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It has been well established over the years that promotional gifts are an important part of the marketing mix. Getting the most from your spending allocation for promotional merchandise will often be a creative balance between working towards your marketing goals, the demographic of your target audience and the method of distribution, all of which come within the constraints of the budget available.

For many companies, whether the available budgets large and small, promotional pens are a popular choice. They are affordable, small enough to be easily distributed and always well accepted. There are many other small and inexpensive products which work as well as promotional pens, such as mousemats, key rings and coasters. Larger promotional items which are well liked, such as mugs, umbrellas, bags, t-shirts, sweatshirts and caps, also offer great opportunities for marketing, but require larger storage space and perhaps a different method of distribution. Storage and distribution costs may be saved by carefully choosing your promotional items with these factors in mind.

One of the best ways of making sure you get the quality promotional products you require at the best price is to ensure you plan far enough ahead to allow for the lead times involved. Times quoted are usually from approval of artwork, so having your artwork complete and ready to go is fundamental in the ordering process. Most promotional gifts will be turned round within 10 days, but of course this can vary according to stock availability and the print method used.

The costs of your promotional products can escalate quickly if you don’t allow enough lead time. When time is short there may be a restricted selection of product available to you along with increased charges for express delivery. If you do find that you have to act on the last minute, the key to getting the best for your budget here is flexibility. If you get in touch with one of our knowledgeable customer service team, they will know if there are any particular offers you may benefit from and proffer alternative suggestions or close matches which can be delivered within your time frame.

Another point to bear in mind if you need to save on your print budget is to consider the method of printing used and whether you can restrict the number of colours used in your artwork. Often the most cost effective printing method is by screen, although this will not be suitable for all products. The fewer colours you require, the fewer individual screens will be needed, so the set-up costs will be reduced accordingly.

Importantly, in the drive to save money always beware of those ‘too good to be true’ offers. Cheapest rarely means best. Remember good service is vital to ensure you have the promotional products that you require, exactly as you want them and on time. The quality of your merchandise is also vitally important as it reflects the quality of your company. The last thing you want to do is to compromise your brand by using poor quality promotional gifts which send out the wrong messages to your customers and clients. Using a reputable and well established company, such as PG Branding, to fulfil your promotional requirements ensures you spend your budget well to get the best ROI.

To sum up, promotional gifts are an important part of current marketing strategies, which means that most companies, large and small, allocate a dedicated budget for such products. Everyone wants to make the most of their available budget, so appropriate time and effort has to be applied to use it wisely and to make the best investment to build the brand and/or drive sales and bring in new customers. Our experience here at PG Branding can help you choose the best promotional products for your brief and support your mission to make the most of your marketing opportunities.

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.

Your method of distribution for your promotional Christmas gifts will also determine the absolute deadline for receiving your Christmas merchandise. If you intend to mail them out you probably have a little more time, but obviously need to be aware of longer mail delivery times during December. However, if you intend to be a little more ‘hands on’ and make personal presentations of your Christmas gifts, you probably need to have them ready sooner so that you have time to visit all your valued customers and colleagues before time runs out. The last thing you need is to have valuable promotional Christmas merchandise remaining after the festive season. That just represents wasted capital.

Many promotional products are available on a two to three week turn-round as long as the items are on the shelf, so this is still ok at the moment. Promotional 2011 diaries and calendars are still available, though there may be limited choice at this point. Pens and pen sets, mugs, umbrellas and mousemats are popular promotional products all year round, and can be also great as Christmas gifts. Other good ideas are promotional leather goods, such as folders, portfolios, travel wallets and card holders, while imprinted bags and clothing, particularly hats and scarves sets, are also good ideas.

If you do find yourself running short of time, there are often express delivery options on many of our promotional products. Particular highlights here are pens, mousemats, flash derives, paper products and personalised wines, spirits andwine related gifts – great for getting everyone in the festive mood!

Don’t waste any time mulling it over. If you’re not sure, just get in touch straight away with one of our Christmas Elves (aka our sales team) who have served their time with Santa. They will do their best to create some magic for you and have your personalised Christmas gifts winging their merry way to you as fast as Rudolf and his mates can fly!

Am I the first to wish you a ‘Very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year’?

Here’s to a great 2011 for your business…

Victorinox, the original Swiss Army Knives and Cards are such promotional gifts. The red and white cross and shield logo is widely recognised and associated with a product offering quality and convenient utility for a myriad of applications. All Victorinox Swiss Army Knives and Cards come with a lifetime guarantee and are generally individually presented in a gift box or pouch to add to their appeal. Adding your logo and tag lines to these promotional items to create your corporate merchandise, lends these desirable attributes of quality to your own business products and services.

The different styles of Swiss Army Knives and Cards allows you to choose one with the most appropriate size and range of tools for your target audience, whether it be the Victorinox Golf Tool, the Manager, Huntsman, Climber or the Victorinox Cyber Tool with an amazing 34 features. Thinking outside the box a little, even though these handy items would generally be perceived as being aimed primarily at a male audience, the Victorinox Swiss Cards in particular could greatly appeal to women as they would be easily kept in a handbag and prove to be extremely useful.

So take a look now! PG Branding offer you a great selection of promotional gifts for all seasons. We have carefully put together a great collection of promotional products particularly suitable as Christmas gifts for your customers and clients. Mind you, there are actually so many possibilities that we couldn’t possibly cover everything, so you may have plenty of different ideas of your own. If you can’t find exactly the promotional items you’re looking for, don’t hesitate to use our Freephone number and talk to one of our helpful sales team. They are able to source lots more promotional products than we could ever feature on our WebPages.

Take a bit of time out now and plan for a successful end for 2010 and a great start to 2011. Choosing fantastic promotional Christmas gifts is so easy with the incredible choice you will find with PG Branding.

Happy Christmas Promotions!

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.

PG Branding offer you a comprehensive range of promotional mousemats. Choose the perfect design for your needs from the dozens of mousemats available to you in our ‘computer accessories’ category on our website. Many of our mousemats feature additional functions, such as a calculator, USB ports, CD/DVD storage and wrist rests, or come together with imprinted coasters, phone holders or pens pots to create a complete desk set to promote your business and increase brand recognition for your products and services.

Promotional beach balls are a popular item which are easily distributed in their flattened state, but make an immediate impact as soon as they are inflated. They are available in a great range of single colours or coloured panel styles; we even offer you the world (as printed onto a beach ball)! As promotional items, beach balls generally offer you a good on which to imprint your artwork. These fantastic promotional items can be used to create a fun atmosphere anywhere you choose and they’ll certainly grab lots of attention for your promotion.

Other suggestions for promotional gifts with a beach theme include beach towels and mats, games sets, kites of many shapes and sizes, beach bags, safeboxes, inflatable beach chairs or even a promotional snorkel set.

Take a look at all our ideas to create a little summer sizzle. Our Home and Leisure section should start the ideas flowing for your selection of promotional merchandise.

PG Branding offer you a comprehensive range of promotional pencils for your delectation. From the simple sharpened /unsharpened or with/ without eraser conundrum, to the choice of something different to create a talking point, such as our recycled Cinnamon and Tea Wooden pencils, there is a pencil for everyone and every occasion.

Promotional pencils are extremely cost-effective and affordable promotional gifts which are well worth considering. Take a look for yourself on our promotional pencils pages.