Creating a Brand Book new Blue Paper available from 4imprint

(Manchester, UK) – ‘Creating a Brand Book: Establishing and communicating brand guidelines’ the latest Blue Paper from promotional items distributor 4imprint looks at the process of branding or re-branding a company from the inside out. The Blue Paper takes a comprehensive look at the reasons why an organisation needs to make sure that their brand guidelines are clearly set out in a Brand Book and how to go about creating one.

The top ten elements of brand guidelines section covers everything from brand introduction through to logo use, colours, typefaces, use of social media and intellectual property policies while the second section explains what a Brand Book is and how to go about creating one that’s meaningful and valuable to your organisation.

“The ‘how to’ section of this Blue Paper is essential reading,” says Cheryl Jackson-Leafield, Marketing Manager of 4imprint UK and Ireland. “I also really enjoyed reading the case studies of how organisations tackle this enormous topic. Our aim for this Blue Paper was to break down each element into easy to manage pieces so that readers are able to tackle producing their own Brand Book after reading it.”

The paper also covers ‘what next’ in terms of how to communicate the brand guidelines to all employees and external consultants as well as measuring their effectiveness before concluding with an extensive ‘Brand Guidelines Checklist’ covering everything from stationery, literature and packaging to uniforms, signage and promotional products.

To read this paper, visit www.4imprint.co.uk/BluePaper/Brand-Book

ENDS

8.2.12

About Blue Papers

Blue Papers are in-depth, ‘how-to’ articles covering a variety of topics to help organisations to succeed. They are available to download free at 4imprint.co.uk/bluepapers

About 4imprint

4imprint Direct Limited is part of 4imprint Group plc that serves more than 100,000 businesses with its innovative promotional items and corporate gifts throughout the UK, Ireland, USA and Canada. Its promotional product offerings include personalised gifts, promotional pens, Post-it Notes, printed mugs, keyrings, printed cotton bags, mousemats, drawstring bags, drink bottles, printed USBs, diaries & calendars, printed T-Shirts and much more. 4imprint’s ‘no quibble’ guarantees include the promise that if the personalised goods are not despatched on time they’ll be free! For additional information, visit www.4imprint.co.uk

Imran Choudhary, client manager at Kantar Worldpanel Comtech, said the free service acts as a 'hook' to increase footfall.

While many coffee shops now offer free Wi-Fi, other businesses are branching out – including retail.

"Retailers and businesses are now thinking whatever drives footfall will help," Mr Choudhary said.

"It could be that you're in the centre of London or a big city, and you're in a retailer where you might not even spend masses of time in there, like a coffee shop or clothes store – but if it offers Wi-Fi that’s potentially another hook to get people into the store."

Think about how promotional items could help you launch free Wi-Fi at your coffee shop or store.

Hold a special day where you give out free cups of coffee in promotional mugs advertising the launch, or offer printed USBs -  a great way to drive interest in your concept.

Posted by Robin McCrink

The government said it will be the biggest event of its kind, with firms across a range of industries promising to offer apprenticeships.

There will also be events happening in schools to encourage young people to consider careers.

As an example of the types of events taking place, there will be speed dating-style recruitment events and taster days.

These represent a great way to use promotional items – offering promotional pens and printed mugs with your company logo on is a useful way to pull people in.

Business secretary Vince Cable said: "I am very proud of the fact that at a time of financial constraint this government has prioritised investment in apprenticeships.

"This has led to the creation of record numbers of apprenticeships combined with tough new standards to drive up quality.

There has been a sharp rise in the number of businesses taking on apprentices.

Official statistics published last week show that there were 457,200 apprenticeships starts in 2010-11 – an increase of 63.5 per cent on 2009-10.

Posted by Robin McCrink

In an article written by Duncan Clark and published in The Guardian in November last year, Goodall says: “One thing that’s remarkable is the sheer speed with which our resource use has crashed since the recession. In the space of a couple of years, we’ve dropped back to the second lowest level since we started keeping track in 1970. And although the figures aren’t yet available for 2010 and 2011, it seems highly likely that we are now using fewer materials than at any time on record.”

The last few years has seen a revolution in terms of shopping habits, or more particularly in how people carry their purchases home. Gone are the days when supermarkets handed out free carrier bags by the thousand, to be replaced by Bags for Life, reusable cotton shopping bags and biodegradable carrier bags.

Even though the UK economy was still growing rapidly in the early part of the new millennium, Goodall discovered that consumption had started to drop. He made this fascinating find trawling through the Material Flow Accounts published by the Office of National Statistics while writing a research paper on the UK’s consumption of resources.

The first to decline was the amount of paper and cardboard we use, followed by a fall in our use of what is termed ‘primary energy’ – heat and power generated by fossil fuels and other energy sources.

The trend has continued annually:

2001 – paper and cardboard

2002 – primary energy

2003 – household waste generated per person, meat consumption

2004 – new car purchases and water consumption

2005 – household energy consumption

2006 – the use of roads and railways

Perhaps counter intuitively all of this ‘decline’ was taking place while the UK’s population and GDP were rising.

What some readers may find hard to believe is that even our food intake is falling. Despite the widely reported increase in obesity levels, the total number of calories consumed by the great British public has actually fallen. And good news for the vegetarians out there – even our consumption of meat has been falling since 2003. This is one area where our American counterparts match us with meat consumption in the United States declining steadily over the last few years.

But even if the UK has started consuming fewer resources – it’s hardly going to save the planet. Carbon emissions are rising globally, rainforests are shrinking and entire species are disappearing.

Goodall acknowledges this. “I don’t want to suggest that the world isn’t facing massive environmental challenges. But the data I found does suggest the possibility – and it is only a possibility – that economic growth is not necessarily incompatible with addressing these challenges. Savvy marketing professionals across all industry sectors have switched onto the business, as well as environmental, benefits of choosing eco-friendly promotional products and stationery items.

He concludes: “It is a trivial example perhaps but economic growth, and the innovation that comes with it, have given us e-readers such as the Kindle, a way of allowing us to read books without the high-energy consumption required to make paper. Digital goods generally have lower environmental impact than physical equivalents and if growth speeds up the process of ‘dematerialisation’, it has positive – not negative – environmental effects.”

Material for this article has been taken from:

www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/oct/31/consumption-of-goods-falling

www.carboncommentary.com/2011/10/31/2123 ]]> http://info.4imprint.co.uk/news/eco-friendly-products-news/425908/eco-news-what-a-difference-a-decade-can-make/feed 0 http://info.4imprint.co.uk/news/small-business-news/425907/promotional-items-keep-things-short http://info.4imprint.co.uk/news/small-business-news/425907/promotional-items-keep-things-short#comments Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000 admin http://info.4imprint.co.uk/?p=5907 It is often said that the best way to market your firm is to keep it simple.

Well, we think that's true in some cases.

The brilliant thing about using promotional items to promote your business is their versatility.

You can choose promotional pens for a short, sharp snappy company name and email address and use larger products, like promotional calendars and printed mugs, if you want to expand a little and offer more information.

If promotional merchandise is the main thrust of your marketing campaign, you'll know that getting them noticed will be key to your success.

So that means not overloading your promotional products with too much information. You want to inform potential customers with some basic info, not drown them in a deluge of data.

However, that's not to say there's isn't room for a little experimentation.

If you're a small business, think about how promotional mugs could help you promote your brand – they offer just the right amount of space to fit in your essential info.

Consider larger branded merchandise if you want to flesh things out. Let's say you're running a fundraising campaign – opt for some promotional bags.

Here you've got plenty of room to play with – so you can imprint contact numbers, dates and times, email and social network details and much more.

Posted by Robin McCrink

Camra, the Campaign for Real Ale, is to make April 'Community Pubs Month' as part of an effort to champion the importance of local pubs – and the organisation is calling on forward-planners to start thinking now about the initiative.

Why the campaign? Research shows that 16 pubs are closing across Britain each week. And less pints are being supped – the British Beer & Pub Association recently reported 139 million fewer pints were enjoyed in British pubs last year.

A thinktank – the Institute for Public Policy Research – has also said the government should introduce a 50 per cent business rate relief for pubs that can prove they act as 'community hubs'.

Camra is encouraging publicans to stage events throughout April to get more drinkers through their doors – so start thinking now about how promotional items could help.

It all kicks off on April 2nd, with Community Pubs Day. Camra branches up and down the land will be organising a wide range of events to promote their local pubs.

"The real aim of this Month is to give a window of opportunity for hard working publicans to promote any events they have planned  in April, and for us at CAMRA to give them all the help and support in terms of publicity and increased trade," said Tony Jerome, Camra's head of marketing.

Licensees are being encouraged to order promotional packs from Camra, campaigning posters, beer mats, leaflets and pump clip crowners.

These could be well complemented with promotional items. When holding your weekly pub quiz or fundraising event, how about give out some promotional mugs, printed keyrings or promotional USBs?

"We realise it's a tough time out there for pubs at the moment – as Camra's new pub closure figures highlighted last week – and this is why Camra has put a large amount of campaigning funds into this initiative to help pubs market themselves during April," Mr Jerome added.

Posted by Robin McCrink.

"Camra to launch new national pubs campaign in April". Camra, the Campaign for Real Ale. Wednesday February 2nd 2012.

Stefan Drew, The Marketing Magician at stefandrew.com, said it is crucial companies understand exactly who their customer base is if they want to formulate effective advertising content.

"If I was advertising to young people, where would I find young people these days? Facebook. Putting an advert in the paper will not reach young people – they don't read the newspapers," Mr Drew stated.

"But if they are interested in football – they might read a football magazine. Ensure that your advert only goes to young people of a certain age that you want to contact that have registered a [particular] interest."

Conversely, a business targeting the 60-70 age market might want to consider something like LinkedIn – a more professional channel better suited to the demographic.

Mike Ogilvie, accountant and international conference speaker at mikeogilvie.com, claimed this week that social media represents a great way for small firms to grow their business and reach out to more customers – if used correctly.

Posted by Robin McCrink

Candis, the women's glossy magazine, wants to find the families who have done something truly rewarding – such as community work or fundraising, reports Hemel Today.

There are five family categories in the awards and the winners from each section will be treated to an exclusive awards day at London Zoo.

They'll also receive promotional bags and lots of other goodies.

A host of well-known people have been signed up to judge the comp – including Kym Marsh, Mel C and Patsy Palmer.

Candis editor Debbie Attewell said: "This award champions the amazing achievements of families in the UK and how they are helping to make a difference.

"Families come in all shapes, sizes and types and Candis wants to hear from them all – especially families from the Midlands – they all have an opportunity to win the Outstanding Family of the Year award."

"Search is on for outstanding families". Hemel Today.

Posted by Robin McCrink

Now – have you thought about how promotional items – like printed pens, promotional mugs and printed USBs – could tie-in with your online operations?

This feature is about customer communication – how important it is to business success and how promotional merchandise can help you ensure you get it right.

Many marketers are jumping aboard the digital train when it comes to promoting their brand and interacting with customers.

But many of them are still getting it wrong – putting at risk sales, client relationships and future growth.

It seems the online world is throwing up some problems for retailers – something we think promotional products could help with.

Ecommerce has reduced the amount of face-to-face interaction customers have with their clients.

Unlike bricks and mortar stores, customers can't just wander into a shop or office and speak to someone.

To get in touch with an e-tailer, a customer will usually contact via email, or perhaps via a social network like Facebook or Twitter.

It's crucial this is managed properly – online communication simply doesn't work in the same way as it does in physical stores.

According to some recent research commissioned by the Direct Marketing Association, e-tailers are losing millions of pounds in online sales because they fail to respond promptly – or even at all – to customers' requests for information.

The rise of email as a form of business-client contact has made massive changes – but it's also created some problems.

The study found one in ten firms fails to reply to customer enquiries, despite providing contact forms on their websites.

Despite the take-up of social commerce by many firms, the research found the average company response time to a customer's online request for information – in this case, a brochure – has actually got worse – from 3.6 days in 2009 to 5.4 days in 2012.

Furthermore, companies showed that they often poorly respond to customer requests.

For example: only half of the companies surveyed offer an online or downloadable version of their brochure. Only one in three send an email acknowledging a request and mere five per cent actively offer to email a brochure.

There is a distinct lack of the personal touch too, with just 45 per cent personalising their communications when following up requests for information.

Jo Varey, chair of the DMA's response management council, said: "Plenty of research shows the likelihood of a company converting a consumer enquiry into a sale declines the longer they take to reply.

"In an age of instant communication, why are companies taking more than five days to respond to someone interested in making a purchase?"

"It makes no commercial sense as to why so many companies erect barriers to consumers interested in finding out more about their products. It makes even less sense why ten per cent of companies fail to even respond to enquiries."

One way to improve online communication is to introduce promotional merchandise in your marketing strategies. When responding to customer requests for brochures, for example, why not distribute some promotional pens or USBs alongside your promotional literature?

It offers something physical and tangible that reminds customers there are real people behind the digital facade.

Posted by Robin McCrink

Age UK this week announced the four people who will be heading to London to see if they will be crowned the charity's Internet Champion for 2012.

The charity initiative seeks savvy web users to help Age UK advocate the use of the internet to their peers.

The champions are to act as inspiration to the 5.7 million people over 65 who have never used the internet before to get online.

Brenda O'Mulloy, 83, Richard Hannam, 64, Maggie Petch, 69, and Keith Paterson 80, are the four finalists.

This year's theme is 'how the internet changed my life'. Nominees were asked to share the life-changing benefits they have gained from being online, and explain how they would like to work with Age UK to inspire their peers to start using the web.

There are plenty of web-related promotional items that could be given as prizes to the winner – such as promotional USBs.

David Mortimer, head of digital inclusion at Age UK, said: "Age UK is committed to helping people in later life access the advantages of using the internet for themselves.

"Through the Age UK Internet Champion of the Year search we are showcasing real stories to inspire others to make the most of all the internet has to offer."

Posted by Cheryl Jackson-Leafield

Charterhouse found that nearly three quarters of marketers (70 per cent) use print to get audiences interested in additional digital content; however, more than a fifth admit that their print and digital strategies could be better aligned.

For the majority (83 per cent) a URL is the most commonly used feature.

More sophisticated tools such as QR codes and augmented reality are used less frequently, at 26 per cent and five per cent respectively.

Promotional items can easily complement print-digital campaigns – think about using promotional pens with your website address on, distributed alongside a brochure.

"QR codes and other emerging technologies hold a lot of potential for some really innovative marketing. But marketers mustn't think these technologies are the route to instant engagement," said Ivan Skoric, head of digital services at Charterhouse.

The key objective for using print media cited by more than 60 per cent of marketers is to increase traffic to a brand's website. Just two per cent use it to attract traffic to social media-related content.

Mr Skoric added: "The objective of linking print and digital should be to engage audiences with sticky online content as part of a broader experience."

Posted by Robin McCrink

Saying thank you means a lot. It can reward a job well done, keep customers on board and make people taking part in charity initiatives feel rewarded and wanted.

When you look someone right in the eye and thank them sincerely it means a lot – but there are also other ways to let your customers, employees and volunteers feel valued.

Online

At first glance there might not seem to be much of a connection between physical promotional products and the online world. But you'd be surprised.

Let's say a potential customer emails you wanting a little bit of information on your company – what you're all about, what services you provide and products you sell.

Why not send out some promotional pens – imprinted with your company logo, web address and contact number – along with some marketing material?

It's a way to thank them for their enquiry and an example of how promotional products can really complement direct mail.

Staff motivation

Happy, motivated staff are crucial to a productive business. Now more than ever it is important that staff motivation is high on your agenda -given the current economic climate, many people will be finding things a struggle.

It might not be possible to offer cash rewards, making promotional items a viable alternative.

You could reward your 'employee of the month' with a top quality printed pen or use printed USBs to roll out flexible working policies.

Your customers

Generating and retaining customers is the key to a successful business.

While it is customary to send out corporate gifts at key trading times and seasonal periods – Christmas for example – think about using promotional items for other parts of your marketing.

You could use promotional products to help advertise new product lines and even use them if you're trying to get rid of some old stock!

Physical retailers could also use promotional items to reward customers during promotions.

Think of promotional mugs for customers that spend more than £20 or printed keyrings to accompany the launch of a loyalty card scheme.

Charity initiatives

Promotional merchandise can help bring a team of volunteers together and is a great way of saying thanks at the end of a project well done.

It could be something like using promotional products – say printed pens or promotional t-shirts – to go alongside a newsletter or information pack you send out to your volunteer base.

Let's say you've just been running a six-month fundraising campaign – knocking on doors, holding street events and other community initiatives.

Produce a factsheet at the end of the job highlighting how much money you have raised and how you appreciate the work of your volunteers – and throw in some promotional pens too.

Thank you!

Posted by Robin McCrink

Paul Emery, head of community and social organisation at insurer Zurich, said that companies' engagement with such issues is "becoming increasingly important" as communities start to feel the pinch.

Promotional items are a great way to complement CSR schemes.

"Against the backdrop of the economy and its challenges, it is more important that businesses contribute to society and help charities in the local area where they're based," he said.

Mr Emery added that internal programmes that allow employees to get involved with charitable projects such as volunteering are also climbing higher up on the agenda of graduates and gap year students who are job hunting.

"When choosing a role and which organisation to apply to work for, volunteering is becoming an increasingly important part of their consideration," he noted.

Promotional gifts are a good way to reward volunteering – think about rolling them out alongside your CRS schemes.

You could give promotional t-shirts to a team of student volunteers and use printed pens as part of in-house CSR work.

Posted by Robin McCrink

Some of our best selling promotional items of 2011 were promotional notebooks; and I think this is a product category that’ll increase further this year as there were loads and loads of new styles, colours and sizes of notepads on display.

They are missing out on fundraising opportunities because of outmoded online operations and a user experience that is "too similar to buying travel insurance".

According to Third Sector, the report, Charities Fail to Make Online Impact, by the digital consultancy company Nomensa, found that close to half (47 per cent) of online donors give up on making donations because of an online journey that is unintuitive and not engaging.

Charities need to better understand how donors are using technology, urged Bertie Bosredon, head of digital engagement and social media at the charity Breast Cancer Care, who wrote a foreword to the report.

"Most charities are taking donations through their website, but the journey is neither engaging, nor inspirational; the experience still feels too similar to buying travel insurance," he was quoted as saying.

Think about using promotional items to help generate interest in your online fundraising platforms.

You could send out attractive printed mugs and promotional mousemats to advertise your website, and you could say thank you to donors who give online by posting out promotional pens and printed USBs.

"Charities are failing to capitalise on online fundraising, report claims." Third Sector.

Posted by Cheryl Jackson-Leafield

According to a new survey by Mars Drinks UK, creatives work the longest hours and have a shorter lunch break than their peers.

Despite this though, they're happy in their jobs.

Employee rewards are a great way to show staff you really appreciate the work they put in.

And in these cash-strapped times, it might be the case that companies simply can't afford to dish out cash rewards, making promotional items a cost-effective alternative.

The study found that the average creative works for around 40 minutes more than 'non-creatives' and takes a slightly shorter lunch.

Jenni Morgan, trade marketing manager for Mars Drinks UK, said: "Our results show that we are working longer hours than before but this has not dented our enjoyment of the job," the Direct Marketing Association reported.

How about saying thanks with some promotional products – like printed mugs and promotional USBs.

If anything, they'll probably think they're pretty cool…

"Creatives work the longest hours". Direct Marketing Association.

Posted by Robin McCrink

Promotional products have a pivotal role to play in growing many aspects of your business – right from the get-go, to further development of marketing strategies.

Undoubtedly, one of the most important considerations you'll have when setting up your own company is cost – which is especially a factor in these straightened economic times.

While deeper marketing strategies will come later, you'll find using branded promotional merchandise crucial to developing your operations, growing business and developing a strong brand identity.

On an obvious level, the logo or slogan of your company establishes your brand. But think about how it also plays a crucial role in your communications with suppliers, new contacts, customers and your own staff.

Starting out – new business

Any new firm is likely to find itself in a crowded and competitive marketplace right from its infancy – making it important it establishes what it is all about right from the word go.

As a new business, you'll need to get your name out and about quickly, letting potential customers know what it is you stand for and what exactly it is you provide.

Promotional products are a great way to market your brand – by imprinting your company logo on corporate items like promotional pens, printed USBs and promotional mugs, you'll be crystallising your core message in a nutshell.

These branded products have long-lasting value – if you distribute them to offices, think how they'll take pride of place on desks, where lots and lots of people will see them.

Also think about using promotional items alongside direct mail – still a great way to gain exposure and generate new business. Alongside your promotional literature and brochures, why not include promotional pens for example.

Meets and trade shows

Attending trade fairs, conferences and expos are a great way to meet new customers and suppliers.

It's likely that you'll find yourself competing for attention with hundreds of other companies, so you need to make your booth stand out.

Giving promotional items to people who come to talk to you is a great way to make and develop new relationships. Potential customers are likely to visit so many different firms, but by giving them promotional mugs and printed USBs you'll be helping to ensure you remain at the forefront of their memory.

You can also follow-up connections you've made at trade fairs by sending out complementary promotional merchandise and corporate gifts.

Keeping customers

After initially establishing your brand and getting your set of first customers, retention is key.

You need to think about how you can ensure your customer base comes back to you time and time again – and corporate gifts can help you create loyalty, develop relationships and build-up appreciation.

Complement your customer retention strategy with promotional items – showing clients you value them with promotional pens and USBs. These branded gifts have a long-lasting value and mean customers are likely to remember them.

As you get to know your key clients more and more, think about sending promotional items at Christmas and new year to help build loyalty, too.

Diverging and creating further strategies

As your brand develops, think about how promotional products can help you spread your message out into the wider community.

If you start to think about a social responsibility policy, for example, promotional gifts can help you. You could sponsor local charity initiatives with promotional bags to aid in fund-raising by providing sponsored gifts.

Staff motivation

Don't forget to think about the role promotional gifts have to play in-house. Keeping your employees motivated and happy is the key to a successful workforce and branded items, given as employee rewards, can help keep your staff content and productive.

Posted by Robin McCrink

Today the organisers of the multi-award-winning Scottish festival revealed the first wave of acts for the event and announced information about the inaugural RockNess Express, a train ride for music fans that will use promotional items.

Biffy Clyro, Mumford & Sons and singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran are to appear at this summer's festival, which is held beside Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands.

But we're more interested in RockNess – a specially-chartered train that will depart from London Euston, picking up festival-goers at Birmingham, Derby, York and Newcastle, before delivering them to the final festival.

Organisers are going the whole hog on the train journey, offering revellers music, special guests, food and drink, games and promotional bags.

RockNess director Jim King said: "I'm so happy with the list of acts we're announcing today that I now just can't wait for the first tent peg in the ground and for the party to start."

Posted by Robin McCrink