"Custom items" in this case refers to promotional items, which are the branded merchandise (aka schwag) given away to advertise business to new prospects or to keep the business fresh in existing customers' minds.
Here are 7 things I learned about buying custom promotional items:
Custom samples are expensive. Companies will gladly provide free samples of their items; you have to pay for prototypes of items with your branding.
Lead time is often very long in this industry. Users tend to decide they want promotional merchandise a couple days before an event. This is one case in which expedited shipping isn't going to be enough. You need to have appropriate lead time expectations established with your users.
No matter how good they look, someone in authority will say, "Oh, those are OK, but I thought they were going to look like…"
Keep records of all orders indefinitely. It's best to have a vendor that does as well because users will remember something the company ordered years earlier and want that exact same thing again, but there will be no specs and no samples left from which to work.
If you are unhappy with you promotional merchandise company, there are many from which to choose, both national and local. You will end up with a lot of catalogs or this sort of stuff.
The best promotional items are things that recipients will actually use such as key chains with flashlights, tee shirts, or mugs. (The latter two are better because other people see the logo too.) Cheaper pens aren't a good choice because they get thrown in a drawer or penholder with a dozen others. If you want to emblazon pens with your logo, make them the fanciest pen offered. Users will love them and everyone who sees it on the user's desk will ask about it.
Vendors get the blanks from the same places so base merchandise is probably pf equal quality equal or of very similar quality. Service and quality of personalization are the factors to consider when comparing prices.
Personally, I love promotional items. I am a sucker for really good promotional items or rewards such as T-Shirts, mugs, CD cases, etc. Even things like $10-20 gift certificates are major incentives for someone like me keep to purchasing items from a company in exchange for these personal rewards!
Posted by: Chablis | October 25, 2006 3:36 PM | Permalink to Comment