Big Frey Promotional Products

Earlier we had a conversation with a college recruiter interested in promotional products for career fairs. During the meeting we showed her some creative products to help her build brand on campus. One of the products we showed her was a branded ping pong ball. This item peaked her interest because her company has a ping pong table in their break room and the ball would be a good way to start a conversation about the corporate culture at their firm.

Promotional products can be a valuable tool to help convey the corporate culture within your company. A more casual firm might use games as a promotional product, while a more conservative company might giveaway desktop items. By expressing your corporate culture through your promotional products you build brand more effectively and portray your message more clearly. For more help on picking the right products for your culture, you can Contact Us.

Next month we’ll be headed to the largest trade show in our industry, where we will have an opportunity to see all of this year’s new products firsthand and meet face to face with manufacturers. We will be scouring the show for new unique ideas for you in 2013! When we get back, we will be putting together a new product presentation FILLED with new product ideas.

Some trends to look for in 2013:

• Social Media Incorporation- Given the social media boom, many new products will have a social media tie-in to encourage users to engage brands on Facebook, Twitter, etc.
• Technology- With new smart phones and tablets flooding into the market, many new accessories will emerge to enhance the user experience.
• Safety- Companies are looking to increase safety measures in 2013, and we expect that to be reflected in the new products.

If there is something that you are looking for, or if you want to get a copy of the presentation when we return, leave us a message in the comments!

We look forward to hearing from you in the comments. Happy new year!

The holiday season is just around the corner – are you making your list and checking it twice?

As you prepare for holiday gift giving for your colleagues and clients, keep in mind that as you continue to build brand awareness with these audiences you can also find products that will give you a great return for your dollar.

If you are responsible for giving gifts internally, keep the demographics of your colleagues in mind. The gifts you give need to be applicable to all of your employees and that can be difficult. We offer a few ideas for you.  To start, drinkware and desktop items make great internal gifts because they touch a broad audience and are universal.  We also recommend gift cards that can be redeemed for a variety of preselected gifts.  The recipient will receive an expansive catalog and is free to shop till they drop!

You might also be responsible for purchasing holiday gifts for clients, customers or other external relations.  Whether you are trying to build brand awareness, recruit, or just say thank you to existing clients, holiday gifts can go a long way. For example, some recruiters have used holiday themed exam survival kits to help their recruits make it through final exams. Holiday gifts are also an effective way to thank clients for their patronage.

Whether you are looking for unique or simple ways to “give” this holiday season, we have a plethora of ideas to help!  The holiday’s gifts are a great way to show appreciation while also effectively building brand.

The holiday season is just around the corner – are you making your list and checking it twice?

As you prepare for holiday gift giving for your colleagues and clients, keep in mind that as you continue to build brand awareness with these audiences you can also find products that will give you a great return for your dollar.

If you are responsible for giving gifts internally, keep the demographics of your colleagues in mind. The gifts you give need to be applicable to all of your employees and that can be difficult. We offer a few ideas for you.  To start, drinkware and desktop items make great internal gifts because they touch a broad audience and are universal.  We also recommend gift cards that can be redeemed for a variety of preselected gifts.  The recipient will receive an expansive catalog and is free to shop till they drop!

You might also be responsible for purchasing holiday gifts for clients, customers or other external relations.  Whether you are trying to build brand awareness, recruit, or just say thank you to existing clients, holiday gifts can go a long way. For example, some recruiters have used holiday themed exam survival kits to help their recruits make it through final exams. Holiday gifts are also an effective way to thank clients for their patronage.

Whether you are looking for unique or simple ways to “give” this holiday season, we have a plethora of ideas to help!  The holiday’s gifts are a great way to show appreciation while also effectively building brand.

If you are a Midwesterner like me, it is sometimes hard to remember the balmy days of summer. The same day I dug my car out of what seemed like an eternity of snow, a client called about summer internship preparation. Summer internship prep? HUH?

Who is the 2012 Talent?

I have heard from a lot of clients asking about various resources for the tried and true institution of the summer intern – a mass exodus of exceptional people working extremely hard for very little pay while engaging in brief moments of team building and play hoping that a full-time offer will be extended within the following year.

The 2012 pool of available internship seekers are job hungry and certainly worried about the job market upon graduation in 2013. I want to touch on the importance of “touching these individuals.” If these folks indeed are the best options for full time hiring, then you want to show them how valuable they are to your organization.

Lower Your Cost Per Hire

How can you maintain a strong marketing program in this economy? Easily. As we have said time and time again, know your audience, know your budget and employ promotional tools that will attract attention to your company. The more attention you pay to the preparation and planning process, the less it will cost your company in the end. Recruiting and training are costly, so keep turnover at a minimum!

Here are some imminent times that you can “touch” the interns and enhance your brand:

Opportunity 1

• PRE-ARRIVAL to the internship program including campus events, career placement office events, during the midterm and final exam study period, etc.
• WHY: Pre-arrival gifts help differentiate your brand from the competition

Opportunity 2

• A WELCOME GIFT at the start of the internship program.
• WHY: First day gifts can help you set the tone of the program and set expectations

Opportunity 3

• THEMED gifts for special events such as golf outings, luncheons, sporting events, “end of the summer” party, etc.
• WHY: Interns will certainly remember the work but also make sure they remember the play!

Opportunity 4

• OFFER gifts immediately after you extend a full-time employment opportunity
• WHY: Reiterate their value to the organization and your continued support.

Always keep in mind that a well run internship program, from planning to execution to follow-up, means LOWERING YOUR COST PER HIRE and real ROI for the company.

As promised, this entry will continue to dive into our discoveries at the Las Vegas Expo. While our last post covered new products in the cell phone category, in this entry we want to share some information new unique desktop items.

Desktop items have always been hot promotional products, because of the value associated with having your brand sit on your client’s desk all day. This year at the show, we found a bunch of fun, innovative items that are sure to grab that valuable desk space. Two of our favorites were the BuzzBrush and the Sticky Note Slinky.

The BuzzBrush is a unique 2 in 1 computer-cleaning tool designed to easily clean in-between the keys of a keyboard, and wipe fingerprints off of your LCD screen or touch-screen device. The BuzzBrush has great desk appeal, which helps earn your brand that prominent desk spot, and its unique shape is sure to draw attention and evoke conversation.

The Sticky Note Slinky is a great spin off of the standard sticky note pad. By reversing the adhesive on each sheet, the pad takes a slinky-like form. The extra fun factor of these sticky notes often lands your brand in a prime desktop location.

Stay tuned for more new ideas from the 2011 new product expo, and contact us for the complete 2011 New Product PDF.

We recently returned from the 2011 Promotional Product Expo in Las Vegas, and we want to share some of the new ideas that we picked up along the way. Over the next couple of posts, we will highlight some categories that had some unique new products. In this post, we want to highlight cell phone gadgets.

As predicted in our last post, this is going to be a big year for cell phone gadget and accessories, especially related to smart phones. We found a bunch of new cell phone gadgets, including the Tiny Car Charger and the Solar Smart Phone Charger.

The Tiny Car Charger is exactly what it sounds like, a small cigarette lighter charger for your car. Ditch the old clunky chargers that block a cup holder, this tiny device allows you to charge any device that accepts USB output.

The Solar Smart Phone Charger is another hot new product to the market, that is very handy when your smartphone runs out of juice on the run. Just plug this device into your phone, and put it in the sun to charge. Best of all, it is natively compatible with the iPhone, Droid, Blackberry, etc. You can also power up the charger through your computer, and have it ready for a cloudy day.

Stay tuned for more new ideas from the 2011 new product expo, and contact us for a complete New Product PDF.

Next week we’ll be headed to the largest trade show in our industry, where we will have an opportunity to see all of this year’s new products firsthand and meet face to face with manufacturers. We will be scouring the show for new unique ideas for you in 2011! When we get back, we will be putting together a new product presentation FILLED with new product ideas.

Some trends to look for in 2011:

• Social Media Incorporation- Given the social media boom, many new products will have a social media tie-in to encourage users to engage brands on Facebook, Twitter, etc.
• Technology- With smart phones flooding into the market, many new accessories will emerge to enhance the user experience.
• Safety- Companies are looking to increase safety measures in 2011, and we expect that to be reflected in the new products.

If there is something that you are looking for, or if you want to get a copy of the presentation when we return, leave us a message in the comments!

We look forward to hearing from you in the comments. Happy new year!

Effective November 1st, t-shirt, sport shirt, and fleece prices will rise anywhere from 5-10%, and are likely to continue rising over the coming months.

Gildan, Hanes, and Jerzees have all alerted us that their prices will be increasing due to cotton sourcing constraints, which has sent cotton prices to their highest point since the civil war. We will continue to update you on the situation, but we suggest making apparel purchases as early as possible in order to avoid future price jumps.

Here at Big Frey (powered by Boundless Network), one of our core beliefs is to utilize just-in-time production to help keep our client’s costs low. Typically, we do this through our group buy technology, which allows buyers to aggregate their buy. This in turn allows each buyer to only purchase only what they need, but still enjoy the volume discount.

Many of our customers don’t know that we also provide just-in-time production for apparel, at as low as one piece at a time. Clients have been utilizing this in the form of online stores (which we can create for you), where employees and customers can purchase branded shirts, sweatshirts, bags etc. This model allows our clients to build brand through apparel, without the risks or costs associated with carrying inventory.

If you believe this is an opportunity that could benefit your brand, please contact us for more information.