Let’s start off with a little game. See if you can identify and match these taglines to their proper businesses. No cheating by asking the internet! (Answers at the bottom.)

1. Don’t leave home without it. (1975)
2. Just do it. (1988)
3. Melts in your mouth, not in your hands. (1954)
4. Takes a licking and keeps on ticking. (1956)
5. A diamond is forever. (1948)
6. What happens here, stays here. (2002)
7. Have it your way. (1973)
8. The quicker picker-upper. (1991)

A tagline, or a slogan, is a vital and integral marketing tool for any business or company. It is not just words on a letterhead or a website or a postcard. It goes far beyond anything tangible. A tagline should be powerful enough to resonate with your customers and evoke some sort of emotional subconscious response. A good tagline should connect positive feelings with your brand and be memorable. And over time, a great tagline will have a “stickiness” factor, and when heard, seen or read, become interchangeable with your brand. Nike™, for example, no longer has to use it’s name in commercials or products. It’s swoosh logo and tagline “Just do it” more than suffice for brand recognition.

But it’s not that easy to come up with five words or less to sum up your brand, send your message and create an identity. Having a bad tagline can make you seem out of touch with the people you’re most trying to connect with. And the worst that can happen? A poorly conceived tagline can be completely forgettable—which means so can your brand. At Bullpen Marketing, we understand and value the importance of what a tagline means to a company. Whether you’re a new company just starting out or an older one in need of a branding face-lift, we can help. Give us a call and let us help you become unforgettable.

Tagline Answers:

1. American Express
2. Nike
3. M&Ms
4. Timex
5. DeBeers
6. Las Vegas
7. Burger King
8. Bounty

Once again, hurricane season has everyone in the Gulf Coast on alert.  As I write this posting, there are two active storms threatening our country – Hanna is taking a tour up the east coast and Ike is poking its way towards the gulf.  Tropical storms in our area start out as tropical waves from the western African coast.  Africa blows these deadly kisses across the Atlantic to the Caribbean Sea and North America. 

There’s nothing scarier than being in the “cone of uncertainty” as the hurricane approaches our communities.  Being prepared is critical and something we should all do. 

Recently I discovered a product that can literally be a life saver – the Dynamo Multifunction Flashlight.  Light never burns out or needs batteries.  Cranking the handle for 60 seconds produces 30 seconds of light.  But there’s more – along with the LED flashlight, the unit has a FM scan radio (for listening to the weather or news), an emergency siren (to attract emergency attention), and a cell phone charger!  Because there are so many different types of cell phones, you’ll need to get an adaptor that works with your phone.

Over a million people lost power from Hurricane Gustav when it hit Louisiana a week ago – many are still waiting for it to be restored.  This is precisely why this flashlight is so important.  You can add your logo to the base of the flashlight.  Show your employees and customers how much you care about their well being for less than $20.

Everyone is always asking me – “What’s the newest and coolest promotional product? Or the latest greatest giveaway?  Or something awesome and techie?”  My new favorite old promotional product actually dates back to somewhere around the sixth century BC – a book!  What better gift to give an employee (to motivate, train, show appreciation, new hire gift), client (as a gift or to show appreciation)  or prospect than the gift of a book.  Books are great giveaways for events and parties as well – they reinforce an event’s meaning or location creating long lasting memories.  And not just any book.    

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
Dr. Seuss

You can add your logo on the book cover of most books and really personalize it to your company by adding in the front page.  The right book reinforces your brand, values, mission and vision.  Books arry a high perceived value and are long lasting keepsakes – you may give away a book but you never throw away a book.  Books fit a wide range of price points – from $1 to $100.

Here are some examples showing just a few possibilities:

Call us today to brainstorm on using books as a promotional product.

Have you ever walked into a restaurant and sat down only to find that there was no place to hang your purse?  Leaving it on the table cramps the already small dining space that’s given, and just the mere thought of placing it on the bacteria ridden floor send chills up my spine.  That’s why I was elated to see a clever little contraption that put’s and end to this problem.  Behold the purse hanger!

This small, yet chic, little device not only keeps purses off of dirty floors, but can hold up to 15 lbs easily!  And guys….this isn’t just for the ladies.  This hanger is the perfect thing to keep your briefcase and laptop cases off of the floor during business lunches and dinners….  It is so small that you can throw it in your purse or bag and keep it there at all times. This is a perfect appreciation gift for employees, loyal customer, volunteers or yourself …  Both chic and functional, this something that anyone would appreciate.

Posted by: Sousan Arab

While in Austin for the 4^th of July weekend, I visited the famous Oasis restaurant.

Because Austin is a city notorious for the thousands of college students, many of the bars and restaurants run drink specials and happy hours in order to bring in a crowd to enjoy their adult beverages. The Oasis is located on the coast of Lake Travis and has a menu in a moderate price range. In order to attract customers to their drink menu, many of the specialty drinks are served in Oasis logoed glasses that the customer can keep. With this marketing method both the customer and producer are satisfied; the restaurant is selling pricey drinks and the customer feels like they are getting a free souvenir.

Here are several examples of similar (and better) shot glasses that we can make for any company’s party promotion.  The first one is multi-colored, the second one actually lights up, and the third is a mini beer stein! 

Posted by: Colin Hageney

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.

How exactly does promotional marketing work? How can one item handed out have a trickle down effect making that cost of impression worthwhile? Is viral marketing related?

Personally I prefer to think of promotional advertising more targeted in that we provide ways to keep your message in front of those that count to you most. It could be recognition to an employee for a job well done just as easily as providing clients with a useful item that creates visibility for you in the process. Take for example an item that stays around for about a year…

Imagine your company name or organization’s message on a nice wall calendar and 50 of the 100 recipients put them up in their office or reception area.  In addition to your recipient seeing your message repeatedly over the course of a year, all others who pass that wall will also see your message. In that it is being displayed by your recipient, it also can be interpreted as an endorsement of sorts.

Now, let’s go to the media… a little viral marketing and how differnt forms of advertising work together.

Which brings me to the fun of today’s blog… www.News3Online.com …and yes, we can provide you with banners and temporary tattoos (along with buttons, nail files and a myriad of other ideas) should you end up in the political arena yourself. After checking out the following, you too can enjoy seeing your name splashed around for “all” to see.

In the promotional industry, we can keep your name and image in front of your target market using all of those senses. How many other means of advertising can stand on that statement?

For over 20 years I have heard a variety of other industry veterans tout this concept and today seemed as good as any to share it with you too; call it food for thought as the easiest example of sharing this with you is by having you envision your logo (or mascot) in chocolate.

I bet you have already decided if it is in white, milk or dark chocolate.  Hold it and feel it’s smoothness but don’t let it melt in your hands?  Smell the sweetness for a moment and imagine how it will taste.  Hear the chocolate as you tear off the wrapper and break off a bite size piece.  Pop it in your mouth and taste what you have been imagining since that chocolate was first visualized.

See it, feel it, touch it, hear it… taste it.  Makes sense to you too now doesn’t it?

Lauri Laufman, MAS

PS - Ever see someone receive a leather item and in the process of “checking it out” put it near their nose and sniff it?