Should you or shouldn’t you start planning for Christmas three months out?
Why you should?
Preparation, most of us believe is key to smooth sailing. And we all know Christmas time is where stress levels can be peaking. Getting organised early on can avoid last minute panic stations.
You have adequate time to shop around for best pricing for gifts, food, decorations, plane tickets, etc.
If you are a lover of everything Christmas, so extending one of your favourite times of the year from one day to three months, makes complete sense.
You actually love the build up / anticipation more than the day of Christmas, and therefore dedicate most of your focus on this part.
You have lots of family coming and need the 3 months prior to mentally and emotionally prepare yourself for the day.
Dietary requirements are not limited to one person at the table anymore. Every person and their dog has a food allergy / intolerance / preference. If you are catering, this certainly requires an excel spreadsheet.
It’s the perfect excuse to buy new stationery to help you plan and organise. If this is you, check out some of my latest favourite stationery items.
Planning now helps you remain flexible when the last minute Christmas drinks/ catch-ups, pop-up. Waltzing in feeling stress free and completely present.
You love lists and event planning and so this is your time to shine.
Why you shouldn’t?
Three months is a quarter of the year, and anything could change your pre-determined plans.
You potentially miss out on Spring because your head is stuck in Christmas.
A gift 3 months out may seem like a good idea at the time, but fast forward 3 months, and it could become yesterday’s novelty. Some tried and trusted denim suggestions.
You have lost your Christmas spirit… This is where, I believe, self gifting comes in. Love thy self!
You are extremely introverted and find Christmas festivities unbearable and therefore do not give it more thinking time than required.
Your work life is all about planning, and so in your personal life, you take a break. If you are looking for Work Christmas gifts check – see page 23/24 of our look book for some ideas.
You are not sure if you will be here at Christmas or booking a trip away so you can avoid Christmas all together.
Christmas feels like groundhog day. Same day, different year!
I know it may feel a little early to be thinking about Christmas, but it does make life a lot less stressful when you can plan ahead. Particularly when it comes to gift giving for customers, staff, suppliers, business partners… and particularly when the quantities are not small. Planning helps you stick to your budget, ensure stock availability, delivery and quality is spot on.
Some interesting information on the power of gift giving, I found recently from 2018/19 Forbes article:
“Detailing the return-on-investment for a business gift, Jennings reveals that C-suite executives are especially impacted by a gift that tells a story and facilitates a deeper personal connection, which 94% of top executives believe is important to business success. Over 80% of C-suite executives believe that business gifts generate measurable positive ROI in addition to intangible benefits. “Gifts humanize business,” said a survey respondent. “It pays for itself two fold,” said another.”
Let me know if you want to talk Christmas gift giving for your customers, shareholders, suppliers, partners and/or staff. I have loads of gift ideas – both new and the classics that never falter.
It’s natural to feel a little uneasy about the safety of your private information these days. Between Cambridge Analytica and 2017 being among the worst years in history for mass data breaches, the insecurities of the digital age are becoming vividly apparent. The walls around your digital footprint may seem paper thin, but there is something you can do to put something a bit more solid between you and those out for your data.
You may feel a fair amount of anxiety when using the internet; browsing social media and making purchases through online stores involves putting a lot of personal and financial information out there. This, however, is only one avenue that thieves use to get at your personal data. Not only in cyberspace but also here, in the physical world, thieves can use discreet and relatively simple technologies to make off with everything, from cars to credit card numbers, without the owner even knowing.
The way it works is that the thief utilises radio-frequency identification (RFID) or near-field communication (NFC). It sounds like complex jargon, but these features are present in pretty much everything you’ll be carrying around on a daily basis. Almost every modern smart phone features NFC, you’ll probably recognise the pointed ‘N’ logo from your handset’s pulldown menu, and RFID chips are featured in everything from contactless paywave cards to household pets and passports.
As this video shows, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZp24Twkykw, the process by which thieves can go about getting data is incredibly simple. Scooping up a plethora of card numbers and account numbers in an hour or so just by walking about an average urban neighbourhood.
It’s frightening yes, but the solution to this problem is also devilishly simple. By investing in an affordable travel sleeve for your passport or credit card, you can turn the tables on would-be thieves and hackers. For the frequent flyer and avid traveller, a passport is their life. So why risk it? And there’s no need to speak to the universal importance of keeping your hard earned cash secure. These products are cheap to produce, fairly quick to turnaround and can be customised to feature almost any colour, design or insignia. Subtle, smart and safe. A low-key investment that will not only save any savvy buyer a wealth of time and money, but give them a priceless peace of mind.
Wellbeing products are somewhat ubiquitous these days. You’ll see them lining the walls of a pharmacy, perhaps stuffed in next to the Cadbury’s or even right at the checkout to prompt a last minute ‘Oh gosh I forgot about X’s birthday’. The ever-presence is for a good reason though. They’re an excellent gift idea, having a universal appeal and a price range that lets consumers pay a little or a lot whilst still getting a presentable, quality product.
Everyone likes to be pampered. Everyone likes to smell nice and feel detoxified. Consumer engagement is very high with wellness products and it’s only getting higher. With the recent surge in popularity of wellness and spirituality, more natural products such as diffusers are seeing a high adoption rate and their place in the gift market gives them an even broader reach.
Smelling great and getting comfy can be done on a budget with wellness products, and the potential for customisation and creativity is strong. Diffusers in particular can be tailored to a variety of tastes, or perhaps more accurately smells. As Promotherapy, a producer of sensory promotional products, puts it:
‘Marketing isn’t meant to be bland and boring, it should engage all the senses.’
The results are scientifically proven too. Our senses are tied to our memories, and positive stimuli that engages some or all of our senses can invoke a strong emotional reaction, as shown in a recent study carried out by the National Institute of Neuroscience in Turin, Italy.
So don’t underestimate the power of these seemingly simple products. By effectively utilising wellness products (smells in particular!) you’ll see your brand retention and engagement improve spectacularly!
Winter is on the doorstep. Head protection from extreme weather is a necessity… for how many weeks of the year, all depends on where you live and how often you travel to cold climates.
From another perspective, head attire can have nothing to do with protection, but more to do with a personal identity, statement or association. Celebrities known for wearing a beanie in the summertime include: Robert Pattinson, Ashton Kutcher, Justin Bieber, David Beckham and Liam Hemsworth.
Here are some different ways you can wear a beanie, thanks to instyle.com.au:
Take a casual approach – team up with a pair or sneakers
Patterned beanie – Wear with block colour outfit
Work the tones – Compile your outfit on different tones of the one colour
Dress up your beanie – Wear with a tailored coat and Knee high boots
Off-duty model – Match with leather jacket, skinny pants, and sneakers.
Play with Texture – A fluffy beanie with a fluffy jacket.
Stripes – Beanies with stripes.
What are some other interesting facts about beanies:
There is a world record for the most beanies worn at once. One hundred beanies, by a man in New York, in 2016.
It’s believed that the first beanie dated back to the 12th and 13th centuries.
1990s, the beanie increased in its attractiveness, becoming a favorite accessory for skaters and snowboarders
So we get that beanies have been around for a long time and are super popular, both in winter and summer. So how can you make a branded beanie work? There are lots of fun and cool things you can do with beanies: animal designs; full colour images, branding or messaging; ear warmers; visors; or even a pompom on top. It also comes down to your brand personality, message and the theme/event you are tapping into.
Lots of brands do caps and visors, so why not try something a little different. Beanies are a great way to tap into the millennial market; if you want to go for the grungy / anti-social movement; and also the adventure tourism market (involves exploration or travel to remote exotic areas) – a market which is expected to grow by 20% in the next 5 years.
A book written more than 10 years ago and we are glued to our digital screens more than ever. However, we are seeing consumer trends move from material to experiences.
A ‘Smells and Emotions’ study of 1,000 people by psychologist Silvia Alava, found that people remember 35% of what they smell and only 5% of what they see. And that 85% of people said happy moments were recalled with certain smells.
So how does a brand tap into the senses? How can you taste or smell an App for example or an online brand, or a charity?
We find ourselves in an environment that has a lot of noise. Yes we might be able to reach our audience, but will they remember you/your brand? There are more brands, more products, more messages, more channels. A creative problem awaits us all, which means brands to survive need to think outside the status quo and become more adventurous and continue to test a variety of applications to connect with their customer.
We are seeing online stores, like Amazon create pop-up shops. Fashion stores creating café experiences, fragrant collaborations across all industries, non-food brands opening restaurants, car brands selling apparel….
Champagne is a classic 5 senses product – smell, touch, sound, sight, taste. A magical moment that brings all your past celebratory moments in one. A lot of Coke’s ads have been based on how Coke stimulates the senses. When this happens, I don’t know about you, but it takes me right back to childhood summers and no responsibility.
We are not all in the space of creating a restaurant dining experience for our brands, but if we were to think about the 5 senses, what would our brand sound like, taste like, smell like, sound like, look like?
A promotional product campaign can take this knowledge and apply it to create an experience, a strong alignment with your brand where there is not just reach, but also recall.
Australian marketers spend more than $1.34billion on promotional products each year …. despite the growth in digital marketing spend.
“69% of advertisers said promotional products increased brand interest and 84% it created more favourable impressions of the brand itself.” Australasian Promotional Products Association.
Why promotional products still work for the marketer?
A way to position your brand, more serious, more fun, adventurous, innovation, etc.
It helps to grow your brands perceived value, through association, partners, etc.
If delivered correctly, you have a captive audience.
It can be an inexpensive way of engaging and connecting
It demonstrates brand creativity and effort.
You go beyond tapping into one of the senses and therefore have a greater opportunity of engaging and creating memory.
A lot of promotional products a kept and used by the receiver for years – creating engagement and personal memories with your brand.
The creativity used to get a response is the key to increasing profits and promoting your brand.
Why promotional products work for the customer
It’s physical. It tactical. People like to hold onto something. Evidence of this is all around us – people with their phones!
They provide customers with an added benefit – not just you advertising your brand.
If the synergy between customer, brand and promotional product is right, the customer will enjoy the association.
Customers feel special when they receive a gift. The acknowledgement of being a valued customer feels good.
Their impression of a company is more positive after receiving a promotional product.
They are more likely to do business with a company after receiving a proposal product
You can never have too many USB Flash Drives. It’s the one office product that never gets re-gifted, because you know how valuable it is to your working day.
USB has made our lives so much easier. Particularly given that a big part of life revolves around storage and convenient transferability of information.
They come in a huge range of shapes, sizes, colours, capacity and can be fully customised to your specifications.
The latest flash drives are super cool … you don’t have to stick to the stock standard anymore.
The latest trend is the OTG or On The Go flash drives that provide expanded storage for smartphones and tablets. An OTG flash drive can be plugged directly into your Android or iOS smart phone to backup files, photos, videos and more without needing to be in front of a computer. This way you don’t have to miss out on any experiences whilst out and about if you happen to run out of memory on your device.
However, not all USB Flash Drive chips are the same. At TurnKey Promotions, we have staked our reputation on providing high quality products and only use a reputable technology factory providing A-grade chips sourced out of Japan. We have had clients come to us after sourcing cheap ones with real issues such as viruses being spread, the memory not being as stated, slow read-write speeds and general dissatisfaction.
USB Flash Drives are a useful branded product that will still be in demand for years to come by your customers, staff and suppliers … providing your brand with continued impressions well into the future.
Every man and his dog is doing or has done notepads. A long standing promotional product, that continues to grow. Year on year the notepad holds a top 10 position in the most popular promotional products. People still love stationery; despite being constantly tied to our phones. The great thing about the notepad is that you can make it work for your brand and your customer. It comes down to the type of notepad, the accessories you team it up with (e.g. pen or pencil), and the design. How and where you position your logo. What message do you want to convey to the audience? Is it a message that inspires and motivations? A message that people want to Instagram?The target market is wide, so it’s just about finding the right style.
A number of large companies love to celebrate back to school, so there is a lot of noise around this time, which makes it even more important to be creative and stand out from the crowd if you want to cut-through. Your products and services may not be specifically targeted to school age students, however, imagine the exposure of your logo to mums, dads, teachers and the future generation. Consider the following questions and perhaps you too could run your own back to school campaign.
Who is your customer – Mums, Dads, Children, Teachers, School Suppliers?
Why would they want to hear from you?
How can your product make their life better?
What is your message?
What channel would you use to get your message across?
How can you reach them?
Who would you close the loop, so they continue their engagement with you?
What will the customer feel about your brand after this experience?
A promotional product is a great way to get your message out there, especially if you do it in
a way that’s unique to your brand and is purposeful for the user.
Create impact at your next business event and ensure your organisation is remembered long after the conference or event has ended.
Events are the perfect opportunity to invest in branded apparel and promotional products for staff and customers. Promotional products are a necessity if you’re exhibiting at a conference or expo and you want to attract attention and also keep your company top of mind.
Over 37 million people attended more than 412,000 business events across Australia in 2013-14. These numbers have climbed in the years since, with meetings and conventions forming the largest component of the industry in terms of events, delegate numbers, expenditure and value add. With this in mind, it’s a good way to capitalise on your next business event, whether it be a conference or large scale trade show, with branded products and gifts that put you top of mind with potential clients and help develop strong business relationships and future opportunities.
5 things to consider before your event:
1. Have a clear objective or goal: What do you want to achieve with this event? Do you want to create exposure of a theme or simply your brand with attendees? Whatever your objective, consider having promotional items such as tote bags as they act as billboards with repeated exposure of your logo throughout the event and after.
2. Timing and Budget: A lot of the time you know exactly what you want, however, may settle for less as you run out of time. Once you have confirmation of the event date, use your promotional product consultant or let us know; what you want to achieve, your budget and you’ll be provided with a range of concepts to help you achieve your goals. We have worked with a number of clients that have finalised everything for the event and when asked by management ‘What are we giving out?’ only have a week or two to turn around the perfect promotional product for the event … with limited and uninspiring options available in short lead times.
3. Remember Before, During and After: Don’t only think about handing out promotional products during an event. For an even better impact, you could consider promotions before and after the event as well. Some ideas before the event might be an invitation with a creative product or a teaser to encourage the attendee to visit your stand and receive another gift. You could reward those that attended your event with another item to remind them of your organisation and keep the enthusiasm going.
4. Target Audience: The key to getting your branded products kept and taken back to the office or home, is to provide useful products that suit the target audience! It shows you have done your research and will ensure you stand out in an already crowded advertising arena with give-aways that make guests want to visit your stand to get the item.
5. Size Matters: If attendees have travelled interstate or internationally for the event ensure the product is suitable for travel. In this situation, sometimes smaller more thoughtful items can have more impact than larger items like water bottles that can take up too much space in carry-on luggage or breakable items such as glassware or coffee mugs.
For creative ideas to help you with your next meeting, conference, trade show or business event, we’re here to help.
Enjoy,
Diana
Diana O’Cobhthaigh, is the owner of Turnkey Promotions, boutique agency specialising in promotional merchandise and product development. Turnkey Promotions provides a helpful and consultative experience that is tailored towards our clients’ Branding, Values and Vision. Diana and Turnkey Promotions are focused on a partnership that delivers precision in planning, quality products and timely delivery.
Create impact at your next business event and ensure your organisation is remembered long after the conference or event has ended.