How do you say "Thank You"?

One of the things that we do best here at United is saying 'thank you'.  We say thank you a lot, sometimes we say it on behalf of ourselves, and sometimes we help others say thank you on their own behalf.

You can thank someone in the form of a card, or a gift.  One of the most popular ways that businesses say 'thank you' this time of year is by sending food gifts to their clients and friends.  We all keep an eye out at the end of the year for the giant basket of delicious treats that someone sent in to the office to say thank you.  Sometimes, though, they substitute the cookies and candy for a big basket of fruit.  But that's OK too.

One of the best ways that we have ever said 'thank you' to our clients is in the following video.

How do you say thank you this time of year?  Happy Thanksgiving from United!

Convention Checklist Part 5/5 - The Swagg!

I had to save the best for last... Checklist part 5 of 5 is the ever important Promotional Product! United was sporting 2 fan favorites; hand sanitizer and a crescent sling bag. People loved (LOVED!) the bag, and the hand sanitizer went over swimmingly since people spent all day shaking other people's hands.

Our swag was quite popular, but i have to give credit where credit is due. The New York Times and Con Ed held it down with some of my favorite items:

Compressed Sponge

Foldable Flying Disc

I really, really love the flying disc. I'm not sure why exactly, I think it just screams; "fun is about to take place". And the compressed sponge, well, I can explain that one even less, but I'll tell you this; it will remain on my desk/ in my kitchen/ on my mind for the next few months.

What is the lesson people? Just because you are one of the most respected, trusted, and stuffy-seeming news papers in the world, doesn't mean you can't give out frisbees at a trade show.

Convention Checklist Part 4/5 - Floor Graphics

The coolest thing about Floor Graphics is that you have almost unlimited advertising space and very little competition. A lot of convention centers will allow you to put floor graphics in the aisles to drive traffic towards your booth, but not many people actually do. If you use the removable adhesive type, the floor can't be carpeted, so call the venue first and make sure that it's ok.

Another cool thing about the adhesive floor graphics, is that they can be die-cut into any shape. Think of the potential with this; arrows pointing towards your booth, or footprints leading the way. You could print in four color process on the graphics and showcase your product as people walk by. Imagine printing something that looks like a dollar bill on your graphic. Talk about getting attention, you will have people literally stopping and bending over to try and grab it. Yalk about having a potential consumer's complete attention!

A different type of 'floor graphics' that I love, that not many people think about, is the customized carpet. As a frequenter of conventions and trade shows as an attendee, walking on concrete for 8 hours can be hard on the feet, back, and knees. Having a nice, plushy carpet in your booth will encourage people to come back just so they can have a sigh of relief as thepressure is relieved on their feet. (Plus, you get to stand on comfy, plushy carpet for 8 hours too).

Check out our very self-explanatory (But effective) floor graphic:

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.

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!!

United's Newest Self Promo

Everyone loves free schwag. This much is obvious. So how do we get people to love it even more? Easy! We send it right to them. Check out our newest self promo / direct mail campaign:

Brightly colored and beach themed, when one of these bad boys arrives at your office it's like an instant vacation. Now, who doesn’t want to be associated with taking vacations? Really though, when people receive what’s commonly referred to as; 'bumpy mail', they are instinctively drawn to it. The curiosity is too strong and they are overtaken by the desire to learn what surprise could possibly await them beyond the saliva-adhered envelope flap.

If you see one of these brightly colored envelopes make its way into your mail room, you are in for a treat. If you don't see our vacation-in-an-envelope, well just post a comment and we'll make sure one gets to you.