On pack Glass by Saint James Rum

The Drink industry is one of the ones that most uses promotional gifts. The variety of promotional products offered is vast. Here are a few suggestions of more original products your brand could  choose :

• Coolzie 4in1
• Octopus suction coolie
• Compressed T-shirt in a Can
• isotherm jackets for bottles
• cocktail shaker
• poker set

Promotional Pen Supplier - Your logo here

Promotional pens are perhaps the most enduring of all promotional products. The combination of functionality, popular appeal and cost effectiveness often make them ideal for marketing purposes.  Just how many promotional logo pens have you seen in the last week?

Whilst the concept to use a pen as a corporate gift is great, finding the right design from the thousands of different options can be a huge headache. We suggest you go back to basics…

ODM’s design choice – Dubbed the Swan Pen.

Solid Black keeps it classy

Its beauty lies in its simplicity – this minimalist concept keeps it sleek with sufficient area for branding. The wide availability of colours also ensures that this pen is a winner when aesthetics are concerned.

Features:

• Twisted Barrel – removes the hindrance of jammed pen clicks!
• Chromed Tip allows for smooth writing
• Refillable

Basic, down to earth features seen here translates to minimum potential screw ups. You don’t want to be facing annoying problems/defects for a simple item as a pen.

For more unique ideas on pens:

• Lava Lamp Pens
• Invisible Ink Pens
• ODM’s Pen Fan
• Promo Racing Pens
• Jackpot Pens
• Banner Pens
• Scented Pens
• Pen Design Manufacture - Really Cool Designs
• Pen Factory Designs - More Cool Designs

Free Coffee Mug Set upon visit!

ElectronicsAsia, a premier sourcing event for basically all your electronics needs, will be taking place at the HKCEC on the 13th – 16th October 2011.

To whet your appetite for this show, check out the promotional products which were offered at the last show as a token of appreciation for visiting..

1. Coffee Mug Set
2. USB SD Card Reader
   

   USB SD Card Reader up for redemption

Every Girl's Dream!

Spend US$ 25 or more and customers are able to receive:

• A pretty cosmetics case
• Lipstick
• Mascara
• Eye Shadow Duo
• Eye Make-up Remover
• Moisturizer
• All About Eyes serum
• Sun block

Whilst the contents are amazingly varied (you basically have your complete make-up set right there), Clinique is thinking of more than just offering its customers with a to-go make-up kit.

This promotion aims to reach out to its existing customer base with an introduction of its cosmetics line giving samples for a trial run. By doing so, it increases the exposure of these products (which may be not so popular and well known) and heighten customers’ awareness towards them. Add a finishing touch with a beautiful case seen here, and you get women falling head over heels for the set.

This promotion has created much buzz, resulting in a mad dash to get them before they run out of stock! They already did, so pretty sure they will repeat this kind of promo.

Personalization and Fun Design are two winning strategies for this campaign

Nestle recently featured this cool promotion, exclusively at Coles Supermarkets in Australia.  Get a free personalized kids apron with every purchase of 3 Nestle baking products.

Promo Mechanism:

To claim your free apron, go online to www.bakers-corner.com.au.

Follow these steps to complete your claim before is is Sold Out (see below).

1. Enter the following details which can be found on your Eligible Purchase Coles purchase receipt: store name, store number, receipt number and date of purchase.
2. Enter the last six digits from the three product barcodes from your Eligible Purchase.
3. Enter your contact and delivery details.
4. Nominate the name you want to feature on the front of the apron. 

The offer was valid from 16th June 2011 and closes when all 7000 valid claims were redeemed online before 12th July 2011.   This promotion proved to be extremely successful with all 7000 aprons being claimed way before the deadline despite the tedious process.

This shows how a simple promotional product with the right design can excel and work wonders for your marketing campaign. 

The frolic design of this apron shows that baking can be fun too! Encouraging kids to start baking at a young age is an idea which we believe all parents would be more than happy to embrace. Exclusivity plays a major part in its success as well, as each apron can be personalized with a name.

By stirring up interest through appeal and getting consumers to act, your brand will linger with them as there is an instant relation to the activity.

Warning:  Some customers will be disappointed at spending the effort to go online and only then finding that this promo is sold out.   Fixed Fee agents can help minimise this by working with a set budget and taking the risk out of promotions.

• Hong Kong Beer Brands Case Study
• Stand out Watch Design
• Importance of Packaging
• Commemorative Watch Case Study

Hong Kong Beer Brands Case Study

This trend is spearheaded by 2 major beer brands in HK right now – Heineken & San Miguel. Both are offering simple black watches, a safe choice knowing black is widely accepted and generally easy to match with any outfit.

Promo Mechanism: Buy a pack of 4 or 3 bottles of beer. Add HK$ 69.90 & HK$ 49.90 to redeem the respective watches.

Such a PWP mechanism often attracts many customers to purchase with the ease of redemption and mere amount to add on.

Stand Out Watch Design

Promotional Watch By Kit Kat

For its marketing purposes, brand logo can be prominently placed on the dial of the watch and buckle. An effective yet subtle message is often being conveyed – in this case, it’s time for beer!

Recipients are usually more susceptible to be reminded of the brand when using the watch for its purpose. 

When it comes to promotional watches, simplicity is always vital. Overly detailed watches are deemed as overpowering promotional tools, and like all apparels and bags, will be avoided. Sleek designs are often one great direction to venture into.

If you wish to stay away from mundane black, you could always experiment with quirky designs like a innovative case shape or a moving dial to stand out.

Snickers Candy Bar Watch with a moving dial - showcasing wrapper designs from 1930 - 1990

Attention to details is what keeps your brand apart from the crowd and calling your watch truly premium. See Tic Tac’s watch for a perfect example.

Promotional Watch from Tic Tac - utilize points redeem mechanism

Although simple, its logo placement was unconventional and it did not go with typical hour hands. Its strap adopted a minty green representing what the brand is known for.

Watch by Chupa Chup, famous lollipop brand - A Kids' Model Design

Importance of Packaging

A typical watch can be revamped to grab attention with its packaging. Look at this Coca Cola watch for example. Nothing special about the watch – a typical logo, black leather strap watch. But throw in the stuffed polar bear and it’s a whole new ball game now. The power of packaging is not to be undermined.

A unique packaging can make all the difference

Styles of Packaging can include:

• Bundled with other promo gifts
• Tin Packaging
• Aluminium Case
• Blister Pack
• Leather Case
• PU Case
• PVC Packaging
• With Plush Toy in Paper Mount (as above)
• Gift with Pen

Commemorative Watch Case Study

It’s always cool when a watch tells you something more than time. Commemorative watches work really well when there is significance in giving them away to your customers. Anniversaries are thus great occasions to give them out and major companies should not miss out on this great promotional chance.

A commemorative watch - telling more than just time

Here we see a watch for the Reunification of Hong Kong to China in 1997 – it tells the recipient its history of Hong Kong and always reminds users of this memorable event. The skyline of Hong Kong on the dial is just plain gorgeous..

For your brand’s promotion/anniversary – a good quality watch done right is a great way to improve market presence and reward your loyal customers.  Watch out for the HKTDC Watch & Clock Fair in September – we will be getting more innovative ideas for you.

Follow our blog for more on promotional watches

• Follow the manufacturing process…
• Gain more understanding on timepiece industry…

Asahi's Latest Gimmick

Buy any 2 cans 500ml of Asahi – Add HK$5 and customers are able to get a mini beer glass, complete with a high end packaging.

This promotion is a job well done because:

• Ease of redemption – allowing the brand to reach out to customers easily.
• Limited Stock – creates exclusivity and a call to act fast
• Signature branding on glass
• Size of glass reflects sake tradition and mini culture in Japan

A Promotional Watch

Recently, I had the opportunity to head down to our watch factory in Southern China to conduct a factory audit with some clients. From inspecting each stage of manufacture you can gain valuable insight into the possibilities of product development and all the assembly process and the industry.

Let us take you through a step by step  process and things to look out for:

1. Inner Components of Analog Quartz Watch
2. Manufacturing the Case
3. Assembly & Packaging
4. Quality Control

Inner Components of Analog Quartz Watch

The inner components are the “brain” of the watch, controlling all of its function. The accuracy of analog watches is determined by how each precise each individual component is when manufactured and fitted together. These include:

Movement
The movement is the most vital aspect – the internal mechanism of the watch, made of many moving parts which run the clock.

The Different Parts of a Movement

In this Promotional watch factory 3 types of movement are used depending on the range of the watch:

• Swiss movement – most expensive of the lot, where the cheapest can usually last a minimum of 8 years
• Japanese movement – standardized movement which is used for most watches, considered good with a lifespan of about 3 years or more. Usually this movement is shipped from either Singapore or Japan itself.
• Chinese movement – the cheapest amongst all 3, used only for low budget watches – estimated to be around 1 year of lifespan.

Batteries
The lifespan of watch batteries (typically alkaline) differs based on your specified requests and budget. Our factory is using batteries mainly from HK(18 months), Indonesia (1 year) and Japan (2-3 years) for its mass productions.

Our factory generally boycotts Chinese batteries due to their low quality nature. However, some factories are still using them, to cut costs so do take note.
Often, these batteries are made to be easily replaceable due to its relatively short lifespan.

Dial
The dial is what makes your watch highly marketable with your brand logo/artwork printed fashionably along with the hours of the day.

Rubber Gasket
A rubber gasket is a part which keeps the watch water resistant. The factory will install one each on the front and back of the watch. When unscrewing the back cover to replace your battery, beware that this part is very vulnerable to falling off. If not put back in place properly, your watch may lose its resistance.

A whole pack of Rubber Gaskets

Manufacturing the case

It is essential to ensure quality in the manufacture in the case as it encloses and protects the movement and dial of a watch. To begin, untreated metal alloys retrieved from another factory are used to form the shape of the casing thereafter receiving treatment to look as good as new .

Moulds for Different Kinds of Casing

1. Attaching the different metal components together so that they are treated as a whole.

2. Scraping – The case will go through a huge machinery where it files and scraps off any unwanted material or flaw off the surface to create a smoother touch. Lubricants are used to accelerate this process.

A Factory Worker tending the Scraping Machine

3. Polishing & Shine – The case will then receive its shine after polishing treatment. This gives it a renewed look and is very important as some may not be cleaned properly and stains can still be seen. So it is essential that all parts that go through this process are cleaned thoroughly.

4. Drilling in holes for the assemble team to rivet smaller parts to the watch like the watch crown.

5. Now that the cases are all done and ready to go, the workers will then send them for colouring – through either plating or paint.

6. Glass placement to complete the whole shell.

7. For special requests on water resistant watches, a leakage test is conducted through this machinery right here – the test pressure will then be indicated as an equivalent water depth in metres usually.

Leakage Test Machinery

Assembly and Packaging

After all these have been completed, the case will be sent to the assembly team. The assembly team is responsible for putting together the inner components of the watch mentioned earlier, along with its strap and back cover.

Working with full concentration...

Usually, the assembly team has to be very experienced as fitting these tiny, fragile parts together can be very tricky. Not done the right way, it will render the whole watch useless. Therefore, members in the assembly team are chosen carefully, possessing nimble fingers as assembling a watch requires much dexterity…

Anatomy of the strap
The strap is easily customizable to any designs you want. Material of the strap includes:

• Leather
• Metal Bracelet
• Synthetic Rubber
• Plastic
• Cloth/Fabric
• Nylon

Besides the dial, the strap is often where you can work on your promotional efforts and designs, with the buckle on the strap usually showcasing your brand logo.

Watches for Kids on their way to be worked on. Notice the artwork on the strap

Once the back casing is secured to the timepiece, the whole process is completed by placing another layer of protection on both the front and the back.

The completion of the watch brings us to reviewing packaging options. We will be writing another specific post on this, so stay tuned!

Quality Control

Usually most factories conduct Quality Control inspections for at least 3 times – the minute parts of a watch are delicate so most watch factories will designate a whole department for QC to ensure quality.   ODM take random samples during the production for testing both for functioning and for lab tests such as Rohs & CE.

QCs are done when:

• The case is completed and a first round of QC is done to ensure they live up to expectations.
• The watch is assembled – the watch is tested to see if it is able to tell the time accurately.
• After packaging – random checks are made to make sure one final time that everything is good and ready to deliver.
  

  Girls checking meticulously for defects

Ricola's GWP Phone Strap

A miniature form of its retail candy packaging, the phone strap makes a fun and quirky phone accessory to have. To further enhance this fun factor, the brand created a collection with various designs and colours representing its different candy type and flavour.

In face of immense competition from rival, Lakerol, Ricola understood it has to increase its market presence to attain the lion’s share of the pie. In this case, the phone strap offers high visibility with its eye-catching outlook and a mini replica of Ricola’s signature packet makes it easily identifiable with the brand and constantly reminds the user about the addictive candy.

Another reason to choose Ricola over Lakerol…. It’s all these small details that make the difference.  Watch out to see how other brands compete – price or other promos.   We love how the cluster effect catches hold as we see in previous hot sauce example.

Also check out:

• McDonald’s PWP Promotional Gifts
• Lipton Tea Promotion Phone Strap

Coca Cola x James Jarvis Can Designs

The collection consists of a whole range of promotional merchandise from messanger bags, T-shirts to watches, iPhone/iPad cases. This collection will only run on 125 pieces per item, making them extremely limited. 

Promo Mechanism: Hold on to the receipt every time you spend a minimum of HK$ 40 when purchasing of any Coca Cola items at supermarkets – Wellcome, Park N Shop, Vanguard, Jusco or convenience stores – 7 Eleven, Circle K or Vanko.   Redeem these limited edition premiums at Juice for a set price. The promotion has now finished and there was an overwhelming turnout at Juice for redemption. 

Besides Juice, 7 Eleven outlets nationwide are also running an ongoing promo campaign with this collaboration. Buy 3 bottles of Coca-Cola; then add HK$ 19.90 and customers are able to redeem a tote bag only exclusive at 7 Eleven.

Coca Cola x James Jarvis PWP at 7 Eleven

Creating a collection of limited edition apparel with famous brands shown here is a smart marketing move by Coca Cola – All are easily redeemable and desirable. The ease of these mechanisms encourages many teenagers and fans of the brands to make purchases in order to get their hands on these chic designs.

Making a fashion statement like this is a huge achievement for the beverage brand, allowing high visibility on the road for each product as recipients wear them out proudly. This sense of privilege created will also translate to valuable word of mouth advertising from flaunting to friends etc. All the items are in the brand’s signature colours of red and white, making them highly distinctive. 

Recently, we have been writing a lot on brand collaborations/co-branding involving design expertise. This comes to show the recent trend in marketing – infusing design with promotions to achieve ideal results (look at G.O.D example).

If your brand is searching for an in-house design, ODM can cater to this need with our very own design office in Singapore.