Thursday, Jan. 13, 2005 | 11 a.m.
How do you leave a good impression on customers?
Promotional product experts in Las Vegas this week suggest a bouquet of roses embossed with the company's logo, an ink pen with a bobbing topper or a prepaid card to download MP3 music files.
Those are just some of the more than 3,500 products that are being showcased at the annual Promotional Products Association International Expo that runs through Friday. Distributors attend the expo to find items that companies can personalize for their customers and employees.
"The beauty of a promotional product is that it's the form of advertising that will be used until it is lost, stolen or broken," said Jill Flanzraich, president of Adventures in Advertising/LAS VEGAS and a board member of the Las Vegas chapter of the American Marketing Association. "It's a functional piece of billboard space (and) repeated exposure."
Promotional products are a $16.6 billion-a-year industry that has evolved from pencils, metal trophies and tin lapel pins to high-tech pens, acrylic award plaques and plastic buttons with flashing lights, the PPAI trade association reported.
Speaking Roses International, based in Bountiful, Utah, offers fresh and silk roses that are embossed with organic ink that depict logos, company names or phrases. The roses can be ordered by themselves or as part of a mixed bouquet.
"The logo is the most popular thing we emboss," company sales manager Marc Hidden said.
Parsippany, N.J.-based MediaTree shifted its focus from prepaid calling cards to prepaid digital photo cards and prepaid music cards.
"Phone cards are dying off because of cell phones," said Fabian Calvo, MediaTree marketing manager.
The company launched prepaid photo cards two weeks ago, enabling companies to put their information on a card that resembles a credit card and create a Web site that gives customers additional company information before taking them to a Web site that accepts digital photos and mails them the prints, Calvo said.
The photo cards are being targeted to hotel chains and other tourism companies as well as hospitals with maternity departments, he said.
Some of the expo items were twists on every day items such as a stainless steel coffee mug with a quarter holder in the cup handle for those who travel through tollbooths.
Colored silicone bracelets similar to the one worn by bicyclist Lance Armstrong and USB flash cards were also common this year.
Although ink pens are a more traditional promotional product, they have evolved significantly, promotional product attendees say.
Some pen producers now offer a ballpoint pen with a handheld stylus tool on the other end because people write in multiple mediums these days, Flanzraich said.
Las Vegas-based Play Pens, a division of Courage U.S.A., took a different approach to its pen collection. It added a line of bobble-head ink pens with animals on top of them that can be personalized with company names and logos.
Customized pens with a company logo can be added to any of the pens for a $200 net set up fee, which covers the cost of 500 pens, sales director Susan Harper said.
Play Pens is also well known for its pens that depict the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign on them, she said.
Business owners who are considering which promotional products to chose have a variety of options, but should consider a few things before making a decision.
They should know their budgets and try to incorporate items that are in line with their company themes, said Laura Tipple, an expo attendee and consultant for Images In Slate Inc. in Toronto.
"You have to find a gift that fits what they want to do," she said, adding that her clients use promotional items to launch new products, recognize employers' years of service and celebrate special occasions. "The whole purpose is to enhance their corporate image."
Companies can ease the selection process by working with a trained promotional products counselor, Flanzraich said.
"Promotional products are a very affordable way to incorporate advertising into your campaign," Flanzraich said. "No matter how small your company is, there is always a place for it and no matter how large your company is there is always room to diversify it."
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