There are thousands of business gift ideas that work well and do all the talking they need to do on their own. For most promotional items packaging is not needed, it adds frills where no frills are required and would usually be thrown away immediately anyway.

However, packaging does add value to a certain type of product and this can be a very noticeable addition to an already well-received gift.

Certain products immediately spring to mind – such as wine gift sets where packaging not only provides protection, but also as something to keep the individual items together. Confectionery often comes well packaged, showing off the product, or increasing the mouth-watering anticipation of what is inside!

Most Executive Pens have always been supplied in gift boxing. A Parker, Waterman or Cross pen would be the same pen without, but the packaging adds even more perceived value to an already very expensive business gift.  Pens such as the Waterman Hemisphere come in leather look hinged boxes with the Waterman motif foil blocked to the top. Parker Jotter ballpens come in simple two-part Parker branded boxes, still adding value.

Some promotional pens don’t come boxed or individually packaged as standard but have options for an additional cost. Prodir have 2 packaging types for their pen range and certain executive pens can be supplied with a decent box or just a simple gift tube.

The USB Flashdrive is a product range that has really benefited from how packaging can affect the perceived value of the product. Although prices have traditionally fallen and this is now more of a commodity item now than a high end gift, packaging is not standard until you go into the high memory drives for example. A bulk supplied flashdrive is a well received gift, there is no doubt, but paying a little extra and receiving a magnetic clip close box or even one of the gift tins, really takes away the general business gift feel and can make a lower memory drive feel more like the executive business gift it used to be.

Packaging is sometimes forgotten when looking at Promotional Gifts, but it is an area that with a little thought and the use of the knowledge of the SCM sales team, can make all the difference to your next business gift purchase.

There are times when you just think; I have to tell as many people about this as possible. The opportunity to give away – for free - Nintendo Wii’s has to rank up there with the most important blog entries ever!

OK, so is this for real? Well yes it is. Steel City Marketing have tapped into a fantastic offer that is subject to spend on a range of products, but should an order meet these criteria then a Wii can be yours absolutely free.

The offer does not cover our entire range, but on a selected amount of business gift ideas. Should the order value (before screens, set ups, carriage & VAT) exceed £6,500 on just one of these items, or £12,500 on a combination of products, a Wii is guaranteed as part of the order.

So, lets cut to the chase and explain which items from our promotional products range feature alongside this great offer.

Promotional Pens
3301 - Linear ballpen - which is a sleek metal ballpen that comes gift tubed.
3307 – Spiral ballpen - 3 colours available in this chrome trimmed ballpen.
3310 – Radius ballpen - Chunky feel available in 4 colour options.

General Business Gifts
203 -   I-Con Calculator - available in modern colours, with an Ipod look and feel.
4503 – Trafford A4 folder - Great value conference folder. Internal pockets, pad and pen and gilt corners.
8102 – Serenity Clock - A beautifully designed executive gift.

There are around 30 products in total on the Steel City Marketing website (and hundreds more that we can easily source from the same range) that this offer applies to. It is well worth discussing these with your sales contact at Steel City in order to find out the combinations available which may well have already been on your shopping list and which allow you to personally benefit from the outstanding offer that is creating a real buzz around the business gifts industry.

(*Restrictions may apply – please ask one of the sales team).

What am I talking about in the title – put simply… “buying Knowledge once and selling it a thousand times”.  During a meeting this week, the business gift industry in general was discussed and to put it bluntly – there are people who appear to be trying to mix up a decent, well organized industry up for self gain.  I am told that this is something that one person in the industry believes. It would appear that a “guru” in the US lives by that very statement – “buy knowledge once, sell it a thousand times” and someone is trying to apply it over here.  At the time it made me feel very uneasy and still does as I write today’s posting.
I am not opposed to the theory, the idea and I would almost agree that this is a very shrewd and clever idea that a business can use and become very successful at. However, I do not believe that every company could use it and apply it to their business or industry and I certainly feel that it must be used carefully, thoughtfully and with a full assessment of all the potential repercussions.
The knowledge I am referring to is empowering people who do not sell business gifts and promotional items as their core business to do so. This may seem like something very innocent and straightforward. I have no problem with companies diversifying and making more money, competition is good and keeps us all on our toes and thinking of news ideas. What concerns me is the scattering with which this selling of knowledge happens, no thought, just mass distribution of the sourcing tools for selling business gifts.
Promotional Gift selling is not a deeply guarded secret – but it cannot be done half cocked. It needs experience and a huge knowledge base to win respect and good reputation. It is price led and being established in the industry gains price advantages. You must have a very well oiled back office set up. We are dealing with client’s logos and branding guidelines – it is extremely vital that these are “looked after”. We are having items printed, engraved, embroidered, blocked. Proofing, deadline making, problem solving all happen every day. This is a “full time job” for every member of an entire company, not something that a member of staff can dip into for a couple of hours and make a decent profit – the problems this would cause would be frightening.
I am worried about this? No. Do I have concerns? Yes. At Steel City Marketing, we have worked at gaining knowledge and experience, we have great price points and work hard at achieving these. This is unfortunately one person’s ideal and one person’s ultimate gain or agenda. Will it work remains to be seen.

OK, so maybe the title is a little dramatic, but it grabs the attention don’t you think?

For the smaller enquiries, which are, as always greatly received, there are sometimes a few issues to iron out and once explained can result in an alternative route being taken or an adjustment in the initial requirement.

A client who requires a small quantity of T’shirts for example – straightforward, no nonsense with screen printing machines geared up to coping with this type of work as well as the larger runs.

It can get a little bit more tricky when looking at a low value promotional pen – required in small volumes, lets say for argument 100 or 250 units. The machines that print these pens are for mass volume printing, and therefore although it can be done, there will be min print charges to consider and it can almost be worth spending a fraction more and receiving double or triple the quantity of pens.

Then there are items like carrier bags and car window stickers. Particularly on carrier bags, these are printed again in large volumes and the machines simply aren’t set up to do small quantities. Even at 1000 units, these often require hand fed machines, adding to the factories production time, adding to their costs – It is still possible, but at a price!!

Finally it is worth looking away from some of the standard everyday promotional items. What springs to mind as a classic example is travel sweet tins, or the little nets of chocolate coins. The branding is often done using stickers / labels (so this example covers anything that requires this). A recent enquiry for bottled water in reusable glass bottles came under the same bracket. The item can be supplied in low quantities – these are off the shelf after all. However, the labels / stickers need to be purchased on a min quantity run basis, which can be as many as 500. This therefore makes for a very pricey small run of items. Sometimes a client will proceed, sometimes the quantity is increased to take account of the above and sometimes a different route altogether is decided upon.

Providing information, being helpful and passing over the knowledge is something we feel we do well at Steel City. A member of our experienced sales team is always available to discuss your requirements and help guide you into the right product at the right price.

What makes sourcing business gifts even more enjoyable than normal (what a cliché!) is not only when you have put together a brochure of promotional ideas that clients can source from and want to use again and again, it is also the fact that some requests are away from the norm and these are the ones that need experience, knowledge and effort to find and put forward.
When a construction client made is clear that they were really keen on branded fingerless gloves to promote their brand, it would appear straightforward.

Problem 1:

They required dual branding and multiple logo colours were involved.

Problem 2 :

When looking into the Work Wear supply options, it was clear that the products available are specialist, very pricey and simply could not be branded.

So the choice was going to be a narrow one and there would almost certainly be limits as to how or if the client could have their logo on.
Even after finding a pair of Work Wear acrylic gloves that were plain – branding was the next hurdle to get over. A printer would not be able to screen print more than 1 colour and even then – the stretching of the glove during wear would almost certainly distort the logo. A standard embroiderer was another option but they would have the problem of the item being too small to get onto the machines.
It was therefore going to require a company that produces this type of item as a specialist.  The result was as far away from the construction industry as you could get! A manufacturer who specializes in merchandise and giveaways for the concert industry produces fingerless gloves to promote events and rock bands. They have the ability to embroider these small products and can do this on a minimum production run of just 50 pairs. Client was delighted to proceed and just at the right time with the cold snap around the corner!!

Steel City Marketing is willing and able to try and source any business gift or promotional item idea you are considering…put one of the sales team to the test.

What have David Beckham and the Business Gift Market currently got in common? Sharpie. The most recognized face in international football and possibly the world has now linked up with the world’s number one permanent marker in a high profile marketing campaign – WRITE OUT LOUD.

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For Steel City Marketing the biggest selling item in terms of volume is Polythene Carrier Bags. In nearly 30 years we have sold literally millions…

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Congratulations to Heather Clayton from Penny Hydraulics who has won a Samsung 32″ LCD TV!

She correctly deciphered the code to reveal SCM MARKS THE SPOT and her name was pulled out of the hat yesterday.

Well Done Heather!

The entries are in and the names are in the hat waiting to be drawn! Watch this space to see who has won the SCM comp!