2010 New Product

Here we are a the beginning of another year. As always, the promotional products industry has a bevy of new product offerings that is more creative than last year. With so many new products, it's hard to point all of them out, so over the next few weeks, we will be highlighting a few new products in our blog.
This first new product is called WalkSafe and it is brought to us by the creative minds of Shedrain. I am sure that some of you are familiar with this brand of umbrella through it's retail outlets, but is also available in the promotional products industry.
So, here is a little bit about the product. These umbrellas are designed to be seen from every angle with 3M Scotchlite reflective material, the most important thought for these umbrellas was pedestrian safety. This patented material is located on each panel to give pedestrians enhanced 360 visibility. Based on a recent study nearly 5000 pedestrians are killed in traffic crashes, 71,000 are injured and 65% of pedestrian fatalities occur between 6pm and 6am. With these grim statistics these highly reflective umbrellas are a perfect solution.
The WalkSafe umbrella line includes a bented golf umbrella, a manual open compact and an auto open & close compact. They come in a wide range of colors too. All are availble with your logo on one or more panels.
Please call your Artina rep to get more information on this item for your safety programs and employee gifts as well as to learn more about the 2010 new products!
800-433-5587, www.artina.com

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

New Federal Guidelines for Promotional Products

Beginning in 2009, there will be new federal guidelines governing promotional products. They are set to take effect in February 2009 and may affect the promotional items that you purchase. The new guidelines are primarily focused on Phthalates and lead in products that are intended for children under the age of 13.
These new guidelines will require a Certificate of Conformity for all products intended for children that fall into this age group stating that the product complies with these guidelines. This certificate must accompany the product through US Customs as well as with every domestic shipment. Proof of conformity must be provided for all components and inks from a legitimate testing lab if the product is intended for children under the age of 13. Also, depending on the product category, things like flammability, packaging and FDA standards might apply. Lead levels are set at 600 parts per million for fabric and inks but they will eventually get lower. The target date for the new lower levels to be implemented is August 2009.
Artina Promotional Products will keep posting updates on this blog as they become available, as the guidelines are still evolving and we are still learning how this will effect our industry and you as the consumer of our products.

Imprinted promotional products v. blank corporate gifts

There is not a right or wrong answer when it comes to this question. The best answer is to take care in selecting an appropriate item and think twice about whether or not to put your corporate logo on it.
The ultimate success of a promotional product as a gift for an employee, client or vendor, is whether the recipient uses it or not. Certainly having your logo on it gets more advertising miles out of the product. However, that is assuming they are using the product and seeing the logo each time. If they throw it in their box of junk in the garage, or trash it, then not only did your advertising dollars go down the tube, but so did the recipient’s feeling of appreciation.
Some things to think about when deciding whether or not to imprint the item:
What is the message you are trying to convey?
Cost of item (the higher the price, consider, no imprint or a more subtle imprint such as deboss or tone on tone)
Consider an add on item that can hold the logo (for example – a nice duffle bag with no imprint accompanied with a luggage tag that has the logo)
If you choose not to put the logo, don’t be afraid that the recipient will not remember where it came from – in fact they will likely never forget.

The new and improved Artina website

As you may have noticed, it has been a while since a new blog has been posted. That is because we have been very busy with the design and rollout of the new and improved Artina Promotional Products website (www.artina.com). The new site features an improved search feature with some advanced options that were not previously available. For those that are budget conscious or in a time crunch, you can search by price range or lead time as well. For quick answers, there is an on-line chat. Operators are available from 8:15 to 5:00 EST...so get online and chat with us! Along with the improved search features the entire site is more user friendly and easier to navigate. The new site has been a long time in coming and we are pleased to offer this new level of online service to our current and new clients.
Check us out online frequently as the website is a work in progress and we hope to make continuous improvements as well as additions to the products that are available via the site. Currently there are over 10,000 products to choose from. As always, if you don't see what you are looking for on the site, just give us a call...or better yet...chat with us online!

Labor and other issues in China challenge promotional products industry.

As we are all aware, the price of everything is on the rise these days. The same is true of the promotional products industry as some major changes in China are affecting the industry dramatically. Promotional products are for the most part, imported from overseas and a large majority come from China. In the past, the items have been inexpensive to make for the Chinese and therefore inexpensive for us to purchase. China is now facing several factors that are changing their costs of doing business.
One thing that is not a China only issue is the rising cost of raw materials. Costs for petroleum based plastics have been on the rise for the past couple of years and there are no indications that it is going to slow down.
The Chinese government recently enacted a new labor law that requires employers to give new employee benefits that were not previously given. This of course increases the cost of doing business for these factories and they are in turn passing that on to their clients. China is also now moving into an inflationary environment as opposed to the previously deflationary one. This means that the deflation of the Yuan and the weakening US dollar are working together to increase the prices that we pay for goods. Prices are now being adjusted upward on a weekly basis. Another governmental factor is the decrease in the VAT (Value Add Tax) that the Chinese government has been paying factories to help them offset the cost of production.
Another surprising factor in the mix is the Summer Olympics. The Chinese government has closed many factories for various periods of time in an effort to reduce air pollution for the upcoming games. Lastly, the Chinese labor force is realizing that they can get paid more and have better working conditions closer to their homes and are leaving their jobs. After the Chinese New Year holiday this year, less than 70 of every 100 workers returned to their jobs in the factories. This has significantly reduced the available workforce.So, how does all of this affect promotional products? Well, one thing that is happening are price increases. In the past, the increases have been such that the factories were offsetting the cost on their own, but with the dramatic increases, they are now being forced to pass those along to the end users. The other thing that is happening is inventory issues. With the shortage of workers and the shutdowns, production schedules are being disrupted. So, it is important to talk with your promotional products distributor when you are working on projects to get accurate pricing as well as check inventory prior to placing an order. With the longer lead times for importing goods, it is a good idea to start working on your projects a little further in advance.

It's too early to think about calendars...or is it?

What do you mean calendars? It is too early to look at calendars for 2009....I just received my 2008 ones! Well, it really isn't too early to start thinking about your calendars for 2009. If you are not using calendars in your marketing plan, it is a perfect time to consider the impact of calendar advertising.
Calendars provide a perfect branding opportunity since everyone looks at a calendar once a day and most people look at it much more often. Once you start using calendars in your marketing plan, your clients start to look forward to receiving them and will ask about them each year. There is a calendar to fit every budget, industry and target audience...from desk calendars, wall calendars and planners.
Calendars also present another unique marketing opportunity when it comes to customization. You can choose to go with a stock calendar, however, the possibilities are unlimited when it comes to creating a completely custom calendar. Your promotional products distributor can walk you through the options for customizing the calendar pads, photos as well as the back of the calendar and adding custom pages at the front that provide valuable information to the recipient.
Now that we know more about the options and value behind calendar advertising, why should you start on your 2009 calendar project now? There are a couple of reasons...first of all, calendar manufacturers are bombarded with orders in the last quarter and if you place your order now, they will hold them to ship when you want them. That way, they are able to manage their production schedule and you get your calendars when you want them. This is especially important if you are ordering a stock calendar, you may run into inventory issues if you wait too long to place your order. Most calendar manufacturers offer early order discounts as an incentive as well, typically the deadline for ordering to take advantage of the discount is end of June. Again, they will hold the order to ship until you are ready to receive the calendars so you do not have to worry about storing them.
Visit our website (www.artina.com) to view some stock options for calendars or call 800-433-5587 and ask to speak to an account executive to learn more about stock or custom calendars.

Golf Outings

Spring is in the air and golfers everywhere are practicing their swings. Corporate and charity golf outings can be a welcome break from the work week and are a great way to network and give back to your community. For the organizers, golf outings present a unique challenge. You want to provide your participants with items that they can use at the outing but that they will also use after the event.
There are a variety of ways to use promotional products at your event. Most golf outings involve a welcome kit of some kind. A promotional cooler is a great way to present the items to the golfers. You can insert information about your organization as well as any other promotional items that you have purchased or that have been given to you by sponsors. Golf balls, towels and tees are just a few of the items that can be imprinted and given to your golfers.
For the winners of the outing as well as other events within the tournament, such as closest to the pin, there are a wide range of golf awards availble to fit your needs. Another successful promotion is to provide each person with a photo frame to take home. You can take photos of each foursome and give them at the end of the outing with the frame.
Now that you have taken care of the golfers, what about the staff working your event? Providing your team with a logoed shirt or visor is a great way to recognize their hard work as well as make it easy for the golfers to identify them should they need assistance with something.
Call your promotional products consultant at 800-433-5587 to brainstorm on how promotional products can enhance your golf outing this year!