Buyers Guide

Personalised promotional products are a fantastic way to promote your organisations products and services and when chosen wisely, will enhance your corporate branding and marketing message. The Promotional Products Buyer's Guide is designed to help you to make informed decisions when selecting and buying your promotional products, incentives and awards.

Who uses Promotional Products and Why?

Promotional products are a tried, tested and proven undisputed success when it comes to value for money marketing and promotions. Whether you want to raise or reinforce brand awareness, communicate a marketing message, promote an event or just say hello, thank you, welcome or goodbye to prospects, customers or staff, the power of free gifts and incentives is undeniable.

Innovative promotional products grab attention and have undoubted stickability because they invariably stay frequently keep your logo and message right in front of your customers for days, months and even years after they were originally given.

From freebies like mugs, bags, pens, drinks and sweets given out at trade shows and conferences to on pack and in store promotions, giving people something for nothing definitely grabs attention.

Promotional products in most cases are emblazoned with your logo and marketing message and often now this is in full colour print. Within the hundreds of thousands of items that are termed as promotional products come the product categories classed as advertising specialities, incentives, premiums, business gifts, eco, recycled and environmentally friendly, plus rewards and awards to name just a few.

Prices range from as little as a few pence per item for mass giveaways right through to price on application for completely bespoke one off unique solutions so there is always something for everyone in terms of choice and budget. The key to success with your promotions is choosing the right product at the right price, and ensuring that it can be personalised and branded to best effect with your company and event details, so your customers will value it and keep it.Although the individual item costs are typically low, the UK, European and Global market for personalised promotional products, business gifts and incentives is worth £ billions per year.

Almost any business, charity, educational or government organisation can benefit from using the right products to communicate their message and brand in a cost effective and visually effective way.

This Buyers Guide will help you to understand the differences between products and the numerous techniques for branding them with your marketing message. It will also enable you to make informed buying decisions so you will maximise the effectiveness of your promotion and achieve best value for your marketing spend.

Benefits of promotional products and business gifts When used effectively, promotional products have a fantastically beneficial and positive impact for any one using them to convey their marketing message. Because we all like free gifts, the value of promotional products is far greater than their cost and this is especially true when the product is something the recipient will keep and use on a frequent and ongoing basis.

Pens and coffee mugs, laptop bags, usb flash drives and promotional clothing and umbrellas are just a few top selling items that fit comfortably within this category. Remember as well that your branding will be seen by others as well and not just the individual who receives and uses your promotional gift. So you can see just how easy it is for a £ 1.00 coffee mug or an umbrella to reinforce your branding with the user as well as everyone else who sees them using it.

With so many products available for promotional use, including many leading product brand names, it& rsquo s easy to see their flexibility. They can be tailored to individual groups of people, different industries, specific campaigns and used as stand alone or as part of a larger marketing campaign. Numerous studies have proved time and again, the value and power of promotional products to boost brand recognition, increase response rates and create a favourable and positive impression of the company giving them away.

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How to Maximize the Effectiveness of Your Promotional products

To ensure your promotional product campaign achieves the best results, careful planning is important. Add to your planning, careful and considered product selection and you will achieve promotional product solutions to meet your individual and business goals.

A focused campaign and distribution strategy and where feasible, measurement of the results it brings will increase effectiveness of your future marketing activities.

Product selection will depend on your available lead times, audience type, the personalization and branding options, your budget, the size of audience your campaign is targeting, product colours and availability as well as size and weight of the individual items because these latter factors will influence your distribution process and costs. For example, if you want personalized tubs of ice cream, they will need refrigerated distribution, while promotional drinks may not fit through a mailing or post box and promotional chocolate advent calendars will need additional postage boxes to prevent them from being damaged in transit.

When planning your campaign also be aware that lead times fluctuate. Although manufacturer production times may typically be 10 – 15 working days there are items available from same day despatch, 2 day, 5 day and options on an enhanced Express Service or they may be longer if coming in as bespoke manufacture from the Far East. Also, the months from September through to December are typically very busy as many companies use promotional products as thank you items for their loyal customers at Christmas and lead times during these months can extend.

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Choosing the Right Promotional Items

The list of items that can be personalized and used as promotional gifts is ever increasing and almost anything that has space for a promotional logo can now be considered for promotional use. With so much choice, the challenge can be reducing your options to a manageable list of products that meet your specific criteria and requirements. A good promotional product distributor will help you with all of this by understanding your needs and making recommendations for you.

Here are some of the leading product categories to consider:

Clothing
Whether you want branded uniforms for staff or promotional T-shirts to give away, clothing is a popular and highly visible promotional item.T-shirts, Polo Shirts, fleece tops, hats and jackets are all big sellers and with safety in mind, Hi Viz Clothing has a firm place in the list of most used promotional clothing. The important factor to consider with clothing selection is the personalization you require because branding options range from embroidery, screen printing and digital printing in full colour to laser etching on fleece tops, to pull tags on zips and branded buttons and press studs and rubber name tags sewn into the garment seams.Manufacturers offer extensive ranges of  'off the shelf' product designs that can be over printed right through to own brand garment designs tailored specifically to your company branding and colour scheme and featuring your own garment label, a unique garment design and personalized packaging.Clothing is high visibility and frequently long lasting, so the ongoing payback on your initial investment can be substantial.

Food
Confectionery, cakes, biscuits, sweets, chocolate and a vast selection of promotional drink options make food a massively used and extremely popular promotional gift.The scope for personalization and unique branding is fantastic and with unit costs typically low, these are products are ideal for mass giveaways. It is important to keep in mind shelf life and storage and shipping requirements when selecting these items as you want your customers to receive the product is best condition.Cup cakes with photographic print look and taste fantastic but need to be delivered and eaten promptly- a shelf life of 2- 4 days is typical whereas some promotional fruit smoothies can now last for months.Digital printing means you can even print your artwork in full colour onto personalized cakes.

Environmental, Recycled and Eco Friendly Goods
The popularity of all types of eco friendly and recycled promotional gifts continues to increase. Companies and organisations keen to ensure that their promotional merchandise follows their Environmentally FriendlyCorporate Social Responsibility and Ethical Business policies are consistently looking for new and innovative promotional gifts. From recycled elephant dung notepads to pens made from recycled plastic cups or old bank notes and plant watering devices that can save upto 90% of normal water use for potted plants, the list of available products is enormous.

Computer products, digital cameras, digital photo frames and 'gadgets'
Technical gifts and gadgets range in price from the low cost ever popular USB Flashdrives to high USB Flash Drive Versavalue digital cameras and digital photo frames and plasma televisions and computers. The opportunities are as flexible and varied as your budget so ask the question and let your distributor advise you on ideas and possibilities.

Office gifts, desk accessories and personal equipment
Desk mounted promotional gifts remain Office Giftsin use and in view for months and often years and therefore provide a high value marketing opportunity. Desk pads and mouse mats are enduring branding opportunities while mobile phone holders maintain their & lsquo retainability& rsquo value.

Beyond the office
Ice scrapers, hand warmers, sun shades and lip balms provide gifts for all seasons and regular opportunities to be in front of your clients throughout the year, in a very useful way. Beach towels and sun hats, umbrellas and even flags and flag poles are all opportunities to promote your business and event and ensure you get noticed.

Golf products and sport related items
Golf is a massively popular sport and corporate event whether you are attending a tournament and taking guests for a social day or running your own Golf Day where your clients and employees enjoy a round or two of golf plus a meal and entertainment and the range of products available for branding at these events is massive. From polo shirts and caps to jackets, golf balls, umbrellas, tees, gloves and even trophies you have many options to ensure your customers take away memories of a great day with you.

Pens and writing instruments
Pens remain an immensely popular promotional gift because virtually everyone will use one at some point and they can be utilised as a low cost mass promotional giveaway item for conferences, mailout campaigns and trade show attention getters or as a one off top level award or executive gift. Digital printing has enabled full colour wrap around printing to transform the branding options for pens from the traditional 1 colour print in 1 position to photographic images covering the entire pen and clip. For individual gifts the solid silver hand crafted Yard-O-Led range is a prized and very select writing instrument while brands like Parker, Waterman and Cross have kudos and top brand appeal ensuring they are retained and used by the receiver.These are a few ideas of products you can use for your various corporate and marketing events & ndash but the choices available to you are as broad as your imagination. Virtually everything that can have a space for personalization can be branded as a promotional marketing gift.With this in mind, ask your distributor to advise you on ideas for your particular events and remember that bespoke manufacture and unique branding options are also available, so feel free to ask for guidance on these.The best promotional campaigns effectively associate your company's name with a product or products related to your particular industry.

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Artwork and Logos for Promo Items

Branding and personalization options for promotional products and gifts vary considerably and it is important to choose the right products for your particular artwork and the right artwork solution for the products you choose.

Origination costs can have a significant impact on the item costs if for instance, your branding is required in full colour and a separate screen is required for each of the print colours to be used. While the advent of digital printing has revolutionized the promotional products industry, products unsuitable for digital branding can involve more costly origination and set up costs which pushes up the unit cost for the finished goods.

To achieve the best quality representation of your branding you will need to supply your logo or artwork in various formats. Typically, a Vector EPS file is the preferred and most versatile option for the majority of goods although PDF and even JPEG files can also be suitable.

A Vector file is scalable without losing image quality and all fonts are converted into graphic images within the overall artwork. Most files will need to be at least 300 DPI (Dots Per Inch) or higher to be suitable quality for reproduction. JPEG and GIF files are in most cases too low in terms of resolution although JPEG files are often suitable for embroidery because the embroidery disk used as the template for the job is copied from the image rather than being a print of the image itself.

A good distributor will always advise on this and confirm the print area available for each product at the time you are making your product selection. They will also be able to redesign and reformat your artwork for you to ensure it is suitable for the individual items chosen.

Products will be personalized in a number of ways and the main ones are as follows:

  • Digital Print
  • Screen Print
  • Tampo Print
  • Litho Print
  • Embroidery
  • Engraving
  • Etching
  • Laser etching and engraving

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Working with a Distributor

There are many thousands of distributors and manufacturers operating within the global promotional product industry and therefore, there is a wealth of information and advice available to ensure you maximise the effectiveness of your marketing budget and choose products that really work for your business.

Typically, you will in most cases buy via a distributor who will in turn work with a number of trade only manufacturers. These distributors are knowledgeable and flexible so they can work with the most suitable suppliers for any given project you have, in terms of price, lead time, product quality, quantity and delivery. You need to work with distributors who will minimise your points of contact and efficiently give you a single source of supply for a very broad range of products.

Good distributors will help you choose your products, plan your promotional campaign and invest the time to understand your business and marketing objectives so they can work proactively with you by suggesting new products that will be of interest to you and your customers and also advise on the best ways to reproduce your corporate branding. When choosing your distributor think of it as though you are choosing a long term business partner as a good distributor will save you time, energy and money by doing the sourcing legwork for you, plus they will liase with all the suppliers, printers and couriers on your behalf and keep you regularly informed on progress via email, phone or fax – whichever is your preference.

Some key points to consider:
Lead Time - The distributor should be responsive at every stage of the sourcing and supply process for your chosen items. You want quick and timely quoting, confirmation of stock availability and confirmation that they can supply the goods required in time for your deadline, delivered to a destination of your choice. The ability to fast track projects where necessary to meet tight deadlines is very important.

Professional Service - Customer service advisers should be knowledgeable about products and printing options, well trained and able to offer guidance and advice as you plan and then organize your promotional campaign or events.

Product quality - While most distributors don’ t actually manufacture the products they supply, they should oversee and monitor the quality of the items and the imprinting from the manufacturers and ensure that manufacturer’ s guarantees are in place. In most cases, samples are available for inspection before you order your products and if required, printed pre-production proofs can also be supplied at a small cost if lead times allow.

With email, internet and overnight shipping so readily accessible now, location is no longer a critical factor when choosing your distributor. Many distributors will now supply nationally and internationally with ease and will happily coordinate multiple drop deliveries on behalf of clients when requested to do so.

Once you choose a distributor
Many clients like to see a sample of the product they are considering before they place their order and distributors will often send smaller sample items free of charge. Larger or more expensive items may still be available as samples although where necessary, a charge may be necessary for supplying them. In the event that a pre-production printed sample is required, this can also be arranged and there will typically be a cost for this although the set up costs may then be incorporated into the overall project if the full order is placed. On higher value and large volume orders it is always best to have a pre-production sample produced for quality assurance and approval before proceeding to final production. Having received your Order, your distributor will work with the manufacturer to manage the artwork, proof approval, printing and delivery on your behalf.

Smaller orders will typically see you receiving a Virtual Sample of your product prior to manufacture – this is a visual representation of your artwork imposed onto a photograph or graphic image of the product you have chosen. This has become a very popular proofing tool as it can be emailed direct your desktop as a PDF file in colour, thus making the whole proofing and approval process much quicker and realistic. For embroidered garments, the normal process is to send you a sample of cloth with your artwork embroidered onto it so you can see an approve the quality before proceeding with your Order.

Shipping and carriage options vary from Same Day, Express Next Day to 2 -3 day depending on your destination. If goods are being manufactured overseas, the further options of sea freight or airfreight will also be available and your distributor will advise on these for you. Costs vary so depending on your available lead time this can be an area where you save money. Always ensure you notify your distributor at the time you are enquiring about and Ordering the goods if you have specific requirements.

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Promotional Merchandise Pricing

The pricing of promotional items varies and is really dependent upon the particular products you choose. Items can range from a few pence to as much as you wish to pay if you want a bespoke one off unique gift or award. Typically, there is a massive range of items available from a few pence to £ 20 plus of course other gadgets and gifts above this. The lower the unit price, generally, the higher will be the minimum order quantity. This is because it is uneconomical for manufacturers to produce very low cost items in low quantities however, your distributor will advise on options available to you. When you let your distributor know your budget they can advise you quickly and easily on a range of options that will suit your particular requirements so a good relationship with a good distributor will pay dividends in speeding up the sourcing process and maximizing the effectiveness of your budget.

It is typical for products to be shown with price breaks and the greater the quantity you order the lower the price will generally be.

It is important to be aware that many promotional items will also involve additional set up and origination costs plus carriage costs. Some distributors will build all these into an overall product price while others will prefer to show you all costs fully itemised out so you can see the breakdown for yourself.

When you supply your artwork in the correct and most suitable format for printing you will avoid additional artwork charges however, if you are unable to do this, your artwork and logos can be recreated for you at reasonable charges and often very quickly. Your distributor will advise on the best way to do this.

Payment Terms
Payment terms will vary from distributor to distributor. As all goods used for promotional marketing are personalized and unique to the customer many suppliers will operate on a payment with order or proforma payment basis. Others may require a deposit and balance prior to despatch and others still may provide trading credit terms once a trading history has been established.

Where goods are being brought in from overseas and are bespoke to the customers requirements it is common for up front payment to be required.

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Promotional Products Buying Tips

Avoid the Rush
Plan ahead and allow yourself and your supplier time to achieve your goals for your campaign or event. While experienced distributors will often be able to achieve tight deadlines, it is important to keep in mind that the normal production schedule for most items will be around 3 weeks from receipt of your order. This allows suitable time for checking stock availability, artwork and artwork approval, plain samples, printing and delivery. For larger orders and bespoke products, you will need to allow longer than this. Remember, short lead times can incur additional express production costs so leaving more production time typically means better prices.

Choose your Items Carefully
Choose your promotional items carefully keeping in mind your target audience and the message you wish to convey. The right item will have value with your audience and will be retained by them meaning your marketing budget will achieve longer lasting benefits.

Promote from within
Promotional items given to staff are a great way to build company loyalty while increasing brand awareness. Umbrellas, baseball caps and t-shirts are all low cost but high value brand builders.

Planning Pays
Effective planning of your campaign and promotional events pays dividends. Keep in mind how you will most effectively deliver your promotional items to your audience whether they be clients, staff or prospects. Will you be giving them out at a trade show or conference, mailing them to customers or sending them via couriers?

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