Putting together and creating a marketing plan for 2012 can seem a little daunting at first but failing to plan is planning to fail! Producing a list of all your activities will help keep your budget spending under control as well as making it easier to measure the effectiveness of your marketing spend. If this is something you have never done before, it can even be done using a couple of very simple tools:

* Excel spreadsheets allow you to easily create the columns for every month, splitting those into sections that will show what you are budgeting for and what you have already spent.

* An A3 sheet of paper is as simple as it can be to start creating a marketing plan for 2012. Using the same column principle above, you can be planning in no time!

If you are setting a budget (or applying for one), either of the above will give you the foundation to be able to show just how much money you think you will need. It will also show how much of your budget is remaining once you are under way!

There are various categories that would be worth including throughout the year. Some of these might not apply to your business at all. It really depends what is right for your business in terms of marketing activity. Activities that you might want to include when creating your marketing plan for 2012 are:

* Exhibitions, conferences and events
* Product Launch
* Promotional Items
* Print & Design
* Other areas could be: Public Relations, Media, Social Media, Database Management and Website.

Once the list is complete, fill in the projected marketing spend for these activities in the monthly columns in which the activity is expected to take place bearing in mind that this is not always when the activity is due for invoicing. At the end of each line calculate the total ‘Committed’ and ‘Invoiced’ for each activity. At the bottom of the sheet calculate the total ‘Committed’ and ‘Invoiced’.

Having all your plans for the year in one place means working smarter and more efficiently. If you know you have a golf day planned in May, a trade show in September and a sales conference in November, you can plan your promotional merchandise, PR, design and print requirements well in advance without any last minute panic, which can often drive up the costs.

Throughout the year, it is a great idea to monitor and update the sheet, taking care to move any ‘Committed’ values to the ‘Invoiced’ column as soon as these activities have been invoiced. Of course, even the best laid plans change or may require a little tweaking, especially in the event of budget cuts or changes to the overall business strategy. However, having a plan to hand will make it easier to incorporate these changes into your marketing strategy.

As we have shown, creating a marketing plan for 2012 need not be a daunting prospect and if done correctly it can be something you can keep effective control on throughout the year.

We are always pleased when a new innovation comes along in the promotional merchandise world and we feel the Big Gdock is just that. For some time we have championed the original Gdock as a fantastic “desktop billboard” to hold, dock and charge any mobile device. Enter “stage right” the big brother of the family, the Big Gdock, which has been specifically designed for Tablets (such as the iPad) and eReaders.

The Big Gdock has all the benefits of the original Gdock including access for cables and chargers. It will comfortably hold any tablet in landscape orientation with a reinforced base. It will keep the device handy, away from areas where accidental damage could occur and at an optimum viewing angle. It is portable, folds down flat and is perfect for home or office use (or both).

See below for a video review of the Big Gdock by a client :

With the huge amount of expensive iPad and tablet accessories on the market, the Big Gdock provides a low cost alternative that can be combined with powerful branding on a large printable area (210 x 220mm). The possibilities of communication are endless and brands can combine all elements of their latest campaign or message push on this unique “desktop billboard”.

As mentioned the Big Gdock is presented flat packed for self-assembly and this opens up a large number of potential uses. This is an ideal direct message piece, but could equally be used as an event giveaway or “gift with purchase” idea. It ticks the boxes for most product marketing and promotion.

The Eco message is also very strong with the Big Gdock. It is made from recyclable board and is also fully recyclable. It is light (155g) and the folded dimensions are 210 x 280 x 5mm, making it easy to post.

Brands are constantly on the lookout for products that are seen to keep up with the needs of modern technology. The Big Gdock not only does this incredibly effectively, but it is such a cost effective solution.

For prices, samples of visuals of how your corporate Big Gdock could look, contact a member of the sales team. We are always available to answer questions on this or any other branded item.

The pop up reusable vase is an innovative promotional item that allows you to say “it” with more than just flowers! This is a clear plastic portable vase that can be used over and over again and is unbreakable.

The interest in this brand new item has been incredible as it allows you to consider a branded item that can be given out to encourage the buying of flowers or indeed to compliment the gift of giving flowers. The pop up reusable vase has so many applications.

The pop up vase is supplied flat, which allows it to be considered seriously as a fantastic direct mail piece. It has a great print area, and although this promotional item can only be printed in one colour, you can print a different message to both sides at an extra cost.

In order to use the pop up reusable vase, all the recipient has to do is (video below shows this in action):
· Fill with warm water, in order to shape the vase and then,
· Refill with cold water to set that shape.
· It is then instantly ready to take the flowers and like with any other, it will keep flowers alive for days.

As soon as the user wants to store away the pop up vase:
· Simply fill with warm water,
· Then flatten and smooth.

In order to assist your clients, there is no reason why you shouldn’t insert a simple printed instruction sheet highlighting the “how to use” instructions listed above.

There are three products in this “reusable family”. There are two sizes of pop up vases as well as a larger vessel that can be used as a wine bottle or drinks cooler / carrier. All are made from the same “unbreakable” pvc and function in the same way to mould, shape and reuse. Each of the products comes with either a red, green, blue or yellow trim.

There is simply no restriction as to what the pop up reusable vase can be used for in your marketing campaign. It is perfect for direct mail as stated above. It is a brilliant promotional item to consider for an event giveaway. It certainly has a great application in the office, home, restaurants, cafes, hotels, hospitals, travelling (such as caravans) and obviously florists. A key consideration is that if flowers are put anywhere where a smashing vase could be a big hazard (children, elderly), the pop up reusable vase is a perfect solution.

Finally the price point of the pop up reusable vase is a huge factor to consider. The unit cost for 250 is just £1.50. The cost per impression is so incredibly low when taking into account this is a vase that will be used over and over again for a great many years. Samples of this product are available and our studio would happily mock up a visual if you send your artwork to your sales account manager.