10 posts tagged promotional products blog

Finding the perfect holiday gift for your senior parents who seem to have everything, the aunt that you only see on holidays or the brother-in-law whose only wish is for things that come in 12 ounce brown bottles can challenge even those with the best of intentions.  The only thing more challenging can be finding the perfect holiday gift for your company’s important customers, those sought after prospects and your valued employees.   Here we share some tips for selecting the ideal business gifts.  Also, be sure to check out the 101 Holiday Business Gift Ideas from the menu on the left for some specific holiday gift ideas for businesses. 

Most businesses want to give a gift that will not only appeal to the broadest scope of their targeted recipients but which will stand-out as a positive reflection on the company giving the gift.  Few companies have the time, resources or budget to choose gifts selected for each of the dozens, hundreds or even thousands of recipients that they want to show their appreciation to.  As a result, they must choose a few gifts that will have the greatest potential of meeting these objectives with the broad spectrum of individuals on the gift list.

Companies should consider the following guidelines which choosing holiday gifts for their customers and employees:

• Reflect Your Values.  Gifts are a reflection on the company and should be consistent with the values of the company.   Companies encouraging a health conscious workforce might consider non-food gifts or healthy gift basket options for example.
• Foster Your Image. Gifts can help shape the image of a company.  Company’s seeking to be perceived as state-of-the-art can help foster that image with innovative gifts.   
• Remember the Individual.  While gifts may be given to customers or employees, ultimately they are given to individuals – don’t lose sight of the personal nature of a gift.  For example, while your largest customer may be a women’s cosmetic company, they will most likely employee many men in key positions.
• Be Inclusive.  Every executive at your customer’s company has a support staff that enables them to be successful.  Focusing on the executive alone and ignoring the staff may mean that you’re ignoring the gatekeeper who grants access to the executive throughout the year.  Consider gifts to administrative assistants or even a gift tin of goodies for the office staff.
• Give What They Want.  The gifts that are most appreciated by recipients are those that they will use and enjoy.  An attractive or functional gift will always be viewed more favorably and have a longer life.  
• Avoid the Vacuum Cleaner.  Use caution when giving employees work-related gift for the holidays… it’s like your father giving your mother a vacuum cleaner, it may go over with a loud thud.  If giving a work-related gift to employees, make sure it is something that they wouldn’t have ordered themselves through the company’s Office Depot contract.
• Leverage Branding Tastefully.  As a business, it’s important to include your logo on gifts as a reminder to recipients so you realize the full value for your brand.   Even a ham or turkey can be branded to include a cutting board featuring your company’s logo and, potentially, a holiday message.  Be sure to include logos tastefully on products focusing more on branding than billboard marketing.
• Don’t Forget the Package.  Consider utilizing customized boxes, gift wrap, tissue and ribbon tastefully presenting your logo or holiday message to further reinforce your brand on holiday gifts.  Custom packaging is a great way to brand items that aren’t customizable.
• Go Ahead Show Off.  Give gifts that the recipients will be proud to show off to further leverage the benefit of your branding.  While this is especially valuable for customers, it is equally important for employees.  Consider the message that a proud employee delivers when showing off their gift to friends and family… who may just be prospective employees or customers themselves!

A few tips for corporate holiday gift givers: 

• This year it is more important than in recent years to consider ordering branded gifts early.  Due to the recession, many suppliers have cut back on inventories.  As the economy improves, suppliers are increasingly experiencing shortages on some of the most popular products.  Ordering early will help to ensure the best selection of products and color options. 
• While many products have faster production times than ever before, lead-times over the holidays can increase even for these rush and quick ship products.  In general, it’s a good idea to finalize orders by Thanksgiving to ensure delivery for the holidays.
• Orders can be placed in advance and scheduled for later deliveries.  Companies can place orders at any time and schedule delivery just before their holiday event or when they are ready to begin delivering the gifts to recipients. 
• When ordering chocolates and other perishables, keep in mind that these products are typically shipped to avoid storage over weekends.  This means that these orders will generally not be available for Monday deliveries.  In warmer weather, expedited shipping may be required depending on delivery location.
• Some suppliers, especially suppliers of Gift baskets, Hams, Turkeys and perishable items, can ship direct to a list of individual recipients with pricing based on quantity and delivery locations.

For some specific Holiday Gift Ideas, check out our 101 Holiday Business Gift Ideas on the left menu to help your company BNoticed this holiday season! 

Happy Holidays from your friends at BNoticed.

1.    Rainbow Flags

Rainbow Flags are the universal symbol of gay pride.  Whether you’re gay or not, you can show your support of gay pride by displaying a rainbow flag outside your home or business.  Incorporate the rainbow flag into window displays to further demonstrate you’re a gay friendly business.  If you’re attending a Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Parade, a.k.a. Gay Pride Parade, bring a Rainbow Bandana to wave and show your support.

2.    Pride Decorated Apparel

Incorporate a Gay Pride design on apparel items like T-shirts and Caps.  In addition to designs featuring the traditional rainbow or pink triangle themes, contact local LGBT Pride event organizers to find out whether there is a theme planned for local activities and pursue a design in support of that theme.  As a reminder, many pride organizations copy write their annual logo designs so be sure to get permission before using official logos and designs!

Tip:  If you’re purchasing apparel for resale at pride events, consider including more trendy styles of apparel like Military Style Caps in addition to traditional baseball caps.  Also, consider including form fitting apparel options like American Apparel branded tees as well as women’s cuts recognizing that participants may be more fashion conscious than encountered at other events.

3.    Rainbow & Pride Message Necklaces & Beads

Rainbow and Pride Message necklaces are always popular LGBT Pride items.  People are able to wear them as a subtle indication of their support for gay pride or as part of a more outspoken ensemble.   There’s a wide range of options from rainbow light-up necklaces that are perfect giveaways for night time and club events to rainbow ribbon necklaces and dog tags.

Tip:  Since many Pride celebrations are the gay community’s equivalent to MardiGras, consider rainbow colored beads as inexpensive giveaways for pride events or along parade routes!

4.    Rainbow & Pride Message Wrist Bands

Like necklaces, wrist bands are popular promotional and resale products for Gay Pride events.  From Silicone Rainbow Awareness Bands to Knit Rainbow Sports Bands and Rainbow Rubber Tube Bands, many of wrist bands can be customized with a logo or message.

5.    Rainbow Beach Balls

Why not associate your business or organization with fun and giveaway a bunch of Rainbow Beach Balls imprinted with your logo at pride parties and festivals.  They’re perfect for events that gather large crowds like concerts and comedy performances.    

6.    Pride Decorated Water Bottles & Travel Mugs

Support pride and the environment with Eco-friendly Reusable  Pride Designed Water Bottles and Rainbow Travel Mugs.  Incorporate your own Gay Pride design or message on the bottles and mugs.  They’re great resale items or gifts that will be used for a long time to come.  Many bottles feature a near 360 degree imprint area that can accommodate eye catching designs.

7.    Rainbow Antenna Balls

LGBT Pride parades and events in many cities draw tens of thousands, and in some city’s it’s hundreds of thousands of participants and spectators.  Imagine if parade participants were top give away Rainbow Antenna Balls to spectators along the parade routes.  Just picture all those cars leaving the event showing their support for gay pride!   

8.    Rainbow Pens

With all the phone numbers exchanged over a gay pride weekend, you can’t loose with a pride styled promotional pen!   There’s a variety of eye-catching including Rainbow Hair Funky Pens to Rainbow Light-up Pens and Rainbow Ball Pens!  Given them something else to take home with them, a pen with your logo on it!

9.    Rainbow Glitter Sunscreen

All that glitters may not be gold, it might just be Gay Pride supporters wearing your Rainbow Glitter Sun Screen!  They’ll not only sparkle but they’ll get the benefits of  SPF 10 or 30!  There’s even Black Light Glitter Gel for evening events.

10.  Light Up Party Items

There’s a variety of rainbow light up items available for those night time events that are sure to make them memorable.  From Rainbow Glow Necklaces to Light-up Barware, you can through a Light Up Pride event that’s sure to draw them in and keep them there!

BONUS.  Custom Condoms

As a bonus item on our Top 10 list, consider promoting safe sex by giving away Custom Condoms with your logo or message on the imprinted condom package!  There’s no better time to reach out to such a large number of people!

Originally, Memorial Day was called Decoration Day.  No, not because of the decorating that’s done for the Memorial Day Bar-B-Ques.  Rather, Memorial Day was first enacted by local communities as a memorial to those who died while serving the Union in the Civil War.  In 1967, Memorial Day became a federal holiday to remember those who died serving their country in the military. 

While there continues to be many Memorial Day events focused on remembering those who were lost while serving the country, many people have come to simply view the holiday as an opportunity for a family picnic or Bar-B-Que event.  With the on-going wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, there is no time better than the present to renew the original meaning of the holiday.  That’s not to say that we cannot both remember those lost while also celebrating the freedom that they have helped us to obtain and retain.  In fact, it may be the best tribute to those who died serving their country to both recognize them and the cause for which they gave so dearly.

When planning an event for Memorial Day, whether it’s a large corporate or organization activity or a small family gathering, organizers and participants should pursue a balance of remembrance and celebration.  This is especially important to help today’s youth appreciate the true meaning of the holiday.  Regardless of the type of event you’re planning for the holiday, there are ways to incorporate the spirit of remembrance and embrace the significance of this Memorial Day.  Here’s a few examples:

• Festivals & Flags:   While many will attend local festivals and fairs for the holiday, why not start out the day taking your group to a National Cemetery or military cemetery to place small flags on gravesites.   Since most military cemeteries observe this tradition, contact the cemetery in advance about volunteering to support their efforts.  Another option is to visit other local cemeteries and place small flags on graves displaying headstones indicating that the deceased had served in the military.  Military service is often included on headstones even at public and private cemeteries. 
• Meals & Memorials:  A lot of people will travel to friends and relatives homes for a Memorial Day Bar-B-Que.  Why take your family on a slight detour on the way to the Bar-B-Que and stop by a local war memorial to pay your respects.  Bring a flag or flowers (especially Poppies) to leave at the memorial.   Families with small children might even create a poster or card using markers, colors and patriotic stickers to further engage them in understanding the spirit of the holiday.  Consider contacting local military bases about hosting service men to join your group for the day.
• Picnics & Pictures:  Whether it’s a small or large picnic, invite people to bring pictures of family members, friends and loved ones who died serving their country whether it was recently or decades ago.  Invite them to bring other articles as well, like loved one’s medals, awards and even clothing to become part of the event’s memorial display.  Include note pads or cards for people to write personal messages of remembrance.  Consider putting out a patriotic styled jar or decorate a container to collect donations for a local vetrans group.
• Luaus and Leis:  Whether it is a Luau or a volleyball tournament, beaches are popular destinations for Memorial Day in coastal locations.  Consider including an American Flag at your beach site and give participants real or silk flower Leis which they can then lay at the base of the flag pole as a memorial to the country’s fallen heroes.  
• Baseball & Caps:  Sporting events are very popular Memorial Day activities.  Why not gather your group together before the event to participate in a moment of silence to remember those who served their country and give them a customized patriotic cap or light up lapel pin with a “Always Remember” message.  As a reminder, a national moment of remembrance takes place at 3 PM local time on Memorial Day.
• Symphony & Scarfs:  Some events may not lend themselves to flashing pins and baseball caps.  Nonetheless, there are some subtle ways to show your patriotism even if you’re attending a symphony or theatre performance.  A patriotic silk scarf, a flag lapel pin or a “God Bless Our Troops” lapel pin could be great ways to show your patriotism at such events along with a stop afterward to a site flying the American Flag (like most government facilities have) for a moment of reflection.  As a reminder, US flags are traditionally flown at half-staff from dawn to noon local time on Memorial Day!

Regardless of the way Memorial Day is celebrated find a way to remember those who gave their lives to protect our freedom!

Awards, Rewards and Incentives are effective tools to motivate employees.  However, if you’re company is still employing an “Employee of the Month” (or quarter, or year) program, it’s time to step into the 21^st century.  Back in the day, it seemed that every company used a cookie cutter of reward programs including:

• Employee of the Month, Quarter and/or Year:  These awards often came with a plaque or certificate, a monetary award and a parking space.  Often, supervisors struggled with figuring out who they were going to select for the award.  Employees were often at a loss to understand why the recipient was selected, often relying on the “bosses pet” presumption. 
• Employee Suggestion Program:  The idea here was to reward employees for suggestions to reduce costs and improve efficiencies.  Often, these programs had the potential for significant monetary awards based on the anticipated savings.  Unfortunately, they often lead to employees’ infighting the source of an idea.  Management spent an inordinate amount of time assessing suggestions and refereeing.  The results of infighting often lingered long after awards were paid.
• Service Awards:  These awards were based on years of service and often came in the form of a Lapel Pins, potentially progressing to a larger award after 20 or 25 years of service.  Back in the day, Service Awards usually started with the 5^th anniversary of employment which means that many of today’s employees would never have earned a service award since an increasing number of employees change jobs more frequently.

As times change, companies need to recognize that what motivated employees back when they worked for the same employer for 40+ years may not be effective motivators today.   Unfortunately, the loyalty that existed between employee and companies (both directions, I might add) doesn’t exist to the same extent today as it did then.  This is evident by companies that never had lay-offs resorting to such measures in the recent recession as well as by employees changing jobs much more readily as they search for a more suitable position, greater opportunities or just greener grass.  The stigma of frequent job changes has dissipated to and today’s entrants to the workforce seem to care more about job satisfaction and opportunities than about longevity, tenacity and job security.   Appreciation and acknowledgement of one’s efforts can significantly influence job satisfaction.  It is time to relook at Employee Incentive Programs. 

Employers need to recognize that incentive programs are very effective tools to motivate employees when used appropriately.  Some key attributes of an effective award program in today’s society include:

Know What Deserves To Be Rewarded

Instead of arbitrary awards like service awards (which, tradition may preclude eliminating), the focus should be on identifying key attributes of a valued employee and rewarding those attributes.   These attributes will vary depending on the role of the employee.   For example, interpersonal skills may not be as important for a software developer as they are for a receptionist.   In addition, companies need to recognize that they need to value different attributes even within similar roles.  While it is great to have a high-profile barn burner on your team, you also need to the low-profile workhorse since not every effort is going to be in the spot light.  Companies need to identify the employee attributes they value in the following areas:

• Behavior – Yes, that friendly outgoing receptionist who greets every person who walks through the door and manages to do so with a smile and helpful disposition deserves to be rewarded for their behavior.  You might say, “it’s their personality, their not doing anything special”.  The point is, you value that personality and want to retain it.  Let them know you value their work!
• Performance – There are some employees who do the work of 2, 3 or even 4 other employees.  This is the customer service representative that steps up to the plate and get things done.  They’re on top of the work, proactive and highly productive.  Okay, you might find some typos in the massive volume of work they put out… but keep things in perspective.  They may not be supporting the prestigious account but they are keeping the difficult client happy and putting out fires along the way.  Often, they’re the ones overlooked because they’re too busy to hype themselves and because they keep things moving so smoothly that their contributions may be underestimated.  They may be employees misclassified as “workaholics,” as if they like working 14 hour days.  Reward them now, or pay the price later when you have to hire multiple people to replace them.
• Potential – Some employee may not be star performers… yet, but you can see that they have that potential.  Maybe they just need more experience or to further refine some skills.  You’re willing and able to invest in their development through mentoring, training or just time.  If you’re willing to make that investment, be willing to reward them for the progress made along the way or risk losing your investment and their potential.
• Results– These is the attributes that management can easily acknowledge as being worthy of  rewards.  The key is to not only follow through on those awards but to do so in a timely manner.    These attributes are associated with employees that solve the big problems, develop new products, land new clients and make the sales.   Don’t be so caught up in the celebration of their results that you forget to reward them for their role in making it happen and don’t let weeks or month pass before you do so. 

Of course, employee’s contributions don’t typically fall into just one of these categories.  An engineer who is performance driven may also be a great mentor which is a behavior that warrants acknowledgement.  That receptionist who’s behavior is essential to the image of your office may also step up to the plate in a pinch and deliver results on a special project. 

Know When to Give Rewards

Rewards and awards don’t have to be high dollar items but they do need to be timely.  If your company has a lengthy approval process to give an employee a reward, then it’s time to change your processes.   To motivate employees, the acknowledgement of their contributions needs to occur close to the timing of those contributions warranting the award.   It will then be clear to both the recipient as well as other employees why the award was given.  If it happens two months later, the opportunity will be lost.  It’s like hearing a hilarious joke during happy hour and then waiting two weeks to roar with laughter in a business meeting.  It almost seems inappropriate and looses it’s effect! 

So, when do you acknowledge employees efforts with an award or reward?  While it can be obvious when an event occurs that warrants a Results driven award, it may not be so clear for the other categories unless you’re looking for it.  

• Behavior:  When you see an employee conduct themselves in an exceptional manner that you wish everyone would mimic, reward it!  This is especially true for when an employee handles a difficult situation exceptionally well… like the employee who not only maintains composure dealing with a difficult customer but who can bring that customer around.  Do it on the spot, not days later.
• Performance:  When employees are pushed to work long days or weekends in support of a key deadline or to cope with an exceptional workload, acknowledge their effort with an award as soon as the deadline is met. 
• Potential:  If you want people to build on their potential, reward them when they demonstrate progress by completing a course, mastering a new skill or completing a challenging assignment.   This should go beyond a “certificate of completion” that will end up in a drawer somewhere and should coincide with each course or milestone completed.
• Results:  While it may seem obvious, reward employees’ results within days of their accomplishment not the next month or quarter.

Know What To Give As A Reward

Aside from having a process that avoids a lengthy approval process for incentives, you have to have to awards and rewards readily available to provide timely acknowledgements.   What type of timely awards, reward and incentives are appropriate for a time-sensitive, 21^st Century Employee Motivation Program?  Here’s some considerations:

• The old stand-bys:
  • Certificates:  As a primary form of acknowledgement, forget it.   Look around your employees’ offices and cubicles and see just how many of them display all their certificates.  Save a tree… and the plastic frame. 
  • Plaques:  Avoid the standard wood plaque with an engraved metal plate.  There are more up-to-date, trendy, and eye-catching plaques that employees will be proud to display.  Get something bold, trendy and intriguing.
  • Awards:  Gone are the days of the little metal figure standing on a pedestal… or, at least, they’ve all been stuck in the back of a file drawer somewhere.  There are now some really great artistic awards that are more like works of art than awards.  These are pieces employees will be proud to display.
  • Money:  Money is always welcome by employees but be careful.  It attaches a monetary value to the award which is immediately comparable to other awards.  Financial awards can become a greater source of contention among employees than an equivalent value incentive type award.   Keep the money in the bonus program instead.
• Newer options:
  • Music Download Cards:  These days, nearly everyone’s has an iPod or MP3 player.   For a quick award, why not have a stack of music download cards on hand.  The number of downloads per card can be specified by the company.   
  • Movie, Event and Venue Tickets:  Like the music downloads, movie tickets and sporting event or amusement park admissions can be purchased in bulk and kept on hand.  Distribute them in packs of at least 2 or 4 tickets to allow for employees to bring family or friends. 
  • Corporate Logo Items:  Employees can be rewarded with various corporate gifts featuring the company’s logo ranging from imprinted sports bottles and customized travel cups to custom logo computer bags and embroidered jackets.  Of course, don’t reward them with something you’re readily handing out at the receptionist desk.
  • Gift Baskets:  Gift baskets are great options because they can be customized rather quickly to suite the specific circumstances.  Gift baskets can include both food and non-food products, including company logo products. 
  • Gift Cards:  Like downloads and movie tickets, gift cards can be kept on-hand in varying amounts and can be redeemed for a variety of things from dinner to electronics.   Because the monetary value of a gift card is obvious,  gift cards present the same potential issues as giving money .
  • Corporate Awards Program:  Corporate Awards Programs provide employees with a merchandise catalog from which to select an award.  Catalogs are available at varying levels corresponding to an undisclosed value thereby avoiding issues associated with the monetization of awards.
  • Company Points Program:  Companies can create a custom reward program providing employees with customized redemption cards or custom coins worth a specific point value redeemable through the business’ on-line Company Store.  Employees may redeem points immediately or save and combine for a higher level award.  Company’s can specify the awards available on their company store.  These may include logo products as well as brand name merchandise.   
  • Reward Scratchers:  For a fun and unique option, custom scratch off cards could be used as part of a rewards program.  Supervisors could reward employee with the scratchers.  Cards could include prizes ranging from free music downloads to a large screen  television as a grand prize.  As an alternative, the Reward Scratcher could be used in conjunction with a Company Point Program.