If you’ve spent the last month watching the FIFA World Cup®, you’ve seen and heard the vuvuzela.  The African horn became a fan favorite, causing so much noise that there was actually talk about banning them in the stands.  (The Wikipedia page says the vuvuzela noise was so loud in the stands that pharmacies around the stadium actually sold out of earplugs.) 
 
This was a huge promotional and retail product for the FIFA World Cup. 
 
If you’re not sure the vuvuzela is right for your sports events, we have some other (slightly quieter) spirit items to take a look at, including foam spirit sticks in a wide range of new shapes, including:

Foam Hammer
 

Foam Tomahawk
 

Foam Bone
 
These foam spirit sticks are also available as mallets, bats, lightning bolts, swords, torches and more.  They’re fun for fans in the stands and crowds love cheering with them.
 
If you’re looking for other promotional products to help your fans show their spirit, check out the Sports & Leisure section of our Web site, where we’ve pulled together some great giveaways for teams and fans. 
 
-Suzanne

Yesterday I bought a new DSLR camera at the local camera shop here in town (great customer experience by the way – service from Tom was great!). Once I’d purchased my camera they bundled it and a few accessories in an imprinted tote like our new Dot Gift Bag (I know, if I had been thinking I would have taken a shot of it right then and there with the new camera – not very quick am I?!).

In this case it was imprinted with a Canon logo (I bought a new Canon to replace my old one). This was effective marketing for Canon as I really did appreciate having the bag to carry my purchase, the bag will get reused (it’s a nice size!) and the logo was easy-to-spot as I walked back through town (as it will be each time I reuse it!). Ideally, the local store would have had their logo on the opposite side of the bag or along side the Canon logo – would like to see the retailer get some mileage as well.

Regardless, these bags are a great marketing opportunity for all of the brands involved – manufacturer and distributor. I can tell you from my personal experience, it’s a great touch that left me feeling even better about a significant purchase.  I realize this is pretty basic stuff, but if you sell a product that needs to be carried home, or manufacture one that does, these bags are an  effective way to make a good impression at a very low cost. Promotional products work.

Do you ever pick up a product and wonder, “why didn’t I think of that?” Here are five items that made me say exactly that.

These are the kind of clever, useful promotional items that get trade show attendees talking.

Mini Business Card Jotter
This clever little notebook has a polypropylene pocket, perfectly sized to hold a business card. You’ll never be without your business cards again.

Reflective LED Keylight
Do your keys go missing in the bottom of your bag? The brightly colored reflective construction of these keyrings makes them easy to find. The LED light is useful for reading a map in the dark.

Pocket Packs
The Custom Mending Kit Pocket Pack is a classic among pocket packs. But, now these handy little pocket-sized packets come with a variety of useful contents, including the First Aid Pocket Pack, Sunblock SPF-15 Pocket Pack, Scotch Lint Sheets Pocket Pack, Snap! Hand Cleaner Pocket Pack, Kids Fun Pocket Pack, Hand Cleaner and Lotion Pocket Pack, Outdoor Pocket Pack and more.

Smart Flags – Trade Show
This giveaway is something your conference-goers will put to use right away, using these Smart Flags – Trade Show to help them remember which vendors they want to talk with again. Want a giveaway they’ll use after the trade show? Smart Flags – General tabs help flag questions, important points, good ideas and urgent matters in any office.

Now, why did I think of that?
-Suzanne

Loved the creative, slightly tongue-in-cheek imprint on this promotional pint glass from the Milwaukee Brewing Co.

As you can see, the outside is relatively standard.

But as you drink your way through the beer you see a cheeky little message inside: ‘we ship what we don’t drink’!

-Suzanne

Last year, we introduced a travel mug that looks like a disposable paper cup.

But this promotional product – the Terra Coffee Cup – gets lots of second glances, because it’s made of ceramic with a rubber lid.

This travel mug trend has continued and expanded (thankfully!) into a variety of color options.

The Double Wall Ceramic Tumbler w/ Wrap comes with a leather band that is the perfect spot for your logo.

Or, you can get your paper look-a-like ceramic cup with a brightly colored lid.  In this version, the Double Wall Ceramic Tumbler with Colored Lid, your logo is imprinted right on the ceramic cup.

And, finally, here are some ceramic travel mugs that I think you’ll really like.  The Colored Double Wall Ceramic Mug is available in bright colors like aqua and lime and classics like white, navy and black.  Again, your logo will be printed right on the ceramic cup.

-Suzanne

If you’ve looked around at the promotional products in a conference or meeting room lately, you’ve probably noticed the growing popularity of notebooks.  They are far more practical and lightweight for the recipient and present great value for the money for the event sponsor. The one downside is that they only last as long as the number of pages in the notebook and there were very few nicer options suitable to gift giving and awards.

Here’s a sneak preview of a great-looking new journal designed by our merchandising team that solves those two problems:

The Color Frame Journal is a 4imprint exclusive in four fresh colors with black accents. It has a fabric cover similar to the quality you’d expect from a business portfolio. Inside it differs with a notebook rather than the traditional pad of paper. The notebook section is completely replaceable so the recipient can continue to use the cover and be reminded of your company for years to come. No journal is complete without a pen so we added an elastic pen holder into the design and our Zenith pen to the front.

It’s perfect for conferences, meetings and many other uses.
-Suzanne

Recently, I was fortunate enough to be able to take part in a tour of Zappos headquarters in Las Vegas.

The company Tony Hsieh has created has been highlighted many times for its exemplary customer service and fun working atmosphere. They are also big believers in using promotional products. Zappos gives out t-shirts every year to commemorate sales achievements.

My favorite was for 2007; they were so proud of hitting their first $5 million sales day that they ‘splurged’ on long sleeved t-shirts!  What an inexpensive but fun way to reward teams for doing a great job, celebrate employment anniversaries or meet sales goals.

To highlight their company growth each t-shirt had been framed and hung – they looked great.
-Suzanne

Just wanted to share the great work put together by Affinity Health System – they’re based in Wisconsin – for their holiday gifts.

They wanted to give something health-related but modern, so they settled on our Vacuum Stainless Steel Bottle (Item #100399).

To highlight their message they enclosed a ‘Happy Holidays’ card as well as a note encouraging recipients to use this gift instead of plastic bottled water.

This idea would work other times of year as well. You could show your customers some love around Valentine’s Day or make surprise recipients with a gift like this on Earth Day in April.
-Suzanne

As soon as you open this clever little journal, you’ll see why it’s called the Half-n-Half Color Duo Notebook.

The cover is clear polypropylene, imprinted with a bright color (black, green, blue or red) on only the bottom half. Inside the notebook pages are cut in half. (The notebook’s overall size is 7-9/16″ x 4-5/16″ x 11/16″, so even half sheets are large enough for taking notes.)

The Half-n-Half Color Duo Notebook from 4imprint comes in four color duos.

Colored sheets on the top half mirror the color printed on the cover. Paper on the bottom half is white.

The Half-n-Half Color Duo Notebook from 4imprint.

This would be a great notebook to use at conferences, seminars or classes. Attendees could jot down presentation points on the top pad. On the bottom, they can add ideas for how to apply those concepts in their own organizations. On-the-go families may think of other uses – like jotting notes and responses. Workers who need to trade information at the start and end of a shift may also find a notebook like this useful.

And, that makes it a useful giveaway for many different markets.
-Suzanne

Have you ever noticed that most hand sanitizer bottle designs seem to be very straightforward?

That’s one reason these hand sanitizers will really stand out.

The Goofy Head Hand Sanitizer is something families will love. The faces take on three different looks: Beach Lady, Goofy Guy and Snorkel Guy.

Or, check out our new Body Shape Hand Sanitizer.

It’s available in a range of uniforms, including sports team, chef, doctor, military, scrubs and tie.

What are you seeing?  Have you seen hand sanitizers in other shapes or styles?  If so, point me in that direction.  I’d love to see them.

-Suzanne