What we can do at this time of year is take stock of what was good and bad in 2010 and endeavour to learn the lessons to make 2011 an even better year. One thing that lots of us are guilty of in this busy world is leaving decisions until the last minute. This ultimately puts more pressure on and can sometimes lead to poor decisions or perhaps compromises at best. This is one of my personal struggles, as there are always pressures on time, but I know from experience that on the occasions when I do get things done in a timely manner, the outcome is usually more satisfying and the process a lot less stressful. There lies my recurring New Year’s resolution, and I will stick to it this year!

When it comes to the business of promotional gifts the same applies. Sooner is always better than later. Although there are many good promotional products which can be printed and delivered within a few days when you’re really up against a deadline, you can have more choice and perhaps even achieve a better price if you can get your order in early. Sourcing promotional merchandise from overseas can often reduce the unit cost, but the lead time is obviously much longer. The sooner you make your decisions about the promotional items you would like to support your campaigns and marketing events, the more options you have.

The next seasonal gifts to come into play will be for Valentine’s Day (14th February), Burn’s Birthday (25th January), St David’s Day (1st March), St. Patrick’s Day (17th March), Mothering Sunday (3rd April), St George’s Day (23rd April), and Easter (24th April). Don’t forget the end of the financial year (31st March) with budgets to be used and then the extra bonus of the Royal Wedding this time round on 29th April. Lots of national occasions in the first part of the year to hang your marketing and promotional hat on and not too far round the corner now. It’s never too early to start but can be too late!

Here’s to a prosperous 2011 for us all! We look forward to working with you.

This is obviously a good time of year to consider using promotional umbrellas to get your business branding out and about. Promotional umbrellas are one of the most popular promotional items available, both with marketeers and their target audience. For branding purposes, promotional umbrellas offer a large area for print as well as being highly visible in use; they are better than a billboard in that they are taken everywhere and can be seen by so many. At bus stops with lots of passing traffic, round town and out in the country, your messages will be seen far and wide on your promotional umbrella, and kept handy by the door or in the car boot, always ready for action.

Colour is another great asset of promotional umbrellas; they can be as bright or as understated as you like. There are so many choices to compliment or contrast your bespoke artwork that the end result is going to be undoubtedly unique. With careful and considered choices they will present your products and services in just the right light. Also be aware that the quality and style of the umbrellas you choose also sends subliminal messages to your audience. Knowledge of the demographic of your target audience enables you to select the perfect umbrella, should it be a full size or smaller golf umbrella, mini folding umbrella, an automatic open/close umbrella, an innovative design such as the Senz Storm Proof Umbrellas or the square shaped Quadbrella, which will definitely get you noticed for all the right reasons.

You just can’t go wrong choosing promotional umbrellas as promotional gifts for your next campaign. Your one investment will have great longevity, and could still be delivering your marketing messages long after you’ve moved onto your next brief.

One increasingly popular and effective method of marketing and building brand awareness is through the use of promotional merchandise. This can either be a stand-alone approach, or as an additional and effective support of other strategies. The great power of promotional gifts as opposed to other methods of marketing is their everyday usefulness and longevity; the fact that they can be seen and used daily by your target market.

With promotional print, radio or TV marketing for example, the time you have the attention of your customer may be only seconds, and the exercise needs to be constantly and expensively repeated to try to build your brand and product recall. Even with face to face contact, which may be more impactful and perhaps deliver a longer period of ‘influence’ time, and no matter how good the salesperson is, human nature is to forget and move onto the next pressing thing. If you incorporate promotional gifts into your marketing mix, the situation completely changes.

Back up your media advertising with associated promotional items which reinforce the message and give you a physical point of contact with your customer. Furnish your sales team with well chosen promotional merchandise for them to leave with their client as a ‘thank you’ for their time and as a reminder of the products and messages discussed. Make sure your contact details are imprinted onto your branded merchandise along with pertinent visuals and marketing messages so your customer has no problems getting in touch when they need your services.

If you choose your promotional gifts carefully, making sure they will be useful and attractive to your target audience, they will retain and use them in the course of their business and daily lives. This means that your logo and tag lines will become very familiar to them and therefore build brand awareness for your company and products. The next logical event is that they will think of you first when they have a need for your products.

In terms of value for money invested, promotional items offer great cost effective way to promote your business and build brand awareness. For a one-off investment, you can get your logo and marketing messages in front of your target audience repeatedly over a period of days or months, perhaps longer. That consistent and prolonged exposure with branded gifts is what helps to build brand recognition in your marketplace. No other marketing method can achieve this level of exposure for the relatively small investment involved.

One particularly interesting and unusual promotional gift which has come to light recently and would fit the bill is our build-your-own bird house, which is manufactured in MDF and is supplied in a box which will fit most letter boxes. There are several ways of using the wide appeal of such a promotional item as part of your marketing plans. It is quite obvious that if your business is related to gardens, plants or birds in any way, that this could be an ideal and affordable promotional gift to support your customer liaison and retention plans.

However, there are other, more creative ways these promotional bird houses could assist your marketing strategies. The inherent nature of this promotional product means it confers environmentally friendly credentials, which could be something you would like to support for your company. Alternatively, should your business be home and house related, then this could be a slightly different take on the promotional product theme for you.

The fact that this bird house comes packed in a box which can be posted makes it an excellent and probably unique mail out gift; it certainly won’t be overlooked or forgotten in a hurry. Have your corporate branding imprinted on these great promotional products, and you could soon have the customers flying to you door!

With all the inevitable and unstoppable attention and constant debate which will surround this whole event, it makes lots of business sense to somehow link into all this hype with your own brand. A positive association between your business and a high profile international event like this is pure business gold. Every business, large or small can use this experience to their advantage in building their brand.

PG Branding have put together a great range of World Cup gifts and general football related promotional items to help you glean the most benefit for your company from this promotional opportunity. Whatever your marketing budget, you are sure to find a suitable promotional gift for your brief. From inexpensive promotional products such as ever-popular thunder sticks and whistles, to clothing, caps, bags, promotional footballs and quality crystal and glass trophies and tankards, we feel we have something for every occasion.

However, should you have something particular in mind, please don’t hesitate to ask. Even though we pride ourselves on offering a huge range of promotional merchandise, even we cannot feature everything that may be available. We have managed to source promotional products for many obscure requests in the past, and will continue to do so.

We look forward to hearing from you and give you a leg up onto the World Cup gravy train.

If your branded laptop bag is well designed and discreetly imprinted with your logo, your chosen recipients will use it every day. So many of us now, in both our personal and business life, rely on the support of our trusty laptop wherever we go, that a good laptop bag is a vital piece of equipment. For sales teams who are constantly out and about visiting clients and business contacts, a corporately branded laptop bag is important both for the essentially practical role it plays, and to present a professional corporate image.

Promotional laptop bags need not be expensive in real terms, but their perceived value makes them a particularly cost effective promotional item. Your target audience will feel appreciated when they receive the perfect promotional gift. The fact that it will be used on a daily basis means that your logo and marketing messages will be noted by your target audience over and over again, keeping your company front of mind. They will also be out and about carrying your messages far and wide. A particularly stylish laptop bag might even be a talking point, which serves your purpose even more.

Take a look at tour fabulous range of promotional laptop bags where you will find something for every occasion, from colourful low cost messenger style laptop bags, to stylish leather executive laptop bags and trolleys for your most valuable customers and colleagues.