Suzanne's Blog

  Suzanne Worwood is VP of Merchandising and has been with 4imprint for 14 years. Inspired by the retail environment and her own world travels, Suzanne writes about all things product: trends, uses, colors, designs.  

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Stop Baggage Bewilderment with Personalized Luggage Tags

No more confusion at the turnstile! With personalized luggage tags you can make sure your brand makes your customers’ or team’s bags stand out from the crowd.

No more confusion at the turnstile! With personalized luggage tags you can make sure your brand makes your customers’ or team’s bags stand out from the crowd.

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Show Customers a Stunning New View with Branded VR Glasses

Build brand loyalty and increase sales conversions with virtual reality for business.

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Promotional Products Meet the Colors of 2016

Color.  If you’re like many people, it’s one of the first things you notice. Apple green. Cherry red. Bright white. Deep burgundy. Sleek black.

Whether you’re buying a car, a house, home décor or clothing, it’s often the color of the item that first catches your eye. So powerful is color’s influence that the Color Marketing Group, a color forecasting trade association told us in an interview for amplify (our digital magazine) that 85% of purchases are influenced by color.

What Logo Colors Mean

And, color’s influence isn’t limited to the products we buy. In her doctoral research, University of Missouri Student Jessica Ridgway teamed with Georgia Southern University researcher Beth Myers to test how logo color influences what we think about an organization.

Ridgway and Myers created fake companies with generic logos in different colors. In an online survey, they asked consumers to describe the qualities they associated with the organization, based on the logo.

Her research was published in the International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education. According to anews release about the study:

Red logos evoked feelings of expertise and self-assurance.

Pink logos were associated with youthfulness, fashion and imagination.

Blue logos were tied to confidence, success and reliability.

Green logos were linked with environmental friendliness, toughness, durability, masculinity and sustainability.

Purple logos were connected with femininity, charm and glamour.

Promotional Products in New Colors

Knowing how influential color can be, we’ve teamed with the Color Marketing Group to offer two promotional products in some of 2016’s trending colors. Selected by the Color Marketing Group’s members, these colors are from the North America palette. Two promotional bags will be available in:

Uni-Blue – Forecast as North America’s key color for 2016 and beyond, Uni-Blue celebrates cultures, genders and generations. Representative of water and air, its steadfastness is calming.

Arabesque – Exotic and evolutionary, Arabesque defies definition. Featuring hues of brown, violet, near-black and dark red, this color is drawn from the palettes of multiple cultures, connecting the viewer to others and evoking thoughts of blossoms, hearty wine and precious stones.

Teal My Heart – Nature meets an industrial aesthetic in this color, which floats between blue and green. Channeling time online as much as time unplugged, this color takes grey in a new direction.

Cinco – The most passionate of the 2016 colors, Cinco communicates joy, enthusiasm, power and energy. At first glance, this might appear to be a statement red. But, upon further review, the orange tones invite the viewer in.

Both the Cotton Sheeting Tote and the Mesh Pocket Sportpack come with a Color Marketing Group logo’d tag, showing people who receive these giveaways they’re officially color-approved.

–Suzanne

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Moleskine – Make a Lasting Impression

If you are looking to make a lasting impression with your clients, a Moleskine® notebook is a great choice.

With a luxurious feel, these petite notebooks give customers the perfect base on which to capture insights and sketch ideas. And, in doing so, they’ll carry on a long tradition of putting pen to paper as part of the creative process.

History of Moleskine Notebooks

For centuries, artists and authors carried with them small notebooks that held their ideas—sketches, words, phrases or maybe the start of a novel. Wherever they traveled and no matter what they were doing, the notebook served as a companion, holding their thoughts until a paintbrush, pen or typewriter was within reach. According to Moleskine, artists such as Vincent van Gogh and Pablo Picasso and novelists like Ernest Hemingway and Bruce Chatwin carried small notebooks with them, so as to be prepared when inspiration struck.

Today, that brand is synonymous with these cultured, well-traveled artists and others who aspire to create something beautiful.

Compare Moleskin Promotional Notebooks

Moleskine promotional notebooks are available in a wide range of sizes, colors, page counts and paper styles. Notebooks also vary with lined or graph paper.

The ribbon bookmark and elastic band closure keeps the notebook neat and helps you find your place easily. With your brand embossed on the cover, customers are sure to turn heads when they pull it out of their purse or briefcase.

As a brand, Moleskine is beloved. A few years ago, British daily newspaper The Guardian published an article, “The Joy of Moleskine Notebooks.” That brand loyalty is just one of the reasons it’s considered a best-in-category brand.

If you are looking for a simple, useful, upscale gift or giveaway, Moleskine notebooks make great promotional products.

-Suzanne

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Desktop Promotional Products with Style

If you are looking for promotional products that customers can’t wait to get their hands on, take a look at these calendars, sticky notes and notebooks.

Perpetual Block Calendar

If you plan to give your customers a calendar as a year-end gift, the Perpetual Block Calendar is a fresh alternative. Bold colors will draw attention to your brand.

The playful design features the month at the base, while the cubes can be turned daily to display the date. The calendar is easy to assemble and perfect for a small space on a desk or shelf. And, its perpetual design means this promotional product can adorn a recipient’s desk year after year.

To combine a bit of fun with a traditional office product, try one of our new paper products, the Bic™ Sticky Spring Note. As its name implies, these notepads spring open like an accordion!

The die-cut comes in three other options—a star, heart and house

Just like its name suggests, the Coaster Desktop Calendar does double-duty. Monthly calendars double as coasters while the coaster-holder stores pens and pencils.

The calendars come in a variety of styles so you can personalize the gift according to recipients’ tastes. Choose from Tapestry (shown above), Craftsman, Watercolor and Craft Brew.

For a notebook customers will reach for again and again, try the Sorbet Pocket Notebook with Curvy Stylus Pen. Available in a range of bright colors, this 4imprint exclusive includes a customer-favorite, the Curvy Stylus Pen.

A cover pocket – inside and outside – makes it easy for the on-the-go user to stash must-have documents.

These vintage Calendar Cards will add a work of art to an office desk every month.

A small easel keeps the calendar propped up to bring style and fun to any workspace. The cards come with a decorative band for easy storage. (But, who would want to keep these beautiful vintage graphics hidden?)

As these promotional products show, bright colors and fresh looks can help you turn a useful promotional product into an unforgettable giveaway customers will reach for throughout the day.

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Exclusives: Meet Gala Promotional Pens

Jul 31, 2015 By: Suzanne Worwood

Attend any trade shows, meetings or events and you’re sure to find promotional pens within reach.

How can you make your pen one customers reach for first? Choose a pen in a body style and color that will stand out.

Our exclusive Gala Pen – Translucent is a good example. The translucent center contrasts against the solid ends. Bright colors ensure the pen will stand out on a table, with a display booth or inside any bag or purse.

Its comfortable grip and stylish look make this a pen your customers and your team will reach for again and again.

If you like the look of the Gala Pen, but are looking for promotional products that do double-duty, check out the Gala Stylus Pen. This pen lets you multi-task easily as you switch between writing on paper to scrolling on an electronic device.

The stylus has a finer tip than other similar products, making it easier to navigate and scroll on a phone or tablet. And, by having a stylus at hand, you’ll reduce fingerprints on your screen. The Gala stylus comes in a variety of metallic colors, making these promotional products customers and team members can’t wait to get their hands on.

-Suzanne

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HidrateMe: The Next Generation of Sport Bottle

As people have become more aware of health and wellness, promotional sports bottles have followed suit. No longer do we simply choose sport bottles by material—plastic, aluminum or glass—or by flip top or push/pull lid. The latest water bottles fit busy lifestyles and support the desire to be healthier.

The Infusion Sport Bottle is one example. Its unique construction lets you add fruits or vegetables, like strawberries or cucumbers, to the water for more flavor and nutrients.

The HidrateMe water bottle takes that to the next level. Launched by a company with the same name, HidrateMe has a simple mission: Hydrate the world.

To achieve that mission, they’ve made the simple water bottle smart. This sport bottle’s embedded sensor connects to your mobile device to measure the amount of water you drink. Based on a daily goal, the app tracks your progress and the bottle glows when it’s time for you to drink more water. The app also summarizes your water intake history.

The idea appears to be gaining momentum. The company’s Kickstarter campaign has raised more than 10 times its $35,000 goal.

What do you think of this latest innovation? Would smart water bottles make the kind of promotional products your customers would appreciate? Let me know in the comments below.

— Suzanne