Pinnacle Promotions Marketing Company Blog

One of my favorite new pen products this year is the Party Pen!  It’s a 3-in-1 Pen that features an LED light, bottle opener, and of course a twist action pen.

For whatever your emergency may be, the LED Aluminum Light with Bottle Opener and Pen will probably be able to help. Light up a word, jot down a note, and open a drink without having to switch tools.  This item makes a great giveaway for any organization or company that is promoting a “work hard, play hard” culture.

To learn more about the Party Pen, check out our video featuring Sofia, our Merchandising Coordinator.

Don’t you just love her party scene?

Heather

Merchandising Manager

I’m subscribed to a daily email from Greatist.com.  The emails focus on health related topics like exercise and healthy food and just healthy living in general.  Today’s email stuck out to me though because it was Entitled 23 Ways to Reduce Stress.  (I realize, upon writing this, that this blog post could be about the effectiveness of an email subject line, but alas, it’s about stress relief.  But a good idea for another post, no?)

There were 23 suggestions and as I read them, my promotional product mind kicked in and I thought to myself that there were definitely promotional products out there that could help with some of their suggestions.  Click on the pictures to see the products on our website.

• Yoga

• Aromatherapy

• Music

• Tea

• Your pets

I could go on, but I don’t want to stress you out.  However, I encourage you to read the original article for some great tips.

Life can be stressful to us all, giving your customers or clients products to help them reduce that stress is something that will also be appreciated.

Lee
Marketing Coordinator

Hello, local readers! Hot off the press is this week’s edition of our weekend guide, filled with the best things to do in and around Atlanta this Thursday through Sunday. As always, be sure to add anything we missed in the comments section. Enjoy your weekend!!

Keep reading for more information about BaconFest, Hop in the Park Easter Celebration, the Great City Race and other exciting weekend events!

Currently I am drawn toward promotional products that assist with technology. Everyday essentials such as iPad sleeves, Bluetooth enabled speakers, checkpoint friendly computer bags and battery power sticks help us make it thru our busy days. The smallest gadget, like a stylus helps the user navigate their tablet or smartphone without fumbling or making fingerprints on their screen.

And I have seen a lot of unique styluses out there. Models that have a screen cleaner embedded in the case, pen/stylus combos, and even a pen/stylus/highlighter combo! When I discovered the Vanessa bracelet/stylus I was wowed. A rubberized bracelet that has a stylus tip and that can triple as a bookmark? So cool!

The modern colors and sleek material are not to be ignored. My favorite is the green. Choose from 6 PMS shades to coordinate with your logo. This product would be unique and cost effective to mail to your favorite customers! They will be wearing your brand around town! Up to 3 colors can be screen printed on the center of the band.

Check out the Vanessa Stylus & Bracelet and our stylus offerings here.

Megan
Merchandising Manager

We are happy to introduce you to our Fan of the Month for March: Mining Resrouces & Mesabi Nugget! They are sister companies on the Iron Range, both under Steel Dynamics.

1.  Tell us a little more about your company:

Steel Dynamics and Magnetation have partnered to build the new Mining Resources facility near Hibbing, Minnesota to process natural ore tailings basins and produce iron ore concentrate. The plant implements new magnetic separation technology to recover hematite ore from previously discarded waste streams generated by mining operations from the 1930s through the 1960s. New technology employed by the Mesabi Nugget operation now produces the world’s first and only iron nuggets that are pure enough to supplant imported pig iron in mini-mill steel production. Mesabi Nugget uses Minnesota iron ore to produce 97-percent pure, metallic iron nuggets that are perfectly suited for use in EAFs—ushering in a New Age of Iron for Minnesota’s Iron Range.

2.  What is your favorite promotional product?

Our favorite promotional item that we have ordered so far are the Eyeglass/sunglass Holder Clips.

3. What kind of promotional products would you like to use in the future?

One promotional item that we would like to see and couldn’t find on your website was a magnetic post it note pad. (ed note: Your Account Manager will be happy to send you some options for this. There are many products that we can get that are not on our site. Just ask!)

4.  Tell us a fun fact about you or your company!

Some of our crew participated in the Arctic Splash (jumped into a frozen lake) to raise funds for the United Way.

Thanks for working with Pinnacle.  We appreciate your business!  Look out for some fun goodies in the mail.

If you’d like to be a Fan of the Month, email lee@pinnaclepromotions.com

Earth Day is approaching…  Earth Day is on April 22, 2013 so just about a month away.  Does your company or organization do anything to celebrate this holiday?

Many companies celebrate this holiday by hosting on-site events, creating “green teams”, recognizing and rewarding achievements, and coordinating community service efforts.  As many recognize, Earth Day efforts go beyond just one day but Earth Day or Earth Week can be a great way to recognize your sustainability efforts throughout the year. It is an opportunity to highlight, engage, and drive future involvement in sustainability projects throughout the year.

At Pinnacle we have cleaned up our local parks, signed pledges to live a greener lifestyle, as well as participated in Earth Hour.  Earth Hour this year is March 23rd from 8:30-9:30pm where you switch off your lights for an hour to show your support and concern for the environment.  This event has grown into a full global community of millions of people in 7,001 cities and towns across 152 countries… pretty amazing!

If you are preparing for upcoming Earth Day events or just getting started, I have put together an inspiration board of promotional products that can be incorporated in your events or celebrations.  Check out our EarthSmart pinboard too

The Earth Day Seed Paper Mini-Gift Pack is a 100% recycled info card and letterpress printed plantable seed paper globe, packaged together in a corn-based cello bag. This is an inexpensive way to present a gift at your event or even mail to clients since it’s lightweight and flat.

The Pietra Recycled Stone Paper Notepad is the perfect eco-friendly item to show your company’s commitment to the environment. It features ecological paper that is made from stones, so its manufacturing process does not involve tree cutting.

Priced under $1, Recycled Flyers are a great giveaway item for an outdoor Earth Day event.

Laminated 100% Recycled Grocery Tote is a common product that is associated with being “green” but because it’s so useful (especially with some states plastics bag bans) it is still very popular!  This bag is made from 100% PET recycled fabric and comes in 8 bold colors with stock designs.

Let us know what fun and unique things you’re doing to celebrate Earth Day this year…  we’re always looking for fun ways to celebrate Mother Earth!

-Heather

Merchandising Manager

Hello, local readers! Hot off the press is this week’s edition of our weekend guide, filled with the best things to do in and around Atlanta this Thursday through Sunday. As always, be sure to add anything we missed in the comments section. Enjoy your weekend!!

Keep reading for more information about the 2nd Annual Easter Art Hunt, Conyers Cherry Blossom Festival, Oyster & Crawfish Festival and other exciting weekend events!

I am a huge fan of gifts with purchase and have talked myself into many a makeup shopping spree because I loved the free tote and samples I’d get along with my purchase. Now you can take advantage of our own free gift with purchase if you’re looking to buy stylus pens!

Stylus pens have steadily risen in the ranks of popular pens, with it’s knockout combination that enables you to go from paper to touchscreen just by flipping which side you’re are using. The Premium Stylus Pen is no exception and boasts metal-tone features and a soft rubber grip that will make it easy for your recipients to take notes during meetings or class without hurting their fingers. And for a short while longer, starting with a 1,000 minimum order you’ll receive a gift with your awesome new stylus pens. Depending on the size of your order, you could receive Keurig Elite B40 Coffeemaker, or a MacBook air or any gift of your choice. Check out all your choices here! Sometimes having to order new promotional products can feel like a chore but we all know that chores are often easier if there’s incentive at the end. Make sure to check out the Premium Stylus Pen and gift options!

Sofia
Merchandising Assistant

SXSW (South by Southwest) is a conference and festival in Austin, Texas that is being held March 8-17th.  It’s huge conference filled emerging talent and new products, in the fields of technology, music and films.

People from all over the country who are involved in these industries flock to Austin each spring to check it all out.  There are over 5,000 separate events going on during the nine day period.  From all sorts of live music to film screenings to technology, marketing and social media sessions, SXSW clearly is the place to be for those in the know (or those who aspire to be).

There are informative sessions in entrepreneurialism and business, culture and entertainment, design and development, community and activism, work and career, gaming and game development, science and space exploration, content and distribution and more.

Aside from all the awesome opportunities that SXSW-goers have, they also receive A LOT of promotional products.

Mashable asked it’s followers to tweet pictures of the best SXSW swag they received with the hashtag #mashSXSW.

I encourage you to do a twitter search for that hashtag and check out some of the cool promotional products that other companies are using to promote their brand at this huge event. Maybe you’ll see something that you can use for your next event.

Lee
Marketing Coordinator

My co-worker, Lee recently shared an article with me from Forbes.com, The Hidden Benefits of Social Media Marketing: Why Your Strategy May be Working Better Than You Think.   It actually put a positive spin on all the social media marketing efforts that most companies are investing in.  It kind of hit home with the two of us. Sometimes it can be challenging to measure your return on investment with social media, especially for small businesses.  This article discusses 10 ways in which social media may be working for you that you don’t realize. Give it a read if you have a chance.

The big benefit of social media for Pinnacle is that it is a place where we can build our community and create a forum for our clients and partners.  We share information, articles, and new & unique products that we think our clients would be interested in and monitor their engagement. From time to time we will ask our community questions about what they are looking for or what they would like us to offer more of.  The feedback we receive is taken to heart. We discuss our clients needs as we continuously plan our future efforts online and off.

We also utilize our social networks as a place to reward our loyal followers or fans.  We do free promotional giveaways and offer exclusive discounts and sales.  This offers our customers an additional incentive to follow us and engage.  Everyone likes to receive something for free, especially if it is a unique product they couldn’t get anywhere else.  We recently gave away Gadget Grip Dot’s on Facebook, little tactile buttons you can place on your smartphone or tablets that offer a very unique branding opportunity.

Our clients that won seemed genuinely excited when we contacted them to let them know.  It makes us happy to make our customers happy :)

So far we have seen that Facebook has been the social network that we receive the most engagement on.  It has been really fun to grow our community there however Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and YouTube have also been networks that we’ve seen growth and opportunity.  What social networks are you participating in?  What have you found has been your biggest benefit?

Heather

-Merchandising Manager