Flag Day T-Shirt

 Happy Flag Day!  June 14th commemorates the day in 1777 when the Second Constitutional Congress adopted the thirteen-stripes-and-thirteen-stars American flag.

As the legend goes, it was George Washington and two other members of the Continental Congress who asked Betsy Ross to sew the first American flag sometime in the late spring of 1776.  The young widow was only in her early 20’s when she completed the first flag with thirteen stars arranged in a circle.  A year later, the Continental Congress officially adopted the design for the national flag, and our beloved Stars and Stripes became the most recognized symbol of the United States around the world.

In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed June 14 “Flag Day.”  Thirty-five years later (in1949), Congress passed legislation asking the president to issue an annual proclamation calling for the observance of the holiday.

This week, millions of Americans will observe Flag Day by waving Old Glory outside their homes and businesses. Veteran’s groups and certain communities also arrange events and special ceremonies in honor of Flag Day.  But, there is another way to show your patriotism–promotional products.

My favorite patriotic promotional products is this tie-dyed American flag T-shirt.  For me, it’s an item that puts a fresh, modern twist on the traditional Old Glory.  Available in sizes S to XL, the shirt includes your own 1-color imprint (front or back).  A client recently ordered this T-shirt with a custom imprint, and the results were fantastic!

Whether you enjoy a traditional approach to Flag Day or a modern spin on celebrating the Stars and Strips, you’re sure to enjoy these fun facts about our flag:

Who cut the American flag into pieces and was honored for doing it?

Robert Peary, who left pieces of the flag scattered at the North Pole

Is it ever appropriate to fly the flag upside down?

Yes, but only in an emergency. It means “Help Me! It’s an emergency! Call the police! I am in dire trouble and need immediate help!”

What is done with worn or outdated flags?

Flags are used until they are worn out and then they are destroyed, preferably by burning.

The American flag first flew over a foreign fort in what country?

Libya - over Fort Derne, on the shores of Tripoli.

A vexillologist is an expert in what?

The history of flags.

Promotional Products & The Royal Wedding

On the eve of the royal wedding, I couldn’t help but share the role promotional products have played in the festivities.  From beer to pizzas to underwear to tea, the royal nuptials have shown us that there is no limit to the creativity of promotional products.  The Telegraph newspaper reports the sale of royal wedding merchandise could top $42.5 million.  Now, there’s something to celebrate!

The Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) said that manufacturers are churning out mugs, plates, commemorative pens, compacts, ashtrays, shot glasses, book marks, reusable bags and car flags–all with a Will & Kate Royal Wedding theme.  Irreverent promotional products such as branded paper crowns and a commemorative plate reading “Thanks for the free day off” are also in high demand. 

Why are people buying promotional products?  Mostly to incorporate into personal and corporate events being hosted as a part of the celebration.  In fact, promotional products companies in the United Kingdom say that Will and Kate’s Royal Wedding has been the biggest occasion for promotional product consumer sales since the New Year’s Eve millennium in 2000.

 

15 Reasons to Reward Employees and Customers

Lapel pins are a great way to reward people.  They may be little, but receiving lapel pins feels like a lot of recognition.  When you recognize and reward employees and customers, you promote a positive, productive, and innovative business climate.  It’s a proven fact that motivated employees and happy customers are critical to a company’s bottom line. By recognizing their dedication, commitment and initiative, you boost their morale, increase productivity, build enthusiasm and create powerful profits.  Here are 15 great ways to use lapel pins and other promotional products to reward your employees and your best customers:

You can reward:

1.  Employees ‘caught’ giving outstanding customer service to your customers

2.  Employees who come up with the best cost-saving ideas

3.  Salespeople who meet or exceed their sales goals

4.  Employees (or even customers!) who come up with the best name for a new product or service

5.  Employees who achieve a year (or 5 or 10 or more) of service with your company

6.  Salespeople who make the most cold calls in a day

7.  Managers who inspire their teams to achieve new heights in their respective departments

8.  Customers who give the most or the best referrals

9.  Customers who give good suggestions

10. Employees who refer or recruit new employees to your company

11. Employees who contribute to workplace safety

12. Employees who complete additional training to enhance their knowledge of your industry or product line

13. Employee of the Month or Employee of the Year

14. Employees who receive praise from customers

15. Customers who buy from your frequently or spend lots of money on your products or services

If you need to thank someone for excellence in one of the categories above, then contact us for creative ideas on products and pins that will be the perfect reward or motivational tool for your organization!

The CSI Lapel Pin

When it comes to television and film, it’s all about the details.  The same can be said when it comes to solving a crime.  If you’re a fan of CSI: New York, you’ve probably noticed a small pin all the regulars began wearing on their lapels at the start of the sixth season.

According to producer (and former NYPD detective) Bill Clark, the pin is a small circle with the letters DB which stand for “Detective Bureau”. The small pins are given out by the Chief of Detectives.  There are lapel pins for each department, OCCB (Organized Crime Control Bureau), Bomb Squad, DEA (Druge Enforcement Agency) etc. 

It’s just one more way that lapel pins show up in our daily lives and popular culture!

No Cookie Cutters, Please!

What do cookie cutters and lapel pins have in common?

Absolutely nothing!

Gone are the days of cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all products.

These days, you can build your own burger, design your own shoes, formulate your own perfume, and even name your own price for airline tickets.  The same is true with lapel pins.

Search our extensive database of promotional products, and you’ll find more than 12,100 lapel pins!  Still can’t find what you’re looking for?  Give us a call and we’ll help you custom design whatever you’re looking for!  In fact, read these testimonials from customer who went for custom designs instead of cookie cutter lapel pins:

 ”It is tradition in our organization that each year the highest elected official creates a commemorative collectible to mark his or her year of service. One year, our National Commander wanted something unusual—a military identification tag. We’d never done anything like that before, so we asked Renée at A Creative Touch, Incorporated to help us source and create the piece. Renée was extremely responsive; she assisted us with the initial design work and then carefully negotiated about six weeks’ of detailed back and forth communication as we finalized the image, the placement, the wording, and each detail of this highly customized piece. The final product was gorgeous; Renée’s attention to detail and strong follow-up were key to another successful collaboration and another happy National Commander!”–D. Tannenbaum

“Our Maryland-based volunteer service organization wanted a collectible lapel pin. We hadn’t had one for years and with just a few weeks before our group’s national convention, we didn’t know how we were going to get one designed, approved, ordered, produced and delivered on time. I had learned that the normal production time for such a project is 6-8 weeks, but we needed them in just 10 days! After a few discouraging phone calls to other vendors (You want it when????), we thought we’d just have to wait another year….

Then, somebody told me about A Creative Touch, Incorporated. I called Renée and explained that we wanted a collectible pin to represent our state, but we hadn’t gotten any further than a few ideas to include in the design. Perhaps a crab and our state flag?

Renée responded immediately and within just a few hours, she sent us a design proof, pricing, and all of the information we needed to make a decision. Our group approved the pin just two weeks before our annual meeting. When I placed the order, Renée asked: “Do you want it in time for the national convention?” I hadn’t dared hope that would be a possibility!

A Creative Touch arranged to ship the pins straight to the hotel where the convention would take place. As promised, the order was waiting there when I arrived. Our new lapel pin was a huge success, and the beginning of a wonderful working relationship with Renée and A Creative Touch, Incorporated. Thank you for your wonderful service!”–L. Gregory

Pinning Celebs on the Red Carpet

Did you catch the Golden Globes last week?  Do you just love watching those celebs parade down the red carpet in their designer gowns and tuxes?  Did you know that lapel pins have their place on the red carpet?  There are actually people who work the red carpet ‘pinning’ celebrities in an effort to bring attention to their worthy causes.

We found an account from one of those “pin people” that give an inside look at what happens behind the scenes on the red carpet.  Joyce Aschenbrenner of the Jimmy V Foundation has worked at four ESPY Award Ceremonies (which commemorate the past year’s best sports stories by recognizing major achievements, reliving unforgettable moments and saluting the leading performers and performances).  Her interaction with sports celebrities and Hollywood stars on the Red Carpet at the Kodak Theater is both funny and inspiring.

You can read her full account here.  Meanwhile, here are some of our favorite parts:

“For one day every year, I have the amazing opportunity to step back into the razzle and dazzle of sports and be part of the annual ESPYs.

The press tent is run by ESPN PR staffers — it’s a real zoo with a mixture of sports and entertainment media. The show itself and everything connected to it is produced by Hollywood professionals and huge army of ESPN staffers coordinating every aspect of this tremendous operation — it’s an amazing behind the scenes experience.

My job, be it ever so humble, is to “pin” the celebrities on the red carpet. Don’t laugh.

The Hollywood types hate that we do it — they say we “hold up” their red carpet experience (not true). So, every year, a few brave ESPN colleagues and I steel ourselves against the abuse of the Hollywood handlers, self-important headset wearing “supervisors” (not sure what, exactly they supervise) and legion of Gestapo-like security guards to man (er. . ., WOman) the ESPY red carpet and pin the celebrities.

Exit the Real World.

The basic concept (I have perfected this technique over the past four years) — have a pin in the ready-position, stakeout the opportunity and blurt out as quickly as you can before a handler whisks the celebrity away — “The V Foundation for Cancer Research is the official charity of the ESPY Awards will you wear our pin tonight?”. . .get that pin onto the lapel and clear out of the way.

It’s about 120 degrees on the red carpet thanks to the California afternoon sun and a flaming red carpet that reflects not only the sun, but the megawatts of television lights all pointed directly at that carpet.. My first year I snidely laughed at Joan Rivers who had an assistant stand there and point a little fan directly on her every moment she was off camera.

Joan Rivers is a very wise woman.

You drip like a wet mop for three hours.

On one side the carpet is lined deep with bleachers jammed with screaming fans, an announcer constantly working this group into a crazed frenzy. On the opposite side of the red carpet is The Media — jammed little roped-off areas for the big entertainment shows and then six-deep photographers behind security ropes — you think football sideline photographers can be a pain? Yowsa.

The Hollywood paparazzi guys are crazy! They scream and yell at the celebrities to look this way and that way; they boo and hiss if a celeb doesn’t stop and pose. Add into that mix smaller TV shows, radio people, etc. behind the ropes thrusting microphones and barking at the celebs (”Brandy! Over Here!”). . .(”Vince! Inside Edition!”).

My cohorts and I — this year Rachel Mack from ESPN and Amy Lupo and Katie Moses from the X-Games — slip in and out of the craziness trying to be as invisible as possible. If you don’t directly pin the person, the pin never makes it to the lapel.

If you’ve seen the women’s ESPY attire on TV you know why we rarely pin women (but that’s another story. . .). The pins are important to The Foundation — it’s an unparalled opportunity for visibility. The added bonus, the pins show up in pictures used throughout the year (e.g. Nick Lachey during the divorce — the same picture of Nick and Jessica from the ESPYs was reprinted repeatedly in magazines and there was my little gold “V” on Nick’s lapel ). Sorry about the divorce, but LOVE the picture. . .

That’s the why and how of red carpet “pinning.”

Katie and Amy posted themselves inside the security tent (the celebrities have to go through airport- like screening before they enter the red carpet) — Rachel caught the people that they missed at the beginning of the carpet and I caught the rest further down. It still thrills me to watch an ESPY show and see our little V pins on the lapels of sports stars and celebrities.

The willingness of so many famous, uber-famous (and not-so-famous) people to wear our pin still humbles me. Many stop and give a quick “I knew Jimmy V” or “I still remember Jimmy V running around the court looking for somebody to hug” or “I watched him give that ESPY speech when I was a kid” and that’s heartwarming to know so many people still have fond memories of Jim.

Some, like Dr. J, come over to be “pinned” without asking — his annual pinning “bear hug” is something I cherish. I’ve pinned LeBron James the year he came alone as a high school honoree and this year when he had two Hummer limos full of his “guys” (biggest entourage to date).

Sometimes you just stand back in awe — Janet Jackson is absolutely stunning. Or shock — Ben Stiller is a very small man; Lara Flynn Boyle was unimaginably beyond skinny. Serena Williams is as friendly as your girlfriend from high school. The guys from Entourage were cute and crazy and funny, just as they appear to be on TV.

Mostly, it moves so quickly, there’s no time to be star-struck. The handlers frantically rushed Patrick Dempsey through, but he graciously paused quickly enough to get a pin through his lapel. A huge scream went up from the crowd. I didn’t even realize that he was kissing me on the cheek when I pinned him, but the women in the bleachers went wild at the gesture. Oh. . .My. . .God. . . McDreamy kissed me.

Ben Rothlisberger was being “held up” for Entertainment Tonight so we stood there making small talk; I mentioned that my entire family is rabid Steeler fans and that my niece Megan would die if she knew I was “just hanging” with Big Ben. He glanced at my cell phone and smiled. He spent the next several minutes talking long-distance to Megan. “OK Megan, nice talking to you but I’ve gotta go - Mary Hart is ready for me. . .”

Say what you want about Terrell Owens, but every year he stops for the pin and wears it throughout the night so he’s OK in my book. Whether it’s Dwayne Wade or Peyton Manning onstage, or the Little League champs who get a quick camera shot from their seats, the fact that they’ll wear our little V pin continues to give me an enormous sense of pride….

Thanks to Joyce Aschenbrenner for giving us an inside scoop on the role of lapel pins and lapel pinners on the red carpet.  We must confess that we’re a little bit jealous of the kiss from McDreamy!  We have to agree that we’d sweat like a wet mop on the red carpet for three hours and brave those nasty Hollywood handlers if we could have a dreamy kiss from Patrick Dempsey too!

Ford and Their Lapel Pins

While surfing the net one day, I stumbled across a wonderful story about a promise and a lapel pin.  It’s an excellent example of the power of marketing with lapel pins. 

But it’s more than that.  It’s about having a face for your brand, about delivering what you promise, and about staying true to old-fashioned grassroots efforts like word of mouth marketing (everything old is new again!) to grow your business. 

The story involves an exchange between two people: Robbin Phillips, president of Brains on Fire and author of the original blog post; and Scott Monty, the head of social media at Ford, celebrated for his work in word-of-mouth marketing.  When Robin met Scott Monty for the first time, they had a brief conversation where she asked for a Ford pin that Scott was wearing on his lapel. He took her card and took a minute to discuss cars with her.

When the pin arrived in the mail (with a note from Scott), Robin was so impressed she talked about it and she wrote a blog post about it.  Perhaps one day, she’ll even buy a Ford!   All because of a lapel pin….

NASCAR Lapel Pins

If you live in the South, you’ve always known NASCAR.  But over the past ten years, NASCAR  has become a household brand across the country. Nowadays, almost anybody can identify NASCAR as those guys racing at 200+MPH around an oval track. 

It’s a pretty extreme sport, and the drivers are usually great sportsmen and celebrities in their own right. As with any popular sport, memorabilia and collectibles are important to the fans. NASCAR is no exception.  NASCAR fans aren’t shy about showing their lovel of racing.  You can find shirts, hats, posters, and of course, lapel pins that feature favorite drivers for this beloved sport.

NASCAR collectible lapel pins (like the one shown here) are gaining in popularity and are a great idea for any lapel pin collector. You can focus on collecting a pin for each driver, and even past drivers, which could make for some more valuable collectibles.

In fact, lapel pins have been the linchpin of the NASCAR Foundation’s fundraising activities.  Each year, the foundation creates a new pin, making the pins a great collectible item.  The foundation offers official NASCAR Day pins (NASCAR Day is May 15th)  in exchange for a $5 donation.  The pins are sold at events and online as well as at select retail locations.

The NASCAR Foundation, is a non-profit organization that seeks to raise funds and increase volunteerism to support nonprofit charities and charitable causes throughout the nation.  Their emphasis is placed on initiatives that affect the ability of children to live, learn and play. 

Celebrities likw Will Ferrell, Kelly Clarkson, and Kevin Costner have all contributed their star power as spokespeople for the NASCAR Foundation.  The NASCAR Foundation began in 2004, and has already raised more than $6.5 million for the Children’s Miracle Network and other children’s charities. 

Looks like it’s not just NASCAR race cars that have lots of power; so do lapel pins!

A Decade of Deadlines

Happy Anniversary to us!  

It was the day after Veteran’s Day, ten years ago, that A Creative Touch promotional products company was launched.  To read the story of how Veteran’s Day inspired our Grand Opening, click here.

Since that fateful day, we’ve helped hundreds of customers all across the country with creative solutions to their promotional product needs.  Our goal has always been to provide creative, effective, targeted marketing solutions on time, every time.  In fact, we take pride in never missing a deadline.  Up until yesterday, our tagline and the signature on every email we send read:

IN OVER 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 YEARS - WE’VE

NEVER MISSED A DEADLINE!

We’re proud to announce that our tagline is changing.  After thousands of orders and a decade of outstanding customer service, our track record is still perfect:

IT’S BEEN A DECADE, AND WE’VE

NEVER MISSED A DEADLINE!

If you’re already a customer with A Creative Touch, let us take this opportunity to thank you for your support and your continued trust in us over the past ten years.  If you’re not an A Creative Touch customer, we encourage you to give us an opportunity to show you why we’re celebrating a solid decade of meeting deadlines and exceeding our clients’ expectations.  To read from some of our happy customers, visit our Testimonial Page.

Honoring Our Veterans

Veteran’s Day is a very special day for A Creative Touch.  Not only is it an opportunity to officially honor our veterans for their service to our country, it is also closely linked to the history of our company. 

Veteran’s Day is also referred to as Poppy Day  in relation to the poppy’s symbolism of Remembrance.  Poppies owe their association with the holiday to a poem, In Flanders Fields, written in 1915 by Canadian military physician John McCrae.  After witnessing the death and funeral of a friend, he wrote the poem which refers to the poppies that covered the cemeteries where war casualties were buried in Flanders, Belgium.

The poem (found at the bottom of this post) found its way into the pages of Punch magazine. By 1918 the poem was well known throughout the allied world. Moina Michael, an American woman, wrote these lines in reply.

We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies

She then adopted the custom of wearing a red poppy in memory of the sacrifices veterans made in war.  A French women, Madame Guerin, visiting the United States, learned of the custom and took it one step further. When she returned to France she decided to make red poppies by hand and sell them to raise money for the benefit of the orphaned and destitute women and children in war torn areas of France. This tradition spread to Canada, The United States and Australia and is still followed today.

Today the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion Auxiliary exchange poppies for a donation that benefits disabled and hospitalized veterans.   Poppies make perfect lapel pins for sentimental and patriotic reasons–and they’re beautiful.  Be sure to wear a poppy on your lapel today in honor of all of the brave men and women who have served our country!