A blog primarily about promotional products, branded apparel and advertising specialties, but also some of my simple joys, observations and thoughts about life, family and business.
I added a new drinkware video to our product review movie line up:
This video displays and explains the features of the Hampton Tumbler.
Why does American Promotions make these videos? Mainly because it's helpful to the buyer! It's helpful to get a peek at a product before buying it, and the videos explain the product too. After all, if we are going to spend money on a product, we want information before committing the funds.
Helping our customers is why we do product videos at American Promotions, and why we will continue to make them! Hope you find them helpful! Which are your favorites?
I am holding in my hand a glossy red heart pencil just like the picture to the left (except for the logo). The pencil is from a client that makes a heart pump which is saving lives all over the world. It's feels nice to have a small connection to a business doing amazing things world-wide.
It's also a good promotion! It's memorable, useful and exactly represents the company. I don't know if the pencils go to the patients who are on the pump, or if they go to doctors who install the pumps. But wherever that pencil travels, it will remind people everywhere of the heart pump company.
Do your promotions represent your business as well?
I crossed paths with my sister-in-law, and she was drinking out of a clear Spirit tumbler with a Costco logo. That same day, I ran into a shelf of these same acrylic tumblers at a local craft store.
Why do I love this cup? Could it be the straw??
They are EVERYWHERE. Since they are one of my favorite cups, I can understand why everyone wants one! So when the manufacturer makes these acrylic tumblers even better...well, I have to blog about it. The acrylic tumbler now has a version with a HUGE added feature: It keeps drinks as cold as ice does--without the ice!
The Chiller is Chillin'
This Sedici Cool Gear Chiller is a tumbler that acts like a cooler for your drink. After four hours in the freezer, this Cool Gear Chiller is ready to chill your drink. And it can re-freeze over and over. And it doesn't water down your drink like ice does (Note: make sure you don't freeze the lid and straw).
This is NEW and it is an improvement on my favorite tumbler and now I have one. Do you?
I use kitchen timers, do you? I time all kinds of things! I use a timer when a child is doing their reading homework or playing on the computer. I use a timer to clean the house (telling myself that I can accomplish a lot of cleaning in just 15 minutes). I carry a timer when I have something in the oven, because I can't hear the oven timer ring when I'm downstairs.
Kitchen timers make useful promotional products because they are used, carried, viewed daily and in a high traffic area of the home, the kitchen.
Now I mentioned kitchen timers in last week's blog post on kitchen products. In fact, that's what got me started on today's post. These kitchen timers are Too Cute! So I'm going to write a whole post on kitchen timers that can be custom imprinted.
These cuties come in Lemon, Potato, Pear, Red Pepper, Pumpkin, Red Apple, Corn,
Eggplant, Carrot, Cabbage, Green Pepper, Tomato, Egg, Rooster or Chicken! Each of these timers can be set up to an hour, and carried around handily.
But that is NOT all! This gleaming pot timer is also available in the shape of a Toaster, Blender, Pepper Jug, Coffee Pot, Kettle, Stock Pot, Frying Pan or Champagne Bottle!
All these kitchen timers are 2" x 3" and have imprint areas of 1/2" x 3/4" for a logo.
I watched two parades in the last two weeks, and while I enjoyed the bands, the glittering floats, and the fantastic cars driving by, I pondered parades and promotions.
Parades bring lots of people together who sit and watch each other. This makes parades a perfect place for promotions. As we wove our way to an empty spot to sit and watch, I counted three of these umbrella hats.
Immensely practical umbrella hats! They shade, they keep off rain, and...they advertise. There were enough hats to recognize that people will wear them. And a logo imprinted on the side would have advertised to hundreds of people and be cheaper than a billboard.
Add to that, beach umbrellas at a parade.
Beach Umbrellas for Parade Shade
Easier to carry than a canopy, yet providing shade, as I melted in a mere straw hat, I suppressed my shade envy toward the beach umbrella people.
As more people filled in the empty areas of the sidewalk, I noticed the group in front of me brought stadium chairs.
The two seats, exactly like our Tote Stadium Seats promoted a piano teacher! There, on the back of the stadium chairs (that looked comfortable to sit in and easy to carry, both of which make parade goers universally jealous) was the website address of a piano teacher. She should've made her text logo a bit bigger, I had to squint, but I applaud her for choosing those stadium seats as a promotion. Great memorable and usable marketing!
Now a word about t-shirts. T-shirts are classic promotions, and at a parade they show group solidarity as well as "talk" to the audience.
Multiple times I watched groups of people wearing the same logoed t-shirts holding together huge balloon floats. I even saw a band dressed in identical logoed shirts (although they used polos). One balloon-float group caught my eye because all the t-shirts were printed on the side. This meant that the people watching the parade could read the t-shirts more easily as they walked by. I sent mental kudos to whomever created that design.
Hope you enjoy your next parade. What promotions do you think that shine at parades?
I love summer! I will get tired of it, around August, and long for the cool nights of fall. But right now, I am enjoying the hot sun, warm water, fireworks, parades and outdoor picnics. The scent of sunscreen and lemonade are filling my nose.
It's now July, so I've been looking around for some fun promotions to go along with summer and The Fourth.
My first pick---I love these motorized fans! An outdoor concert or an evening of fireworks would be the perfect place to light up these fans and bring a bit of a breeze. Just bring an extra, you know people will want to borrow yours.
I can see us all now, sitting in camp chairs at the parade, or as fans on a bench at a sports event yelling "USA, USA" to the beat of maracas. I'd dance to that beat!
Today I worked two videos about the white and clear Visstun cups. As I was analyzing them, deciding features which to highlight, I realized I like how comfortable they are to drink from. Some plastic cups have a sharp edge on their rim. The Visstun cups have a rolled, rounded rim. This realization led to some drinking introspection.
Like lots of people, I try to drink the healthy 8 cups of water a day. Something that helps me drink more liquid is a comfortable drinking experience. It's not something I've thought much about. But, I realize that I have some drinking-comfort-opinions.
At home, I prefer glasses over plastic cups, the bigger the glass the better. Especially if I'm at the home computer, because I'll drink a lot of water without realizing it if it's next to me (but I get too busy on the computer to get up and refill it).
At restaurants, I prefer a straw with my ice water rather than drinking it from the glass. Probably because those glasses typically have so much ice. Ever taken a sip of water and have the ice suddenly shift, sploshing water down your front? Dislike. I prefer straws when I have ice. So if I want ice in my water bottle, I'd choose this H2Go Aqua water bottle (with its large opening) and use this H2Go Athans water bottle if I'm drinking liquid ice-less.
At the office, I prefer to drink from a water bottle--if I accidentally knock it over, a water bottle won't spill and ruin my computer or papers. I like a BPA free water bottle, so I don't drink any toxins..
And I just decided while writing this that I prefer spouts to open lids. I drink more water if I suck it up through a straw or spout than sipping with a rimmed cup. My current personal favorites (my co-workers have their own favs) are the Spirit Tumbler (it has a permanent straw and can used with hot cocoa or ice water)...
We had an order recently of full color mousepads. Mousepads are a classic promotional product because of their low cost and high logo visibility.They have a soft fabric top layer on top of a rubber circle, and come in different thicknesses.
I'm using one of these mousepads under my computer mouse at this very moment. It works great, even at the thinner size, which is key to a successful promotion. The product must work well! I think the colors on the mousepad make it a successful promotion as well. What isn't as successful, to me at least, are the five initials printed at the bottom of the pad. I assume it has something to do with the company, but it doesn't tell me what the company does or how to contact them. Including that information would take the promotion to a higher advertising level--even if the phone number or website were tiny on the pad. However, this company still gets high points for choosing long lasting mousepads and for the bright full color logo that catches the eye.
Thanks for your order, and best promoting wishes to you, WPAFB.
Promotional Bags and Totes is a huge category in the Advertising Specialties business. This American PromotionsTV video showcases bags that are recycled, laminated, made of polypropylene (recycled from the same plastic that makes 2 liter pop bottles), hand wipeable or hand washable, and non-woven materials.
To ask for samples or to order, contact us at http://www.americanpromotions.com or call us at 1-877-604-5646
