you give to a client or prospect can reflect on the quality of your company.

A New Leaf

I've not written as frequently as promised or as frequently as I would like because I get writers block sometimes. Really, how interesting is it for you to read about promotional products all the time? Right. So, my goal is to write more frequently and I will write about promotional products but also about life and the joy of it - and whatever else strikes my fancy. Hope you will continue to tune in.

Memory

Not the human kind, but how much memory do you need when ordering MP3 players? 128MB holds about 30 - 4 minute songs. Whereas, 2-4GB holds 500-1000 songs. If you need an MP3 player for video files, 4GB is the solution. A video file is around 800MB. So, now that you know the capacity, which size do you buy? Consider what you expect to get out of any promotion when giving away an MP3 player as part of the promotion. What's the age group? Are you giving music download cards with it? It may be worth your while to spend a little more money - and it is only a little more money - to get a 2 GB than a 128MB and you'll see a much better bang for your buck. With technology constsantly evolving, someone who receives an MP3 player with 4GB of storage is more likely to use it for a longer period of time than 128MB. Think of cost vs. value.

Cheap Tee Shirts

Do you ever use tee shirts or logo apparel to brand your business? If you do, do you use cheap white tee shirts or do you spend a little more and get a quality shirt? Depending on your intended result, carefully consider which to use. If you're buying hundreds or thousands of tees for a company picnic or 5K, it's OK to use an inexpensive shirt and I'd recommend it. But if you're giving a shirt that you'd like someone to wear, don't give away cheap shirts. It won't get worn as often (if at all) and the recipient will associate the quality of the shirt with the quality of your brand.