Artina wishes you a Happy Holiday season

Artina Promotional Products would like to take this opportunity to wish you and yours a very Happy Holiday season. Thank you for allowing us to serve you in 2009 and we look forward to working together in 2010. The new products are already starting to roll in, so be sure to contact your Artina representative to schedule a time to review the new items. Artina will also be hosting our Ideas in Promotion show again in April, look for more details in the coming months.

Artina will be closed December 24th, 25th and January 1st in observance of the holidays.

New feature on the Artina website

We are pleased to annouce that we have added a new feature to the Artina website. We have compiled some of our favorite case histories to help our clients when they are looking for creative ideas. Whether you are planning for a trade show or a safety incentive, we have provided some of the ways that our products can help meet your objectives. Case histories are successful promotions that were done in the past and they are a great way to spice up your marketing plans. They can help get the creative juices flowing and you can take it from there.
Feel free to ask you Artina rep for more case histories, there are just too many to put on the site :) Check out the link for the page and see what's new....http://www.artina.com/dynamic/casestudies.jsp

New Hand Sanitizing product

With all of the discussion surrounding various flu types, the one thing that experts agree on is that you must keep your hands clean. Sometimes that is easier said than done, especially when you are in different business and social situations.
The promotional products industry has stepped up by offering various sizes and formulations of hand-sanitizers. From a pocket spray to desk top pumps, you can provide hand sanitizer to any of your clients and customers....keeping them safe and reminding them of your name.
The large majority of hand sanitizing products are alcohol-based. However, there is a new product on the market that is non-alcohol based. This new formula stays on hands and keeps working for up to 30 minutes after application, while traditional sanitizers stop working after 5 seconds. It is approved for food service, so you can apply the product and immediately prepare or serve food. Since it is alcohol free, it will not dry out your already winter-ravaged hands.
It has been tested and is FDA compliant. For more information and details including test results and data, call Artina at 800-433-5587 or visit us online at www.artina.com.

Artina Fall Product Showcase

Artina Promotional Products is please to announce that we are hosting a Fall Product Showcase at our showroom in Powell, Ohio. The event is set for October 8th and there are two times available. Breakfast will be offered from 7:30-9:30 and lunch will be offered from 11:00-1:30. The event will feature new products for the Fall/Holiday season as well as giveaways and a free set-up coupon for those that attend. You can visit our website www.artina.com/rsvp/ for more details or to RSVP for the event. You may also call 800-433-5587 for more information.

We hope to see you there!

Healthy Workforce Act & Promotional Products

In April of 2009, the Healthy Workforce Act of 2009 was introduced to the Senate and House for consideration. This legislation would give a tax credit to employers who implement wellness programs. An employer would receive a 50% tax credit for the costs of providing employees with a qualified wellness program up to $200 for the first 200 employees and $100 for each employee above that. Wow, what an incentive, plus the employer will see the benefits when the cost of their insurance decreases and they see increased productivity from their energized employees.
However, what will motivate employees to participate in the program? Employers will need to provide incentives to join the program and recognize achievements for those who continue. These items can include anything from water bottles, towels and pedometers to bags and watches. Making a contest for the participants to strive for also offers the opportunity to recognize the participants with trophies and other awards. These are tangible things that can be kept at their desks to remind them and others of the achievements realized through the wellness program.
Ask your promotional products professional for other creative ideas that can help your employees reach their fitness goals. You can check out some ideas at www.artina.com or just give us a call at 800.433.5587.

Artina Team visits screenprinting/embroidery facility

The team at Artina Promotional Products recently visited a screenprinting/embroidery facility located in Ohio. The visit provided a unique opportunity for the team to get a firsthand look at how both screenprinting and embroidery are done, start to finish. The team toured the facility for the graphic design team to seeing how a screen is burned. We were able to see many jobs being printed, everything from one color imprint to multiple colors.
After the printing tour, it was on to the embroidery room to see how the embroidery is done. Take a look at some of the photos...http://artina.shutterfly.com/209
Do not hesitate to ask your Artina representative to explain the printing process to you further in depth. There are many unique printing techniques that can give your t-shirts a more retail look. Visit www.artina.com for apparel options or call 800.433.5587.

New features on www.artina.com

If you haven't visited www.artina.com in a while, you should definitely check it out. You will notice that the home page looks a little different. In response to several growing trends, Artina has added three category search buttons to make the site a little easier to navigate.
The first category is the items 1.00 and under category, with ever-tightening budgets, Artina noticed that clients were gravitating towards these lower priced items and decided to make things a little easier.
The second category is Eco friendly items. The demand for these eco items has increased significantly over the last couple of years. The offering for eco friendly promotional products has also increased, so we thought, why not make them a little easier to find so that everyone can do their part to save the environment.
The last category that was added to the home page is the 24 hour rush service button. All the products in this category are available to ship in a 24 hour period. Rush service has become more and more necessary these days, so again, Artina wanted to make things as easy as possible for our clients who are already behind the eight ball.

One additional thing of note on the website, don't forget about the Live Chat feature. When an operator is online, just click to chat and have all your questions answered! It's an easy way to get fast information with the click of your mouse.

If you have additional feedback or suggestions for our website, let us know. We are always looking for ways to improve our service to you.

Artina Wins Awards :)

Artina Promotional Products (and yours truly) is pleased to announce that our little blog has won an award. May 29th our blog was awarded a MAME award from the BIA of Central Ohio. MAME (Marketing and Merchandising Excellence) honors the top achievers for the membership of the BIA. There are a variety of awards, some are specific to the home-building industry, others are inclusive of the associate members.
The Artina blog is a fairly new feature to the Artina website and is designed to provide the latest news in the promotional products industry as well as to educate our clients about the myriad of uses for our items.
Artina was also recognized for the Ideas in Promotion Show with a MAME award for best one-time event. This is also an educational event held for our clients each Spring.
So, if you haven't read the blog or been to our Ideas in Promotion Show...check them both out.

Fitness and promotional products

Did you know that this week was fitness week? I didn't either, so don't worry about that. Even though this week was the "official" fitness week, you can incorporate fitness into your work life every week. Many companies are promoting wellness programs with discounted gym memberships, weight loss challenges etc. Promotional products are a great way to promote your programs and keep people motivated to lose the weight and get in better shape. People spend more waking hours at work than anywhere else, so workplace wellness is critical for setting the tone for their eating and exercise habits.
Employers also realize several benefits to providing a workplace wellness program.
1. Enhanced recriutment and retention of healthy employees.
2. Reduced health care costs - from 20-55%
3. Decreased rates of illness and/or injury.
4. Reduced employee absenteeism - by 6-32%
5. Improved employee relations and morale.
6. Increased productivity - 2-52%
Also, depending on the scope of your program, tax benefits may be available to you as the employer for offering the wellness programs.
So, that being said, you offer the wellness program, how do you get people to use it? There are a variety of promotional products that can serve as reminders, aids and incentives to participate in the program. Visit us at www.artina.com or give us a call at 800.433.5587.

Promotional Products and Marketing in a tough economy

Why do promotional products deliver the best return on investment in an unsettled economy? Why should they be a vital part of your marketing mix?

1. They increase sales...62% of customers do business with the company after receiving a promotional product.
2. Brand awareness...84% of customers remember the business that provided them with the promotional product.
3. Return on investment...at .004 per impression, promotional products have the best CPI of popular advertising mediums.
4. Improved relations...42% of customers view the business more favorably after receiving the item and virtually none indicate a negative feeling.
5. Frequency and repetition...a key to advertisting. Promotional products are kept on average for 7 months and many are used in business every day.

Check out www.artina.com for the latest in ideas to promote your business.

Artina Merges with Align Interactive

Artina Promotional Products is proud to announce that Align Interactive (formerly CTPro and Kingston) has joined forces with Artina to service its’ promotional products clients and online store programs. Artina is an industry leader, with experience ranging from promotional products and awards to apparel programs for countless clients in a variety of industries.

Artina is in it’s 42nd year in business and is very strong with finding and providing creative solutions to various client needs, events and business challenges through the use of promotional products. Align Interactive’s strengths have been in e-marketing and e-commerce; particularly the development and marketing of public facing web stores and online company stores. The companies’ strengths mesh well, and combined, bring a great breadth and depth of service capabilities and offerings to their clients.

Three members of the Align Interactive team have moved to the Artina Promotional Products office in Powell as of the first of April, and have already begun fulfilling customer orders as Artina. Included in those three is Jeff Ivany, owner and President of Align, who joins Artina as an Independent Consultant, as well as two other team members who have been instrumental in developing client relationships and servicing their needs.

Recognition Programs

Does your company have an employee recognition program? Are you considering one? Are you considering to eliminate or cut back on the one you have?
Employee recognition programs are more essential now than ever. Why?
1. Recognition boosts people's esteem and performance...they need to feel important and satisfied.
2. It signifies that someone notices and cares about their performance and them. It can lead to new motivation, improved performance and increased self-esteem.
3. Recognition is more important than ever...the competition to hire and keep the best workers is at an all time high. Not only that, but ordinary people need to produce extraordinary results. 4. Recognition creates role models and heroes for the rest of the team. It recognizes the kind of performance that is noticed and other employees aspire to that.

Artina Promotional Products provides a wide range of recognition programs with not only symbolic awards but other types as well. Check out www.artina.com for ideas or give us a call at 800.433.5587.
Keep an eye out for the next post where we will delve further into the Recognition Program topic. In the meantime, we would love to hear about some of your recognition programs or any questions you may have.

Calendar advertising

As you are evaluating your marketing budget this year, I am sure you want to be sure that you are getting the most bang for your buck. There are many choices out there, but, have you considered calendars? Calendars provide careful targeting, clear messaging and long-term visibility. These attributes make them a high-impact, low cost advertising medium.
Did you know that the average person looks at a calendar 12 times a day, when you do the math on that it's 4380 times per year. 83% of customers purchase items from the advertiser that gave them the calendar and 94% of all business people can recall the message on their calendar.
With such a powerful impact on not just the people that receive the calendar but all those that see it, why wouldn't you spend some of your advertising budget on calendars. There are many ways to customize a calendar, from adding your name at the bottom or top to a completely custom wall calendar. The options are endless.
You may think it is too early to think about ordering calendars, however, many calendar manufacturers offer early order discounts and they will hold the order to ship at a later date. So, you get to take advantage of the price break, but you don't have to figure out where to put them.
Call Artina Promotional Products at 800-433-5587 or contact us via the web www.artina.com to discuss how calendar advertising can work for you.

National Volunteer Week

National Volunteer Week is fast-approaching, this year's dates are April 19-25. The theme for the week is "Celebrating People in Action." National Volunteer Week is an opportunity to celebrate those individuals that dedicate themselves to taking action and helping to solve problems in their communities. Without volunteers, many services that are offered by non-profits and other organizations could not function. So, it is important that those who take the time out of their busy schedules be recognized for the hard work that they do.

This week is a chance to give thanks to those people in whatever way your organization can. Many organizations recognize those individuals with a promotional product. Promotional products are a great gift and leave a lasting impression on the recipient. Some organizations choose to offer something that is useful, mugs, lunch bags, etc. However, others go the route of something a little more along the lines of an award, for example actual awards, paperweights, pen sets, etc. Depending on your budget, your promotional products representative can help you select the item that is right for your organization. Whatever item you decide on, be sure that your volunteers will know that you appreciate their efforts and it will help to keep them coming back.

We would love to hear some of your most successful Volunteer Week promotions, so please feel free to comment.

If you are looking for just the right gift for your volunteers, please call Artina Promotional Products at 800-433-5587 or visit us on the web at www.artina.com.

Why do flash drives vary in price?

If you think you are getting a bargain on inexpensive flash drives...you may want to think again. There are several ways that you can get taken unaware when you are purchasing flash drives, especially if you are getting them from an online resource. One rule of thumb, if you get three bids and one is significantly lower, beware. It is likely to be a fake.
Industrial hackers target the low cost flash drive market and with some simple software they can make a 32MB flash drive appear to be as valuable as a 4GIG drive. Another thing to beware of when purchasing flash drives is recycled memory. Recycling memory allows for the production of very low cost flash drives, but the quality is never as good as a first run piece and therefore, is likely to fail.
So, you are thinking about purchasing flash drives for your upcoming promotion. It is important to ask your promotional products distributor about the things referenced above. They should be able to get the information for you if they do not already know the answers. Most of the suppliers of memory to the promotional products industry are reputable and are using first quality items. You should always consider getting a sample, especially if you are planning to upload files before you hand out the items. Be sure that the file fits on the drive and that it works properly. The cost of flash drives has come down significantly over the past year, so do not be afraid of a low cost item. But, do be very cautious. Also, keep in mind that the cost of memory changes weekly, so the price you get this week may be different next week.
You can visit our website to check out some of the latest memory stick styles...http://www.artina.com/taxonomySearch/87/780.

Coop advertising

So, you want to order promotional products to leave behind on sales calls or give out at trade shows but your budget has been reduced. There is a creative way that you can still get these items and...not have to pay for them! If your business is a distributor of various brands, there may be opportunities that you are missing. Many companies offer coop dollars to their distributors to aid in the marketing of their lines. Promotional products are a great way to accomplish this, your logo and the manufacturer's logo can both go on the item. You get your name out there, they get there name out there and you didn't have to pay for anything. It is obviously a great benefit to your manufacturers to have you pushing their product lines first, so they are more than willing to partner with you in marketing efforts.

If you are not sure if your partners offer coop advertising dollars, just ask. Of course, with multiple logos on the items, your promotional products professional can steer you towards the appropriate items that allow adequate imprint area.

In this economy, advertising is more important than ever, so don't miss out on an excellent opportunity to maximize your partnerships.

BPA...toxic or not

By now everyone has heard the debate over BPA (bishpenol A) and plastic containers. According to Fast Company magazine, over 7 billion pounds of the chemical were produced in 2007. It is used in everything from dental fillings to baby bottles. The debate centers around the chemical leaching into our food and drink from the containers that we consume them from. There are a multitude of studies out there and Fast Company found that there are a significant number of studies that find on both sides of this debate. However, the studies that find the chemical to be harmless to humans seem to be funded by interested parties. These range from chemical associations to companies that use BPA in the production of their products. The article in Fast Company is informative and lengthy, and I recommend that everyone read it.

So, how does this impact promotional products. Well, you are about to purchase water bottles for your company picnic and you don't know what to do. Fortunately, manufacturers in the promotional products industry have responded to the controversy by manufacturing a wide range of bottles and other plastic products that are BPA free. As a matter of fact, the majority of water bottles offered are in fact BPA free. So, you can order water bottles and other plastic items without the worry over this questionable chemical. Be sure to ask your promotional products professional for BPA free items as well as FDA compliant products. And of course, if your state is under Prop 65 legislation or you are shipping to a state that is, be sure to let your promotional products professional know that as well. There are specific products that meet Prop 65 guidelines and they need to be labeled in a specific way as well.

Artina Promotional Products is proud to offer Prop 65 compliant and BPA free products. Feel free to check us out at www.artina.com or give us a call at 800-433-5587.

What's new for 2009?

So, you are planning your promotional products budget for the year and you need to decide on the products you are going to purchase. Are you tired of the same old things? Want something that is going to grab your prospect's attention? Now is the time to sit down with your promotional products professional and learn about the new items for the year. The industry's big event was held last week and all of our vendors launched their new products. The catalogs are coming in every day full of new ideas. So, give your rep a call and see if you can get some catalogs.
Also, if you would like an opportunity to see these products in person, just check out www.ideasinpromotion.com. Each year Artina invites a select group of vendors to exhibit in a trade show format especially for you...the promotional products user. This is a great opportunity to network and brainstorm for the events that you have coming up this year. The event is April 2nd this year, be sure to mark your calendar. You can RSVP on the Ideas in Promotion site or you can send an email to info@artina.com.

Custom Promotional Products

So here it is, another year has come and gone and it is time to get down to the business of planning 2009. No matter the industry you are in, the competition is fierce and will get more so in 2009. Everyone is looking for the next great promotional item, in their budget, that sets them apart. Well, have you ever thought about making it? That's right....Artina can help you design your own promotional products, manufacture them overseas and deliver them at a cost much lower than domestic production. Is there a bag that you love but it must have another pocket? That's fine, let's make it. We can also take bags and other promotional products and tweak the designs to fit your specific needs and budget.
Pricing is typically better on these items than domestic production, so it helps stretch your budget. A couple of things to consider when you are thinking about doing a custom, overseas project. Do I have the lead time needed? Typical lead time for an overseas project can range from 60-120 days, so be sure to allow that amount of time when planning the project. Can I order enough to meet the minimum quantity needed to produce the item overseas? Quantities in the past have been much higher than they are now to produce items overseas. The best way to determine if you meet the minimum requirements is to have a discussion with your promotional products professional.
Call your Artina rep today to start discussing how to get a unique, cost-effective promotional item done overseas to meet your 2009 needs. 800-433-5587, you can also check us out at www.artina.com.