Presentation is everything: Chinese Lunar New Year business gifts & Christmas business gifts

Promotional gifts have amazing power to build brands and communicate a message. But all too often companies don’t pay enough attention to the way in which their customers / audience experience receiving the gift. Promotional gifts work because of the perceived value of the gift. This is what enables promotional gifts to change buying behaviour, increase loyalty and cement relationships.

Let’s take an example of gold pen. 

The not-so-humble gold pen is a beautiful gift that we usually sell, laser engraved with a logo, for our clients to give to valued customers or staff. The gift itself is valuable and will be highly valued. Now imagine that you are the end customer receiving this gift. How would you feel if:

1. We made cross town to collect the gift;
2. We gave it to you in a beaten up brown box;
3. And we got your name wrong?

Typically people would respond by either not collecting the gift or, having collected it, they would think the company and the product “cheap” and of low quality. This not an unrealistic scenario as too many loyalty or reward promotions around the world are done in this way. So presentation matters!

Get it right! It’s easy.

When you plan your promotion, make sure you do 4 things:

1. Buy a gift that is right for your customer.
2. Ensure it is packaged nicely, because the packaging is the first thing they will see. Even cornflakes come in carefully chosen packaging. Gift boxes and gift sets have a huge perceived value and are often kept in their entirety.
3. Get your customer’s details right so they feel you know and care about them. That means checking your data.
4. Make it easy for your customers to claim their gift (otherwise they may not bother and you will have wasted your money!)

Promotional campaigns in the iPad era

There is no doubt that personalized promotional gifts work. But now that customers are managing more and more of their lives from their smart devices, what does this mean for successful promotions campaigns? The simple answer is: go back to the basics.

1. Know your customer: some demographics use smart phones more than others. Everyone still uses pens (one of the most reliable and persistent promotional gifts), but these days Google Maps is more often used than printed city maps. So make sure your promotional gift idea is current and relevant to the customer.

2. Know your objective: why do you want to communicate to the customer and what do you want them to do? If you want to stay in front of your customers then a branded mug or mouse mat still does the job. If your objective is to reward loyal high-value clients then beautifully engraved crystal glasses and a bottle of champagne are hard to beat when saying “thank you”. There’s no app for that!

3. Know your place! Smart phones and iPhones are highly personal technology. Customers may not want to clog up their phones with marketing spam so be wary about developing apps or covers. There is nothing wrong with doing it if your brand is right for the purpose.

That is not to say that you can’t jump on the bandwagon and really connect with your customers through their beloved gadgets. Engaging social media campaigns are de rigeur in the marketing world. There are also more and more options for accessorizing the customer’s personal technology. The Touch Pen from BrandHK (pictured) brings together the old and the new: a classic high quality rollerball pen, branded with your logo, and a rubber tip designed for accurate interaction with touch screen devices like iPads and HTC smart phones. And of course you can always give your customers the latest gadgets… if your budget stretches to that!

So promotional gifts in the smart device age will not be fundamentally different. You want something new and you want to get your message across in a way that stays front of mind and matches your brand.

Top tops: get the most from your Hong Kong conference or event

If you have never exhibited at a conference or event before it can be daunting. And if you have, you’ll know how much planning and effort it takes (and how sore your feet can be by the end of the day!) So to make life a little easier, we have found 3 great web sites to help you get the most out of your investment. As old hands at conferences we have tried and tested these top tips, so we hope they will serve you well.

• Love Events have a very easy list to work through and the “Survival Kit” will make sure that you are not caught short of anything essential. We would add hot chilli sauce to the list – conference food is too bland!
• This UK-based event has an excellent section on lead management and follow-up. The main reason you are there is to meet people right? So make sure you don’t forget them!
• And, of course, make sure you have all the promotional giveaways and namecards that you will need. Namecards go without saying, but so many people forget to check they have enough. BrandHK can have them ready for collection in central Hong Kong in just 3 hours, so add them to your emergency numbers!

Promotional gifts at conferences are of course very popular, but do they work? From working in the industry for over 15 years I can tell you that pens are almost always a winner. A visitor to your stand can just pop the pen into their bag or jacket and- hey presto – next time they need a pen, your name will be right in front of them. But don’t take our word for it, this is one of the most famous major published surveys (PDF) I have seen on promotional effectiveness.

So…

1. Plan ahead
2. Get your follow-up strategy in place
3. Get your emergency merchandise and namecards supplier
4. Wear comfortable shoes.

Good luck!

FranklinCovey launches new range for Hong Kong

Franklin Covey pen and gift box

Introducing the new FranklinCovey Collection, stylish writing instruments crafted exclusively at A.T. Cross for FranklinCovey, world leader in time management and organisations. Functional and affordable, these premium quality, refillable writing instruments have been developed to complement the popular FranklinCovey planning systems.

Each FranklinCovey pen is accompanied by a lifetime mechanical guarantee assuring many years of writing pleasure.

Personalized Umbrellas printed with your logo

Umbrellas are one of those timeless classic promotional gifts. Highly versatile the umbrella really is a “gift for all seasons” – ideal for sunshine and rain. Our research showed that 80% of customers kept their promotional umbrella for personal use.

It’s personal! In our survey, over 60% of customers said they had been upset by the loss of a promotional umbrella. We know that successful branding is more than just getting your logo in front of a customer: it is about forming an emotional bond with your customer. So make your customers happy and give them a promotional umbrella, stylishly branded with your logo or marketing message.

But quality counts… BrandHK’s range of promotional umbrellas use good quality fibreglass frames and chrome-plated steel frames and high quality pongee fabric (far better than polyester).

Callaway printed golf balls and Callaway printed polo shirts

Callaway golf products have an enviable reputation in the world of golf. The Company philosophy is to design, create and sell better golf equipment.  Founded by Ely Callaway the Company has gone from strength to strength and is now the equipment of choice for many golfers.

This is evident at corporate golf days when sponsors look for relevant, acceptable promotional gifts for their guests. Printed golf balls are a popular souvenir but, while the Callaway brand itself is appreciated, the best balls are those with the sponsor’s name added.  Printed golf balls can be ordered in Hong Kong from companies such as Brand HK who use only genuine branded golf balls but then add an overprint in one or more colours to suit the client’s requirements.  The finished printed golf balls offer the “halo effect” of linking the sponsor with the qualities associated with Callaway.

To add print to a Callaway ball has to be done carefully to ensure the quality is of the same high class. Brand HK have years of experience with printed golf balls so can guarantee an impeccable result.

In addition to printed golf balls as a souvenir some Companies like to offer Callaway polo shirts. Like the golf balls these shirts are made to exacting standards with the Callaway logo but they can also be further decorated. Personalised polo shirts make a long lasting and very acceptable gift and provide a lasting reminder of a golf day.

Shirts can be personalised in Hong Kong using print or embroidery. Brand HK can supply genuine Callaway shirts and can brand the shirts as required. Whether you choose a printed polo shirt or an embroidered polo shirt the final product can only enhance your golfing experience.

Parker Pens for promotional gifts

Brand HK have been appointed official distributors for Parker pens. The range consists of a wide selection of printed pens which cover all budget points from just HK$39 up to nearly $200.

Promotional pens have the huge benefit that they are almost never discarded. Industry research has shown that a printed pen is one of the top 2 items for corporate buyers and that, once given, a pen is used on a regular basis for its lifetime.

The Parker Jotter comes with either a plastic barrel or a stainless steel barrel. Either pen can be printed or laser engraved and both are available with a smart Parker presentation box.

For the more discerning user there is the Parker IM or the Parker Urban. The latter was recently specified by Exxon Mobil for a recent Asian conference of theirs. Both of these pens are quality items that anyone would be pleased to receive. Like the Jotter, both of these pens can be printed or laser engraved.

Quick delivery is always important for printed pens and most Parker pens can be supplied in just 2 weeks or less – and that includes the printing or laser engraving.

Laser engraving v printing

Pens with a metal area can be branded in one of two ways: laser engraved or printed.

Laser engraving can deal with very fine detail and, by its nature, will last the lifetime of thepromotional pen. Naturally, however, it is monotone with the laser revealing whatever colour the base metal is.

Printing brings the advantage of colour to a promotional pen and allows more than one colour for close reproduction of any corporate logo. Pantone matching can usually be achieved fairly successfully but clients must be aware that the underlying colour of the pen may affect the colour being printed.

Good printing should last a long time on a pen but it will finally wear off on repeated use which can leave a promotional pen looking a bit tired even if it has many years life left in it.

Eco products from Brand HK

The market for eco promotional products is growing all the time as businesses like to match actions with words. Giving a green gift is not only appreciated by the recipient it also reflects back on the Company doing the giving.

Brand HK (www.brandhk.com) has a steadily increasing range of eco promotional products all with green credentials. These products are environmentally friendly in different ways. Some are made of recycled materials while others replace less friendly alternatives.

Eco pens come in two forms. The first has the barrel made from recycled paper materials along with a wooden clip. Thus the barrel is not only made from discarded paper but it is also recyclable again. The second type of eco pen is made from a special plastic that decomposes quickly in the ground. Instead of the many hundreds of years that a normal plastic takes to degrade these pens will degrade in less than 5 years in landfill. They are made from a special plastic manufactured by Bio Green. Either eco pen can be printed in one or more colours.

Recycled mouse mats are also a popular promotional item. All the black “rubber” on the back is made from materials that would normally go to landfill and there is no reduction in quality or performance.

Eco bags can also come in two forms. The more common is the non-woven bag which is made from polypropylene so is not in environmentally friendly in its construction. However, if it replaces disposable polythene shopping bags then it certainly plays its part in improving things.
Cotton bags are made from a fully renewable plant resource and can be fully recycled after use. Even if they are not actually recycled after use they will break down quickly in landfill into natural components.

Finally there are eco usb’s with the casing made from renewable sources such as bamboo wood. These casings are aesthetically pleasing as well as biodegradable. The eco usb is a good example of modern meets traditional with the high tech chip encased in natural wood.

There are now a range of promotional products with green credentials.

Giving green products

Printed promotional pens

New industry figures show that pens remain one of the top two promotional items for corporate buyers. Printed pens carrying a company’s logo are one of the most popular corporate gifts with a strong retention and usage factor. Very few people will throw a pen away unless it has stopped working so the logo continues to be seen and used –often on a regular basis.

There are a huge variety of pens covering environmentally friendly ones made from recycled paper which cost just a few HK dollars each all the way up to prestigious brands such as Parker pens or Cross pens where the pens may cost many hundreds of HK dollars each.  In between there are a huge variety of plastic pens with different features such as dual ink supply or lanyard attachments. Thus there is always a printed pen to match the corporate budget and low cost printed pens are now available in Hong Kong for quantities as few as 250 pieces from suppliers such as Brand HK.

Personalised pens can also be boxed which greatly increases the perceived value of the pen. The boxes can be custom made and can also carry a company’s logo stamped in hot foil on the outside.

So for a long lasting high usage promotional item a printed pen is a winner every time.

Personalised promotional USB memory sticks

Personalised promotional USB memory sticks are an excellent promotional gift for business-to-business campaigns. With huge range of USB cases to choose from, marketing professionals will find something to suit the needs of any client. And prices vary with USB memory size from a few hundred megabytes to 8 and even 16 gigabytes. So you can scale up the memory size for high-end merchandising.

The most commonly found USB memory sticks, and the largest range, are those with plastic cases. A huge variety of USB case styles are available in different colours, shapes and sizes. The branding and personalization options are equally diverse with full colour printing and spot color as required.

For more executive USB gifts try wooden USBs or metal USBs. The luxury finish will impress customers. And you can use a range of impressive packaging options from stylish presentation boxes to velvet pouches.

And if you need something very unique then try a fully bespoke USB made to your design.