Top 5 Most Creative Promotional Products

We aren’t called A Creative Touch for nothing!  Over the past decade, I’ve had the opportunity to work on many interesting promotional product orders.  Here are a few of my favorites:

1. Custom Bobble Heads

What’s cooler than having your own custom bobble head?  You don’t have to be a famous politician or a Hollywood celebrity to commission a bobble head; A Creative Touch can design one for you!

2. Pet Bandanas

Promotional items aren’t just for people; they’re for pets too!  A hospital rewarded its volunteers with promotional products, including pet bandanas as a gift for pets who also “volunteer” at the hospital.

3. Boxer Shorts

T-shirts and sweatshirts and jackets are tried and true promotional products, but why not put your branding on boxers?  A racing company that targets a large male audience did just that when it gave away boxers at a new product launch.

4. Pillowcases

When an assisted living facility opened a new location, we helped them design promotional product pillowcases, a useful product for everyone, including new residents!

5. Chip & Dip Bowls Shaped Like Race Car Helmets

For a large banquet with a racing theme, we suggested chip & dip bowls shaped like race car helmets. The helmets served double duty as a centerpieces at each table.  Famous NASCAR® drivers autographed the helmets.  The drivers’ car numbers served as table numbers.  At the end of the banquet, one person at each table was selected to receive these creative centerpieces.  What a great conversation piece for their next at-home party!

With more than 850, 000 promotional products to choose from, we’re ready to add a creative touch to your next product launch, store opening, banquet, volunteer appreciation event, or trade show.  Give us a call!

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.

Here are a few of the unique royal wedding promotional products that tickled my fancy:

 

And for those of you who are just plain sick and tired of hearing about this wedding:

 

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 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.

Pining for Pins in the Movies

This weekend, the movie Eat, Pray, Love  opens.  If the success of the book has anything to do with it (over 155 weeks on The New York Times Bestseller List), I’m sure the theaters will be packed! 

Last summer’s blockbuster book-turned-movie was Julie and Julia  featuring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams as Julia Child and blogger Julie Powell, respectively.

The film was indeed a feast for the eyes, with scenic shots of Paris and a bounty of butter-laden delights: gooey chocolate cakes, fish swing in buttery sauces, and towering soufflés, to name a few.

Another thing that caught my eye: the vintage pins and brooches that both Julie and Julia wear throughout the film—everything from whimsical pins like a Scottie Dog to a gorgeous initial pin that appeared to be rhinestones. You can see some of the visually stunning images from the film (and even make them wallpaper on your computer) here:

The New York Times reported that as a direct result of the movie, almost 48 years after it was first published, Mastering the Art of French Cooking  by Julia Child hit the top of the best-seller list.  It sold more copies than were sold in any full year since the book’s appearance. The books on which the movie is based was also in high demand: Julie and Julia  is in its 13th printing this year, and My Life in France, the book that chronicles Julia Child’s years there, is in its 9th printing.

But mark my words: books weren’t the only thing that were selling as a result of the film. The movie has lots of people pining for pins. Vintage-inspired brooches and initial pins were hot sellers as a result of the movie’s charming aesthetic.

I wonder what fashion trends Eat, Pray, Love will inspire….  We’ll be finding out soon!

Real Men Wear Lapel Pins

Real men may not eat quiche, but they do wear lapel pins! Many thanks to Lizzie Garrett, DesignWatcher.com blogger, for creating this wonderful photo collection of male celebrities sporting lapel pins.

If you’re a man who wears a lapel pin, you might be glad to know that you’re in the company of Jay Z, Will Smith, Prince Charles, Stephen Colbert (left), and Peter O’ Toole.  Even French President Nicolas Sarkozy wears a lapel pin that denotes his membership in France’s most prestigious society: the Légion d’Honneur. The French government awards membership to  those who have somehow contributed to the glory of France.