One of our favorite suppliers, Leeds, has introduced a great way to tie charitable giving in with your next promotion. They will do this by donating 10% of the sales revenue from all items in their new “Hope Collection” to Habitat for Humanity, and all Hope Collection products will include tags containing information about how the sale of the item helped to fund the mission of Habitat for Humanity. There are a range of items to choose from in this collection, including journal books, ceramic tumblers, aluminum bottles, bookmarks, and totes.
Habitat for Humanity International seeks to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from the world, and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience action. Habitat invites people from all walks of life to work together in partnership to help build houses with families in need. Since 1976, Habitat has built more than 350,000 houses around the world, providing 1.75 million people in more than 3,000 communities with safe, decent, affordable shelter.
This year, send clients, prospects or employees a meaningful message about giving back by putting your brand on an item from the Leeds Hope Collection!
Contact us today for pricing, lead times and design options for items in the Hope Collection!
By Kathleen Booth
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In an effort to protect consumers from exaggerated advertising claims, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is considering tightening regulations on how marketers use words like “recyclable,” biodegradable” and “carbon neutral.” The rules, also known as Green Guides, could affect more than 300 environmental seals of approval on current products, possibly making those environmentally-friendly claims in violation of government standards. Besides updating those standards, the rules would also more clearly define how companies can back up their claims of environmental sustainability.
The FTC’s Green Guides are designed to help marketers avoid making environmental claims that are unfair or deceptive under Section 5 of the FTC Act. The Green Guides outline general principles that apply to all environmental marketing claims and then provide guidance on specific green claims, such as biodegradable, compostable, recyclable, recycled content, and ozone safe. The FTC issued the Guides in 1992, and updated them in 1996 and 1998. The Commission currently is reviewing the Guides, as described below.
The updated regulations will continue a recent trend of more aggressive enforcement of eco-friendly-related advertising. During the past two years, the FTC has brought seven environmental advertising enforcement actions, compared to zero during the prior eight years. While the FTC cannot compel companies into adopting more eco-conscious policies, the agency is permitted by law to stop marketing fraud.
The FTC is specifically targeting greenwashing, the practice of making an unsubstantiated or misleading claim about the environmental benefits of a product in order to increase its sales. The most notable case of alleged greenwashing occurred last year when the FTC accused Kmart of listing paper plates as biodegradable. The plates, the government argued, would not typically decompose in solid waste facilities where most garbage is found. Kmart eventually agreed to alter its “biodegradable” claims in its marketing.
Before the FTC begins enforcing the new rules, the agency will first publish the Green Guides in the Federal Register and institute a comment period. The FTC is expected to announce the updated regulations within the next two weeks, likely issuing the most substantial change to Green Guides in more than a decade.
By Molly Milazzo
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Pencils are amongst the most ubiquitous of promotional products. As a result, it can be challenging to create a pencil promotion that stands out from the very crowded field. Enter the new “Renew” recycled tire pencil from Dixon Ticonderoga. Made from a specially formulated rubber compound created from recycled tires, the Renew pencil is PMA certified non-toxic and features a latex free eraser. And best of all, the core is made of the same high quality, black, #2 graphite that is required for test taking and by schools everywhere.
Every Renew pencil features a “Made from Recycled Tires” imprint, and you can add your own brand or message as well. The pencil itself is only available in black, but you can choose from a black, green or white eraser, and a black, silver, or brass ferrule. At as little as $0.28 per piece, the Renew pencil is an affordable promotion that sends an important message.
Dixon Ticonderoga is considered the world’s best pencil and its therefore not surprising that it is the best selling one. With its sleek black, recycled casing, this pencil is both good looking and good for the environment. Globally, one tire is discarded per person, per year, and there are currently over 2 billion scrapped tires in U.S. stockpiles. What a great way to make use of refuse!
By Kathleen Booth
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There’s nothing more annoying than gathering a long cord or rope only to have it unravel. Plus I don’t know about you but I hate the tangled mess of cords and wires behind my television and DVD player. The little velcro strap attached to the cords never stays in place or is long enough to gather all of the extra cord! I recently came across an answer to all my tangled messes: the Cable Clamp®. 
The Cable Clamp is an innovative and easy-to-use cord management and organizational tool which is superior to tape, cable ties, and hook & loop products. The Cable Clamp is reusable and can be easily opened and closed with one hand utilizing its unique Quick Connect…Quick Release feature. Constructed with durable polymers and stainless steel, it features self-aligning, self-adjusting, and self-locking technologies. The Cable Clamp is available in three convenient sizes: small, medium, and large, all are designed to accommodate a wide array of applications, including organizing standard desktop computer wiring to bundling extension cords as long as 100’. They’re available in a variety of different colors and can be decorated with your company logo.
The Cable Clamp would make a great promotional product for home improvement/construction stores and companies, landscaping companies, computer repair/IT companies, mechanics.
By admin
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Don’t forget March is American Red Cross Month. I know it’s only the end of January, but this is the perfect time to plan. Plus ordering early will guarantee you stock in the products you want, avoid any rush charges, and get the promotion in your hands on-time!
In light of recent world events, we all know the Red Cross does great things, from organizing blood drives to providing shelter, food, and emotional support to victims of disasters. You can help give back to communities affected by tragedy by organizing outreach programs to raise donations for the Red Cross. Or Give back to your local community by volunteering at a local shelter, hospital, or school. You can buy promotional products to get the word out about your event, thank volunteers for their time, or provide comfort to those receiving care.
T-shirts or sweatshirts make great giveaways at volunteering events. They can be worn during an event to distinguish participants or given out after to thank volunteers for their support. Decorated apparel is one of the most popular and well-received promotional marketing products. And don’t forget 79% of people hold onto a t-shirt for sentimental reasons. Many people who volunteer or participate in charity or reliefs efforts have an emotional connection to the cause.
Other well-received give-a-way ideas at volunteer/charity events: key chains, pins, bracelets, water bottles, towels, or hats.
By admin
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What a year! With one of the worst economies in recent memory, 2009 was tough for so many people. For us, it was a challenging but very interesting time that forced us look inward and think hard about the service we provide, the products we sell, and the industry in which we work. I, for one, came away with a new appreciation for the relationships we built with our customers, all of whom stuck with us as their marketing budgets got slashed. But I also developed a renewed confidence in the services and the products that we sell.
At a time when money for advertising and marketing is scarce, promotional marketing has a very valuable role to play. I just saw the results of a study of the advertising habits of marketing executives that was conducted late last summer, and the data relating to the impact of promotional products is quite impressive. Specifically, end buyers of advertising and marketing cited promotional products as best (over TV, newspapers and the internet) in the following categories:
- Ability to achieve long term memorability on a cost per impression basis;
- Flexibility to fit the cost of the medium to the budget;
- Ability to bond with the audience in a way that promotes repeat business;
- Audience-friendly factor (people actually want to receive them!); and
- Proven ability to generate traffic to stores, tradeshows, etc.
These finding are further confirmed by a study that the Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) conducted last fall. That study found that a little less than half of American consumers received a promotional product in the last 24 months, and 90.4% still own the product that they received. Even better, 94% could recall the product, 89% could recall the advertiser, and 78% could recall the message! That is truly incredible longevity!!
Armed with the statistics from these two studies, I feel very confident telling our customers to spend their limited budgets on promotional marketing generally and promotional products specifically. Not only do they get great results, they can do so in a very budget conscious way. This makes them the perfect vehicle to promote any brand in any economy – good or bad.
By admin
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One of our favorite suppliers, Leeds, has introduced a great way to tie charitable giving in with your next promotion. They will do this by donating 10% of the sales revenue from all items in their new “Hope Collection” to Habitat for Humanity, and all Hope Collection products will include tags containing information about how the sale of the item helped to fund the mission of Habitat for Humanity. There are a range of items to choose from in this collection, including journal books, ceramic tumblers, aluminum bottles, bookmarks, and totes.
