promotional gifts

Aug

2014

9 Promotional Products that Didn’t Exist 20 Years Ago

Pinnacle Promotions recently celebrated our 20th birthday! Pinnacle owners Mitch and Dave Weintraub have been in this business long enough to see new products come and go. We decided to take a look back at promotional products that weren’t around 20 years ago when these two brothers started up the business.

1. Powerbanks

20 years ago no small, cellular phones even existed. No cellular phones, no need for the Powerbank as we know it today.

2. BPA Free Water Bottles

Bisphenol A has been used to make plastics since 1957. However in 1998 the government began to investigate potential safety concerns. A 2010 FDA report labeled BPA as potential hazardous to our health. This led to the creation of the BPA-free water bottle.

3. Neptune Screen Cleaning Cloth

Again, no small, cellular phones with touch screens no need for the Neptune Cloth screen cleaner.

4. Stylus Pen

No touch screen, no stylus!

5. Stemless Wine Glass

Reidel introduced the worlds fist stemless wine glass in 2004. “The tumbler, used for centuries as an all-around drinking vessel, is now turned into a sophisticated wine accessory.” https://www.pinnaclepromotions.com/promotional-product/9-oz-stemless-wine-taster-11804

6. Moustache Pen

While there were moustaches 20 years ago, there weren’t “hipsters.” Hence, the Moustache Pen.

7. Retro Boombox Cooler

20 years ago we were using actual boom boxes! Not, coolers dressed up to look like boom boxes that use Bluetooth technology to play music!

8. Clear Stadium Tote

While the clear bag may have existed 20 years ago, the clear bag for use at NFL games and other sporting events only existed since the beginning of the 2013 season in response to uncertainties following 9/11.

9. Full-color grocery tote with QR code

Full-color images have been around for a while. However, the inclusion of the QR code inside the color image is new. One client used the bag as a giveaway for conference attendees. When users activate the QR code, they were provided with the conference schedule and coupons for meals and local attractions that were exclusive to the QR code users.

Take a look around you right now! What things do you see that weren’t around 20 years ago? Tell us in the comments below.

Pinnacle Promotions

WARNING: This post might make you feel old! A new blog post from @PinnaclePromos

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Jul

2014

How 5 Brands Glammed Up With Promo Products

By Elizabeth Fenlon, Merchandising Specialist

When you think promotional products, what comes to mind? Probably stress balls, pens, note cubes? Some janky item you’d pick up at a tradeshow? You most likely don’t think of promotional items as useful products that will enhance your next event. Promotional products are not just bland, boring products that trade style and personality for inexpensive and purely functional.
The use of promotional products, especially in unique and subtle ways, can do wonders in helping to build brand awareness in your client base. Event planners and marketers, take note.

1. At an in store event, CUSP by Neiman Marcus offered refreshments to guests in simple frosted cups with their logo imprinted on them.

2. At another in store event, Neiman Marcus gave guests a sweet treat! They are sure to take these home with them and think of Neiman’s fondly as they enjoy their tasty morsel.

3. Celebrity stylist and fashion blogger, Rachel Zoe, adds a subtle hint of branding to her event by supplying logoed metallic sharpies for attendees to use.

4. She also shows us logoed office supplies don’t have to be boring with these metallic journals!

5. Sometimes, it’s not the product, but the messaging that ties everything together. Nylon Magazine lets their personality show with these simple, metallic pencils available for purchase on their website.

6. CFDA thinks outside the ‘block’ with their promotion for their studio visit with Band of Outsiders.

Not sure how to find the right ‘glam’ product to enhance your next promotion or event? No matter the parameters, we have something for you! Tell us about your event and let us do the thinking for you, matching the perfect product to fit your brand and event. Trust us, we’re experts.

Pinnacle Promotions

How 5 Brands Glammed Up With Promo Products! A new blog post from @PinnaclePromos

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May

2014

School Supplies Supply Smiles: Pinnacle Promotions Makes a Big Impact in Haiti

When Pinnacle Promotions began more than 20 years ago, it was founded on a premise of doing good work and being good people. That desire has never left the heart of owners Mitch and Dave Weintraub. Recently, Pinnacle Promotions partnered with Martin Genauer and the law firm of Berger Singerman to support the Foundation Groupe Jean Vorbe in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Together, we worked to provide the children at the Foundation and the Foyer Divin Orphanage with more than 500 blankets and convertible bag-backpacks filled with pens, pencils, erasers and other school supplies. The Foundation was kind enough to send along pictures of some very happy children.

Translation:

I acknowledge receipt of your letter from the 11th and thank you. I take this opportunity to ask you to send Martin Genauer and Pinnacle Promotions, on behalf of Foundation Jean Vorbe and the orphanage Foyer Divine, my most sincere thanks.

I attached some pictures of the children receiving the blankets that will be so useful for the coming cool months.

Once again, thank you or having thought of us and wish you the warmest regards.

Jean Marie’ Vorbe

The value of giving back into the lives of children is immeasurable. We consider ourselves fortunate to have been a part of making a difference for school children in Haiti.

Pinnacle Promotions

New blog post by @PinnaclePromos – Pinnacle Promotions Makes a big Impact in Haiti

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Feb

2014

The Fuller Brush Man’s Necessities

The Fuller Brush salesman is a legend in the outside sales community. The Fuller Brush man was the original traveling salesman. He went door-to-door, cold calling from city to city, state to state across the country. Movies have been made about him, from The Fuller Brush Man to Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. He is a part of pop culture, and the ideal that salespeople strive to be.

While the Fuller Brush man-model has changed over the years, the role of the “traveling” or outside salesperson still exists. Whether a local person or across states or countries, the role of the salesperson has changed over the decades but there are some business essentials that every outside salesperson needs.

See if you agree with our list:

Business Cards: A must for any salesperson, inside or out. You can order online, or even print your own these days. Business cards are also moving out of the traditional-size mold and branching out into more creative shapes and designs.

Business Card Holders: Don’t keep your cards in your wallet. Instead, pull your business card from a classy holder.

Luggage Tag: Easily spot your luggage on the baggage carousel. Luggage tags make life easier for the seasoned traveler!

Messenger Bag: Many of our messenger bags have a handy laptop compartment.

Seat beads: A must-have for the salesperson who spends most of their life in the car!

Good Shoes: Enough said.

Sleep Mask: This Napoleon Dynamite sleep mask will keep other flyers from bothering you because they know you mean business.

A Good Book: Goodreads will help you find your next good book, and tell you what your friends are reading, too!

Hand Sanitizer: Stay germ free and safe while you travel.

Fun Giveaways: What a better way to make the right impression than to give your clients and potential customers something to remember you by. And if you can make them smile in the process, even better! Our clients loved their poppers! VIDEO

Stress-headache Medication: And lastly, do not leave home without relief for those long travel days, weather delays, or cancellations!

To be successful, you must always be prepared. So, make sure you don’t leave the office without these sales necessities!

Feb

2014

What does every cubicle need?

What does every cubicle need? When we posed that question to our team, we got some varied answers. Here are some of our top picks:

Ball chair: We were surprised to see how many people thought this belonged in every cubicle.

Sock Monkey: We thought to ourselves, “Sure, a playful toy.” Nope. People mentioned Sock Monkey by name. Is that a thing that we just aren’t aware of?

Stress Ball: Everyone needs one of these in their cube for the coworker who won’t read the entire email.

Dual-Monitor arm: Who uses just one monitor these days?

Favorite Coffee Mug: Duh.

Tech Toys: Our Social Media Manager is addicted to the Gwee™ Button touchscreen cleaning device.

Mouse Pad: Most agreed that a wrist-rest on the mouse pad is a necessity.

Phone rest: That way we can see each song change or text from our mom. This stand comes with a stylus pen!

We’ve made a Pinterest Board with some of our favorites. What would you add to this list?

Pinnacle Promotions

New Blog Post by @PinnaclePromos: Every cubicle needs a WHAT?!?

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Jan

2014

Promotional Products to Save Your Snowmageddonpocalypse

The Pinnacle Promotions office is located in the Atlanta area. In 2014, we survived, along with our friends, family and colleagues, through one of the worst snowstorms in recent memory. Call it what you like: Snowmageddon, Snowpocalypse, or more accurately Snowmageddonpocalypse. People were stranded in their cars for anywhere from 1 – 20 hours. Children were stranded at schools, and worse on school buses and brave teachers and good Samaritans kept them safe and warm. There are many theories as to why this happened. And as there are many blame theories, there are that many stories or more of miraculous and random acts of kindness and selflessness.

Pinnacle Promotions was uniquely equipped to continue servicing our clients during the storm. Our account teams were able to address our customer’s needs through proprietary tools and resources, and make the necessary adjustments to make sure our clients weren’t left out in the cold.

In talking with many who were stuck or stranded, we heard over and over about the items that they really wished they had with them to weather the storm.

Some of the top comments we heard:

“I wish I had a blanket in the car.” A customized throw or blanket would be the perfect winter item to have in the car at all times and be ready in the summer to host a picnic.

“Wish I had an external phone charger. I didn’t expect my phone to die and not be able to use my car charger.” A branded portable power bank is a price-effective and compact way to come to the rescue of your clients and employees.

“Can’t wait to get home and have a warm cup of coffee.” Many of those who spent hours on the roadways trying to get home were relieved to walk into their homes and grab their favorite custom mug to sit down for a drink to warm them through.

And here at Pinnacle, we grabbed promotional ice scrapers on our way out the door to help us get the snow and ice off our windshields for the drive home.

What items do you think would be most helpful in a snowstorm? Check out our Winter Promotional Items section for some great ideas.

And lastly, a special thanks to all of the emergency service personnel, road crews and good Samaritans who helped those who were waylaid by the storm.

Promotional Products to Save Your Snowmageddonpocalypse by @PinnaclePromos

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Jan

2014

It’s Not Just Orchid, it’s Radiant Orchid: Pantone 2014 Color of the Year

If you work as a graphic designer or with graphic designers in any capacity, no doubt you are familiar with the Pantone Matching System, which is the standard color matching system across pretty much all industries.

Each year, Pantone chooses a “Color of the Year.” The color is decided upon at a secret Pantone meeting held in a European capital each year. The color is reportedly chosen in conjunction with many of the cultural influences that Pantone believes are relevant in our present lives. The color is meant to capture the spirit of the year.

Pantone’s Color of the Year for 2014 is Radiant Orchid.

Last year’s color was green. Lots of things are green. Not all that many things are “radiant orchid.” Our team worked very hard to find promotional or customized marketing products around the office that are orchid. We found these two things that are close.

To help our designers, idea-makers and customers get into the color of the year we created a Pinterest board.

What promotional items do you think will look best in radiant orchid?

Pinnacle Promotions

Pinnacle’s new blog post is RADIANT!

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Jan

2014

Promotional Product Hacks to Save Your Trade Show

We know how difficult it is to plan, prepare, and execute a trade show and that you’re looking for tips and tricks to make it easier. Storage is in short supply at trade shows. So, how can you make the most of it? We suggest doubling up the uses of your promotional items so that you don’t have to remember quite so many things. Some people call these hacks. We call them “imaginative repurposing.”

1. Silicone wristbands make handy rubber bands when you’re overwhelmed with loose pens or pencils and short on bundling methods.

Not only are these handy customized wristbands going to be utilized over and over by tradeshow attendees (because you just gave them a new idea) but will also allow you to be organized at the same time.

2. Reduce the number of office supplies that you need to take by leveraging your promotional items for your booth staff.

These will be handy for your staff to jot down notes to hand to attendees. Branding and personal contact reminder all rolled up in one.

3. Got a tablet or iPad to display but can’t get a new case or stand?

Order the Windsor Reflections Promotional Jotter and use it to double as a display stand.

4. Cups are a great tradeshow promotional item because they are likely to be used again; they have a long “shelf life.” However, cups use up a lot of space, but really most of it is just air.

So, how do you take advantage of this? If you will be shipping your giveaway cups, use the cups for storage or stuff them full with other essentials that need to go to your trade show. This will reduce the number of boxes that you would need to ship and reduces clutter at the actual booth. In addition, many booths will use music to create the ambiance within the booth. Think you need to take along extra speakers to be heard? Think again. If playing music from your phone, place your phone’s speaker inside one of those snazzy promotional cups to amplify the sound.

5. Traveling with fragile tradeshow items and need cushioning to pack your valuables in? Have you ever thought of using a 1/4’ mouse pad, imprinted with your logo to cushion your precious delivery?

Mouse pads come in all shapes, sizes, and thicknesses and can be used not only to ensure your mouse works correctly, but can be used to take up extra space in the box and absorb any shock that your shipping boxes may incur.

So, when you get ready to pack up your trade show tables, displays, and promotional items, recall these tips to save space, time, energy, and keep you organized. Well, at least make you look smart by knowing the hacks.

Got any good hacks of your own? Let us know!

Dec

2013

Trade Show season is coming!

Tradeshow season is coming!

When the holidays come to a close, most businesses can count on one thing: the start of tradeshow season. January brings with it some of the largest and innovative tradeshows of the year. Starting with CES and PPAI in Las Vegas and rolling into car shows, boat shows, and wedding shows that will eventually dominate the spring. There are almost 1,000 tradeshows in January alone across the United States.

Ido Leffler recently wrote a stellar blog post on tradeshows, “How to Dominate Any Tradeshow, and Why Even Solo Entrepreneurs Should Try.” Leffler focuses on two main points:
…People want two things:
• They want to be entertained.
• They want free stuff.

Leffler explains that you can entertain people in a number of ways. First, by exhibiting a creative booth space. Something more than just a folding table. And then, it is imperative that you give people your time.

As for the free stuff, Leffler states that this is “Manifesto Rule Numero Uno.”

“Turn the convention hall into a walking billboard about you and your brand. Conventioneers love tote bags. Why? Because there are tons and tons of free stuff to be had, and after about two hours they are going to need something to carry the swag in. We always order thousands of great tote bags. No cheap paper or thin cotton for us. Our bags are big, bright, and unique, and by day two we try to make sure that every single person in the hall is carrying one. Be shameless and be fun. Slap your logo on the bag, add some bright colors, and make sure that people instinctively smile when they see it. Have tons of product to give away at the booth, and give it away freely. Don’t be one of those guys withholding the good stuff for the “big guys.” Instead, be the guy with the product that everyone is using and talking about. Freely distributing swag (even if it costs you) is in your best interests; you want those walking adverts wandering the convention.”

Last year, promotional reusable bags and customized cinch bags were top-sellers for Pinnacle Promotions. They are great surfaces for your corporate logo, and you can guarantee that all the other items that people collect at the tradeshow will then be stuffed inside YOUR bag. As Leffler states, they are going to need a place to keep all the other swag!

Humor is another way to get people to remember your name. The Learning Revolution, by Gordon Dryden and Dr. Jeannette Vos explains that one of the keys to memory is emotion. Make them laugh, make them smile, and they will remember you. The blah blah blah is always popular for every type of tradeshow because it makes people smile, and could possibly help to spark a conversation.
This is a stress ball AND a device holder!

Are you headed to a tradeshow this January? What’s the best promo item you ever received at a tradeshow?

Pinnacle Promotions

Tradeshow season is coming. Are you ready?

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Dec

2013

The best gift I ever received was…

The best gift I ever received was…

Pinnacle Promotions is hosting a contest to give away our top picks for Holiday Thank You Gifts. I am ineligible to enter.

However, I still want to have the chance to tell everyone about the best present I ever received.

I am a life-long Houston Oiler fan, who has converted into a Houston Texans fan. Three years ago, my husband gave me tickets to the Houston Texans vs. Tennessee Titans football game in Nashville, only a few hours from where I live. I had never before been to an Oilers or Texans football game, home or away.

My husband purchased amazing seats to the December game. He booked a beautiful hotel in the heart of Nashville. Who just happened to be staying at the hotel? Why, the Houston Texans team, staff and flight crew were all staying at the hotel. By chance, we became fast friends with the flight crew before we even knew who they were. That friendship led to player introductions, too-numerous-to-count photos, sideline passes and life-long friendships.

While Pinnacle Promotions is not giving away tickets to the Texans-Titans football game, we are giving away a fabulous gift pack of items from our top picks of promotional, customized Thank You Gifts for end of the year giving.

What is the best gift you ever received?

promotional gifts

9 Promotional Products that Didn’t Exist 20 Years Ago

How 5 Brands Glammed Up With Promo Products

School Supplies Supply Smiles: Pinnacle Promotions Makes a Big Impact in Haiti

The Fuller Brush Man’s Necessities

What does every cubicle need?

Promotional Products to Save Your Snowmageddonpocalypse

Promotional Product Hacks to Save Your Trade Show

The best gift I ever received was…

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