Bright Ideas

On the look out for talent

It's been close to six months since we opened the doors of our new Cotswold HQ. Now the dust has settled we are looking to strengthen the Bright Ideas team.

We are particularly interested in candidates with prior experience of the promotional goods market and those with sales and business development experience.

If you think that you have what it takes to make a difference then please send a CV and covering letter to: richard@brightideaspromotional.co.uk

Bright Ideas is a Charter Member of the British Promotional Merchandise Association and specialises in the Education, Technology, Retail and Professional Services sectors.

Always to hand

Desk related promotional merchandise can often be overlooked in the perpetual quest to find something new. But don’t be fooled, increasing brand awareness is not only about having the wow factor. Invariably, factors such as practicality, longevity, and usage are at least as important. That's why this month we’d like to focus on desk top items.

Food for Thought
In offices, hotel rooms and home studies up and down the nation, a collection of desk accessories are invariably on show - and these offer tremendous potential for promoting brand awareness.

From desk tidies to notebooks, mouse mats to phone chargers there really are hundreds of products to make sure that your marketing is always hard at work on any work station. After all, there are few better ways of putting branded merchandise into people’s hands on a regular basis!

“Desk accessories tend to be items that are used over and over again which translates into continued brand exposure for the companies and brands that use them for advertising”, commented Tim Farnfield, a Director at Bright Ideas. “Printed mugs and drinkware, for example, are always going to be popular because of the longevity and practical use associated with the product, while pens and pencils are pretty much ubiquitous and offer unrivalled ROI”.

The reality is people must work to make a living and a number of people will inevitably work in an office with plenty of time sat at a desk. The list of products that can work in this environment is extensive and of course when branded appropriately they can deliver truly great exposure on a daily basis. Just think of pens & pen pots , mouse mats, USB sticks, note books, rulers, highlighters, screen wipes, and calculators.

Trends
The one noticeable shift in the market over the last few years has been towards technology related items, particularly with the ubiquity of smartphones and touch screen devices. This means some new items are becoming increasingly popular. So if you are looking for something a little bit different or just want something with a bit of a ‘tech’ link why not consider one of the following items?

• Powerbanks
• Quirky mobile phone stands
• Phone charging pads and wireless chargers
• Bluetooth speakers

But don’t forget there’s still room for traditional ‘fiddle items’ and things that bring a little bit of fun into the work place – just look at the popularity over the last twelve months of the fidget spinner. There’s also plenty of research to suggest that individuals can be more effective in the work place when they are simultaneously stimulating their senses fiddling away!

Back to Basics
With all the craving for tech related products it’s easy to forget about some evergreen products. The good old fashioned notebook falls into this category. There’s always been something special associated with putting pen to paper. There’s plenty of evidence to suggest that individuals find writing things down on paper to be a calming, natural and memorable experience. There’s also the fact that notebooks are more tactile, intimate and engaging than their digital counterparts. The secret here is to create a design that has a little more stand-out to help bolster brand awareness.

Remember the Benefits
People simply love receiving promotional gifts. They can make your customers feel special. Chosen wisely and branded neatly a desk item can leave a deep rooted impression among your recipients but also send a loud message about your company. So why not let us help you find a great product and create an eye-catching design.

Bright Ideas Promotional
We are Promotional Merchandise experts. If you’d like some assistance regarding any of your merchandising requirements or a copy of our latest confectionery catalogue then simply call us on 0800 644 4858 or drop us a line at info@brightideaspromotional.co.uk

Getting stronger

Bright Ideas, one of the UK’s leading promotional merchandise distributors and a specialist provider of merchandise to the Education sector, has taken further steps to strengthen its Cotswold base team.

We are delighted to announce that we have recently recruited two incredibly talented individuals; Ann Genc and Patrycja Grycz.

Ann has a wealth of customer facing experience and and will provide help and advice to customers across the organisation's range of products and services. Patrycja will support the accounts team as well as playing a key role in strengthening and professionalising our client communications.

The latest recruits will enable the business to provide our customers with a first class service as well as strengthening our reputation for being easy to do business with.

If you’d like some assistance regarding any of your merchandising requirements then simply call us on 0800 644 4858 or drop us a line at info@brightideaspromotional.co.uk

Ho Ho Ho

As the end of the year approaches we would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our clients and suppliers a wonderful Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

A big thank you to all our clients for entrusting us with the delivery of your many exciting projects, and to our suppliers for helping us to manage and invariably exceed client expectations.

It's been one hell of a year. We've moved to fantastic new offices, have brought on board talented individuals and are now better placed than ever to support our loyal customers and deliver a great service. Rest assured, we won't rest on our laurels and will continue to build upon these foundations in 2018.

May you all have a fantastic Christmas and New Year. We look forward to working with you again in 2018.

Did you know?

Bright Ideas has been trading for over 25 years. We are a Charter member of the British Promotional Merchandise Association and operate out of offices in Birmingham and Bristol.

If you’d like some assistance regarding any of your merchandising requirements then simply call us on 0800 644 4858 or drop us a line at info@brightideaspromotional.co.uk

Customisation is the key

In a previous post we highlighted the reasons why promotional mugs continue to top the charts as one of the most useful and appreciated promotional gifts. It's not rocket science: they just work on so many different levels. That's why the team at Bright Ideas are convinced that they will remain one of the most popular promotional items for years to come. After all, there’s nothing more comforting than taking a swig of something warm and welcoming from your favourite mug.

But, that's not all folks! There are a number of options available that can help transform the 'simple mug' into something a little bit special.

Standing out from the crowd

We get genuinely excited when manufacturers introduce new features or packaging that raise the bar even higher, but often it's difficult to convey exactly what's on offer to our clients. That's why we thought it would be helpful to explore just a few of the available options that can help to create a truly unique product.

Option #1: Pantone Matching
Co-ordinate your Marketing programmes. Pantone matched mugs are available from as few as 250 units.

Option #2: Inner Colourcoat
It does what it says on the tin. Your Pantone colour applied to the inside of the mug. Can really lift a plain white mug. Co-ordinate with screen print or full colour designs.

Option #3: Inner & Outer Colourcoat
Whilst not the cheapest route it's possible to combine different coloured inners and outers to 'match' Corporate schemes. Factor in satin and gloss finishes and the possibilities are endless.

Option #4: Base Printing
Reinforce your brand with a base print in a complementary or contrasting colour. Get your message across to a wider audience!

Option #5: Inside Printing
A little bit quirky. Why not add a logo, strap line or call to action inside the mug? The print in question getting revealed after every sip.

Option #6: Halo Effect
Either your Pantone colour or something that is complementary or contrasting with your corporate identity applied to the rim of the mug.

Option #7: Retail Style Packaging
Finish off your mug with a choice of Pantone matched or full colour printed packaging.

The key takeaways

Promotional mugs represent a great way to build brand awareness. What's more the mug itself can have a high perceived value, potentially far exceeding the unit cost. That's why it's important to consider all the available decoration options to ensure that you create the most striking product given any budgetary constraints. The options referred to are not 'exclusive'. Mix and match the finishes to create something truly memorable.

Bright Ideas Promotional
We are Promotional Merchandise experts. If you’d like some assistance regarding any of your merchandising requirements then simply call us on 0800 644 4858 or drop us a line at info@brightideaspromotional.co.uk

Moving on up

Bright Ideas, one of the UK’s leading promotional merchandise distributors and a Charter member of The British Promotional Merchandise Association (BPMA), is delighted to announce the opening of their new Headquarters in the Cotswolds. The office officially opened on the 11th September 2017.

The new premises are ideally configured to support the full service offering - and comprise of significant warehousing space, sat alongside professional offices in a beautiful location.

“As we’ve grown, our clients have grown with us and we now stock and distribute merchandise for some of the UK’s leading brands. The move to our Cotswold HQ will enable Bright Ideas to provide our loyal clients with an enhanced full-service offering. From product sourcing and design, the creation of client branded web shops, through to storage, collation, picking and packing as well as national & global distribution”, commented Richard Gardiner, a Director of Bright Ideas.

We’ve all the mod cons of a 21st century office. From client parking to conference and meeting rooms. The move represents a key milestone in the development of the business and will enable the team to provide a truly first-class service.

The doors are now ‘open’ and all clients and suppliers are welcome to pop in and say hello.

If you’d like some assistance regarding any of your merchandising requirements then simply call us on 0800 644 4858 or drop us a line at info@brightideaspromotional.co.uk

Carry me home

Everyone loves promotional products – especially us. Every now and again we like to focus on one of our ‘core’ product categories to show you why we think they’re a great tool to increase awareness and boost customer engagement. This month we’d like to focus on promotional bags.

No matter the activity there’s a bag for every occasion. They are genuinely useful and will invariably be used over and over. What’s more they come in a multitude of sizes, materials, styles and colours, and are available at varying price points.

The promotional bag has got to be one of the most flexible and popular promotional marketing tools. They work for various sectors, and for different target audiences, performing a major service in promoting business, products and services in all walks of life, across the globe.

The Results Speak for Themselves
“Bags are one of our bestsellers,” says account manager and product fanatic, Joy. “They’re long lasting, cost effective and they genuinely work – both as a mechanism for increasing brand awareness as well as at a functional level for work or leisure purposes.

One of the neat things about bags is that they fly below the radar. They’re unobtrusive, so people don’t really consider them to be advertising. That’s why they are so effective as a promotional tool.”

This is backed up by research findings about promotional products published by the BPMA (British Promotional Merchandise Association). The research highlighted that 97% of recipients will keep them, with over 50% keeping the item for more than 12 months. Since the items get used repeatedly, they result in 43% more brand recognition and recall than common advertising methods such as TV, radio, or magazines.

Overarching Benefits

• Increased brand awareness and goodwill
• Genuinely practical
• Versatile and flexible to your brand objectives
• High perceived value

Clever Usage Ideas
The starting point is to consider the overarching business goals. Are you looking for ways to boost sales, increase brand awareness and customer loyalty, or to promote your business to a wider audience? A promotional bag can help to achieve these objectives.

Here are a few clever usage ideas:

Offer a free bag as a gift - ideal for goody bags for launch parties, conferences & exhibitions. The more practical the item the higher the likely usage.

Create a reusable bag for life - there can be a high perceived value for items of this nature. Especially, if the bag is well-designed and robust. Tote Bags and Jute Bags are popular for this purpose and can be printed with eye-catching designs, making them desirable to customers so that they can be sold at a profit, thereby creating an additional revenue stream.

Give out delegate packs at a conference - whether you’re hosting or sponsoring a conference, you can use branded conference bags to get your message across to all delegates and raise awareness of who you are and what you do.

Bright Ideas Promotional
We are Promotional Merchandise experts. If you’d like some assistance regarding any of your merchandising requirements or a copy of our latest confectionery catalogue then simply call us on 0800 644 4858 or drop us a line at info@brightideaspromotional.co.uk

Getting it right

Marketing has become a bit of an art form. No matter where you turn, you’ll invariably be subjected to some form of advertising. Whether it be television adverts, magazine adverts, online banners, or social media, it seems to be never ending and is becoming increasingly sophisticated.
There is, however, still space for the more traditional forms of advertising. If you haven’t noticed Promotional Products are still going strong. Whilst many people may have assumed that this form of advertising and marketing was dead in the water - the opposite is, in fact, the case. Promotional products are deemed to be an incredibly powerful marketing tool. Research indicates that the use of promotional merchandise represents an extremely cost-effective route.

What Are the Most Popular Promotional Products

What products you select will typically be dictated by the type of business, the nature of the target audience and by the budget available. In general, though, most organisations tend to opt for things from the ‘core’ product categories outlined below:

• Writing instruments: Pens and pencils
• Paper Products: Notebooks and notepads
• Bags: Cotton shoppers, conference and lap top bags
• Drinkware: Mugs and water bottles
• Desk Accessories: Calendars, memo blocks and mouse mats
• Clothing: T-shirts, hoodies, caps and jackets
• Technology products: USB’s and power banks

Whilst these are the bestselling items the reality is that the team at Bright Ideas has access to over 30,000 promotional products. That’s what we do, we help our clients to source the most suitable product for any eventuality. It’s worth spending the time looking at the possible options as often it’s the more inventive choices for promotional products - or the creative application of your branding - that help to create the most successful campaigns.

Remember the Basics

It’s sometimes easy to get carried away and distracted by the range of products available. The critical thing is never to forget the target audience and to look wherever possible for items that have longevity and are likely to be used again and again. There’s also a school of thought that suggests that more discrete branding can have a greater impact. The “less is more concept”, implies that products with subtle branding are more likely to be actively used, thereby increasing brand awareness / enhancing the effectiveness of any campaign.

Bright Ideas Promotional
We are Promotional Merchandise experts. If you’d like some assistance regarding any of your merchandising requirements then simply call us on 0800 644 4858 or drop us a line at info@brightideaspromotional.co.uk

Bright Ideas leads the way

Bright Ideas is revolutionizing the ordering and management of branded merchandise and printed collateral with the development of a bespoke e-store for a British multinational facilities management and construction services company.

The e-store, named Marketplace, makes use of Magento e-commerce functionality to provide a secure online ordering / e-commerce platform. This has been designed and developed completely in-house by the Birmingham & Bristol based branding and merchandise specialists.

Richard Gardiner, Bright Ideas’ Managing Director commented, “As the preferred supplier for our clients’ promotional merchandise requirements, the creation of a best in class online presence for these products was a logical step. This will enable the in house Marketing team to better manage the product portfolio, reduce leakage, and protect the brand identity, as well as increasing the level of interest in the product range throughout the business.

Designed with end users in mind, the e-store enables employees to order a core range of ‘approved’ branded merchandise, invariably available for next day delivery. The next phase of development will include a refresh of the product line, the introduction of a custom personalisation service to enable client facing teams to order bespoke personalised items tailored to their requirements, and the streamlining of the re-ordering process.

Our client’s Head of Brand commented, “We are delighted with the new e-store. Bright Ideas has been a fantastic partner throughout this project. They have helped us to update the core product range and have suggested innovative ways to improve the way we manage merchandise. The project was professionally managed and delivered on time and on budget. We are extremely pleased with the final result.”

If you'd like to hear more about this project please contact richard@brightideaspromotional.co.uk

Did you know?

Bright Ideas has been trading for over 25 years. We are a Charter member of the British Promotional Merchandise Association and operate out of offices in Birmingham and Bristol.

If you’d like some assistance regarding any of your merchandising requirements then simply call us on 0800 644 4858 or drop us a line at info@brightideaspromotional.co.uk

Sweet temptations

With the recent launch of our new Confectionery catalogue we thought the time was right to help raise the profile of exactly what’s on offer. This month we’re discussing all things edible. Can you resist temptation?

Everybody Loves Sweet Treats
There’s no better way to show your appreciation, gratitude or extend congratulations to your customers, colleagues and staff than by using promotional confectionery. From promotional mint cards, to branded chocolates, jelly beans, snack bars and lollipops - there’s just so much choice, and a suitable product for every eventuality. Get it right and you’ll have customers beating a path to your door to get some more of your sweet ‘giveaways’!

Wealth of Experience
All members of our team have worked on a variety of promotional confectionery campaigns for our clients, such as designing chocolate bars for Ralph Lauren, not to mention sourcing Belgian chocolates for our own client reward programmes.

Brand Awareness
Confectionery is often underestimated and overlooked when it comes to promotions. People either dismiss it without a second thought or mistakenly believe that it’s a bit old hat. The reality is that it can be one of the most effective ways to promote your business, and used correctly, can help to establish a business relationship with new clients or reward long-standing customers. Promotional confectionery gifts do more than show appreciation; they also remind people about your brand. As a bonus, it’s one of the most cost-effective ways of doing this.

Bespoke
With the ability to customise the design, the flavours and even the colours, confectionery products offer a tremendous degree of flexibility. Furthermore, with the arrival of more ‘retail’ looking packaging you can find a style to fit with your corporate image. There’s everything from boxes, pouches, tins, pots, and wrappers – all of which provide fantastic branding opportunities. It’s even possible to get your logo and brand name imprinted into the sweet.

Versatile
Promotional confectionery works with all ages and sexes and for a variety of purposes such as giveaways at events and tradeshows. It’s also extremely popular as a corporate gift, primarily to say, ‘thank you’ to new and existing customers.

Value for Money
Promotional confectionery is one of the most economical promotional products on offer, especially for large scale campaigns where it’s essential to have both high volumes and low unit costs. It’s possible however to find a range of products to suit any budget – and the finished article invariably looks great due to the breadth of available packaging materials.

Creating Memories and Allegiance
Perhaps the greatest feather in the cap for promotional confectionery products is that they are not considered to be obtrusive. People don’t really consider receiving a ’sweet treat’ as advertising. Rather, this has more of a goodwill gesture feel to it. Whilst BPMA research suggests that 97% of recipients keep promotional products they have received, in the case of confectionery we would guarantee that there’s a very high consumption rate!

Tuck In!
We’ve just released our 2017 Confectionery catalogue which contains a wide variety of promotional confectionery ideas to help you choose the best products for your next marketing initiative or event. We’ve everything from sweets, mints, chocolates, biscuits and healthy snacks through to seasonal specials.

If you’d like some assistance regarding any of your merchandising requirements or a copy of our latest confectionery catalogue then simply call us on 0800 644 4858 or drop us a line at info@brightideaspromotional.co.uk