Vegas Convention

Next week is the industry's big, big show in fabulous Las Vegas!! I will be there all week, and I will be thinking of you, my reader, as I go from aisle to aisle, finding the best, coolest, funnest, greenest, newest, and most unique items for me to blog about and for you to read about.

Looking for a special promotion this year? Do you have great marketing ideas swirling about in your brain, but you're not sure how to execute? Does your company only buy promotions that are forest-green in color? Now is the perfect time for us to talk! Drop me a line, comment, or email and I will be sure to bring you back some awesome samples that will tie your marketing campaign together like magic!

Let's start oh10 off the right way... By going to Vegas. Umm, that is, by going to Vegas and owning this convention!

Cube

No, not that ridiculous movie from 1997 (or its equally ridiculous sequel, Hypercube), but the cube that sits on your desk and is useful for months. The Post-it Note cube.

If you were fortunate enough this year to obtain one of our showcase goodie bags, you have already seen United's Post-it Cube. This is definitely one of my favorite self promotions.

You might recognize this art from our last self promo. But since there is only one cost to have unique art on all 4 sides of the cube, we decided to go a different direction for the art on the other side.

Check out the other 2 sides on our Web Photo Album. This is such a splendid promotion because the art just looks great, and you are also able to keep your companies name in front of your prospects for months and months. Look in the album, and you will see that we put contact info at the very bottom of the art. We did this so that even if the Notepad gets very low, our clients and prospects still have our contact info right in front of them.

Check our store for all types of different styles.

Just Kick the Extra Point

The Jets lost to their long time rivals the Miami Dolphins yesterday, 25 - 30. Some Say that head coach Rex Ryan should have decided to kick the extra points instead of 3 failed 2-point conversion attempts. I say I got my 'extra points' when, on my way out of the game, they handed me a sweet mug.

Wow, thanks! AND I get to take it to Jets' sponsor "Hess" gas station and get a free coffee any time after the game. How sweet is that? I love coffee.

The mug is a nice keepsake. It not only comes with the opportunity to get a free coffee, but it also features 6 Jets on the on the outside in action photos; Leon Washington, Darrelle Revis, Kerry Rhodes, Jerricho Cotchery, Dustin Keller, and Kris Jenkins.



You can see in this pic that the art on the mug is actually a piece of paper that they print and then cut out to stick in-between the inside and clear outside of the mug. It really gives the mug a nice look and enables all sorts of design work to be done. This art is actually 4 color process ( Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black combined in various amounts to make up almost all other possible colors) plus 1 spot color, the Green in the Jets logo. You have to admire a team that will pay a little extra and stick with their branding guidelines to make sure the Jets Green is always the same green. Love it, this is what branding is all about.

On the Jets' wiki, it says the color is 'Hunter Green' I couldn't find the Pantone number of the color, this is probably to prevent people from creating accurate knock off merchandise. (which happens aplenty anyway).

Check the Picasa album for more pics of the Tumbler. Including the Official NFL hologram sticker and action shots of yours-truly drinking my coffee and feeling like I'm part of the Gang Green.

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!

Awesome-Vitation

Below you can check out pictures of this year's Awesome Invitation to the 2009 gift showcase. Once again we used our creative abilities to integrate a promotional product and a beautiful postcard into this year's invite. The gift that comes with the postcard is a swanky keychain / flashlight / bottle opener. Because just like United is your multi-purpose supplier, we wanted to supply a multi-purpose gift that will make people smile. And one that people will actually add to their key ring.

More info to come regarding the showcase, including a sneak peak at the goodie bags that the first 100 guests will receive.

Didn't get a postcard? Don't get pissed, get even! Leave me a comment or toss me an email and we can have one sent to you in the same day! (While supplies last!)

It Is That Time Again!!

If you are in NY, then you know from the weather that we cannot really hold on to summer any longer. This saddens me to no end... However! The ending of the summer also means that United is having another holiday gift showcase!! This year is going to be better than last year (which was awesome, check the old posts).

Here is the save the date, I will be keeping you updated on our progress with the mailed invitations and our famous goodie bags. Which will totally rock the house. We are giving away some awesome door prizes to the first 100 people that arrive.

The best part? How about getting a head start on figuring out what to give to your favorite clients this upcoming holiday season? Or finally finding the perfect sales-call leave behind becasue you can actually pick up and hold and test and use items, instead of just looking at them in a catalog. Or.. there is always the food and the drink, and (I'm not positive about this) I think Harriet might bring her new puppy Clemenza! See you there!!

Holder of Cards

This weeks' item came to me as a special surprise during my attendance at a networking event. A friend of mine just started out on her own to create what she has named: The Hispanic Network. I would say that there were almost 100 people at her launching event. And what an event it was! The networking was easy and the food was excellent. Maria really knows how to throw a networking event. She will be hosting more and more events in the future, so get involved.

What about the promotion? The faux-leather business card holder is actually the perfect promotion for a networking event. It is something that people are going to use if they are networkers. Hey, I actually saw some people using it at the event. This was a useful promotion.

The holder itself is ok. It's a little thin for my taste, it can only comfortably hold about 5 or 6 cards in either pocket. The imprint seems to be a little sloppy. If you look closely at the pictures, you can see that the tag line; "Bridging the Hispanic Market and the World", is smudged in places. But, for something that you would pull out quickly at a networking event, the holder can look really nice (as long as it's only a fleeting glance). So this promotion serves as a reminder of The Hispanic Network LLC more so than an advertising piece. I don't think a person at a networking event would ever, by choice, show off a cheap-looking card holder. But as long as they use it, it will remind them to invite people to Maria's The Hispanic Network.