promotional items for a less sedentary lifestyle

Promotional items are good for your heart! Okay, that's a stretch -- this isn't another cereal commercial. But reading this article today in the New York Times got me thinking about how I can have a more active lifestyle organically. Take the stairs, not the elevator. Go to my coworker's desk rather than send her an instant message. And... use promotional items?

I love all things digital. But I also love the tangible. And for me, promotional items represent a face-to-face engagement that has become as desired as it is rare. Putting a product in someone's hand takes time, money, and effort. But it has a far greater impact than sending an email to their junk filter.

Keds as promotional items?

Keds are cool. Mischa Barton taught us that years ago. So why not make promotional items out of them? It's about time, isn't it?

In fact, I don't think there are enough branded shoes as promotional items. Converse Chuck Taylors, Vans, Keds -- these would all make great promotional items with your logo. You can already get your Nikes customized, so I wouldn't be surprised if these other brands followed suit and opened up their line to promotional products companies.

Does American Apparel make shoes?

Check out this pretty sweet video made my Pro-Keds on on Cool Hunting. I wish all brands were this cool.

graffiti murals inspire promotional products

Cool Hunting has a great post today about Steve Powers' ongoing graffiti mural project in Philadelphia. The murals remind me of all the advertising graffiti around my neighborhood and how the impromptu billboards act as dynamic promotional items.

It's common for local galleries and theaters to advertise events on the Krog Street Tunnel in Cabbagetown. Non-profit organizations and start-ups that can't afford traditional advertising can stage guerilla-marketing campaigns with graffiti and promotional items like t-shirts and stickers.

How could you incorporate a graffiti mural into your next campaign?

promotional items for cities

I love cities, so I love promotional items for cities. Since I usually have limited space in my suitcase to bring home promotional items, I limit myself to postcards and coasters. (On my desk right now I have a black and yellow tile coaster from Prague printed with a Jiff Votruba design of Franz Kafka facing a labyrinthine wall of imposing buildings.)

What we used to dismiss as tacky dime store chotchkies, we now examine as art objects. Trendy clothing shops -- first Abercrombie and Fitch, now Urban Outfitters -- sell replicas of old souvenir t-shirts by the armload.

I wonder if someday my Prague coaster will be desired, like a Virginia Is For Lovers button, as a collector's item.

Promotiotional items idea: shower caps

This idea for a promotional item came to me in the shower this morning. On days that I don't wash my hair, I typically use a headband to hold back my bangs, then tie back the rest of my hair in a ponytail. This method is imperfect for many reasons.

1) Water still gets on my hair.
2) My headband broke so now I have to use clips.
3) It's inconvenient to bring all these things with me when I travel.

Because of this dilemma, shower caps make excellent promotional items, especially for travelers. Hotels already use complementary shower cap containers to imprint their logo, but what about companies courting clients? How about a welcome basket of promotional items, including imprinted shower caps?

Museum promotional items

I'm already taking a break from the series on promotional items for employees, because I was reminded today of all the great promotional items available at museum gift shops. Beyond the cheesy Van Gogh coffee mugs and other printed kitsch are some really artful and well designed products, photography and paper cards being a few of my favorite things to browse at museum gift stores.

The Vancouver Art Gallery has an exceptional gift shop if you're ever out west, and here in Atlanta the High Museum of Art sells promotional items with their signature dots in primary colors (coffee mugs pictured).

Promotional items for employees, Pt. 1

My first day at the promotional items company where I work I was given a bag of promotional items that would help me perform my job: pens, post-its, etc. They seem like trifles, but these objects acted significantly. Here is the first benefit of a three-part series:

1. The promotional items branded my company internally. Because the pens and notebooks I use every day are branded with my employer's logo, I feel a connection to the company. This seems obvious: I work here 40 hours a week, right? My job makes me feel connected to my coworkers and bosses and my work, but it's surprisingly easy to develop a disconnect from the company itself. That's why branding internally is so important. Like seeing a concert poster in a coffee shop, seeing my company's logo every day -- even after I leave the office -- integrates the brand into my life.

Hip hop promotional items

I’ve had several encounters with hip hop dance over the past week. I started going to a dance class on Tuesdays, where I hide in the back and attempt to shake body parts I was only mildly aware of previously. And I found out someone I know (a professional hip hop dancer) is on America’s Best Dance Crew. This got me thinking about promotional items I could wear to class to support her crew:

-- wearable promotional items like t-shirts and tanks, sweat pants and arm bands.
-- water bottles
-- and even turn tables, since you can turn anything into a promotional item.