Transcript
Build Your Brand
From small business to big business, university to non-profit, the name of the game is to make sure people know who you are and what you’re about. Promotional products work when it comes to building your brand.
We recently had the Grand Opening of our brick and mortar storefront. Our company specializes in motorcycle parts. Subsequently, we cater to motorcyclists so we chose to give away small nylon backpacks that had reflective material on them. We loaded them full of pens, tire pressure gauges, can coozies and key chains, then gave them to everyone who filled out our customer information sheet. We also gave out a free T-shirt to the first 25 people that came through the door. Everyone loved the giveaways and we feel that without them our event would not have been as successful as it was.
Melissa with A to Z Cycles, inc, #109035, Be Seen Reflective Stripe Sportpack
As a fitness trainer, I was asked to provide a giveaway for a fitness day at a local county government site. I decided to do the round cushioned jar openers because they could be done fast and they have a large space for imprinting. Around the outer edge, I had imprinted ‘I used to need this jar opener before I met my trainer!’ with my logo, phone number, and web site in the middle. My goal is to put my business name into prospects’ minds when they are feeling the need to get stronger! Hopefully, the eye-catching orange will keep this item from getting lost in the kitchen drawer. Most people who visited my booth seemed to like this item.
Linda with Breakthrough Fitness, #115249-CR, Cushioned Jar Opener – Circle
I had a client looking for something different to send to his clients for the holiday. Since shipping wine was not an option, we decided to send out a wine bottle opener and stopper imprinted with his logo on the cherry wood box. They looked great. They are quality items. And my client has gotten rave reviews. They shipped along with an ice bucket and two wine glasses. Not sure how we’ll be able to top this one next year!
Stacey with Party PERSONALity, # 104476, Wine Stopper and Opener Set
The calendars were included in our Church’s annual gift bag to the congregation, which is being mailed to members who have not attended in some time. It will be included in our visitors and outreach bags.
Stacey with Party PERSONALity, # 104476, Wine Stopper and Opener Set
I always have a supply of nice imprinted pens at all our desks for our customers to use and to keep. Everyone likes free things, and when they come into my insurance office to pay their premiums, they always perk up when they get to keep a nice pen. Even my clients who work at the bank come in to get one of my pens to use at work, commenting they are so much nicer than the ones provided at the bank. So my name and business is always out there in the public.
Byron with Chapel of the Lake, #106826-ST , The Old Farmer’s Almanac® Calendar – Weather – Stapled
We like to give a useful, lasting year-end gift to our top clients and we are always looking for something new. This year we were looking for a travel blanket and found just what we needed with the blanket/backpack combo. We included a card that read: ‘Wherever your marketing plans take you, we’ve got you covered!’ We’ve had the best response from our clients this year, more than ever before!
Karolyn from Hayward, # 101183, Blanket and Bag Combo
We order promotional pens which we pass out at every opportunity—the pens write well, so people actually keep them and use them. We’ve received several customers like this, and paid for the cost of the pens before we were even done handing our first box!
Aimee with Arthur Kowitz Realty, # 28833-M, Bic® Round Stic Pen – Medium Point
We bought some custom mood pencils to give away at parades and other events to promote our art program. Because you want to keep playing with the color-change feature, you keep looking at our logo, making them more fun and more effective than the average freebie pen.
Heidi from Sherman, # 114121, Black Shadow Mood Pencil
We’re a surgeon’s office. Even in a ‘paperless’ office with electronic charts, we still have to write and have our patients fill out forms! Our pens are constantly walking away. We decided to let them walk more freely by putting our logo and phone number on them. We keep a large stash of these at every patient interaction point for the use of staff and patients. It’s always nice to see my staff pick these up, then hand to a patient for use and encourage them to keep them.
Sheri from McAllen, # 113165, Paper Mate® InkJoyTM Pen – Translucent
We have an appliance repair service and that means our customers generally don’t have a reason to call us very often. By giving them a useful household item that they can use daily, our company name stays fresh in their minds so when the need for an appliance repair arises, they remember to call US!
Joan with AMERICAN SERVICE, # 39134-HO, Jar Opener
Generally, I would order brand office supplies from a larger office supply company. Well, in education, getting your name out there is easier with logo materials. Therefore, instead of ordering brand pens for our office, I ordered personalized logo pens. The price difference was less than 2 cents per pen. In my opinion, that 2 cents is now priceless thanks to 4imprint.
Joan with AMERICAN SERVICE, # 105107, Insight Metallic Pen
Our church recently merged with another church and went through a name change and rebranding. We used these promotional items at a conference as giveaways to get our name out in the community. It has been fun to see our logo in random places in town such as using a pen with our logo on it that a waitress hands us to sign our bill or seeing a student at the gym with a backpack with our logo on it … it’s been fun!
Amber from Greenville, # 113303, Road Runner Sportpack
We had a very specific need—find a product to give away that could incorporate our logo and University’s colors (garnet and black) and our corporate sponsor’s color of bright blue. And the product had to be something our University would approve. Solution: mood cups! White/light gray with our logo and the corporate logo on them in garnet. When cold, they become the sponsor’s blue. EVERYONE at the event loved them. Our corporate sponsor even took some stacks with them back to their headquarters. Very pleased and very happy to have found a product to meet our challenges!
Cyndy with U of SC College of Engineering & Computing, #110198, Mood Stadium Cup
We are a Firearms Training Academy and our students have a lot of paperwork that needs to be filled out. We like to provide them with a pen of the right ink color to do so. We had 4imprint prepare pens for us with our logo as well as our website. They take them home and always remember the great training day they had, but also how to get a hold of us … when they have a question or when they want to refer a friend.
Karina with The Right Training, #6551 , Javelin Pen
We use small bags as a tool to deliver hand-made chocolate chip cookies to our church’s first-time guests. Plus we include a chip clip on top of the bag so that the when the bag and cookies are gone, there’s still a reminder of our church. Great products from 4imprint help make great first impressions!
Glen with Blue Springs Christian Church, #656, Popcorn Bag
Our Bic® Velocity pens are all the rage with our clients. We are a closing company so all of our clients come to sign documents and our pens are always brought up! Having Happy Customers is our goal, and signing with a great pen may seem like something small, but it is in fact a big deal around here!
Anonymous, # 7364, Bic® Velocity Gel Pen
We ordered plastic promotional bags for our company to use when we send items out through our doors—which is daily. We realized that our community was not completely aware of our organization so we have been thinking of ways to help promote us in our little community. The bags have been helpful. We use them to send items out to our clients all around the southeastern part of the state. We were able to order them in an eye-popping color that was close to our brand and they always grab attention and generate interest. We feel that they have been helpful in establishing our brand effectively, which helps people recognize us for who we are and what we do!
Anonymous, # 16043-1915, Convention Bag- 19″ x 15″
Our company is always looking for unique giveaways that will help us stand out. Any product that we can tie a loan or savings promotion to helps make us more visible in the Credit Union market. I use 4imprint products at benefits fairs and when I give presentations to our sponsoring employer groups. By having something unique at my table, it generates conversations with potential members and leads to new accounts and new loans. That is the most important part of our business—generating business and helping our members achieve their financial goals!
Kasey with Metro Federal Credit Union, #117761-T , Portion Bowl – Translucent
We work in the restoration industry and use the luggage tags in a different way than what they were created for. We, at Wilds Restoration, use these tags to hang from the water shut-off valve to indicate to a homeowner where they need to go if they suffer a busted pipe/flooded basement.
Shelby with Wilds Restoration Services, LLC, #86017-T, Find-Your-Luggage Tag – Translucent
We wanted an executive USB pen. Other companies had cheap, plastic ones that didn’t cut it. We’re using these to communicate critical airport industry information to elected officials rather than dumping off reports (loads of paper) on them. They were a hit and were under the threshold for a “gift” to be reported.
Anonymous, #103455-1G, Mosaic USB Pen – 1GB
We participated in a fundraising fajita & chili cookoff. We used the cups we ordered to serve Coke® floats to those that stopped by our booth and for folks to take cups home with them from the event.
Kristi from Houston, #105871, Stadium Cup – 12 oz. – Smooth
We interview and recruit students for our medical school program and the items that we have ordered have pushed us over the top with applicants. They can find our website because it is printed on our items and they like the diversity of products we have used. They do not get gifts at many other institutions and for the cost we are putting ourselves above the rest. We will continue to use promotional products for our recruitment and school promotion.
Beth Ann with West Virginia University School of Medicine, #5739, Commonwealth Metal Pen
We wanted a ‘giveaway’ for our customers and staff that would be fun. This ‘beer can’ style glass certainly did the trick! I was told by one of our customers that this was the ‘best swag ever!’. I asked your art department to take our logo and made it look like a beer can logo and the results were fabulous.
Beth Ann with West Virginia University School of Medicine, #112560, Soda Can Glass – 16 oz.
Booth Buzz
Promotional products might just be the best thing ever when it comes to making sure your booth is the one they visit. Here are some ways to make sure there is a well-worn path right to your booth.
We were looking for something to give out to top prospects only to help them remember us after the show. We used unique-looking jump drives with our logo on them, uploaded our marketing materials to the drives and then traded the drives for business cards. The feedback from our top companies was positive. The jump drives looked unique and served a purpose!
Melissa with A to Z Cycles, inc, #109035, Be Seen Reflective Stripe Sportpack
We were looking for something to give out to top prospects only to help them remember us after the show. We used unique-looking jump drives with our logo on them, uploaded our marketing materials to the drives and then traded the drives for business cards. The feedback from our top companies was positive. The jump drives looked unique and served a purpose!
KC with Design Build Associates, # 112586-2G, Clip-n-Carry USB Drive – 2GB
I was recently invited to attend my first conference as an author. I knew there would be a ton of giveaways and freebies at the conference and that I’d be competing with big publisher budgets. I wanted to give away ‘swag’ that readers would find useful, but budget was a big consideration. After much thought, I remembered attendees complaining about having to leave nice freebies like books and notebooks behind because they couldn’t carry it all. I decided to order tote bags to give out to readers with a fun slogan and my author website emblazoned on the side. Not only were they all used by—and useful to—the attendees, but people were clamoring for extras when I ran out. They were carrying them around the hotel and home to airports around the country. Talk about great advertising—and the attendees were happy to have a good quality bag to carry around all their other free stuff.
Anonymous, # 106259-1412, Grande Shopping Tote – 14″ x 121⁄2″
We got these pens to give away at job fairs and trade shows. We like the fact that they have the stylus on the top—it should ensure that people who take them will keep them and carry them around more than another pen that might just end up in a pencil cup on their desk.
Anonymous, # 116498, Jada Stylus Pen – Metallic
We wanted to find products that would be useful to our customers at a specific expo. Some of our existing customers were going to be there, and we wanted something additional just for them. We ended up with flashlight pens (our target audience is often needing to write in dark conditions) and travel mugs. The mugs were a huge hit, and the pens were flying out of the box. We got a lot of traffic from having the bright color of the mug to catch the eye of passersby, so it was a great investment!
Anonymous, # 113998, Flashlight with Pen and Lanyard
My goal was to increase traffic to our booth at the Senior Mini College. The increase in traffic allowed us to do more blood pressure, pulse and oxygen saturation readings for the senior citizen attendees and gave our student nurses a very useful opportunity to improve their vital sign reading and recording skills. They also received valuable experience in working with people in a different environment than a hospital clinical environment. It was a win-win experience for both our nursing students and the senior citizens of our community.
Marcia from Canon City, # 111499-CL, Smiley Journal – Closeout
We use the water bottles for giveaways at college fairs. High school students love a freebie, and these bottles look much nicer than some of the items given away at other booths. The water bottles attract the students’ attention, and it helps us start a conversation with them about our school.
Katin with Seacoast Career School, #103840 , Poly-Pure Lite Bottle – 18 oz.
This was our first time as top-tier sponsors at a large, very prominent travel technology show. And of course we decided to participate at the last minute, so our giveaways had to have a quick turnaround, but they also needed to be unique and useful. We ordered flashlights and pedometers. The flashlights supported the theme element that ‘our product will show you the way’, and the pedometers underscored the theme of ‘our product is with you every step of the way’. Both were a HUGE hit.
Anonymous, #110203-T , Value-In Shape Pedometer – Translucent
In almost every small town in Texas, there is a yearly festival. We like to reserve booths at the festivals in our area since they are a good way to advertise our company. I recently had the idea to have a giveaway at our booths so we could get more notice from potential customers. This is where our awesome customized chairs came in… they were a huge hit with our potential customers and brought in a lot of interest. Overall I see the chairs as a great investment that rewarded us with new customers and we will be using them for future festivals.
Karon from Heath, #5648 , Folding Chair with Carrying Bag
The products that our association purchases from 4imprint are used in several different ways. Our professional association offers exhibitor sponsorships for two conferences that we host each year. The sponsorships are for items that we need attendees to have such as pens, notebooks, lanyards, bags for registration materials and also for other items that attendees will utilize over and over again once they are back in the office. Allowing exhibitors to sponsor these items is a win-win for the attendee, the Exhibitor and the Association. It reduces costs for the Association which is in turn passed along to the attendee by maintaining the least registration cost possible. It allows the Exhibitor to increase their marketing exposure without the hassle of having to actually go to the effort of locating, quoting, reviewing artwork, making changes, receiving the shipment, paying the invoice, getting the product to the conference and then ensuring it reaches the participant’s hands. Because the quality of both the product and the quality of the imprint on the products that are chosen reflect not only on our association but even more so on our exhibitors, we make it a point to request samples and use those samples to determine quality. I feel proud to say that our exhibitors are always pleased by the fact that we don’t just choose a cheap product to satisfy the sponsorship, but rather our Association chooses a product that well represents their company over and over again. Our association also uses 4imprint products as door prizes for our attendees. By purchasing very nice, useful, quality products which are then ‘branded’ with our Association’s logo for door prizes, our attendees have a visual reminder of our Association and the quality training conference that we are well known for providing.
Karon from Heath, #5245 , Neck Wallet
We used these badge holders to bring together our Steampunk Convention Attendees by using uniquely fitted parts of a map as badge backgrounds. Everyone was encouraged to find the other attendees whose map sections fit, like a puzzle, next to their own! In all each puzzle had six unique ‘torn’ pieces to make it easier to solve. The group with the most complete map by closing ceremonies won free attendance to our next event!
Amy with Air City Expedition, #100677-B , Vinyl Badge Holder with Bulldog Clip
We gave away USB chargers to teachers at our curriculum conference – between iPhones® and iPads®, they are always trying to charge devices and you can never have too many chargers. Now, every time they use it they think about our company and about our conference!
Katie with APSRC, #118410 , USB Wall Charger
We gave away USB chargers to teachers at our curriculum conference – between iPhones® and iPads®, they are always trying to charge devices and you can never have too many chargers. Now, every time they use it they think about our company and about our conference!
Katie with APSRC, #118410 , USB Wall Charger
Spread the Word
Whether it’s public safety or a simple community reminder, here are a few ideas to help spread the word about your special campaign.
We sent our target customers, (35+ women in our immediate vicinity) a coffee cup or reusable grocery bag and asked them to spend their quiet time with a cup of tea or coffee and to think about how they and their family are approaching health and fitness, or to realize that nutrition was the other half of fitness and weight loss. Then we asked them to come to an open house the following Saturday or to at least check us out online. We had a handful of people at the open house but our web site hits went way up and our Facebook® pages received many new Likes. Phone calls about different offerings increased. Many people who received the mailing called or stopped in to say that it was unique and it caught their eye. I assume people are talking.
Anonymous, #111699, Value White Mug – 11 oz.
Each year, the Future Promises Job Fair Committee invites children in Grades 3-6 to a job fair (and scholarship essay winners to an annual banquet) aimed at encouraging the youth of our communities to aspire for more in their futures. It gets them thinking about what their career paths and dreaming about their futures. We purchased totes from 4imprint this year that the students could put their giveaways in (from other vendors) and also included their snacks. These bags were a big hit and were very useful as well!
Denise with Machias Savings Bank-Future Promises Committee, #103873, Value Polypropylene Tote
We are always looking for incentives to help us educate as well as motivate women to enroll in our program for free breast and cervical cancer screenings. The items we ordered all play a part in the campaign we are using this year to help us ‘Measure the Success of Early Detection’. Women came to our table, drawn by the Plinko board with breast health questions; received a measuring tape for playing the game, and used their free ink pen to fill out a short survey for us to gauge the effectiveness of what we were teaching and rate how likely they were to follow up and get a mammogram.
Kelly with Early Detection Works, #105563-MINI, Mini Plinko
I am on the school board of a small Catholic school (148 K3-8). Nothing was ever created for alumni awareness, so why not a basic pen for the graduating class and alumni? Having a pen handy can allow alumni to “write a gift” for the school, and also keeps the fond memories of a fun elementary school alive for very little cost (my pocket).
Terry from Berwyn, #108640, Vixen Pen
I am the Marketing Director for a rehab facility, and enjoy using functional items as a way to promote what we do in the community. Items like jar openers, oversized pens, band-aid holders, hand-sanitizing sprays, and even chip clips are great functional items, and can be ordered in a variety of fun, eye-catching color patterns. This is a great way for me to give someone a helpful gift, and spark a conversation regarding the benefits of physical, occupational, or speech therapy. In essence, giving a little, gaining a lot!
Stacy from Metropolis, #2245-T, Power Clip – Translucent
We created a new section of our website for our church members where they can log in and get more information. We printed the website and logo on a pen that we handed out to several hundred people. A pen is something people will keep and use (rather than just a postcard), and we were glad to be able to spread the word to the congregation at such a great price.
Anonymous, #110986, Eternity Pen
I teach a digital media program at a career center at the junior and senior levels. Our school is a school of choice, so we got these Cord Stashers to give to the visiting sophomores to get their attention and to remember our lab. What high schooler isn’t walking around with earbuds? They loved them!
Jill from Van Wert, #117155, Cord Stasher
We have a classroom in our office. We have about 1000 people a year in and out. We had a code-mandated drinking fountain that was never used. I added a special add-on for the drinking fountain to allow quick fill of water bottles. We are in our own green building and don’t buy bottled water. We bought these to promote that new filler. We put these bottles out for class participants and most take and use them right away.
Daniel from Burr Ridge, #9990-SP-M, ShimmerZ Comfort Grip Bottle with Sport Lid – 27 oz.
As a college library we offer bags to patrons who leave with several items. By including our logo, phone, and URL we increase brand awareness. Offering a reusable bag increases the opportunity for patrons to remember the friendly and helpful staff in the library.
Dana with Laramie County Community College, #112504, Everyday Grocery Bag
I read somewhere that the average pen exchanges hands four times during its life cycle. My partner was launching our new business at an educational expo and wanted to ensure that we attracted visitors to our booth as well as got our company information out there. People were stopping by our booth specifically for our pens and telling others that ours were ‘the nicest’ at the event. We’re hoping that all of those promo pens exchange hands four times and spread the word.
Jill with School Safety Solution, LLC, # 109148, Cubano Pen – Opaque
We started to really promote a mobile app which works with our software, so we decided a giveaway item might help. I ordered the stylus pens to do this, and they have turned out to be a great way to get a conversation about smartphone apps started with potential clients!
Anonymous #115510, Chevron Dual Ink Metal Stylus Pen
The Racine Kenosha Community Action Agency is the sponsoring agency for Racine Lifecourse Initiative for Healthy Families (LIHF). This project aims to reduce the African American infant mortality rate in Racine, WI. The heart-shaped stress balls help to promote the brand of LIHF as the Project Manager educates the community through outreach efforts.
Samantha with Racine Kenosha Community Action #86057, Heart Stress Reliever
Our school started a running club for elementary students this year. I purchased these water bottles as a year-end incentive for students who participated throughout the year. Since our school is relatively new, I also wanted to use them for publicity for our school as students use the bottles around our town. When our school starts sports teams next year, I expect students will use their school water bottles to show their school spirit. Students were thrilled to receive their water bottles, and I have already seen many used outside of school.
Anonymous, #10510-C, Sport Bottle with Push Pull Cap – 20 oz. – Colors
We used the banana and pear fruit buddies as participation incentives for our latest wellness program challenge. The goal of the challenge was for employees to choose low sugar or sugarfree snacks and beverages instead of higher sugar items. We thought that the fruit buddies would be a great way to encourage employees to bring healthy snacks with them to work.
Betsy from Mebane, #117717, Fruit Buddy
We do environmental outreach every year, required by the Dept. of Ecology. At this year’s dog-a-thon, we focus on people picking up dog waste. In years past we gave away dog waste bags but that gets redundant. This year we have a great message on the flyer and it’s a fun-toplay- with giveaway for both humans and their dogs.
Diana from Lakewood, #5975, Fold-Up Flyer
We do environmental outreach every year, required by the Dept. of Ecology. At this year’s dog-a-thon, we focus on people picking up dog waste. In years past we gave away dog waste bags but that gets redundant. This year we have a great message on the flyer and it’s a fun-toplay- with giveaway for both humans and their dogs.
Angie with Advanced Disposal, #1660-1513-W, Kraft Paper White Shopping Bag – 153⁄4″ x 13″
We use our stress balls as a prize in a friendly pop-quiz competition. We’re a training company so this offers a fun way to revisit some of the concepts we teach in our workshops. Not only does it make learning fun, but our BigBlueGumball stress balls have been proven to reduce stress within organizations by 70%…! Or maybe we just made that up 🙂
Steve with BigBlueGumball, #16018, Solid Color Stress Ball
Saying Thank You
Whether it’s for saying thank you to volunteers, to applaud hard workers for a job well done or for recognizing an anniversary, here are some creative ways to say “thanks.”
We are an automotive repair shop and we give out a ‘customer goodie bag’ with each paid invoice, even if it is only for a state inspection of $12.50. Most invoices are $50+ so this is quite cost effective. Currently it is our only advertising and we are staying very busy. We use small coffee bean-style bags with a printed oval label, and include our business card, a thank you card, a pen from 4imprint (all of these are color coordinated), 6 pieces of chocolate, and a snackpack of peanuts. People LOVE these bags and often fight over who in the family is getting the loot!
Kathryn with Great Northern Motor Works, # 6551, Javelin Pen
Every April for 21 years, we have had a Free Pancake Breakfast and invite all of our customers from our location. We like to have handouts so that everyone goes home with something. This year the magnet scratch pads will be given to the ladies and we have pocket calenders for the men. I will have something for the kids
Judy with Ferrellgas, #115047-25 , Bic Magnetic Manager Notepad – 25 Sheet
Our Home Health Business relies on state implemented patient surveys as our public reviews. Our clinicians have been working very diligently to improve our work flow, communication, and timeliness to provide an excellent patient experience and we’re proud to say it shows. Administration wanted to say ‘Thank You’ to our clinicians and chose the celebration bag to serve as a ‘survival kit’ on the road. We filled the bags with note pads, pens, trail mix, gum, mints, hand sanitizer, lotion, lip balm, emery board, small mirror, stress ball, added a workflow check list and presented this to our field staff during our monthly meeting. It brought lots of smiles.
Anonymous, # 5938, Celebration Shopping Tote
All the riders in our competitive trail ride receive packets with maps, schedules, etc. By adding a sturdy tote bag to the gift, we were able to include sponsor information, which made the sponsors happy, and donated gifts, which made our riders happy!
Patricia with North American Trail Ride Conference, # 109175, Rumba Laminated Tote
I used the Traveler Media Case as part of a giveaway to travel writers. We also added an 8.5″ x 11″ printed piece into the larger pocket and a traveling cell-phone holder and jump drive with press kit pre-loaded into the smaller pocket on the front. I then attached a small gift tag to the zipper with an explanation of the contents. Everyone on the team was very impressed with how the giveaway turned out and we are considering repeating this for another upcoming project.
Jen from San Antonio, # 110061, Traveler Media Sleeve
Any way we can get our name out with the salesperson, the challenge is always what can we leave to leave a lasting impression. We carry too much paper in our industry and we need something to have at our fingertips to write down or show any information when presenting a product. This item is perfect as I have utilized this concept before and it was successful then, but this design concept was betterreceived as the embossed nature of the logo made the binder rich looking.
Bart with Midwest Mortgage Capital, # 85015-D, Zippered Vinyl Portfolio – Debossed
We have an annual Volunteer Luncheon, and we rewarded each volunteer with a 5″ x 7″ binder with our logo on the front. They were so pleased and said they would be very useful. It helped us build a continuing relationship with these folks and show them we really appreciate what they do!
Anonymous, # 105425-J, Junior Vinyl Padboard Folder
I ordered these three items to use as thank you gifts for our customers. I wanted something useful that they would keep around, plus something a little different. I am pre-loading a video presentation of a new product offering on the USB drives to also help drive sales.
Jamie from Monroe, #2424, Eyeglasses/Sunglasses Holder
As an insurance company we like to thank those who attend our Annual Meeting of Policyholders. We try to give items that make their lives easier and safer, and in past years we have given jumper cables and car blankets, folding step stools, rolling coolers, padfolios, umbrellas, messenger bags, umbrella chairs, mugs—all very well received and excellent advertising as well.
Anonymous, # 108816, Fleece/Nylon Outdoor Blanket
Our volunteers not only oversee the kids in our ministry but the adults that volunteer to teach them as well. Each week brings its own challenges that are met with smiles, fun and hugs. We decided to remind our volunteers to ‘chill’ over the summer. Take time to revive, rest, and have some great fun. We loaded the coolers with fun items they could share with their own families as they planned their summer away!
Brooke with Willow Creek Community Church Crystal Lake, # 8220, 12-Can Convertible Duffel Cooler
My clients wanted to host a ‘Family Fun Day’ pool side at the local country club for their employees and families to kick off the start of summer. Being able to order quick and great quality items from 4imprint online was a huge time saver for me. I was able to order exactly what my client wanted and get everything here in time with the short timeframe we had. The stadium cups and collapsible coolies were used at the beverage and bar stations while the beach balls were given in kids’ fun packs and filled the pool. We then had the beach towels rolled and ready in huge buckets for guests to take and use at the party—then, of course, take home as gifts from their employer.
Melissa with 2 Sisters Events & Design, # 8220, 12-Can Convertible Duffel Cooler
We used the Warm Buddy and Mini Ice Scraper as our holiday gift to employees. Living in North Dakota, you can never have too many hats, mittens and scarves. Employees commented that this was the most practical and cute gift they have ever received.
Anonymous, # 100623-S, Visor Ice Scraper
The Carrot
Increase participation, improve registration rates and maybe even generate additional revenue. If you’re looking for that ‘carrot,’ look for promotional products.
I am the Teen Coordinator for The Hemet Public Library and our theme for the Summer Reading Program is ‘Reading is soooo Delicious!’ So I went about finding food-related items to give as incentives for teens’ participation this year. One of the items I’m giving out is the Lightning Lunch Sack in lime green. The printing on it is fabulous and the bag looks great. Can’t wait to see what my teens think about it!
Jennifer from Hemet, #116864, Lightning Lunch Sack
Every month we have a Safety Banner/Poster quiz and Safety Observation prize-drawing for employees to participate in. Every month we hang up new safety posters and banners throughout the facility and at the end of the month (after we hang up the new posters) we hand out a quiz to see if employees can remember some of the safety reminders on these posters and banners. If they get all the questions right, they get their name put in a drawing to win a prize. Also, each month that an employee has all positive observations regarding to safety, they get their name put in a drawing for a prize. Just some of the ways we stress and encourage employees to work safely so that they can go home at the end of the day to the thing they value the most!
Charlet with Dairy Farmers of America, #306-16, Brew Pub Glass – 16 oz.
Used promo items as a gift for new retirement plan enrollees and those who participate but increased contributions. We ordered two premiums—one for each goal. Helps with brand awareness, too.
Jaime from Windsor, #2245-S, Power Clip – Opaque
We ordered the food scale. This was a free giveaway to those employees that joined our Health 4 the Holidays lose or maintain your weight program. As an incentive, we asked the participants to check-in halfway through the program to see if they were personally on track. If they stopped in to weigh in they got a food scale. The program hasn’t finished yet, but we got a great response to the food scales.
Beth from Cleveland, #115244, Two Piece Kitchen Scale
We purchased the sports bottles for employees that achieved high honor roll for completing all their mandatory in-services on time throughout the year and used the pens for our staff to let them know how awesome they all are! The employees that didn’t make high honor roll this year wished they had completed all in-services on time and will work harder this year to achieve after seeing the great gifts given out.
Anonymous, #104309-24-TH, h2go Bolt Stainless Bottle – 24 oz.
We are stocking a corporate store with logo items. We award our employees for going above and beyond with our own corporate ‘bucks’. We then open our store twice a year so they can use these ‘bucks’ to purchase items like corporate branded clothing, duffel bags, coffee mugs, umbrellas, lawn chairs, etc.
Jane from Hopkinsville, #6012-S, 4imprint Business Attache – Screen
We gave the water tumblers out to our employees that completed a specific challenge in our wellness program. During the event employees were also able to play Plinko to win prizes. The water tumblers have definitely motivated more employees to participate in the program so they can also receive their cup.
Anonymous, #105563-MINI, Mini Plinko
We use the imprint products as school spirit building awards. Students that have achieved a specific GPA or have perfect attendance are entered into a drawing in which they can win school logo items. The remaining items are offered to the students at cost. This is not a fundraiser but rather an effort to build school spirit.
Rebekah from Bakersfield, #112231, Double Layer Fleece Beanie
These were used to promote our combined safety and wellness program. Items were awarded to production teams that had completed 12 months incident free—a tall order in a High Hazard industry. Additionally, we included a custom bandana imprinted with our safety program logo ‘Road to Zero’ and inserted a monetary award inside of the first-aid kit. Overall, it made for a good visual presentation and helped helped to create excitement. We are already looking at other branding opportunities for the future.
Anonymous, #4349, Outdoor First-Aid Kit
I gave these bags out at my Grand Opening. People loved them and now I give them to my customers with a purchase and they all comment on how nice they are. I sell chocolates and plan on putting a small ice pack in it and giving it to them when they buy chocolate in the hot summer months. I tell them that if they bring it back with them they will get a discount on their next purchase of a certain amount.
Michele with Trackside Treats & Treasures, #110700-DT, Printed Poly Pro Lunch Box
Special Agents Realty is located on Lake Union in Seattle and we participate annually in the Clean Sweep where people volunteer to pick up trash and debris on and around the lake. To encourage people to participate, we offered a free reusable shopping bag to anyone that signed up through Special Agents Realty.
Kevin with Special Agents, #108484, Polypropylene Foldable Tote
Team Unity
Whether you’re looking to outfit your team for a consistent look, trying to build morale, or you want to create ‘walking billboards,’ promotional products get the job done.
We are a small team within a larger corporation. We decided to boost morale during the holiday season by holding ‘12 days of holiday cheer’. Each day we brought in something different: ice cream sandwiches, nachos, bagels, donuts, veggie tray, fruit tray, etc. We also wanted something more permanent than food (since some started calling it the 12 pounds of holiday cheer) so we chose the magnetic clip with our program logo emblazoned on it. These were immediately shown to be useful and fun.
Amy from Santa Clara, # 113642-S, Clipper Magnetic Clip
We are a small team within a larger corporation. We decided to boost morale during the holiday season by holding ‘12 days of holiday cheer’. Each day we brought in something different: ice cream sandwiches, nachos, bagels, donuts, veggie tray, fruit tray, etc. We also wanted something more permanent than food (since some started calling it the 12 pounds of holiday cheer) so we chose the magnetic clip with our program logo emblazoned on it. These were immediately shown to be useful and fun.
Kathryn from San Marcos, # 113972, City Square Jute Tote
The Family Readiness Group of the USS Missouri used these Fleece jackets to create a ‘team’ environment among the Navy wives. We formed a committee to develop the specifications for the jackets and had a contest to design the logo and everyone participated. The ladies all wear the jacket with pride!
Despina from Providence, # 9871-L, Katahdin Tek Fleece Jacket – Ladies’
These were the perfect solution for participant name badges. We inserted their name tag in the clear-view space, inserted meal cards in the easy access slot on the back as well a a pen, then dropped a jump-drive in the pouch. It made it so easy to pass out the various little items!
Anonymous, # 5245, Neck Wallet
We recently went through a rebranding and we had a party to announce the rebranding to our employees. At the party, we gave all of our employees goody bags that included a tumbler, pen, Post-its, and mint tin—all of which were branded with our new logo and new color palette. The goody bags were a nice surprise and a big hit! We wanted to use the imprinted items to help make all of our employees feel like part of the team as well as bring them into the fold about the company’s new brand identity. It appeared that we definitely achieved this goal. It’s nice to see employees using their tumblers around the office.
Anonymous, # 105869-16, Spirit Tumbler – 16 oz.
We use these wonderful little bags to hold newly hired employees’ information for their orientation. It is a perfect size and a wonderfully easy way to promote our Wellness program to our newest employees. This bag is a perfect size for the materials and I have received feedback from our employees that they use their bags for shopping. I’ll definitely purchase these again!
Sherry from Annapolis, # 5938-1313, Celebration Shopping Tote Bag – 13″ x 13″
The t-shirts are for our scout troop. The scouts wear them at public events when not in the official uniform. On the back of the shirt we list all the activities the troop does throughout the year. This invites people to ask questions about any of the events. The boys love to talk about their rafting trip, or achievements that they have earned.
Kelli from Cary, # 103477-S-C, Gildan® 5.6 oz. DryBlendTM 50/50 T-Shirt – Screen
I used the lanyards and plastic name tag holders for a dance for my students. The color of the lanyard indicated the role of each student and the name tag was used to indicate the students’ jobs for the evening. It worked out well and the students were excited that they got to keep the lanyard (which had our group name screenprinted on it) at the end of the night.
Anonymous, # 587, Lanyard
We take groups on mission trips and for this trip we gave a drawstring, a water bottle, study material and arm bands. This helped identify members of our group from a distance, plus gave them room to carry items in the rural area we visited. Since we needed to bring our own water (visiting a third world country), we found using our own refillable water bottles drastically reduced trash and gave our travelers something to take home with them as a memento.
Brock with Catalyst Coach Ministries, #7194, Promotional Drawstring Sportpack
These shirts were ordered for our field employees who wanted to represent our company. We require safety vests but, due to the heat, made an exception for high visibility shirts instead. Everyone has really loved that the shirts are breathable and of nice quality. We have had a lot of requests for the shirts with office staff as well and plan to order more of them.
Brandi with BCCK Engineering, Inc., # 108390-L, Blue Generation® High Visibility Pique Polo – Ladies’
We rolled out our Core Company Values. The Puzzle People Stress Set was the perfect way to lend a visual to Teamwork, Total Communication, Accountability, Respect, and Integrity. We had managers talk about each value and give examples based on feedback from employees. At the end of the employee meeting each member was given their own set of Puzzle People as a fun reminder of teamwork and how we need each other to make the company successful.
Anonymous, # 114631, Teamwork Puzzle Stress Reliever Set
For Your Cause
Whether it’s a non profit, school store or fundraising, if you need money for the mission, promotional products work.
A local park was holding its yearly fundraising event. Since this ‘Garden Symposium’ was the sole source of income for the park, we offered to donate seed packets (bluebonnets and daisies) as a free gift to attendees as a way to increase park attendance while also ‘spreading the word’ about our office. It worked perfectly! Not only were we able to increase attendance at the park by encouraging our patients to attend, we were also able to get our name and office contact info into the hands of the local community. A complete direct-marketing success! 4imprint handled the project beautifully. I couldn’t have been more pleased. The seed packets were printed beautifully and were very clear with nice, vibrant colors. Weeks later, I still have patients asking for more seeds because they were such a hit!
Alicia with James R. Waters, DDS, MSD, PA, # 105863-TB, Standard Series Seed Packet – Texas Bluebonnet
We are a non-profit, Friends of the Stoughton Public Library, and we were responding to requests for the library to have a bag patrons could purchase at checkout to carry their library materials. We also decided to use the tote as our bag for our library bag book sale. The attendees purchased the bag for $6.00 and they could fill it with any book sale items they wanted. One family bought 7 bags’ worth!
Anonymous, # 101326-1312, Little Thunder Tote 13″ x 12″
We distributed the bags as a fundraiser for our Food Pantry. The food pantry got the food in the bags and the donor got to keep the reusable bags! The store we held the event in also donated 5 cents for every reusable bag customers used to bag their groceries.
Robin with Easthampton Community Center, # 101326-1513, Big Thunder Tote 15″ x 13″
Items are for a school walkathon fundraiser called World Walk 2013 (multicultural theme) and used for incentive prizes for raising certain amounts of money. For example, if they get $30 in pledges, they receive an Earth Pen; if they get $75 or more, they get the Earth Pen and collapsible water bottle, etc. We are using the FM radio clips for classroom challenge prizes.
Wendy from San Jose, # 113320, HydroPouch Collapsible Sport Bottle
We have a karate school that we are trying to save and we needed an item that people would love to use every day. We needed to grab their attention with a show-stopper item. I purchased many bags and as soon as we laid them out, people were touching, looking, and buying these bags. We loved everything about the bag, the look, the feel, the design. Gorgeous.
Benny with Sana Seido Karate, # 5218-L-D, Weekend Duffel – Patchwork Leather – Debossed
It seemed the organizations that were like ours always had the same products (i.e. t-shirts, hats, etc.) and we needed something that was different and would stand out. The variety of tumblers and ease of customization provided a perfect product to draw attention. Not only did our 4imprint product sell well, it increased awareness and sales of our other inventory items.
Anonymous, # 117778-16, Mega Vortex Tumbler – 16 oz.
I am the merchandise coordinator for the Indianola Beach Improvement Club. Money raised through selling Indianola merchandise goes to the upkeep of our small town and any repairs or upgrades that need to be done to public areas, including our fabulous dock that was once used for ferry service. We were tired of the same sweatshirts and t-shirts every year and decided to try some new ideas. The sunglasses in particular have been wildly popular!
Madison from Indianola, # 109494-TT, Risky Business Sunglasses – Two Tone
We sold sport bottles and sport backpacks for Alpine AYSO (youth soccer). With your prices we are able to sell them for only a few dollars more to make a profit and still have the price low enough to sell a lot.
Lori with Alpine AYSO, #110032, Diamond Drawstring Sportpack
Our school holds a spring fundraiser during which the kids do various activities and get donations for their participation. These funds are then turned over to the school from our PTA in order to fund the purchase of technology/computers for the classrooms. We used the items we purchased from 4imprint as prizes for the various donation levels achieved by the kids.
Kymberli with Hidden Creek PTA, #108574, Flip Top Translucent Bottle