At least once a day someone asks me what’s the latest, greatest promotional product… oh yeah… it has to be functional, look expensive, make the recipient think of my company AND be dirt cheap.  Here are two great ideas that I am currently using and loving:

#1 – Mobile Phone Charging Station
Every now and then someone comes out with a cool, simple, smart product that you look at and say, “duh… why didn’t I think of that?”.

Designed in Italy, produced in the United States and Europe, this mobile phone holder (or iPod, PDA) looks like something you would see in the Museum of Modern Art Store with a $15 price tag.  The holder hangs between your battery charger and the wall socket.  It provides a support for your mobilephone and convenient storage for your charging cord.

In about 30 seconds, the cell phone charging area in my kitchen went from rats nest to groovy and organized. The holder is made of a special mix of plastic and rubber to give it strength and grip.  Available in 8 colors.  As low as $2.50 each including a 1-color imprint.

#2 – Desktop [Cellphone, Blackberry, iPod, Business Card] Holder

Yes, another functional promotional product I have fallen in love with – I use it for my Blackberry and it sits to the right of my monitor.  I always know where my phone is and I can just glance at it to see if the vibration is an email/text or if someone is actually calling.  It’s fun because you receive it flat and have to put it together.  It’s even small enough to ship it in a #10 envelope. There are 2 sizes–small to accommodate cell phones and iPods and large ones to accommodate PDAs. The small one will mail First Class for 2 oz. and the large one ships at 3 oz.  There’s a wide variety of colors – both opaque and transparent AND it now is available in 4-color process!  As low as $1.50 each including a 3-color imprint.

Everywhere you look these days, we’re being bombarded by words like:  green, eco or earth friendly, enviroconscious.  Is going green hype or here to stay?  Green is the new low-fat and this blogger thinks it’s here to stay

So what does green actually mean other than the obvious? Okay yes, it’s a color or to be more precise, it’s an additive primary color. My 4 year old would tell me it’s a mixture of yellow and blue. Green is closely related to the Old English verb growan or “to grow”. Back in the 80’s it was popular to call money “green”. Green topics are on the covers of most magazines and newspapers around the country, yet everyone struggles with the definition.

The definition that I found and like the most is in Infoworld analyst Ted Sampson’s blog:

A green product or service is one that delivers comparable or superior performance, utility, or other benefits to an alternative one while utilizing fewer resources, containing fewer toxic materials, and/or boasting a longer lifecycle.

To that end, I would like to introduce two green promotional products that I really like:

It’s an LED “never needs a battery” flashlight and it’s a cell phone recharger. Simply wind it up for about a minute and the light lasts for roughly 30 minutes. It easily fits in a glove compartment, purse or on your wrist – it’s readily accessible in an emergency. Awesome safety award, employee recognition gift or trade show giveaway – add the logo (1-color) and you’re still under $10.

]]> http://www.bullpenmarketing.com/weknowpromo/2008/07/green-is-gold/feed/ 1 http://www.bullpenmarketing.com/weknowpromo/2008/04/little-red-wagon/ http://www.bullpenmarketing.com/weknowpromo/2008/04/little-red-wagon/#comments Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:16:34 +0000 robert.melvin http://www.bullpenmarketing.com/weknowpromo/?p=10 Posted by: Robert Melvin

It doesn’t get any better than this. Opie Taylor pulling his red wagon through the streets of Mayberry. This retro cargo mover is big enough for business cards, paper clips, coins, candy, or a few crumbs of Aunt Bee’s tasty apple pie. Metal construction with rubber wheels provide durability and speed that would impress both Gomer and Goober Pyle.  Pricing ranges from about $4.00 to $4.45 per wagon.

Like most people, I feel coffee is an integral part of my day. If you throw in a sunrise, I’m in heaven!

Check out this promotional coffee mug that mixes the comfort of your favorite hot beverage with a new-age, color-changing cup.  Pricing usually ranges from $5 to $12 per mug.  What a great gift for employees and clients!

Have a sunny day,

Holly