We all know that trends repeat themselves. Bell-bottoms (aka flared jeans) and scarves that were popular in the 1960s are showing up on the store racks today. And I’m sure you remember leggings and skinny jeans as something we all wore just as much in the 1980s as today.
But, and this is just my personal prediction, what’s next is a 90s resurrection. Perhaps I’ve been watching too much Portlandia, but I really think it’s inevitable. I was with some friends over the weekend and we were talking about our favorite 90s products.
Without fail, every time I put on my bathrobe, I let out a sigh of contentment. The cozy, safe feeling that comes along with settling into a roomy robe has to be universal- male, female, young, old; everyone should have the luxury of owning at least one robe.
Every family seems to have at least one member (voluntarily or possibly involuntarily!) who becomes the designated photographer at all family gatherings. In my family, my sister has become our so-called, “paparazzo,” capturing our memories on camera, no matter how embarrassing/hilarious/unflattering they may be. While we complain about the incessant “clicking” and “whirring” of her fancy camera, we all enjoy reminiscing about past events by displaying her amazing prints in promotional photo albums long after the real-life moments have passed.
Last week, Pinnacle’s wonderful Office Manager, Leighann, shared a post from one of her favorite photography blogs with me. The blog is called, “Clickin Moms,” and, according to its home page, it hosts a community of greater than 8,000 followers. Most of its members (about 65%) are professional photographers, while a smaller percentage are either “aspiring professionals” or “passionate hobbyists.”
As an avid HGTV and promotional products lover, I’ve dedicated a series of blog posts to products inspired by HGTV’s Color of the Month. September’s color is indigo, which is a cooler tone that works well with the transitional weather and changing season. Indigo’s calming effect will keep recipients in check as schedules start to get busy again after a slower, more relaxing summer. Thus, it’s the perfect hue for planners, desk organizers, and computer accessories.
An article featured in the New York Times this week, “Do You Suffer From Decision Fatigue?,” discusses decision fatigue, which is an increasingly common phenomenon facing today’s society. Do you find yourself struggling to make decisions later in the day? Making rash decisions to avoid mulling over all possible consequences? Procrastinating making any decisions at all? New findings prove that you are not alone!
Recent experiments demonstrate that being forced to make a multitude of choices can lead to diminished willpower. Once decision fatigue rears its ugly head, study participants typically settle for recommendations from salespeople in a variety of situations. Additionally, when individuals are presented with more difficult decisions early on in the purchasing process, fatigue hits them early on, as well, and they claim to enjoy the shopping experience less.
From personal decisions to business decisions, practically every minute of our lives is jam-packed with choices. If you have purchased promotional products before, you are probably well-aware of the endless variety of products, styles, imprint methods, sizes, colors, etc. available. Rather than draining your entire daily quota of preliminary decisions on selecting items for your next campaign, let Pinnacle’s staff of promotional gurus guide your hand. Nobody should have to navigate the sea of decisions involved with promotional marketing alone!
Many people can’t imagine life without a cell phone, but believe it or not, most of us would probably be okay (though inconvenienced). There are some businesses, however, that have built strong foundations almost exclusively through the mobile web, and without phones, they’d have a hard time surviving. One industry that is full of entrepreneurs who you’ll never see without smartphones in hand? Street food, which has developed a pretty impressive presence here in Atlanta through the power of mobile marketing.
As Jordan Chambers of Rattletrap Street Coffee bluntly puts it in the video below: “If we didn’t have phones, what… would we do?”
When you leave home without your phone, will it have a direct impact on how much money your business makes that day? For street food vendors like Rattletrap, the answer is yes. For most of us, though, the only thing that spending a few hours without our cell phones will keep us from doing is sending a text message or two.
Do you have a promotional product in your kitchen? 91% of people do, according to a 2009 study conducted by PPAI Research. Furthermore, 82% of people have 2+ promotional kitchen utensils somewhere in their homes, and of those, more than 50% can tell you what logos appear on their promotional products.
Why do branded items tend to make such a significant impact in the kitchen? The above video suggests that it might have something to do with the fact that it’s a place where families tend to gather on a daily basis. Kitchen products are also practical – and if you give them something they’ll use, people are more likely to keep them and pay attention to their imprints.
Promotional kitchen utensils come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes and are great for any budget or occasion. Got a home show coming up? Consider trading attendees an imprinted ice cream scoop or bag clip in exchange for some contact information. Perhaps you’re looking for a creative holiday gift to hand out to your employees or clients this year – a bottle of wine and a high-quality, engraved corkscrew make a memorable symbol of your appreciation.
From the personalized coffee mugs at your local Starbucks to the 10-year-old t-shirt emblazoned with a high school logo that your cube-mate insists on wearing every casual Friday, promotional products are all around you. But just how effective are these branded gifts and giveaways?
Incredibly powerful, according to MP Mueller, author of The New York Times’ small business blog, You’re the Boss. Mueller arrives at this answer by way of a letter opener. But this isn’t just any letter opener. “In the clear acrylic handle,” Mueller writes, “float[s] a mini uterus with two pills strategically placed where the ovaries normally reside, alongside the drug’s name…”
In the South, Chick-fil-A is no longer merely a fast food chain; it is a wildly popular brand that serves up smiles and happiness along with delicious fried chicken. Every brand strives to connect with end users on an emotional and personal level, but Chick-fil-A truly goes above and beyond to satisfy its customers.
The organization’s lovable bovine mascots, featured on Chick-fil-A promotional calendars, billboards, print collateral and in television ads, have built up such a tremendous following that it seemed logical for Chick-fil-A to create a Cow Appreciation Day to recognize these hoofed marketing icons. Last year on Cow Appreciation Day, over 450,000 customers dressed in cow costumes to earn free food from Chick-fil-A, and even more cow-obsessed patrons are expected to participate in today’s second annual Cow Appreciation Day festivities.
In an article from the New York Times, health columnist Joe Brescia, explained how professional athletes are incorporating mixed martial arts into their work out regimens as a way to increase their mental and physical performance. However “new-age” this training routine may seem, the art of mixed martial arts is hardly “new-age;” in fact this cultural practice even dates back to ancient Greece.
During this era, Olympians would train using a similar combat sport called, “pankration.” Through out history various cultures’ combat sports melded together until the earliest form of modern mixed martial arts, “merikan,” was formed during the early 1900’s. “Merikan” incorporates both European and Japanese styles of fighting.
Fast forward to today, professional baseball players and football players claim that training with mixed martial arts is creating a competitive edge over their colleagues. So much so, athletes like Adam Dunn of the Chicago White Sox, Brad Penny of the Detroit Tigers, Russell Martin of the Yankees, and the entire Atlanta Falcons’ team are keeping their routines under wraps as if they were part of their playbooks.
So how does it work? The MMA (mixed martial arts) trainers put together sequences that mimic how athletes play. For example, in order to throw a pitch, a pitcher’s movement involves lifting the knee, throwing the arm forward, and swinging the opposite back leg. In order to strengthen the muscles that control these movements, the trainer mirrors a pitcher’s sequence by having them raise the knee, forward punch, and end with a back kick.
One could argue promotional fitness accessories, like tracking monitors and punching bags could encourage any individual to improve their overall performance; but these teams and players are “drinking the kool-aid.” With this “new” training routine in place, some players even claim it’s improving their mental game, too.
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