Well the economy for some businesses is beginning to pick up. Obviously there are still more than a handful of industries still feeling the effects of the economic situation of the last year or two. However with any luck many industries will begin to see a rebound soon. I read a lot on business just for my own general interest and in many situations this is exactly where new business and new success stories are to be found which is in the growing phase out of a recession. If you are in business this is exactly the right time to really start ramping up your advertising for maximum effectiveness. Good timing of when to advertise reaps massive benefits towards the end of hard economic times and in the beginning of a growth cycle. With this in mind I would highly recommend using custom branded toys as an integral part of your marketing. Used as both a corporate gifting item or as a mass handout item through channels such as trade

Coca Cola needs no introduction. Everyone's heard of it, (literally). There's a long story behind the Coke brand, from its invention, American symbolism, competing cola drinks and lots of other interesting things. However I wanted to discuss solely on its marketing and specifically merchandise. In my eyes Coca Cola is probably the first company to use customised merchandise emblazoned with their logo strategically and with a direct marketing intention. Coca Cola marketing world wide currently and traditionally have used other mediums such as T.V and print but it's their personalised merchandise which keeps the message going and going long after the T.V and print have run its course. You see especially since after 1985 where it almost went under due to poor sales Coca Cola ramped its marketing products by literally placing their brand on every conceivable object. It's brand was seen everywhere! Custom fridges, promotional magnets, promotional pens, promotional yoyos, promotional frisbees,

You may have noticed our range of promotional eco-friendly products getting larger by the month. Well you see there are several criteria in labeling a common custom printed merchandise as one that is an Eco Friendly Corporate product. 

• Eco-friendly promotional products are made from sustainable materials.
• Aligning your brand with eco-friendly values enhances your brand image and reputation.
• Eco-friendly products attract more attention and engagement from customers.

What Makes a Promotional Product Eco Friendly? 

There are some criteria that needs to be met to make a promotional product eco-friendly. Some of these criteria include:

Recycled Plastics Are Used

Products which are made from a minimum of 25% of recycled plastics.

I'm wondering today. Is it just me? Have you noticed that TV advertisements as well as Radio and even somehow printed materials that we now have a tendency to YELL? Don't know about you but gosh it's really annoying nowadays. Over the weekend I was yelled at by an electrical store (this one is a very very bad culprit), some guy selling shoes, furniture, a discount store chain, an auto accessories place and several others that i forgot. But gosh, its really really got to the point where all this yelling of sales and the get in first bargains have no impact on me anymore. There's always this voice in these advertisements that doesn't stop yelling. Unbelievably they even convey this message in printed advertisements with extra big fonts and harsh colour tones.

From my

Ha!!! So you think we don't know right! You think everyone in this industry does not realise what you are doing. We know exactly who you are and we think you are a deceptive little lying rat and there are laws against this..... Australian Consumer Laws and I hope one of the poor customers that you have conned will lodge a complaint and take you out.

You might have thought I've gone nuts, well maybe just a little. I'm a little upset because we have this competitor who sells promotional flashdrives at unbelievable prices. Fair game you might say, and I agree except the product that this company / individual sells are actually second hand products advertised as brand new.

For personalised flashmemory there are 2 categories broadly speaking.

First: Brand New Memory Chips Which have been quality tested and qc passed. These are manufactured under strict licenced conditions to ensure data retention and read/write speeds. Broadly speaking these are called Grade A memory.

Have you ever been cold called by some very aggressive people either selling Telstra products and offering you unbelievable discounts but only if you sign up on the spot? Or how about another one that sells you investment opportunities in horse racing? These aren't from Indian call centers too. These are from Australians (you can tell from their accents). To be honest these people scare me. They are very aggressive, arrogant, rough and very very devious. In fact I am surprised that no government agency has taken them to court for unethical business practices.

So what has this got to do with promotional product marketing? Well it got me thinking. Here at Cubic Promote you can be assured we will never ever even contemplate doing any sales tactic speak with you. We do not telemarket or send out spam emails. We do business the good old way. Advertising and networking at functions as well as aiming to provide a internet site which is simple user friendly and informative. When we do speak

I had the chance to read a very very interesting feedback from a customer that I thought I share with you. We had this company which generally spends quite a bit on corporate logo items. Like any other company they had a budget to work within. Based on what seemed logical at the time he went down the cheaper means more path. In his own words, "why wouldn't I," More products mean more exposure right? While he understood that what he was buying was cheap he still had the expectation that the logo products would be of a better quality than what he received. What he ended up was a mass of products that appeared cheap and as a result it really tainted their brand image.

Cubic Promote custom logo items are very very high in value. For any given price point our promotional merchandise gives you a lot of product and a lot of quality. However the key here is "price point,". A 0.45cent plastic logo pen will never be the same as a corporate engraved metal pen costing $5.00.

This customer

In front of me at the moment there is a promotional ball pen from the CBA. I use that pen (which writes really really well incidentally) on a custom branded notepad from Telstra. Whilst walking to work this morning some group was handing out promotional stress balls. I couldn't remember the name as I wasn't lucky enough to get that freebie stress ball. But hey if I did get one I would be chucking that thing around the office and also checking out who it was from too. Too bad I missed out as it was raining and I was almost poked in the eye by a passer by with an umbrella from Mallesons lawyers. I remembered that person because he had a fitness first custom branded bag.

• Promotional products enhance brand recognition, customer loyalty, and generate word-of-mouth marketing.
• Marketing merchandise offers cost-effective advertising, lead generation, and

I was thinking today. I really believe what we do and the products we sell really are the best form of marketing. Either to enhance your brands visibility or even to promote a message or agenda.

I know I know your probably thinking I'm heaps biased. But think about it. A TV advertisment costs thousands to create a crappy one and anything up to several hundred thousand to create one that is worth looking at. This is screened at 15 seconds slots which costs a bomb once again.

Now consider radio. Yep you've got a studio and have created a zippy addvert for several thousand. Now you have to pay for a time slot. Bang 10 seconds later its all gone.

& Print okay a marketing agency, a creative director and maybe a graphic designer or photographer. Can someone say bin?

Dont get me wrong these mediums are terrific and are very very strong as they can be used to play on emotions.

However think marketing merchandise. A well branded smartly selected product

I was watching TV today. Specifically 60 minutes which had a segment on Pacific Brands. I thought I use this blog and also chime into the debate. For those who missed the show or have not been keeping up to date with the news basically Pacific Brands (owner of King Gee, Bonds and other iconic Australian brands) will be closing down a production plant and moving it overseas.

Cubic Promote used to stock King Gee as part of our customised apparrell we had promotional polo shirts, t shirts and other types of corporate clothing. To cut a long story short they didnt sell. The price was slightly higher than overseas made personalized shirts and that was enough to virtually turn every single Aussie company away from them. Because of that we have not stocked King Gee at all for the past 2 years. The way the media has focused on individual stories of retrenched workers is rather biased as the key thing which struck me was this. If purchasing patterns, government tenders and private tenders