Wherever you look you see collection of something on display. OK, maybe not wherever, but collecting stuff is something that people definitely like to do. They do not even mind if the stuff is not useful. A thing looking OK would often do. Sometime they do not even have to look OK, as long as it is cool to collect them .

Marketing campaigns quite often exploit this human inclination to collecting things. Look around the shops, supermarkets, restaurants and see how often you see some sort of “Collect them all !” or “Get them all !” message on a poster or a board. Well, this is because these things do work if done right. And so promotional products are often made in sets and meant to be collected.

One of the first projects we handled after setting up our business about a decade ago was a set of retro design coasters. The idea from client (or his agency, that I do not remember) was simple. What would people do if they see a really nice coffee coaster attached to the pack of coffee in a supermarket? There is a chance they choose that pack of coffee to get the coaster. And what if they come back to the supermarket again and see the same coffee but with different coaster ? And next to it a poster announcing few more designs coming out soon ? The “collector mentality” would very likely kick in. People may feel that by drinking what they always drink anyway (but sticking to the same brand) they may collect a nice coffee coaster set. And so our client went for it.

The original plan was a set of 4 coasters. The coasters were made of offset printed tin with cork backing and frankly, they looked great. Moreover the coaster is light and flat product, perfect for attaching to the pack of coffee. The campaign turned out to be a huge success and after only a month or so another 4 designs were added. Later on the best collectors received also a storage box for the coasters, also in retro design. All together almost 2 million pieces of coasters were produced. I sure did not complain …

Promotions like this can work miracles and usually do. But that does not mean they always turn out well . More on that in part 2.

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I mentioned in the What are the BizGifts? post that not all BizGifts have to be branded. That is still true, even few weeks on . So should you brand or should not you brand ?

Do not worry, you do not have to feel like Hamlet, it all comes down to few points.

• What is the purpose of the business gift or promotional product ?

• What kind of gift you have in mind ?

Rule of a thumb is that for any project aimed at increasing your brand awareness you should brand the promotional products that you are making. At the end it is your brand that you want to spread around.

It is a bit different with the “gifts with purchase” that motivate people to choose your product instead of competitors’ from the store shelf. Here it is important that the gift is attractive enough for people to want it. If the branding fits well on the product, than brand at all means. But if you feel that it would look disturbing or devalue the gift, either minimize the size of your logo or do not brand the gift at all. Not everyone wants to wear T-shirt with huge Durex logo all over the chest .
Another different case would be corporate gifts for your business partners or employees. First you choose carefully the gift. You do not want to send out wrong message. Here people usually choose more valuable items. The quantities are not huge and you do not want to look cheap … Once you have the product in mind, think how would placing your logo affect the product. Some fancy products are well suited for corporate branding directly on the product, but some are not and your own branding may actually destroy the product in the eyes of the receiver. The people who get those gifts will get more from others too. They may want to pass some of them on to their family members or friends instead of keeping them. Your branding may spoil that for them. If you feel that your brand would not do too well on the business gift, create an additional packaging that will bear your brand, make use of a gift card inserted inside the package or simply do not brand at all and pass your message to your business partners in person.

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The garment suppliers, especially the bigger brands, are quite popular at the trade shows because of their giveaways. It is usually just a T-shirt but from time to time they change a strategy. This year at the PSI show Stedman (by Hanes) went for a watch.

This Stedman giveaway package is a good example of how a low budget premium can be produced without looking cheap.

This relatively low cost but decent plastic watch is packed in a nicely made gift box together with a small tool. If you wonder what is the tool for - well, it makes it easier for people to adjust the size of the wristband . The box also comes with CD containing the product catalog.

This style of watch is not my cup of tea but there are definitely enough people who would not mind getting one. And quite a few people lined up in Stedman’s booth to get it . I believe that if a gift manages to draw the attention at the PSI Show, where all the visitors are people who make living selling gimmicks like this, it is probably a good one …

It also serves as a good alternative to a printed catalog. Does not cost much more than a thick catalog but especially if given away at the trade show it is likely to have greater impact. A standalone CD catalog is quite easily lost or misplaced. A CD catalog packed in gift set like this will probably make it back with the potential buyers .

I have one gift box with the watch to give away to BizGiftGuru readers. Simply leave a comment below this article with your opinion on this mini gift pack. I will pick one lucky commentator next Monday and send him/her the watch. Even if you may not like it yourself, there will sure be someone around you happy to wear it .

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I touched already this topic little bit in the BizGifts and Chinese New Year Part 2 post last week, but that was the Holiday Special . The wrong timing wrecks many promotional product and business gifts projects all the year round, so let’s have a look at this project timing issue and get some “How To” hints .

There are many different factors that affect the timeline of a BizGifts project. To simplify this rather complex matter I created a BizGift Project Timeframe matrix:

• A - Normal Season / Regular Product

This is the best situation for you and your supplier. You pick up a ready in stock product from your local supplier’s catalog, supply him with proper artwork and depending on the quantity and the capacity of your supplier’s printing facilities you can have your branded merchandise between 7 - 14 days. There are many companies that these days offer shipping in 3-5 days. VIP services with only few hours to complete your order are also no longer rare (depends on where you live of course ).

• B - Peak Season / Regular Product

Here we are still talking about the products from your local supplier’s catalog. But … during the peak seasons it is more likely some items may be out of stock and depending where exactly the replenishment is it may take from few days to over a month to arrive. The other issue during peak seasons are the printing capacities. Even if the printers run for 24 hours you may still have to wait quite few days for your turn. It has to be said that the reputable and experienced suppliers are well stocked up for the peak seasons and have many contingency plans in hand, but if you do not want to end up disappointed, better order what you need before the peak season hits the fan . The production leadtimes may easily double or triple when compared to normal days and the available selection of products may be shrinking every day …

• C - Normal Season / Tailor Made Product

Not everybody is satisfied with a regular product. Some people may still like a product from a catalog, but would like to have at least its colours customized to match their products or brands. Others may want nothing from any local catalog and have their own idea. That may require either an extensive sourcing by the supplier (or by the client himself if he is capable and brave enough) or some serious design and development work, or both … You need time to source or time to develop, time to produce your approval samples, time to ship and receive them, time to comment on them, alter them, remake them, ship them again. You may approve the first sample you receive, but you may also keep commenting and remaking several times adding weeks and months to your timing. Once you are happy with sample, the production can start. If all goes well (and this can be BIG IF sometimes), your goods will be ready as planned and can ship. Ship across the globe usually … It is very difficult to give accurate number of days or weeks or months tailor made project may take, but here is an example or reasonably OK going project:

- Brief to your supplier, beginning of the process
- Initial offers from your supplier - 1-2 weeks
- Sample making - 1-8 weeks (depends on if you are customizing an existing product or developing brand new one)
- Sample shipping - 3-7 days (if mail or couriers work OK)
- Approval process - minutes to weeks (depends on customer )
- Production - usually 30 - 90 days (depends on products, quantity)
- Shipping - 4-7 weeks sea, 3-10 days by air (depends on from where to where)

• D - Peak Season / Tailor Made Product

In case of Tailor Made Products the Peak Season applies to the peak season at the point of manufacturing and shipping. The timing in general would be very similar to C scenario with an important exception of production and shipping. If you production for your project falls into the peak season and you unlucky to be a latecomer, you may face 1-3 months longer production times than normal. This may in many cases totally kill your project. To have products planned for Christmas marketing push shipped out of factory in January does not make too much sense …

The other danger during the peak seasons is shipping - shipping capacities. Shipping space is hard to come by and the higher bidder usually wins. So you may either face much higher logistical cost than you expected, or few days or even weeks in the queue for the next available vessel or flight.

When you are thinking about what product to make, think hard about how much time you have ! Tailor made products are great way to go but do require planning well in advance !

To explain what is a peak season in detail takes at least an entire post as it depends on many factors and varies from product to product. I will return to this topic very soon. Stay tuned !

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The production side of the BizGift business is rather similar to any other consumer product manufacturing. There is one huge difference though. Often the timing is essential in case of tailor made projects. There is simply no room for delay. Some time few thousands or few tens of thousands of relatively cheap gift are part of multi-million advertising and promotional campaign and no one wants to face the damages for messing such a campaign up … So very careful planning is of essence. Any planning should take into consideration the Chinese New Year holidays …

Whether we like it or not the promotional products business relies heavily on outsourcing. The more valuable corporate gifts still often originate in Europe, United States or Japan but the cheaper stuff inevitably comes from China and on a lesser scale from India, Turkey and some other South East Asian or Latin American countries. China is however the major source.

The growing Chinese economy can only function thanks to their army of migrant workers. They come from all over the country and sometime travel thousands kilometers to find a job in the booming manufacturing areas in the South of the country or along the east coast. When they travel from home, they however also need to travel back some time. And here lies the problem. Due to all sorts of reasons, but mainly the distance, time and money, the migrant workers take that long trip home only once a year - during the most important Chinese festival - The Chinese New Year.

To facilitate their long journey home (and then back to factories) all of the factories pretty much shut down for 2-3 weeks. Even if they do not want shut down they have no choice, without the manpower, nothing can be done anyway . The whole country moves but at the same time comes to a standstill. What are the consequences ?

• In the weeks prior to the holidays the production facilities are full and rarely there is a room for any urgent new order to be slotted in.

• The last couple of weeks before the holidays the shipping space (vessels, aircrafts) is very booked up and difficult to secure. Even if you manage to have the goods produced, you may not have a way to get them going…

• After the holidays, the workers do not return all at once and on time, some do not return at all, some return but go to another factory. The actual situation is often big unknown for the factory owners and it may take few weeks before the factories are up and running as usual.

So what are the possible scenarios here ?

• You are lucky and you order your things well in advance, productions is completed and shipped out before holidays, everybody happy

• You are a bit less lucky, you have the goods finished but can’t find shipping space. You loose about 2 weeks waiting for holidays to pass and get the goods going right after holidays.

• Your are quite unlucky, you order too late and have no chance to have the goods produced before holidays. However, there is still enough time for the factory to purchase and prepare all the materials and parts and once the holidays are over your goods can go straight to production. You loose “only” 1 month and still consider yourself lucky.

• You totally ignore the fact that there are serious holidays somewhere half way around the globe, place order a week before holidays and then freak out when you find out that you will miss your deadline by about 2 months .

This year the Chinese New Year holidays start on February 7, 2008. If your order gets to factory on February 5th for example, you can expect the shipping date by end April if the order is not too big and if you (or your supplier) have good relationship with the factory. If your order is bigger and requires some pre-production preparations, end May is what you can count on. If your order requires pre-production sample production and approval, then add 2-3 weeks on top of that. Add up the shipping time and in a worst case you may only see your merchandise by late June or early July …

If you do not want to create trouble for yourself, your customer and your supplier, do your homework and do think about the Chinese New Year holidays …

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