Branded Ear Plugs

Here at Gift Selection we can supply many everyday promotional household items, that aren’t necessarily big sellers, but they’re always there for a niche client. One item which may unexpectedly started flying of the shelves are branded ear plugs. Why would such a random product like branded ear plus suddenly become popular?

X Factor finalists John and Edward Grimes e.g. ‘Jedward’, have switched record labels and signed to Universal. Their music mogul manager Louis Walsh said; “I know they still have a great career ahead of them. The boys have a sell-out tour in Ireland that they start straight after The X Factor Tour in April.” he added.

The twins divided X Factor fans and the British public in general, when they made it through to the final twelve, despite a complete inability to sing in tune - or even in time with each another. Their antics haven’t gone unnoticed even in Westminster, when David Cameron opted to buy their t-shirt and has said they were his favourite in the competition. This story was espiecally noteworthy, as it is particularly unlike David Cameron to try and cash in on any media opportunity, and is famous for shying away as much as possible from PR stunts.

St Patricks Day!

Today is St Patricks Day, so let’s all celebrate our Irish neighbours, by going into our city centres, getting blind drunk and ending the night one of two ways; getting arrested for assault or getting arrest for criminal damage. Hooray!

Everyone associates green with the Ireland, and Ireland with green. Originally however, the colour associated with Saint Patrick was blue. Green ribbons and shamrocks were worn in celebration of St Patrick’s Day as early as the 17th century.

He is said to have used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish, and the wearing and display of shamrocks and shamrock-inspired designs have become a ubiquitous feature of the day. All was not well, as in the 1798 rebellion in the hope of making a political statement, Irish soldiers wore full green uniforms on the 17^th of March in hopes of catching attention with their unusual fashion!

In the past Gift Selection has provided many promotional items, spreading businesses messages far and wide on St Patrick’s day. There are plenty of clover shaped items available as family giveaways, such as branded clover stress balls, branded clover T shirts, even branded clover shaped pencils!

While for adults, there is a great selection of bar themed promotional items available. Branded bottle openers, branded pint glasses, branded coasters – even branded cocktail shakers can be bought from Gift Selection.

Cadbury Under Threat

One of Britain’s best loved businesses, Cadbury, is under threat from a hostile bid from rival confectioner Kraft. Cadbury have  reiterated that their shareholders should reject Kraft’s takeover bid, since the businesses has enjoyed an “outstanding” performance last year.

“Don’t let Kraft steal your company with its derisory offer,” was the message by chairman Roger Carr, after boasting that they where performing better then market expectations. He went on to say that “The issue looking forward for them is for Kraft to make this pay for their shareholders they have to extract large synergies.”

Kraft remains the only current bidder for Cadbury, after Swiss food giant Nestle ruled itself out, although US confectioner Hershey has previously expressed interest in a potential bid.

If you’re looking for branded chocolate for promotional purposes, then Gift Selection in conjunction with Sweets2order has hedged their bets by being able to supply branded chocolates from both camps.

My favourite promotional item from these top suppliers is the branded Cadbury Mini Chocolate Pot. This fun little promotional pot, features a vibrant full colour doming which is ideal if you have a colourful message you need to get across. The strong Cadbury brand too will reinforce the quality image of your corporate identity!

Branding the World Cup

In anticipation for the 2010 Fifa World Cup, we are soon to make available a great selection of fun football themed promotional merchandise, designed to get you and your business in the mood for the festivities.

Supermarket giant Asda will also be running many World Cup related promotions over the next few months, with in store football events and hundred’s of ‘golden ticket’ opportunities.

Asda’s parent company Walmart, has signed off a deal to operate as official event stores for the World Cup. Rick Bendel, chief marketing officer at Asda says: “Expect to see a number of family-friendly deals and events in our stores next summer, and hundreds of golden tickets that we’ll be giving away to the games in South Africa”.

Although Asda have their exclusive 2010 World Cup deal, we still thinking ordering your bespoke sporting merchandise from Gift Selection is a better idea. Whether you want to kit your pub out from floor to ceiling with promotional goods, or you want to send inexpensive printed items in the mail, Gift Selection offers the complete sourcing solution.

Promotion That Really Took Off

When it comes to sales promotion, the sky isn’t the limit for Richard Branson. Spaceship brand Virgin Galactic has unveiled the new design for its branded SpaceShipTwo.

The design, by agency Start Creative, was unveiled at a press conference in the Mojave Desert. The designers had the unusual brief of producing a design that could cope with the extreme heat the spaceship endures during the take off and re-entry into the earth’s atmosphere.

SpaceShipTwo is a six-passenger, two-pilot craft which Branson is hoping will corner the embryonic public-travel-to-outer-space market. The spaceship can be thought of as an air launched glider with a rocket motor and a couple of extra systems for spaceflight. Just like any conventional flying machine, it requires aerodynamic forces to provide its stability and control which, clearly, it only has whilst in the atmosphere.

I hope they know what they’re doing…

Will Copenhagen Save Our Bacon?

Those with an environmental conscious will be pleased that the UN summit on climate change started today, in the Danish capital Copenhagen. Delegates from 192 countries are attending the event, which has been dubbed the “most important conference the world has ever seen”.

Developing countries are discussing whether to demand tougher emissions cuts than have been put forward so far, or just let everyone drown. UN climate negotiator Yvo de Boer has said the talks were in excellent shape.

If your organisation is looking to cut its carbon footprint and promote its eco friendly credentials, then why not use eco friendly promotional items…

Eco friendly promotional items can take many forms, and ecoproducts2order has all the bases covered. Green corporate gifts could mean that they are made from recycled materials, or it could mean they are completely organic. Alternatively they could be powered by sustainable means, or promote an eco friendly lifestyle in some way.

If you have any questions about any green promotional items, contact the friendly promotions team over at ecoproducts2order today.

It’s Banner Time

Why not let your voice be heard with some printed banners? Having some promotional banners or flags made, are just what you need next time your planning a political demonstration!

Are you angry at the recent BNP progress in the European elections? Get a promotional banner and flag and tell the world! Maybe you’re just angry in general! Again a printed promotional banner is just what you need!

Printed promotional banners are great for outdoor activities – political or otherwise. Promotional banners don’t have to be about expressing your dismay, but for good things too! Printed promotional banners are perfect for school sports days, charity sports events – practically any outdoor event can benefit from some printed promotional banners.

Giftselection can supply all kinds of printed banners and flags. Give their friendly team a call and let them know exactly what you need, and they will arrange a quote for you in no time.

We Have Lift Off

This week saw the Space Shuttle Atlantis lift off from the Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The seven member crew’s mission is to repair and deliver new instruments to the Hubble Space Telescope.

If you think you could be part of Nasa’s team, but your boring promotional pen is holding you back, what you need is the promotional Fisher Space pen instead!

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by the Space Shuttle Discovery in April 1990, and is named after the American astronomer Edwin Hubble.

The Fisher Space pens range was designed for use in Space, when astronauts began to explore the reaches of outer space, Paul Fisher realized that there was no existing pen which could perform in its freezing cold, boiling hot vacuum.

Countless experiments and a common sense approach to findings resulted in the invention of the sealed and pressurized Fisher Space Pens cartridges (Fisher Space pen refill) and in 1967, after 18 months of rigorous testing by NASA, the Space Pen was selected for use by astronauts.

For more information about the Fisher Space Pen or any other printed pen, get in contact with the friendly team at pens2order.com today.

A New Generation Of Blogs

The government is proposing that the ‘Generation Z’ should learn how to use social networking sites like twitter as part of an overhaul of children’s curriculums. The drafted plan was the work of Ofsted’s former director of inspections, Sir Jim Rose. He said his “high-tech” curriculum helps children to “develop an understanding” of the different ways to communicate online.

The use of Twitter has risen 1,689% in the last year, with 1.78 million users now registered. Dr Cole an academic from the University of South Carolina, points out that technology like this will be of fundamental importance to ‘Generation Z pupils’, as they will do the majority of their learning via the internet, and few will read newspapers.

Schools will have the choice of two periods of British history children study, allowing them to drop traditional staples such as the Victorians and the Second World War. I personally feel it makes sense that the education system embraces technology, that the tools that students will actually want to use.

The Army Recruitment Drive

The latest people to invest heavily in promoting themselves are the British Army who are releasing a new TV and online recruitment campaign.  The ‘Start Thinking Solider’ campaign shows different missions, showing a first person perspective from a new recruit.

The TV ads were the work of ‘Publicis’ with the online games being created by their in house digital division. The Army is under pressure to have more young soldiers coming through their doors, as each year they are said to need 15,000 quality soldiers.

If you want to jump the gun so to speak, and are thinking of protecting dear old blighty, then the Army would love to hear from you here. 

The British Army confrontational advert is aired tonight on Chanel 4.