Welcome to our blog. This is where we talk about new products, discuss industry related issues and generally hang out. Created by various contributors, it’s certainly not designed to win awards for perfect prose and literary greatness – its just notes about stuff we like or feel is relevant! So dive in.
Christmas promotions
August 31st, 2010 by Jonathan Lee
Say thank-you this Christmas
Its tradition to recognise customer and staff loyalty at Christmas. A little recognition during the festive season can set things up nicely for another profitable year.
The general rule of thumb with Christmas themed Christmas merchandise is, the sooner you get yourself organised the more choice you’ll have!
A branded corporate Christmas gift is always well received. Its a big opportunity to miss.
Hampers and confectionery
We’ve always offered a comprehensive range of Christmas hampers. Prices start at £17.95 for the Sweet Temptations Chocolate Hamper and rise to the Christmas Extravaganza Luxury Hamper at £375.93.
We can handle individual fulfillment for you in the UK and overseas or we’re happy to ship in bulk.
Branded Advent Calendars prove very popular. They offer a fun alternative to a traditional greetings card, with many read each day. Alternatively you can take them home for the kids! Again, we’re happy to handle the fulfillment on your behalf; just send us the addresses and we’ll do the rest.
Don’t forget the branded Mince Pies and Chocolate Santas.
Baubles and decorations
We supply branded Christmas baubles, perfect for the Corporate tree and a great seasonal gift set. There’s a variety of colours and sizes available but hurry the lead time is 4-6 weeks!
The there’s scented Christmas candle sets which are perfect for a female audience.
Christmas hats and stockings
Ahh! the ever popular silly Christmas hat, an indispensable office party favorite! And don’t forget the Christmas stocking, ready and waiting to be stuffed with goodies.
Christmas toys and puzzles
We’ve got Santa and Snowman stress balls, corporate Snow Globes, laughing Santas and a Christmas music box.
Executive gifts
Maybe you’re looking for something a little more sophisticated for your target audience. We supply engraved Mont Blanc and Cross pens, Dunhill luggage and a wide range of leather goods and gadgets such as MP3 players and digital cameras to name but a few.
And don’t forget the New Year
Why not send a gift which will sit on their desk for another year! How about the new Calendar Pod or Deskset with a Calendar printed as part of the design? What about a Desk Clock, Calculator or Memo Block?
Order deadlines
Typically, gifts take 2-3 weeks to produce unless otherwise stated. The cut-off for pre-Christmas delivery on Hampers will be 8th December 2010.
Don’t leave it to the last minute!
All prices shown exclude VAT, origination (if applicable) and delivery.
Animal health promotions
July 22nd, 2010 by Jonathan Lee
We offer a great range of products suitable for promotional activities within the animal health sector.
We’ve supplied clients within this marketplace for many years so we understand the key issues and are always ready and able to create bespoke products or to source new ideas.
From Pet Bowls of various sizes to Dog Leads and the all important Poop Bag Holders!
Sticky Notes and pens have always been favorites in the surgery setting but we’ve also supplied notice boards and counter mats and many other genuinely useful advertising reminders.
How about promotional Tic Removers or the brilliant Pet Water Bottle? a must for those long Summer walks!
Pet Food Can Covers are a great low cost and very well received promotional item which like many items nowadays can be manufactured from recycled plastic.
There’s a range of Hi Viz pet collars for winter walks and nocturnal wanderers. Florescent bands are available for cats, dogs and horses.
Finally, we know how important the Veterinary Nurses are so remember to ask us for all those great giveaways to attract more people to your exhibition stand.
Organising an event?
June 2nd, 2010 by Jonathan Lee
Merchandise should be further up your list!
A considerable proportion of the product we ship is used at promotional events such as trade shows, seminars and training days.
Promotional merchandise offers a great medium for promoting your message or brand and is perfect for creating goodwill. There is a huge range of items available but its true to say that some products have become particularly popular for event applications.
Firstly, its important to project a professional image so why not kit your staff out with lanyards, name badges and matching embroidered shirts or polo shirts. If the casual look is not right for your business or sector then we also supply silk ties and scarves with either printed or woven logos.
Giveaways attract people to your stand, create goodwill and help to promote your message. A large bowl of branded sweets is popular as are stress balls and pens.
Carrier bags have long been an exhibitors favorite, offering a highly visible prompt to visit your stand and a useful place to keep literature and giveaways. However, recently plastic carriers are beginning to be replaced with more environmentally friendly alternatives such as organic cotton tote bags and recycled paper bags. Balloons and flags can also offer a great low cost method for creating an eye-catching reminder.
If you’re looking for something more substantial then conference bags offer a great alternative. There’s a wide range and they prove very popular delegates. Naturally we also supply folders, portfolios and notebooks ideal for training days and seminars.
We understand that there are numerous issues to consider when organising an event with the purchase of promotional merchandise often being a long way down the list.
But try to give yourself some lee-way on lead time. If you’ve a truck leaving then make sure we know what time, if you want items sent directly to a venue then make sure we have a contact name and that the venue is expecting the delivery.
Apples for apples
June 2nd, 2010 by Jonathan Lee
We ‘do’ competition – no problem, you win some you lose some but…..
The UK Promotional Merchandise market is highly fragmented and over-supplied so we’re used to having to fight a seemingly never ending list of competitors for every order.
Now of course during the process of trying to win an order we don’t expect to see our competitors pricing, we get the rules of the game, but we do need a proper brief or the product codes and descriptions of the products that our suggestions will be compared to.
Sadly though, the reality is that in many cases we are left to make choices on behalf of the client only to learn later that we were not quoting ‘Apples for Apples’, that is to say we didn’t have the chance to quote for exactly the same product the successful supplier had offered.
So what’s the point of asking multiple parties to provide a competitive quote if the specification is not fixed? That’s not a genuine competition!
Or put another way, how can you be sure you’re getting the best deal if you haven’t asked your potential suppliers to quote for exactly the same thing?
So bring on the competition, because if its ‘Apples for Apples’ we usually win!