11 Best Reversible Umbrellas to Save for a Rainy Day
On April 4th, 2021Does the forecast call for rain? Make the most of the downpour by hiding under an inverted umbrella!…
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Marketing & Branding
RGB, CMYK, and Pantone Colors: Where to Use Them and When!
During your search for promotional products you’re probably noticing some weird words to describe color. Phrases like CMYK and Pantone are popping up everywhere. When you turn to Google to find out more, you notice RGB being thrown in the mix as well. Before you…
Industry Insights
Custom Energy Drinks That Will Give Your Brand Some Pep!
The reasons you and your customers are drinking energy drinks are so different that there’s no one right answer. You could be sipping from one this morning because of that darn football game you went to last night that just had to go into overtime.…
Industry Insights
Production Time & Your Promotional Items: Behind the Scenes
The Scenario: Your boss finally got around to telling you that you need to order customized items with the company’s logo on them to give out at this convention he just decided you’re attending. Once the shock of remembering where your suitcase is or whether…
Marketing & Branding
What Happens When Brand Fandom Goes Too Far
Now, many of us dream of being liked, of being popular, and the same is true of many brands and companies. In the marketing world, it’s considered quite a coup if you can manage to develop a strong, emotional connection with your customer base, to…
Marketing & Branding
How to Create Buzz for Your Brand the Movie Advertising Way
So what exactly entices us to go see the latest summer blockbuster every year? Well other than our friends giving us rave reviews, or taking the word of a website or critic, a lot comes down to how well the movie is marketed. Every year…
Marketing & Branding
Defy Gravity with 7 Space-Themed Promo Products
Space is cool. And a ton of cool things have happened in space over the past year or so. We have Mars Curiosity, Voyager 1 leaving the solar system, a man jumping from space, recruitment for a trip to Mars, and gearing up for the…
Office Life
Three Tips for Working With Office Clowns (or with Camels Named Caleb)
If you’re like me, chances are your Facebook newsfeed on Wednesday mornings now greets you with companies sharing pictures of a certain camel that is happy to celebrate his day. I’m sure you’ve seen the Geico ad at least two-hundred and thirty-seven times by now,…
Miscellaneous
11 Inspirational F. Scott Fitzgerald Quotes About Writing
A few months ago I compiled a list of Ernest Hemingway quotes to inspire your own writing efforts. Based on the success of that post, I decided to scour the Internet for some more quotes about writing. This time I turned to another 1920s writer,…
Marketing & Branding
How to Make Your Brand as Likable as Jennifer Lawrence
Chances are that by now you know who Jennifer Lawrence is. In fact, it’s probably hard for you to not know who Jennifer Lawrence is. She’s Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games movie franchise, Mystique in the X-men sorta-reboot, and she just won the Oscar…
Industry Insights
5 Promotional Products Ripe for Farmers’ Markets
A popular Saturday morning pastime for many Americans is visiting the local farmers’ market in their community. For many, this is the chance to get the freshest fruits and vegetables directly from the farmers who grew them in their fields. Since 1994 the U.S. Department…
Marketing & Branding
How to Advertise at a Baseball Game like a Pro!
Think that the dog days of summer mean that your customers don’t care about your company and potential customers won’t give you the time of day? Think again! Baseball season is still going strong, not only for the major leagues but for minor leagues in…
Marketing & Branding
Brand Mascots: Why Change Isn’t Bad When Done Right
Congrats, your company has been going strong for 5o years, but now it seems like your customers are getting too old for your products! What can you do to reach younger consumers and get them engaged in your brand? Of course: update your mascot! If…
Marketing & Branding
The Success of Fear: What the Slender Man Can Teach Us about Viral Marketing
The Slender Man. For some, the mere mention of the name is enough to conjure forth primal dread. For those who haven’t heard of him before, the Slender Man is a horror character that originated on the internet that has since become an almost omnipresent…
Marketing & Branding
The Art Institute of Chicago’s Social Media Presence is a Work of Art
What happens when museums get a new exhibit? The usual: press releases, commercials, a social media announcement, some banners, newspaper ads, and radio spots. And that’s all well and good. But when you have a big exhibit coming to town that’s generated a lot of…
Marketing & Branding
American League Baseball Logos: Who Hits a Home Run?
Baseball season in America conjures up images of sunny days spent at the ballpark with friends and family just like our relatives did generations ago. While a lot about the game has changed (bat size and gloves for example) one thing that only changes every…
Marketing & Branding
Brands on Tumblr: 7 Brands that are Totally Nailing It
With Yahoo’s recent acquisition of Tumblr, many Tumblr users feared an increase in advertising on their beloved social network. Tumblr is wildly popular among 18-24 year olds, thanks in large part to the absence of ads. While more ads and sponsored posts have slowly started…
Office Life
Workplace Survival of the Fittest: Why It’s Important to Have Multiple Skills
Listen up, employees! You might be in big trouble if you’re relying on a single skill set to get you by in the workplace. The more diverse you are in today’s business world, the more likely you’ll succeed. So how do you get there? Adopt…
Marketing & Branding
National League Baseball Logos: Who Hits a Grand Slam?
Logos are a funny thing; they’re the first line of defense companies have to attract our attention so it’s imperative that they’re colorful and eye-catching. Think this concept only applies to companies? Think again. Sports teams’ logos are just as important to make sure they’re…
Industry Insights
10 Sweet Promo Items for Your Ice Cream Social
Spring is in full swing, and that means summer is just around the corner, and that means it’s high time for an ice cream social! Ice cream socials are a great morale booster for your employees, a fun event to host for your customers, and…
Industry Insights
13 Articles to Help You Find the Perfect Holiday Promotional It
Holidays are a fantastic time to promote your brand, organization, or company. People are great moods (usually) and gifts are fairly commonplace. So whether you want to give your staff excellent Christmas presents or want something to hand out at your bar on St. Patrick’s…
Marketing & Branding
7 Buzzwords and Phrases to Stop Using in Marketing
So you’re reading the latest post by your favorite marketing, blogging, or business blogger, and then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, a wild buzzword appears! Within seconds, you’ve become enraged, smoke is coming out of your ears, and you’re about to flip your…
Marketing & Branding
Leave the Boring Business Cards Behind: 5 Fun & Creative Ideas
Standing out in customers’ minds is no longer an easy game of making eye contact with them at a community event and shaking their hands. Nope, now your competitors have a lot of avenues to get their company to come to your customer’s mind first.…
Marketing & Branding
27 GIFs That Accurately Sum Up the Trade Show Experience
Ah, trade shows. There’s a good chance that you’ll attend one at one point in your professional career. They are absolutely invaluable for networking, finding new vendors, and getting your hands on a bunch of new swag, but they can be pretty exhausting. To get…
Industry Insights
11 Gifts to Thank Awesome Healthcare Professionals for National Nurses Week
The first full week of May is National Nurses Week. These healthcare professionals – like all healthcare professionals – work tirelessly through long shifts to provide great care for patients of all ages. This is true whether they work in a hospital, nursing home, or any…
Miscellaneous
C2E2: How a Three-Year-Old Comic Book Convention is Disrupting the Chicago Convention Scene
Pop culture fanatics all gather at McCormick Place for a fun-filled weekend of celebrity guests, crazy costumes, and the latest and greatest in entertainment. In summer of 2011 I wrote about my inaugural attendance at the Wizard World Chicago Comic Con. After going (and loving…
Marketing & Branding
Masters of Word of Mouth: The Hunger Games Marketing Team
You may remember a few months ago when I wrote a post about the Hunger Games pairing up with fansites to market their Facebook game. It was a creative way to generate excitement about their entire brand franchise during December 2012 while the next movie…
Miscellaneous
11 Ernest Hemingway Quotes to Inspire Your Blogging and Writing
Even if you weren’t an English major in college there’s a good chance that you’ve heard of Ernest Hemingway. In fact, there’s a very good chance that you read one of his works in high school. The Old Man and the Sea, anyone? If you…
Marketing & Branding
Sim City 5 Fails as an Advertising Platform for Nissan
As if the public outcry for the always on DRM from Electronic Arts’ latest installment of Sim City wasn’t bad enough, things just got a little worse. Last week, EA announced a partnership with Nissan to bring users of Sim City 5 an added feature…
Marketing & Branding
How to Build a Brand Empire Like Nicki Minaj
Whether you know her from her quadruple-platinum album, her Pink Friday fragrance, her M.A.C. lipstick, her OPI nail polish, or as a judge on “American Idol,” chances are you’ve heard of Nicki Minaj by now. She is taking the world by storm, and by no…
Marketing & Branding
Logos of the Chicago Cubs and White Sox Through the Years
It’s that wonderful time of year again, everyone! Baseball fields across the country are dusting off the seats, firing up those hot dog rollers and rolling in the kegs for opening day 2013. For all those non-baseball lovers out there, opening day officially ushers in…
Miscellaneous
SimCity: Gaming Disaster or EA Publicity Goldmine?
Even if you don’t like playing video games, there’s a good chance that you’ve heard about the debacle with Electronic Arts, subsidiary Maxis, and their new release: SimCity. Basically what started as a game with high expectations and rave reviews became a frustration for customers…
Marketing & Branding
10 Movie Title Fonts to Inspire Your Advertising
You’ve already seen how a logo can capture a band’s personality, but have you ever stopped to think about how the type treatments in the opening credits of your favorite movies capture the spirit of the film? From gradients, to 3-D effects, drop shadows, to…
Marketing & Branding
What is Brand Immersion & How Does It Work in Marketing?
“Things are changing around here, people! We’ve got a new social media consultant, Dave, right here, and he’s got some great ideas for the company. We’re not just going to just ‘market’ anymore. We want our consumers and employees to really experience each other. In…
Industry Insights
10 Basketball Themed Promotional Items for March Madness
Based on the title of this post, you may have gathered that I don’t know a whole lot about sports. You’re right. The most I’ve ever written about sports is when I wrote about Space Jam, so I’m not even going to pretend to be…
Industry Insights
Car Show Promotional Products That Will Rival Any Hot Rod
The Chicago Auto Show wrapped up this past President’s Day and I was lucky enough to attend. Thankfully, my group got there early enough to beat the crowds and ensure we got a few pieces of swag from the exhibitors before they ran out. However,…
Industry Insights
Promotional Products Work: Why Promo Items are Your Hero [INFOGRAPHIC]
As you may or may not know, yesterday began the weeklong festivities of Promotional Products Work! Week! Sponsored by Promotional Products Association International (PPAI), this week from February 25th – March 1st is meant to celebrate the promo items we all hold dear. And what…
Company News
Quality Logo Products is Giving Away $500 in Wedding Favors!
**THIS CONTEST HAS ENDED. THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR PARTICIPANTS!** Attention all brides- and grooms-to-be! In honor of National Weddings Month in February, Quality Logo Products® is giving away $500 in wedding favors! We’re throwing our first-ever Pinterest contest with the grand prize of…
Miscellaneous
How HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’ Builds Suspense for Season 3
HBO’s Game of Thrones is more than a TV show; it’s an obsession. With two mind-blowing seasons already under its belt, the third is on its way in spring 2013. I think I speak for all fans when I say that March 31st can’t come…
Marketing & Branding
13 Eye-Catching Billboards That Demand Attention
How many billboards do you actually remember? Be honest. If no examples immediately come to mind, then you’re probably in the same boat as the rest of us. It’s no wonder we don’t remember ads since we’re bombarded with them on highways and busy streets.…
Marketing & Branding
4 Brands That Changed Their Target Audience From Kids to Adults
“When at first you don’t succeed, try, try, again” is a quote we’ve all heard at least half a million times. Despite its redundancies, the message remains the same; don’t give up when things seem hard, but try something new and see if that gives…
Marketing & Branding
Burt’s Bees Advertising, Outreach, and Community Service is Worth Buzzing About
Burt’s Bees, a personal care products company based in North Carolina, started as a pipe dream in 1984 and has since become a household name. Did you know that its founders, Roxanne Quimby and Burt Shavitz, originally operated the business out of a one-room schoolhouse…
Marketing & Branding
What is Adobe CS2 & Why Was it Offered for Free?
On January 8th, Adobe unintentionally did something that went viral. Users found public serial numbers and links to download the entire library of an old version of their Creative Suite, CS2 (Photoshop, Illustrator, the whole works), and publicized it as a free offer. It quickly…
Company News
Pinterest Promotion Official Contest Rules
**THIS CONTEST HAS ENDED. THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR PARTICIPANTS!** If you are looking for the contest announcement blog post, please click here. Official rules and regulations follow. 1. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR TO WIN. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR ODDS…
Marketing & Branding
What Your Business Can Learn From Dr Pepper’s Advertising Strategy
“I’m a pepper, he’s a pepper, she’s a pepper, we’re a pepper! Wouldn’t you like to be a pepper too?” Are you humming this song now? Probably; I know I am and I wasn’t even around when it first aired. In the 1970’s when this…
Miscellaneous
LEGO Comes Back from the Brink of Bankruptcy to Win Over New Fans
Do you have a favorite toy from childhood that still brings a smile to your face? Was it Barbie or Hot Wheels, maybe? Or maybe Crayola and Play-Doh stole your imagination. Whichever brand it was, chances are you wouldn’t mind going back in time and…
Marketing & Branding
Logo Design Inspiration from Musicians who Topped the Charts in 2012
Sure, musicians are most well-known for their, um … music. But have you ever stopped to think about how a logo really captures a musician’s work and personality? Think about classic, instantly-recognizable band logos like The Rolling Stone’s bright red tongue and lips. Or the…
Marketing & Branding
‘The Hobbit’ Marketing: A Not-So-Unexpected Journey in Marketing Diversity
As I’m sure you all know, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was released in theaters recently. It was sitting pretty as the #1 movie worldwide for three weeks in a row. But have you stopped to think about how and why it’s impossible for there…
Marketing & Branding
The 20 Most Inappropriate Brand Slogans of All Time
It’s about fourth grade when we started thinking innocent things were funny. We found risqué overtones in nearly everything, even going so far as to make our calculators spell out the names of human anatomy. You know exactly what I mean. In many ways, and…
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