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!

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

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!

How to Make a Lapel Pin

Ever wonder how custom lapel pins are made?  You’ll be surprised at all of the work (much of it done by hand!) that goes into making these miniature pieces of wearable art….

The Ramen Noodle Lapel Pin

There are lapel pins to promote everything, so why not ramen noodles?
If you’ve ever lived in a college dorm or gone sofa-diving for quarters, you’re probably familiar with ramen. Ramen is a Japanese noodle dish that consists of broth, noodles, shredded vegetables and meat. You can find fresh ramen noodle stands all over Japan, where every town and city has its own regional variation on the dish.
In 1958, instant ramen noodles were introduced to the marketplace by Nissin Foods. Named the greatest Japanese invention of the 20th century in a Japanese poll, instant ramen allowed anyone to make this popular noodle dish simply by adding boiling water. Ramen in its dried, packaged form is very inexpensive. This explains why ramen is associated with poverty and struggling students–it provides basic nutrition on a limited budget.
Ramen is now a Japanese cultural icon. In fact, in 1994, a Ramen museum opened in Yokohama, Japan. In the museum, there is a Nissin Cup Noodles factory where visitors can make their own instant ramen to take home. Visitors get to design the packaging, choose the ramen flavor, and pick up to four ingredients. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it? Of course, the ramen may be inexpensive, but the trip to Japan may set you back a few yen.
As for the ramen lapel pin, it costs $5 (including shipping), about the equivalent of a week’s worth of ramen noodle meals.

Pinning It Forward

I love lapel pins because they are great conversation starters. Like unobtrusive, little miniature walking billboards, they share messages about who you are: your professional affiliations, military service, favorite sports teams, events you’ve attended, or causes that you believe in. Wear a lapel pin and you open yourself up to meeting people who are interested in your causes. Ask someone else about their pin and you’re bound to finish that conversation more enriched, more enlightened.

It’s a subtle way of ‘paying it forward’. The ‘pay it forward’ concept really hit the mainstream when the movie, Pay it Forward  (based on the book of the same name) came out in 2000. In the film, a social studies teacher challenges his students to think up a practical way to make the world a better place and put it into action. His 11-year-old student comes up with the notion of Pay it Forward. The idea is to do a needed favor for three different people without being asked, and then ask them to do the same for others. It was a new twist on performing random acts of kindness.

I was thrilled when I discovered this New York Times article , Letting His Lapel Spread the Word About His Cause, where Mark Roithmayer introduces the idea of ‘pinning it forward’.  The article, (which is definitely worth reading) profiles Roithmayer, in his role as president of the national nonprofit advocacy organization Autism Speaks. Mark travels frequently for Autism Speaks and always wears a puzzle-shaped lapel pin on his suit. The article sites several different instances when Mark’s lapel pin has started incredible conversations about autism and opened the door for introductions to people directly connected to or deeply interested in this cause.

Mark (pictured above right) says:
“I always take off my pin and give it to someone who shares his or her story. I think of it as ‘pinning forward.’ In fact, I have learned to take a small bag of pins with me whenever I travel because passengers and airline workers — even the security guys — regularly ask me for them.  And I gladly give them away.  It kind of reminds me of when pilots used to give young passengers wing pins to commemorate their flight, and maybe build a little brand loyalty in the process.”

So what are you waiting for? Isn’t it time that you started your own ‘pin it forward’ campaign?

20 Reasons for Lapel Pins

I love lapel pins because they an unobtrusive and tasteful way to make a statement about your beliefs, affiliations, and values.

These hard-working little metal billboards are one of the most low-cost, yet effective ways to deliver a message. They’re also excellent conversation starters, instant builders of camaraderie, and strong visual messages.

Looking for a reason to wear a lapel pin? I’ve got plenty for you.

You can wear a lapel pin to:

20. Dress Up or Decorate Your Lapel
19. Brag About Receiving Special Employee Recognition or a Prestigious Award
18. Identify Your Membership in a Fraternity or a Sorority
17. Demonstrate Your Affiliation with a Professional Organization
16. Support a Charity or a Cause
15. Cheer for a Sports Team
14. Show Your Holiday Spirit
13. Commemorate an Anniversary
12. Celebrate Your First Parachute Jump, Kayaking Adventure, or Yoga Retreat
11. Show That You’ve Joined a Club
10. Break the Ice at a Networking Event
9. Promote Your Business
8. Create Awareness About Breast Cancer, AIDS, Autism, etc.
7. Prove That You’ve Been to a Museum, the Hard Rock Café, Disneyworld, etc.
6. Encourage Pin Collectors and Traders to Trade with You
5. Promote a Sale, a Special Promotion, or an Upcoming Event
4. Identify Yourself as a Conference or Trade Show Attendee
3. Show Your Loyalty to a Branch of the Military or a Civic Organization
2 Advertise Your Interests, Hobbies, and Beliefs
1. Show Your Patriotism

So what are you waiting for? Give me a call and we’ll help you design your own personal lapel pin billboard today!

McFred and his McPins

Prick Fred Huebner with a pin, and you’d surely find McDonald’s flowing in his blood. Huebner, a McDonald’s franchise owner based in Garner North Carolina has worked for the fast-food giant since he was a student in high school. He financed his way through college working as a part-time swing manager for the chain, later accepting a full-time position with the company. When he became an operator in 1986, Fred had already been working with McDonald’s for fourteen years.

Although Huebner owned a small collection of McDonald’s award pins from his early days with the franchise, it wasn’t until his coin and stamp collections were stolen during a home break-in that he decided to shift his collector’s passion to McDonald-themed pins. Huebner says: “I figured I should work on a collection that people wouldn’t want to steal, and if they did, I’d know exactly where to find it”. He adds: “I also liked the idea that the pins were small, so I would be able to collect a bunch of them.” “A bunch” is a bit of an understatement:

Today, the McBurglar would have a difficult time sneaking off with Fred’s collection of almost 30,000 pins neatly displayed in cases that line the walls of his corporate office. His collection also includes over a half million duplicate pins that he uses for trading or for sale. The collection spreads to every room in the building, except his wife’s office. After living with Fred’s growing collection in her home for years (it took up three entire rooms), she wants all of her space to be lapel-pin free!

There is little doubt that Huebner owns the world’s largest collection of McDonald’s-themed pins: about 10 years ago, there were 3 other collectors in the United States who were contenders, but Fred, unlike his colleagues, has taken full advantage of the internet to further expand with his own website. Still, Fred insists that there are a few pins missing from his collection: “I’m still trying to get a regional award pin from Albany, New York. It is shaped like a Buccaneer ship with five canon holes. McDonald’s employees or owner/operators used to receive the pin as their first award, and then, each time they earned an additional award, the canon hole would be filled with a precious stone. I have a Buccaneer ship with 5 rubies in the canon holes, but I’m missing one with 5 diamonds. Most people don’t like to get rid of awards pins.”

Fred’s stories about his lapel pins are fascinating, even if you’re not a part of the McDonald’s family. He considers the crown jewel of his collection to be a 100,000 Club 10-carat gold pin with a slashed arch logo that Ray Kroc (McDonald’s founder) used to give as an award to restaurants in the 1950’s for selling 100,000 hamburgers in a month. “I would have easily paid almost $500 for that pin”, explains Fred, “but I was lucky to find my first one for just $75.”

In addition to collecting pins, Fred has also been inspired to design lapel pins over the years. He has created a “Fries Pin Collection” for his team of employees that is very meaningful to him, and he is the wit behind many of the most comical pins in recent McDonald’s history. For example, during the infamous O.J. Simpson trial, one of O.J.’s alibis was that at the time of the murders, he was in the drive-thru at McDonald’s. In response, Huebner created a pin that reads: “I saw O.J. at McDonald’s!”.

The Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky scandal inspired Huebner to create a lapel pin that says: “I never touched her fries!” And, a few years ago, when Burger King introduced its so-called Stealth Fries in attempt to seize the “Best Fries” title from McDonald’s, Fred cheered on his company with a flurry of lapel pins that imagined what celebrities would say about McDonald’s fries. From “I’ll be back—for fries” (Arnold Schwarzenegger) to “The fries have left the building” (Elvis), the entire series is inspired.

Huebner will readily trade any pin  for which he has multiples. As for the future of his collection, he imagines that one day it will end up in the McDonald’s museum archives near Chicago. Until then, Fred plans to keep on collecting. As for me, I’m planning a visit to Exit 312 off of I-40 where I plan to eat some delicious McDonald’s French fries and marvel at McFred’s McPins in person!

Did You Earn Your Wings?

 Aah, the good ol’ days….I travel extensively and these days we’re lucky if the airline gives us a bag of pretzels and something to drink.  But do you remember the days when the airlines used to serve food on real china with real silverware?  Or the era when you could still get pillows and blankets and slippers without flying first class?

The airlines used to treat children well too.  As a kid it was so exciting to fly the friendly skies knowing that your reward would be a set of plastic wings “just like” the ones the pilots wore on their uniforms.  Didn’t every child dream of becoming a pilot or a flight attendant after receiving a junior wings lapel pin?

Those airline lapel wings are now pieces of nostalgia sought after by collectors.  Manufacturers started issuing lapel pins in the 1930’s.  Today there are over 900 known types of junior wings.  They have been made from cast metal, stamped tin, plastic, cloth, paper and vinyl.  Small plastic wings sell for about $1 each on the collectibles market whereas metal wings command about $25 a pair.  As for those childhood memories?  Well, they’re priceless.