Is your business currently using plastic bags? Los Angels is is one of many cities that is considering or has banned businesses from using plastic bags. San Francisco and Santa Monica has recently imposed bans. There are many cool eco friendly bag alternatives that can be branded with your business logo. What better way to show that your business is a good steward of the environment. A  press release from one of my industry organizations, the Advertising Specialty Institute, reported on what is being proposed in Los Angeles. 

http://www.asicentral.com/asp/open/apps/news/industrynews.aspx?id=5129

If your company has a bag need  and would like to find out what eco friendly options are avaialable, please contact me.

We are all familar with the eco friendly “Green” movement that is gettign stronger each year. There are many more available eco products than ever before in retail as well as the Promotional Products industry. What you might not be aware of is that a growing number of my supplier partners who offer imprinted eco products have invested in production methods that are good for the environment. This can be carbon offshoots, where companies reduce waste in areas not directly related to the production of a product due to manufacturing limitations. An example is where a company uses recycled cartons for the products packaging or uses solar panels to ptovide power for their facilities. One of my partner suppliers, BIC, who manufactures writing instruments, tries to reduce the amount of raw materials used in the production process. for example, with the amount of oil that it takes to make 5 liters of gasoline, BIC can produce 4000 pens which is enough for three generations to write with. This kind of commitment is impressive and allows me to utilize supplier partners that are working hard to make a difference in all areas, not just the use of a recycled promotional product.

You might have heard of QR codes or are familar with them from their rollout in the retail sector but they are now being imprinted on  a Promotional Product  that you might receive very soon. What is a QR or quick response code? They are two dimensional barcodes that hold information which  can be read by your smartphone after downloading a free QR Reader from the web. QR Codes can hold the following information:

Web url’s, SMS/phone numbers, Google maps, RSS Feeds , Contact info.

Here are examples of applications where QR Codes can  be used:

Contests/sweepstakes, Coupons, Giveaways, Training

QR Codes are trackable so Marketing Departments and business owners will have important data everytime the barcode is accessed by a smartphone. Ariel Premium Supply , one my vendor partners, is on the cutting edge of QR codes in the Promotional Products industry. They can imprint QR Codes  on a large number of their current products as well as use the technology to link their web site to users of Promotional Products. I am excited to be able to share this great new technology with everyone and in the coming months I will share case studies where Promotional Products were imprinted with QR codes.

A branded reusable water bottle that can be handed out a trade show without the worry of the recipient not taking it back home with them due to it’s size. Hello Collapsible Plastic Water Bottle.
BPA Free
Attached Carabiner – Great for hikes and trips to the gym

A new year  usually means new marketing budgets for most companies. Now more than ever, Marketing Directors and HR Managers must be able to justify each expense for their departments. Business Owners need to know that their advertising purchases are bringing in new customers. The million dollar question is do we really know if the products that are ordered and handed out keep your brand/logo in front of customers?  A  study by ASI (Advertising Specialty Institute) and Research Services last year  asked over 3000  users who received Promotional Products within the past twelve months if the item had any impact on their impression of the company who sponsored (logo on the item) or if they would purchase products or services from that company.     Are Promo Products effective? 83% of the polled users stated that they did remember who sponsored the item that they received . Mugs/Glassware, Shirts, and Writing Instruments are the top three promo items that have the highest sponsorship retention. Very  powerful information for purchasers of Promotional Products who need to justify this  expense to their dpeartment heads. From the same study, Promotional Product Consultants can drill down even further and assist their clients by providing  even more specefic data that can pinpoint promo product usage by  age  and gender. For example As men get older  (to the age of 64), they  are more likely to keep a cap and less likely to want a bag.  On the other hand, as women age (to 64), they are more likely to keep and use a writing instrument or calendar. A buyer armed wiht this data can be more accurate in their Promotional Product purchase and know that  the recipient will actually use and keep the imprinted product. This information is a game changer. No more ordering thousands of trade show giveaways or client gifts without really knowing if the recipient is going to keep, use or even remember who sponsored the product. Information is power and the trend for 2011 is for Promotional Product Consultants to provide their clients with the data and creative product ideas to assist them in making the right purchase and to justify the purchase to their bosses.

This relatively new term is used to describe companies making deceptive claims to promote a misleading perception that their products and services are environmentally friendly. Companies are jumping on the “Green” bandwagon by spending more of their money advertising and promoting being eco-friendly rather than actually spending resources on Green business practices.

While on the web site GreenBiz.com yesterday, I saw a statistic from a report by TerraChoice Environmental Marketing which blew my mind. 95% of consumer products claiming to be Green are guilty of some form of Greenwashing.

In the Promotional Products industry I have been finding that the same situation exists and I am spending more time verifying my vendors’ claims that their advertised “Green” products are indeed eco- friendly. The good news is that many of our vendors have started to provide the contents of their advertised eco-friendly products by listing the percentage of recycled and post consumer materials in their catalogs.

This is a trend that should continue in the Promotional Products industry as well as with consumer products as the FTC earlier this month drafted new a proposal targeting companies who use Greenwashing practices. The New York Times reported that if passed, businesses will have to back up and verify claims of their products being green or eco-friendly. Fines could be levied if a company cannot verify their claims.