Today I’m a little sad. One of the most useful promotional products that I own – strike that – owned has gone missing. My little lip balm sleeve has gone MIA. I don’t know how I lost it. But I have.
While this inexpensive little gem may not seem like much. To a lip-balm-aholic like myself, keeping a tube in reach is a necessity for my sanity. You can ask just about anyone in my family. I have a tube on my desk, a few extras in a desk drawer, one next to my bed, one in the end table at my parent’s house – okay you get the picture.
So when I got this nifty caddy that I could secure to my keychain, I was one happy girl.
Did you know March is National Craft Month? Now before you scoff at the mention of arts and crafts, a term you may think you have long out-grown, reflect for a moment on the enjoyment you derived from art projects during your childhood. I’m not talking about the required assignments from art class that left you (well, maybe that was just me, because of my lack of artistic talent!) disappointed because of a poor grade. I’m talking about the popsicle stick log cabins and handprint turkeys that you worked on at home with friends and family. It would be impossible for me to ever relive the carefree hours I spent sitting at my kitchen table with watercolors and construction paper, but just writing this blog post is enough to make me add “coloring” to my list of things to do this weekend.
I think encouraging your business to participate in National Craft Month is a great way to help staff relieve stress and unleash their creativity. You could even combine arts and crafts with a favorite philanthropy, such as volunteering at the children’s ward of a local hospital. Whether you decide to drop off handmade cards or artwork to the kids or spend time creating masterpieces with them, the thoughtful sentiment and bright, happy colors of the pieces are sure to bring smiles. And although the driving force behind your volunteer work shouldn’t be the positive publicity, you could always leave the beneficiary’s of your kindness with art-related promotional products like promotional markers so that whenever they spend time coloring and drawing, the imprinted messages will remind them of their special relationship with your organization and the fun times they have shared with representatives of your brand.
WNYC’s Radiolab — a fantastic podcast — had a fascinating short this week called “Do I Know You?” about people with a delusional disorder called Capgras.
A woman suffering from Capgras comes home to find a man sitting in her living room, wearing her husband’s clothes and containing all his physical features, but who, to her, simply is not her husband. In actuality, he is. But she can’t shake the feeling he’s an impostor.
There is only one circumstance in which we cannot offer our famous 24-hour Rocketship Service: when the item is out of stock. This is exactly why I am writing about Earth Day more than a month in advance; I do not want anyone to miss out on this great opportunity for functional and unique Eco-friendly promotional EarthSmart products!
It seems these days you can get a “green” variation on just about any product imaginable. Just thinking about some of the items I use on an everyday basis, I jot down notes on a recycled notebook with a biodegradable pen made from corn. When I go to the grocery store, I stash my purchases in a tote made from 100% recycled plastic bottles. Even when I need a caffeine fix, I sip from a biodegradable Evolve tumbler.
But the “green” trend has evolved much further than the standard popular items. In the office, you can feature your loved ones in photo albums made from bamboo and grow a plant at your desk. And if you need to leave your desk for a meeting, just hit the Computer Power Saver Button to effortlessly put your computer to sleep . When entertaining guests at home, you can yell at them to put their sweaty drinks on coasters that are 51% recycled . Even while you are traveling the world, you can safely keep your passport and other travel documents in a recycled passport wallet.
Tomorrow, March 9, marks Barbie’s 51st birthday (though she doesn’t look a day past 22). Yes it was 51 years ago that “Barbie” – named after her creator Ruth Handler’s daughter Barbara – was first presented at the American International Toy Fair in New York City. It is estimated that over a billion Barbie dolls have been sold worldwide in over 150 countries since its debut, despite plenty of controversy and lawsuits that have tried to deface this cultural icon. But, alas, Barbie has prevailed through the decades, enchanting the lives of little girls everywhere and helping to boost many other noted brands as a promotional toy.
Okay, so don’t get me wrong, the Slap-On Promotional Watch is still super hot. But I have a new favorite product obsession to tell you about this week. It’s the Kikkerland Grass Charging Station.
What could be better than a having a high-quality charging station to store your miscellaneous electronic devices in? Storing them in a charging station that looks like a little patch of grass!
I know what you’re thinking. A charging station covered in grass? I know it seems crazy, but how great is it to literally bring a little patch of (not quite alive) greenery indoors?
Everybody has one. As kids, we count the days until they arrive. As we grow older, we begin to anticipate them less and less. You know what I’m talking about… BIRTHDAYS! Today happens to be mine (I’m the big 2-3!), and I am still young enough to actually enjoy the festivities that accompany this special day.
“Birthday marketing” is a clever marketing ploy adopted by many companies because – no surprise here- it works! According to a 2008 study, 75% of participants stated that receiving a special occasion card, like a business birthday card, with a discount would increase the likelihood that they would conduct business with the company. Everyone wants to feel special and loved on his or her birthday, and letting customers know that you value their loyalty is a great way to ensure their continued support. Gestures as small and simple as sending a direct mail piece with a coupon, brief note, and maybe even compact promotional products will achieve the desired effect and encourage repeat business.
I’ve mentioned on here before that I’m a fiend for podcasts, and one of my regular shows is Slate’s Culture Gabfest. Each week at the end of the hour-long podcast the group goes around and endorses a film, book, article, other podcast, or anything else they have recently discovered and love. I started following Roger Ebert on Twitter, for example, due to one of these endorsements (Dana Stevens’, I think).
So in the tradition of endorsements, I’m going to recommend my latest favorite drinkware item, the X-One Promotional Mug.
The Olympics ended Sunday, but for avid speed skating fans a few questions still remain to be answered. For one, why did Apolo Anton Ohno keep yawning before races? Was the most decorated American Winter Olympian in history tired? Bored?
No. After watching a post-race interview with Ohno, I can confidently say the American short track speed skater was neither tired nor bored. The yawns relax his facial muscles and help him prepare for competition, Ohno explained. Also helping him prepare for his outstanding performances were his music, headphones and signature bandanas, which he wore fervently for each event. As most sports fanatics know, Ohno is certainly not alone in his pre-game rituals. The question remains as to whether or not these superstitions actually influence an athlete’s performance.
“It’s very helpful for players to have consistent rituals, both for pregame preparation and during competition,” said Mary Fry, an associate professor at University of Kansas, Lawrence in the Department of Health, Sport, and Exercise Sciences. “Rituals help athletes maximize their performance under pressure. Without rituals many athletes have a tendency to speed up or slow down their regular play, making them more susceptible to making errors.”*
As Fry explains, rituals help athletes to get into their zone. And this theory doesn’t just apply to Olympic-level or professional athletes. Despite my lack of coordination, I have been playing in an adult dodgeball league for the past two months. Every Saturday at 1 o’clock, my teammates and I faithfully arrive at the local gym, ready to dodge, duck, dip, dive and…. Dodge. This weekend, we took third place in the championships and I think our success was due in part to the logo apparel we wore routinely for every game. Our pink shirts, imprinted with the league name and company sponsors, helped the team look unified, feel more confident and thus perform better.
We might not be ready for the Olympics, but we’ll take logo apparel and a bronze medal any day!
For some strange reason, back during the summer Olympics hosted in Atlanta in 1996, an extraordinary collecting frenzy broke out, and people everywhere were buying promotional lapel pins like they were going out of style – not that they were ever actually in style. I too fell victim to this craze and now have a drawer full of Olympic pins that I am crossing my fingers will one day be worth more money than I paid for them. An estimated 63 million pins were sold in Atlanta during its games – yes, 63 million – an insane number that even prompted the running joke that pin collecting should be included as a 29th event.
Today I’m a little sad. One of the most useful promotional products that I own – strike that – owned has gone missing. My little lip balm sleeve has gone MIA. I don’t know how I lost it. But I have.
