Packaging Included – Pop Your Promos

Packaging Included – that’s the latest trend we’re finding in the promo world. Many of our suppliers are now adding the option for fully customized packaging with select products.

Just think of the possibilities!

Hand out a tumbler, it’s just a tumbler with your logo. Add custom packaging and now it’s a fully integrated marketing piece.

With this new program which pairs packaging with the items, the additional cost for packaging is minimal. Pen sleeves start at just $.50 for full color, fully custom imprint!

But who’s going to create all that artwork? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. With your ideas, or even our own, we’ll create custom artwork that will make your product pop.

It’s time to take promotional marketing beyond the swag…. let’s work together to make it advertising at it’s best – packaging included!

 

Packging Included 2

Don’t just hand out a pen, make it work for you. Include a custom sleeve and now it’s a true marketing piece.

Packaging Included 3

Integrate the product into the packaging message.

Packaging Included 1

Create beautiful retail-inspired boxes.

Packaging Included 5

Even a simple coolie can become a marketing package, far beyond it’s normal use.

 

Stainless Drinkware Makes Sense

Stainless drinkware – bottles and tumblers – have been around for awhile, but there’s been a surge in popularity with two styles in particular:  The S’well® bottle and the Yeti® Rambler.

The promo industry has embraced these two stainless drinkware products with many suppliers adding their own versions. These two styles were one of the most popular and most seen items at recent industry shows.

What’s the big draw? Both are made from 18/8 stainless steel with double-wall copper vacuum insulation. That combination creates the best insulating properties for drinkware available. With copper vacuum insulation, a stainless bottle can retain it’s temperature for hours longer than standard air insulation.

A stainless steel copper vacuum insulated bottle can stay hot for up to 8 hours and cold for up to 24 hours!

In addition to the incredible insulating features, these bottles and tumblers also offer an eco-friendly alternative to plastic water bottles. Consider promoting these as a waste-reduction as well as wellness initiative to  your employees.

insulation chart

This chart shows the differences in various types of insulation used in drinkware.

We’ve found these items in our industry are coming in at under half the retail cost of the name brands, including your imprint:

The 20oz name brand tumbler sells for $30, while our industry version comes in around $9.99!!

crownyeti stainless drinkware

20oz Stainless Tumbler

A 17oz name brand bottle retails for $35-$45 while the very same bottle in our industry, with your custom imprint, sells as low as $9.99!!

force gray bottle stainless drinkware

17oz Stainless Bottle

In addition, the construction and quality of the promotional versions match or exceed those of the retail brands. We’ve found in some cases, the promotional versions actually are higher quality and hold temps longer.

For a full retail look and a great presentation, many of these come with retail-inspired packaging. Options for custom imprinted boxes are also available, making them perfect for gifts.

17oz force bottles stainless drinkware

Bottles come in a variety of colors, including vivid neons.

Wearable Tech Promos – Hot Items

Wearable tech promos are now a hot ticket in the promotional product industry. Smart bands, smart watches, smart tags, smart everything were all the rage at the big industry shows last month. It’s a trend that’s surely to keep getting bigger.

These items have the ability to appeal to a wide-range of promotional marketing uses:  health and fitness programs, employee incentives, customer gifts, and purchase incentives to name a few. Their usefulness and popularity ensure they will be appreciated and valued.

The Smart Tags can also be a useful item for tagging expensive company equipment used by field techs. It’s a great way to ensure equipment doesn’t get left behind at the site.

Prices are very competitive and in some cases, much less expensive than the name brands. We’ve been surprised to find some of these items at less than half the cost of retail brands. We’re even finding additional features such as remote picture taking and alarms for notifying if you’ve left your phone behind.

These items not only have that “wow” factor, they have a high perceived value. Anyone receiving one is sure to appreciate the gift as well as find it highly useful. All important factors to keeping your brand top of mind.

Since tech item pricing can fluctuate, please contact us for current pricing.

wearable tech promos fitness tracker

Fitness Trackers – Monitor steps and calories, plus connect to phone for caller id and alarm.

wearable tech promos smart tag

Smart Tag – Keep track of your phone and to what the tag is attached.

 

 

 

 

wearable tech promos tracker bracelet

Smart Band – Displays time, track steps and calories and can display caller id and messages.

wearable tech promos activity bracelet

Sports Fitness Activity Bracelet – Track steps, speed, calories, milage as well as time display.

It’s Getting Cold Out There

We hate to say it, but it’s that time of year again…Frigid temperatures, snowfall and harsh winds are just around the corner.  It’s time to put away the shorts and tank tops and replace them with sweaters and long johns.  

Thankfully, to help us embrace the bitter weather and still look stylish (because who really looks good in long johns?), the latest trends in outerwear are making fashion meet function.

“Distributors are now keeping their eye out for garments that are designed with fashion in mind, but encompass integrated functionality, performance and comfort,” says Elson Yeung, Director of Private Label Design and Merchandising for one of our favorite apparel suppliers, Alphabroder.  

Apparel suppliers are taking authentic styles such as the varsity and letterman’s jackets or the bomber jackets worn by the military during WWII, and putting their own twist on them. Adding all-day comfort and special imprinting techniques such as embroidery, debossing, and heat transfers brings these retro styles into today’s fashion.  You can essentially design and create your own customized jacket which will further promote and market your brand.

Some of the top picks of jackets this season:

bombers jacket debossed jacket trimark jacket trimark decorated jacket puffy jacket soft shell jacket

Digital Design – Hot Trend for Fall

Seems like the new thing for apparel this fall is digital designs or textures.

The latest from Sanmar and Ogio are fabric colors with a digital pattern. It’s similar to a heathered look, but instead of different colored threads woven together to create the look, it’s a printed pattern. We’re seeing this look on moisture-wicking, poly apparel.

digdesigns

The poly fleece jackets offer a very comfortable alternative to a sweater, with a more professional look than the standard solid color performance fleece.

 

 

Pop Your Pocket – Not Your Basic Tee

Looking for a new look for your basic tshirt? Pop Your Pocket!

 

With our Pop-Your-Pocket program, you combine a tshirt color and a pocket color along with a variety of decorating techniques for a truly custom look.

Decoration can be applied on top or beneath the pocket, as well as on or above. By combining unique color combinations along with a variety of screenprint techniques and inks, you’ll have a tshirt like no other.

Minimum order is 72 pieces. Contact us for a free virtual concept.

Boost Your Color — With TruColor Imprints

We just met with our supplier rep from Starline who showed us a great new imprinting process they are offering — TruColor. It’s a new technology for printing vibrant, beautiful color directly on drinkware and other selected products. Normally, when printing drinkware, there can be many issues, usually related to multi-color imprints. TruColor eliminates those issues and creates a truly custom, professional-looking item that promotes your brand like never before.

 

TruColor Imprints Stand Out on a Variety of Items

No borders, no registration issues, fine photographic detail with a slightly raised feel to the imprint, lends to a very high-end product.

Instead of drinkware that sports a simple one color logo, amp it up by adding a full wrap photo to showcase your product, services, location, or event. The flat matte surface of these black vacuum tumblers makes a great background for any artwork, especially when paired with a colored band around the top.

Full Wrap Available – Get Creative!

Give us a call if you’d like to see some ideas showcasing your brand using this new method. We’ll get creative, do some brainstorming, and come up with a eye-catching virtual proof for your review.

View items which are available for this printing process:  Click Here

Trends: Athleisure – Fitness + Fashion

Athleisure or Sport Luxe is the term being used for fashionable fitness wear. According to our main apparel source, Sanmar, this is a growing trend as the market for comfortable activewear increases while the demand for denim jeans decreases. Taking a look at my own closet, I’m finding I’ve added mainly these type of pieces to my wardrobe this past year.

Some of the trends and details to look for in this new category:

Sophisticated Colors:
Neutral palettes (think grays and browns) are replacing bold, neon colors, making these fashions more suitable for the office.

Layering:
Long sleeve shirts with textured hoodies, topped off with tech-fabric jackets to complete the look.

Varsity Details:
Team-inspired details such as baseball jerseys or letterman jackets are popular.

Materials & Detail:
Textures such as mesh and lace add visual interest. Accents of metal or contrast piping elevate the sporty styles to the luxe level.

Click on image above to read more on this trend.

Shop the trend:  Click here to view Sanmar’s Sporting Luxury items

 

Top It Off – A Little Out of the Ordinary

When it comes to golf tournaments, seems everyone gravitates towards the traditional golf cap. Be it structured, unstructured, 5-panel, 6-panel, or performance fabric, they’re all pretty much the same:

Why not mix it up a little bit and try something totally different this year, make your event the one that gets remembered for the item they’ve never received before.

How about a straw hat, ala Greg Norman?



Choose from a variety of styles and colored hatbands to fit your event. Bands can be embroidered or screen printed.

A hat like this won’t likely get tossed in that stack of caps in the closet. Every time the recipient puts it on, they will be reminded of the great time they had at your golf event!

And that’s what marketing is all about!

Burlap and Neoprene…Together…at last?

Now here’s something I really haven’t seen in our industry…. burlap… and neoprene…together!

Brand new from one of our favorite suppliers, a line of burlap and neoprene items. Coolies, key tags, wine holders, lunch bags and more. And to top it off, you can mix and match neoprene and stitch colors to truly create a custom look.

“Consider using products as packaging.”

It really does make a unique look. Create a custom gift set. Wouldn’t these make a great alternative to standard packaging? Ordering tshirts for your employees? Why not pack each one in on of these lunch bags or iPad sleeves instead? Sponsoring a luncheon or conference? Use the key holder as a napkin ring at each place setting. Put your business card in the card guard and use as a leave-behind that will leave an impression.

And, if you’ve got your own idea of a product you’d like to have using these materials, they can do it. Everything is cut and sewn on demand, so just about any custom shape or item you might need can be created.