Recently on the blog, Kim discussed how much she loves the Terra Porcelain Cup and it reminded me of one of my favorite promotional items. While I occasionally drink coffee, tea is really my thing. I love all kinds of tea, English breakfast, chai spice, oolong, and my personal favorite: Double Bergamot Earl Grey. Of course, you can always brew your tea and put it in a regular mug, but I find that using a tea infuser makes for a better cup of tea.
The infuser is acrylic and has a double wall construction that keeps the tea hot but your hands stay cool. You can use it for loose-leaf tea and regular tea bags and it works well for both. This unique promotional drinkware item is definitely not as popular as a standard ceramic coffee mug but I think that is what makes it great. You can still use it for other hot drinks, such as coffee, but you can also use it for iced tea in the summer, sodas, or even just regular ol’ water. Anyone can use tea infusers, but tea lovers like myself will really appreciate others making the effort to give them something a little bit different and tailored to their preferences instead of coffee drinkers for once!
As a kid growing up with divorced parents, my holiday season was much like the lives of Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn in last year’s blockbuster “Four Christmases.” Witherspoon and Vaughn play an engaged couple that both have divorced parents and- due to some unfortunate weather- are forced to visit all four adults on Christmas. While this might be an extreme situation for the sake of comedy, spending copious amounts of time in the car during the holidays is no joke.
In fact, 91% of Americans will drive to their Thanksgiving destinations, according to studies by the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) of the Department of Transportation. Whether they are planning a visit to all four parents or traveling across the country to visit friends, the average person drives 214 miles over Thanksgiving weekend. As a result, I’ve come up with a few ways to pass time in the car, as well as some great promotional products to take along for the ride.
To start with, consider listening to a podcast or a book on tape. This is a great way to stay alert during long drives (especially if you aren’t fortunate enough to have the companionship of Witherspoon or Vaughn). If you do have a friend or family member along for the ride, play geography word games or share your favorite holiday-themed memories to pass the time.
And, don’t forget to pack well because nothing spoils a good road trip quite like a cramped car. Consider filling sports bottles and coolers with food and drinks to eliminate the need for multiple snack stops and bring a promotional CD case to keep your music within easy reach. If you and your employees are like most Americans and planning to travel via car this holiday season, customizing and distributing these promotional products will put your brand on the road to success!
Be sure to check out the whole film to see Reese clutching her travel mug at many stops along the trip.
So in case you haven’t heard, New Moon is out today.
For any of you that don’t know, New Moon is the second – highly anticipated – installment of the Twilight Saga.
Centering on star-crossed vampire/human lovers, Edward and Bella, the Twilight Saga has quickly grown from a favorite young adult series to a nationwide phenomenon.
I have to admit, I am a pretty serious fan.
Yes, I’ve read the books. Yes, I own Twilight the movie. Yes, I feel a little guilty. And no, I’m not a stalker of any of the cast members. I just happen to really love fictional/fantasy movies and books, and this series fell right into place among the other witches, wizards and romance (no not harlequin) that decorates my bookshelves. I mean, who doesn’t need an escape from the real world now and then?
So even with all the hullabaloo focused around the release of New Moon, I cannot help but be amazed by the multitude of promotional products that are being used to generate buzz about the movie. Everywhere I turn there is another poster, another magazine, another t-shirt, another candy bar featuring the cast’s young faces!
I am amazed and absolutely in awe of the promotions for this movie. While it may be next to impossible to generate this type of excitement about a typical product or service, the power of promotional merchandise cannot be denied.
This movie has gone far and above the typical promotions surrounding a new release.
Everywhere I turn, there is an image of Edward or Jacob. “Team Edward” and “Team Jacob” t-shirts are being worn by millions. There are thousands upon thousands of imprinted items available for “Twi-hards” to display publicly their eternal love for these mystical characters.
This my friends, is one of the greatest promotions I have ever seen.
This movie has successfully surpassed all previous records for advanced ticket sales, and is quickly on the way to other box office records. As I said, the books are great! The first movie was definitely good. But is New Moon record numbers good?
I’m sure everyone in the world of marketing and advertising can attest that you should never underestimate the buying power of teens and young adults. But I have to think. Would these numbers have ever come close without the posters, tees and ringtones – and of course Rob Pattinson’s appearance on the cover of oh so many magazines?
I think not.
So for all of my fellow Twilight fans out there, here’s the trailer to the movie to hold you over until you make it to the theater – that is of course if you haven’t already seen the movie!
Oh, and who plans to purchase an aluminum water bottle with Edward or Jacob on it? Anybody?
This week marks the second annual Global Entrepreneurship Week, hosted by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and business coalition Make Your Mark (based in the United Kingdom). The week coincides with the U.K’s Enterprise Week, and altogether, the events encompassed by these joint celebrations number about 25,000! Over 75 countries are taking part in the festivities, which kicked off in New York yesterday with the ringing of the bell at the New York Stock Exchange immediately followed by a panel discussion between college students and renowned entrepreneurs from an array of industries.
The week serves as a platform for young entrepreneurs to gather with experienced entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and other knowledgeable professionals to network, learn and share ideas. Due to the current global recession, many entrepreneurs are becoming disheartened with their work, so this occasion provides a valuable opportunity for them to re-energize, listen to personal experiences and triumphs of other entrepreneurs and refocus their priorities. Did you know that over half of the companies listed on the 2009 U.S. Fortune 500 got their starts during a recession or bear market? If that statistic isn’t a source of inspiration for today’s entrepreneurs, I don’t know what is!
After reading several stories about Global Entrepreneurship Week in the press, I was suddenly hit with the realization that entrepreneurs are the people who make the world go around. Yes, I knew this sub-consciously, but I think I have taken for granted the significant impact that entrepreneurs have played in my life. Change would not be possible without forward-thinking risk-takers. Who can deny that entrepreneurs have been the driving force behind every appliance, product and service in existence? Take, for example, the founders of Pinnacle Promotions, Mitch and Dave Weintraub: they noticed a need in the marketplace for a reliable, efficient online distributor of promotional products. Their entrepreneurial spirit led them to found Pinnacle, and fourteen years later, this company remains at the forefront of innovation and improvement in our industry.
Now, before I turn this post into a list of reasons why I love working at Pinnacle Promotions (I’ll save that for another post, another day!), here are a couple of motivational quotes from the kick-off event for Global Entrepreneurship Week:
“Entrepreneurs that I’ve met who have been really successful, whenever you ask them about why they did it, or how they did it, it’s never about the money, and it’s never about the business plans – it’s always about, ‘I saw the need.’”
-Blake Mycoskie, founder of eco-friendly footwear company TOMS Shoes
“If you can drive authenticity through your market and own that space, you are going to have a sustainable business.”
-Barry Sternlicht, CEO of Starwood Capital Group
“Study what’s missing and what you want to become. It’s 2009 – anything’s possible.”
-Snoop Dogg, Rapper
Twitter has done a great job with branding. Every encounter I have with Twitter leaves me feeling light and refreshed. Their monochrome blue is relaxing, and their subtle clouds and sun rays somehow work without being cheesy.
Remarkably, Twitter has even managed to incorporate a mascot: its little bluebird.
Everything that Twitter communicates visually about itself is consistent with the content and practices of the business.
Twitter is fresh.
…in its content. Beyond being the hot new fad, Twitter has stayed relevant with innovations like # and retweet. Brilliantly, however, Twitter lets its members do most of the work, and people are constantly discovering new ways to use the site.
…in its appearance. Light clouds and sun rays make you feel you’re tweeting in a meadow.
…in its digs. Twitter’s new space even includes a DJ booth. And what’s fresher than music created on the spur of the moment?
Twitter is transparent.
…in its content. There are very few places to hide on the Twitter site. Most accounts are public, meaning your tweets are instantly available to the entire Tweetdom.
…in its appearance. Twitter’s sky blue website is so airy that you feel you could reach your hand through the screen.
…in its digs. Exposed rafters and light bulbs, vast spaces and large windows make the headquarters feel open. And like Gawker, Twitter employees sit at communal drafting tables with no cubicle walls.
Twitter is simple.
…in its content. 140 characters. That’s it.
…in its appearance. One color. No clutter.
…in its digs, with bird decals on the walls and a modern, minimalist design. The colors of the walls and floors stick to Twitter’s monochrome scheme.
I love how Twitter has translated its brand to its new offices, even — wait for it — using promotional products in the décor. They even showcase an embroidered promotional pillow that reads “Home Tweet Home.”
For a company that exists on the internet, they’ve seamlessly extended their brand to their physical surroundings.
One of my favorite things to do in Atlanta is attend the festivals and shows that come to town in the spring and summer. From art events, such as the Inman Park Festival, to music festivals, like Corndogorama where up-and-coming bands can be showcased (and of course – a corn dog eating contest!), I love getting out of the house and walking through these festivals. Regardless of the event, I enjoy the good food, great music, artistic talent and festivities that come along with these festivals.
Secretly, I also love checking out the promo items companies are giving away!
My friends tease me when I look at the bottom of a mug or the tag in a bag and recognize the product, but I also enjoy seeing what products people go crazy over. Whether recipients appreciate the brand – a popular beer or alcohol drink, an insurance company, or a small publication or radio station – or the item itself, it’s fun to see the products in action and to see people’s response to the items first hand.
I’ve seen everything from cardboard speakers to coconut shot glasses and retro slap-bracelets to full-size custom camping tents and sleeping bags (those were incredibly hot with everyone trying to win the items!) Recently, I attended a festival and actually stood in line to win a promotional item an airline was giving away; the item was so timely that I just couldn’t resist. It was a rainy day and a company was distributing nylon, water-resistant cowboy hats – perfect for people that forgot an umbrella.
I’m actually working on a project for a customer now where I’ve attended the event for the last three years. I have seen the items this customer gives away, as well as items from the other sponsors of the event. I am able to put my experience to good use while brainstorming unique items that I know people attending the event will love.
I think it’s official: I’m a promo-junkie and I love it.
This Thursday is “Beaujolais Day,” a special occasion that occurs on the third Thursday in November each year, meaning that at approximately 12:01am this year’s Beaujolais Nouveau will be released for sale to the public worldwide. This French red wine is the most popular of all vins des primeurs, referring to those wines that are permitted by Appellation d’origine contrôlée (AOC) regulations to be sold in the same year in which their grapes were harvested and actually, is ready to be drunken just 6-8 weeks after the harvest. Around 49 million liters comprising 65 million bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau are produced each year, making up nearly half of the region’s total wine production – about half of which is exported, with the USA coming up just behind Germany and Japan for taking the biggest share. I had the rare opportunity to taste 2006’s Beaujolais Nouveau the evening before its official release when I was studying abroad in Paris, France, as a wine distributor who was friends with one of the directors in charge of my program arranged a special tasting of the Beaujolais Nouveau for the students a part of this program.
The Beaujolais Nouveau is known more for its tradition and the event of its early release rather than its exquisite taste. Due to its method of production, there is very little tannin, normally found in red wines, making the Beaujolais Nouveau a lighter, fruitier, wine that is also recommended served chilled. This combination makes for a celebratory beverage that is easy to drink – and even perhaps better suited to be gulped, rather than sipped and critiqued – and is also one in which Americans often find pleasant to pair with their Thanksgiving turkeys (an occasion for which it is particularly promoted, falling a week after the wine is released). In fact, the date of its release was actually changed to the third Thursday in November in 1985 to take greater advantage of the marketing opportunities the wine would procure at this time – the region had always made a wine to celebrate the end of the harvest but with the establishment of the Beaujolais AOC in 1937 specific release dates were assigned.
The great success of this wine is indeed due mostly to the marketing efforts that promote it, efforts that are enforced by Monsieur Georges Duboeuf, the biggest producer of Beaujolais Nouveau, which represents over a fifth of his annual production. The labels on Duboeuf’s bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau feature colorful abstract designs that are different each year (2009’s is above) and he even has silk ties made and sold by select distributors with the same design.
While colorful abstract silk ties may not be appropriate products to use in a promotional marketing campaign celebrating the release of this year’s Beaujolais Nouveau, promotional wine bottle openers are the perfect alternative. Plus, as opposed to gifting bottles of the wine itself, whose bottle will most likely be disposed of after its contents are drunken (and while other wines “get better with age,” the Beaujolais Nouveau is intended for immediate drinking, and it is not recommended to keep a bottle for more than a year) your promotional wine bottle openers can serve their recipients well into the future – advertising your brand well into the future too!
Here is a video from the Associated Press featuring New York chefs and wine connoisseurs and Franck Duboeuf, Partner of Georges Duboeuf Wines, tasting and providing their own commentary on last year’s Beaujolais Nouveau.
Not the “ooh, it looks like there might be snow today,” cold. But chilly enough to really find it excruciatingly difficult to drag myself out of bed in the morning.
I won’t lie. I absolutely have an undying passionate love affair with my super soft, super cozy pillow-top. But I guess that’s beside the point…
As the days get shorter, the weather colder and my snuggly, warm bed even more irresistible, I have found myself being more and more drawn to the delicious aroma of a freshly brewed cup of coffee in the morning. I’ve not always been a big coffee drinker, but there really isn’t a much better way to kick-start the workday than with a wonderful dose of caffeinated goodness!
So you’re probably wondering where I’m going with this blog… Well it’s through this new found obsession with a giant dose of hot caffeine, that I have found my latest and greatest promotional mugs obsession…
The Terra porcelain coffee cup.
This ridiculously cute, 11oz coffee cup comes in either white or black porcelain with a black silicone lid that fits snuggly into place. Perfect for office environments where you need a desk-friendly mug but don’t want to risk unwanted and messy spills and splashes, this trendy porcelain cup is a great solution.
Even the packaging for the Terra mug is attractive. The eco-friendly box makes for a great holiday gift presentation.
So if you are anything like me and the other 90% of Americans who can’t survive the chilly morning without a hot, caffeinated pick-me-up, this inventive piece of promotional mugs could be the perfect holiday gift for your business.
I am probably one of the most loyal country music fans you will ever find. I know the words to a vast majority of the songs, from Garth to Carrie, and after a recent trip to Nashville, can honestly state that I have never felt more at home in an American city than in the Home of Country Music! I mean, live country music being performed at the bars and restaurants all day long, not to mention country tunes blasting from speakers at the bus stops- it is every country music lover’s dream come true. Watching the Country Music Awards last night led me to reminisce about my fantastic experience in “Nashvegas.”
Most great American cities boast unique anecdotes about residents and events, both past and present, but these distinctive histories are not always as blatantly obvious as in Nashville. Statues of country greats like Elvis and Dolly Parton line the sidewalks (and if you must know, yes, I did stop to take pictures next to each of them!), cowboy boots can be found in almost every retail store, and museums paying homage to country legends like Johnny and June attract audiences hailing from far and wide.
During my visit to Nashville, I knew that my sadness to return to Atlanta could be assuaged by collecting memorabilia from various venues I frequented during my stay. I could barely close my suitcase because of my new purchases, but I do not regret a single one of them! I could not avoid the tourist shops on Broadway (one of the main streets in downtown Nashville), and wound up buying a fitted custom t-shirt with a subtle graphic featuring the word “Nashville” and a sketch of a guitar at the hip, a few other wearable items and some souvenir gifts for my family and friends.
I am already planning my next trip to Nashville, but in the meantime, I will have to settle for watching my favorite country artists on TV and sporting my Nashville-emblazoned promotional apparel around Atlanta to keep remnants of an unforgettable weekend fresh in my mind!
Promotional products in the entertainment industry are no longer limited to Hannah Montana beach towels. Hollywood is finding more and more that, in order to make money off big-budget films, they’ve got to have the swag.
Been in an Urban Outfitters store recently? Partnering with Warner Brothers and director Spike Jonze, for months the store has featured Where the Wild Things Are promotional products in anticipation of the movie’s October 16th release. Hipsters everywhere could shop for slippers, coloring books, t-shirts, keychains, books, CDs, toy figurines, wall art, movie stills, shadow puppets, pillow cushions, dolls, designer clothing, and even a Viewmaster themed after Dave Eggers’ hip-terpretation of the classic children’s storybook. (The Viewmaster reminds me an awful lot of the short-lived television show Wonderfalls, about a Gen-Y sales clerk who hears the voice of God in promotional products, but that’s a story for another day.)
Warner Brothers isn’t the only studio looking to promotional products to save its profits. Hollywood has recently witnessed two major firings: 1) that of Disney’s studio chief, and 2) the sacking of Universal Pictures’ two top chairmen. Disney then hired Rich Ross, who had been the head at Disney Channel, a network famous for spawning young superstars like Miley Cyrus and Hillary Duff. Universal promoted their marketing chief, Adam Fogelson. In both cases the studios opted for people with experience promoting films beyond the box office.
Kim Masters of KCRW’s The Business had this to say about the entertainment industry broadening its marketing efforts:
In the case of Disney, they went with the TV executive who’s not a movie guy, and the idea is brands, brands, brands — sell it across the platforms. Look at High School Musical, sell it as a concert, sell it as a stage thing, sell it as a — any — a t-shirt. You know, that’s the idea that they’re pursuing at Disney.
Movies failing to make enough money at the box office are old news. But with the popularity of DVR and other technologies, films are now floundering in DVD sales as well. Marketing strategies that worked for High School Musical and other children’s films are starting to look pretty attractive to grown-up movies.
Thus, Where the Wild Things Are throw pillows.
In the case of Urban and Jonze, promotional products are not only marketing a film; they are making profits in and of themselves. And record labels have been doing the same.
What do you think about all this?
a. I hope Pinnacle starts offering promotional products for A Christmas Carol! I really want a Scrooge-shaped shadow puppet lamp to adorn my living room.
b. Ugh. Please don’t Hannah Montana-fy my favorite movies.
c. What’s a Dave Eggers?
d. It’s complicated. (Please elaborate.)
Answer in the comments section! (Until we get a poll installed.)
Recently on the blog, Kim discussed how much she loves the Terra Porcelain Cup and it reminded me of one of my favorite promotional items. While I occasionally drink coffee, tea is really my thing. I love all kinds of tea, English breakfast, chai spice, oolong, and my personal favorite: Double Bergamot Earl Grey. Of course, you can always brew your tea and put it in a regular mug, but I find that using a tea infuser makes for a better cup of tea.
