My favorite Unique Custom Pen

I picked up a pen from a bar recently.  This awesome, unique, custom pen jumped right out at me.

The pen itself writes splendidly.  I noted as I was leaving a generous tip and signing my check.  And the soft-touch coating on the barrel was a nice surprise.  But the beauty of this pen is the clicking action.  You see, the clicking apparatus seems to be designed after the new resealable top that the beer has recently adopted.

This Czech beer, Bernard, clearly has a handle on what makes a great and unique custom pen.  It's not like this is a pen that they picked from a catalog.  Barnard clearly had to design this pen from scratch and completely custom manufacture it.  Great work guys...  Now, I'm regularly pissing off my coworkers by continuously clicking away at this pen because it is so much fun to use!  

Now if I could only find a bar that stocks the beer so i can give it a try...

3 Reasons to Avoid Buying Your Promos Fom The Internet

I have recently been inspired by a slew of horror stories that people have shared with me about shopping online for Promotional Products.  Here are 3 of the most common troubles that I've heard about when people order online, and most importantly, the solutions.

- Buyer Beware

There are tens of thousands of promotional products.  If you ever try searching for a pen on one of these websites, you can get up to 80 pages of search results, no fun.  The beware part comes in when your order arrives and the pen that shows up does not look at all like the pen that was on your screen.  The pen may have looked like mahogany, but you found out the hard way that it was a cheap plastic imitation, and it doesn't even write well.

The solution: A conversation.  When we talk with our clients, we always ask them who their target market is.  You can feel comfortable knowing that if you want to impress people with your awesome pen, you will end up with an awesome pen, not a plastic imitation.

-It Was the Cheapest Option...  At First
Many online promo stores will boast that they have the lowest prices.  And that can seem to be true, until the bill arrives.  I recently heard tale of a lady who went online because the prices seemed to be better.  Little did she know that the special price that she saw advertised was for the red pen, not the blue one of the same style that she needed.  And by the time she paid extra for the laser engraving in 2 locations, she ended up spending way more than the advertised price.  That is just downright deceptive.

The Solution: Once again, a conversation with one of our specialists here at United would have cleared all of this up in an instant.  Do we claim to have the lowest prices?  No, we don't.  But we are competitive.  And most importantly, our client's invoices don't surprise them.

-A Day Late, and [many] Dollars Lost:
I cannot keep track of the number of times that someone has come to me days before an important event because their on-line store could not accommodate their time constraints.  Yes, you were able to save twelve cents per pen for your trade show giveaway, but what does it matter if the items show up even one day late.  Even after just one day, you have already lost out on potential revenue.

The Solution:  You guessed it, call United and talk to us about your time constraints.  We will go over a list of items with you that we know that we can produce in time for your event.  We wouldn't sell you something that you cannot use.

Custom Knit Socks

Our friends at Wish Come True are amazing designers with some big projects currently in the works.  They called upon us to make their completely custom socks.

How freaking cute are these?  The socks are going to be sold at the newest kiosk in the Aventura Mall in Fl.  If you happen to be a Floridian and in the Aventura area of Miami, stop by the kiosk and grab a pair.  These puppies are going fast!

The design is completely knit into the sock, there is no printing here, which makes the sock a long lasting and awesome keep sake! No one does adorable better than Friends With You and Wish Come True.

Are you looking to stock your retail shelves with something completely custom?  Something that will sell like the hottest of hotcakes?  Talk to us, we can make it happen!

National Umbrella Month

As long as I could remember, the best part about March was always that it contained my Birthday.  I went on believing this for years ...  how foolish of me.  The best part about March is obviously that it is National Umbrella Month. 

And how appropriate!  If you are anywhere in the tri-state area, just look out side.  It's raining c's & d's out there.  My favorite part of a heavy rain (other than that destinct smell that fills the air on rainy days) is, of course, checking out people's promo umbrellas.  I saw some great ones this morning; some for financial institutions, some for social media platforms, and even one for Puerto Rico.  I guess if you pull out that Puerto Rico imprinted umbrella on a crummy day like today, you and those around you suddenly feel the need for a vacation to a warmer and more tropical climate.  Well, it worked on me.

Curbside Handouts

I'm not sure which comedian it was who said that 'the guy on the corner handing out fliers might as well be saying; "Here, can you throw this out for me" as he hands you the post card'. This is pretty hilarious, but it's not always true. A little while ago, I got a card from John Allan's. From the looks of the card, the place must be a spa or health club. Or at the very least an up-scale barber.

Upon closer inspection, the picture on the front shows a pool table in the foreground, and a bunch of men getting their hair cut in the background. Seems like a good place to go to get my hair did. Below the picture, they offer a nice coupon. The kicker to this handout, though, is the free sample of shampoo that is stapled to the top corner. How clever. Most people will toss a postcard without giving it a second look, but if there is a free sample attached, well, this one is a keeper.

The little pouch of shampoo is branded with the barber shop's logo and colors. This must have been a custom job. To get the shop's own shampoo in these little pouches is really impressive. This must have been a national campaign (they have 1 location in Chicago and 4 in NYC).

You can see that the integration of printing and promotional products can make a big splash. Just like our Awesome-vitiation, which combined the 2 items, it is not only a memorable gift that the potential client receives, but also a postcard full of valuable info. This combined with direct mailing is sure to bring in clients and spur up some curiosity about any business.

Play pool while you wait!

Deliciouos, Delicious Promotion

A colleague of mine recently attended a soiree hosted by Hurley Capital . They are a financial advisory run by a good friend and colleague of UPG's. The purpose of the gathering was kind of a way to say 'thank you' to friends and clients, as well as a networking mixer. Fun was had by all.

One of the parting gifts was this delicious logo'd cookie. What a brilliant way to be remembered. We have seen plenty of "food gifts" in the past, but rarely do we see a snack (other than maybe a piece of chocolate) that gets imprinted directly. I think they used the same delicious technology that enables Carvel to put Disney Characters on their cakes.

The cookie was wrapped in a clear cellophane bag and tied with a nice ribbon that also held a card with the company's logo and website. Quite the complete package. We look forward to attending more of Hurley Capital's events.

More pics in the album.

Magic Promotion!

OK, fine, it's more like physics. But your sales will increase like magic. You will achieve top-of-mind awareness like magic.

Anyway that you slice it, this collapsible bag that fits into another bag, that is actually attached to the first bag is a damn good promotion. It may seem confusing but that is because I'm speaking cryptically.

We all know that bags provide the best Cost Per Impression at about $0.004. And the convenience of having a bag that you can easily carry around in your pocketbook, or even on your key chain (note the handy carabiner) will easily add to the usability of this bag in particular. Check out the more detailed pics in the Picasa album.

Lets Go with 'Truckvertising'?

This custom remote control truck that we made for a client served as one of the best college promotions ever. We did 120 trucks and there were 60 colleges where the students could race the trucks against each other to win free prizes (read: other awesome promotional products). The reps in the college would also stick cans and bottles of soda in the truck and just drive them up to students randomly on campus.

These trucks are truly one of a kind! And they stand out extremely well which makes them a really memorable promo. We had the trucks constructed and custom painted in the Mountain dew colors. Check out the rims and the vanity plate! At UPG, we pride ourselves on being able to not only work with you to come up with great promotional ideas, but also to follow the jobs through to the end. And by that I mean that every time I see the truck I want a can of Mountain Dew. More Pics on the Picasa web album.

NYCC Promotions Part 2

After I got the wolverine key chain from Del Rey, I walked around only a little before I was handed a foam toilet seat (full size!). Now, I'm accustomed to seeing many bizarre costumes at events like these, but when I was handed a foam toilet seat, I wasn't sure weather I was supposed to wear it around my neck or just look at it. I didn't wear it, but I had to hold on to it so I got a friend to wear mine for me. Unfortunately, he turned down any photo ops for the blog. Here is the seat:

You can see that time has been rough on this promotion. Although it's only been a week or so, the bright white foam has discolored slightly to become a more yellowish hue around the edges.

But all in all, this custom promo from fox screams for attention in a sea of short attention spans. Supposedly in the show, the main character dies when a rouge toilet seat falls out of a plane and hits her in the head.

I love the idea for the promotion, and to be honest, I've only heard great things about the show (even though it's been canceled). This promo is for the upcoming Direct to DVD movie and it got some attention from the die hard fans along with attention from the casual con goers like me. This show has such a following that someone believes they can sell the foam seat for a few bucks on ebay. Compare his pic to mine to see the difference in color (and camera quality).