Fairtrade Chocolate

Fairtrade sales were up 12% in 2009 despite the tough economic climate as shoppers increasingly turned to products approved by the only independent guarantee of a better deal for Third World producers.

Last year, sales of Fairtrade goods reached an estimated retail value of £799m and the Fairtrade Foundation also claims that 71% of people who do not already buy everything they can Fairtrade, are willing to swap one or more products during Fairtrade Fortnight which starts today. Although I don’t think even 5% of the population even know it is Fairtrade Fortnight.

Fairtrade products have found their way into the promotional product market too. If you want to market your businesses along especially ethical lines, then choosing Fairtrade promotional confectionery is a distinctive way to get your message across. Fairtrade promotional confectionery is only available from certain quality distributers, such as Gift Selection and Sweets2order. If you have any questions relating to any Fairtrade promotional confectionery, give their friendly sales team a call.

If your organisation did decide to swap their promotional confectionery for Fairtrade promotional confectionery, they would be following a trend from major chocolate suppliers. Last year, large brands that have switched to Fairtrade included Cadbury Dairy Milk, all Starbucks espresso-based coffee and Nestle’s four-finger Kit Kat. This week, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream announced that it is going 100% Fairtrade in the UK and throughout Europe by the end of 2011. While back last month, Green & Black’s switched its entire range of chocolate bars and beverages to 100% Fairtrade by the end of 2011.

Branded Frisbees

The genius behind the invention of the Frisbee, arguable the best toy ever, has died at his home in Utah aged 90.

Walter Frederick Morrison conceived of his surprisingly aerodynamic plastic disc, back in the 1950s, and has since sold hundreds of millions worldwide. Frisbee historian Phil Kennedy (that can’t be his full time job surely) said Mr Morrison and his future wife, Lu, got the idea from playing with a metal cake pan on the beach in California.

His invention was originally named the Pluto Platter, which he sold at local fairs. In 1957 Mr Morrison sold the rights to the California firm Wham-O, which discovered that youngsters were calling the toy a “Frisbie” after the name of a well-known pie! The company changed the spelling to avoid trademark infringement and the Frisbee was born!

This great product was obviously from a bygone more innocent age, but it is still great fun today, and hasn’t escaped the attention of the promotional products market. Promotional Frisbees wouldn’t be an obvious corporate gift, but they are a low cost way for your brand to associate itself with the summertime, family activities and a healthy lifestyle. The promotional Frisbee is my favourite outdoor item, but other similar promotional items are available too like a branded spinner or even a branded boomerang.

If you think promotional Frisbee’s would make a great marketing tool for your organisation, contact the friendly promotions experts at Gift Selection and Promostore, who can advise you accordingly.

Branded Energy Drinks

Branded energy drinks are a fairly popular promotional product on the continent, but not so much here in the UK. There is a high demand for energy drinks in general though, while many run exciting promotions in themselves.

Powerade has launched a promotion that gives consumers the chance to win a training session at a football camp in South Africa, or at top rugby camps, either at Twickenham or the Millennium Stadium. The on-pack promotion for the Coca-Cola sports drink will run until the end of February. It enables their customers to enter a daily draw to win one of more than 100 training sessions, as well as tickets to either a FIFA World Cup match or a rugby international.

Although not marketed as such, the Scottish drink Irn-Bru may be considered the first energy drink, produced as “Iron Brew” in 1901! If your business wants to use promotional energy drinks as part of it’s next marketing campaign, a quality distributer like Gift Selection can guide you through the whole process. Branded energy drinks can take many forms, and a wide selection of flavours or specific vitamin contents are available. Although I think even Gift Selection might struggle with a branded Irn Bru option unfortunately.

Record Viewing Figures

Obviously we think promotional products are the best way for organisations to get their message across. But I have to begrudgingly admit, there are other avenues too. This year’s Super Bowl has become the most watched television broadcast in US history, attracting a US audience of over 106 million people.

According to audience ratings agency The Nielsen Company, yesterdays 44th Super Bowl between the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints on CBS broke a 27-year record, held by TV comedy Mash, which pulled in 105 million viewers.

Here in the UK, a respectable 800,000 people stayed up and watched the Super Bowl live on BBC1. If you think there are too many ads on British TV, then don’t bother tuning into American TV. Of the nearly 60 ads shown during Monday’s game, a BBDO-created Snickers spot topped a USA Today poll of America’s favourite commercials.

Before you give up ordering your promotional Sparta mugs, bare in mind these ads don’t come cheap. The cost of a 30-second commercial was approximately $3.01 million. This excludes production costs and fees for actors, equipment, ad agencies, directors, crew and other personnel. In 2009, NBC sold out all the advertising spots for record revenue US $2,600,000!

Romantic Times

 I don’t think it is actually possible to conceive of anything tackier, but Katie Price and Alex Reid have married in Las Vegas, and will now live happily ever after.

They said in a statement: “We are very much in love and look forward to the future together.” Price also apologised for her behaviour since her break-up with former husband Peter Andre, saying she had “acted like a right twit”. I presumed she made a spelling mistake there.

Speaking on The Chris Moyle’s Show on Radio 1 on Wednesday morning, Peter Andre said he had “no negative feelings” about the marriage of Price and Reid (while sobbing into his diamante studded T Shirt). If you’re also thinking of getting married, perhaps not in the media spotlight, but married none the less – you may consider some branded confectionery to add a little something to your guest’s tables.

Unlike most promotional confectionery suppliers, Gift Selection in conjunction with Sweets2order can supply practically any piece of promotional confectionery items. For something traditional, having some sugared almonds in a branded pot would be a neat touch. While if you’re having on more of an alternative style wedding, you can have some branded confectionery pots filled with all kinds of weird and wacky sweets!

For more romantic promotional confectionery ideas, contact their friendly teams who be will be able to recommend the perfect product for you.

Bespoke USB Sticks

You can buy twist style promotional USB drives from the world and his wife these days, but now you can order completely bespoke moulded PVC USB drives from Gift Selection & Gadgets2order.

Their new ‘yourMemory’ USB sticks, go one step further (more like a leap further) by offering your organisation a personalization process to fully reflect your image and corporate identity. Thanks to the versatility of soft PVC, the creative possibilities for your organisation are endless. Practically any organisation can benefit from such a personalised product, either as an upmarket product for management, prize winners or as an item for re-sale.

Despite being fully customizable, the minimum order quantity is just 100 pieces. Now you can order bespoke promotional items from the Far East – but don’t have to live with the large order quantities. As usual a full range of memory capacities are available, gift boxes are as standard, and further accessories are available such as lanyards too!

Creating an entirely custom made USB stick may seem like a complicating and daunting project, but the friendly team at Gift Selection will ensure the process is as stress free as possible.

Branded Nash Ballpen

Most organisations order their promotional pens based on price. However if you’re thinking of giving out very low quality pens, if your not careful you will end up damaging your corporate identity. When potential customers ask for a low budget promotional pen that isn’t going to cause embarrassment, one branded pen I often recommend is the printed Nash ball pen.

The printed Nash Ballpen is built for comfort, without compromising on style. With its sleek modern finish, and curves in all the right places, this promotional pen offers exceptional quality for such a low cost.

The Nash promotional pen would make a stylish yet cost effective corporate gift, for any business to market themselves with. The Nash is a low cost branded pen is ideal for trade shows and exhibitions, where one wants an affordable branded pen – that is still going to look smart and professional.

Quality promotional product supplier like Gift Selection and pens2order, offer the promotional Nash pen at absolutely unbeatable value. Remember this popular pen is available in a range of striking colours, to suit every corporate identity.

If you require a sample of the printed Nash ball pen, or you would like to see examples of previous clients who have ordered this branded pen it is no problem at all. If you have enquires over any of our great promotional pens, then call the friendly team at pens2order on 0870 872 8750.