Custom Award for President Obama

Last week one of our clients came to us with an exciting challenge: to perfect a special gift for President Obama. With just two days to accomplish the task, we anxiously rose to the occasion. We were given two giant tennis balls to start and were instructed to print a special inscription for the President from the 2013 national tennis championship team. Although it seemed like a simple enough task (considering all our printing experience on various products and in different places), these giant tennis balls gave us quite the challenge. After attempting to print on a ball in a handful of different methods with unsatisfactory results, we decided that in order to achieve the excellence for such an occasion, we needed a new approach entirely. With the addition of a special engraving and case, this giant tennis ball “trophy” has become one of our favorite custom awards we’ve ever done. Hopefully the President likes it as much as we do!
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To buy SWAG (stuff we all get) or not to

man wearing gray t-shirt with fake logo
As a promotional products distributor, it is hard not to be offended when a successful entrepreneur known on a certain hit pitch TV show, Mark Cuban, shares a list of rules for new start-ups and one of them is to avoid buying swag (stuff we all get – AKA promotional products). Obviously we love custom apparel and promotional products and believe everyone can get a boost from distributing them on occasion. Just visit ASI’s research page to check out all the promotional products stats and it won’t take long to realize there is definitely something great about using branded products. On my recent reflection of Mark Cuban’s anti-promotional product stance for company start-ups, his advice does make some sense. Allow me to explain. The situation Imagine someone gave you a really great quality t-shirt with a logo on it that you knew very little about and felt no passion for. You end up using the shirt occasionally at the gym or when you’re running out of clean clothes. You like the shirt well enough that you hold onto it and wear it over a few year period. Unfortunately every single time you wear it someone inquires about the company logo wanting to know who they are and what they do and in response you have very little or nothing to say other than you got the shirt for free. What could have been a golden opportunity to share a passion for that particular company may have turned into
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7 Reasons people love promotional products

Blonde woman fighting for free product
Distributing promotional products is often a win-win situation for both the givers and receivers. Organizations are anxious to give out products that will spread their message and brand, while almost anyone will accept a great promotional item. Some people, in fact, will not only happily accept a great promotional item, but they might even go crazy over it.

What is it exactly about promotional products that people have come to love?

1 – It’s free. This is obvious and probably the reason people go crazy over it. It is natural human instinct for people to enjoy getting something for nothing. 2 – It’s an unexpected bonus. Whenever we have zero expectations for something, it is easy to feel satisfied even when given just a little extra something. Several months ago I completed my usual shopping trip at a local retailer and was informed at the checkout that one of my purchases came with a free bonus product. I never would have bought the bonus product on my own, but after trying it out at home I completely fell in love with it. But really, who doesn’t love an unexpected bonus? 3 – You feel singled out. Not all promotional gifts are handed out to every person who walks in the door. When there is a limited supply of gifts it takes being the right person in order to get one. Becoming a recipient means you’ve been identified as someone who would be valued in some way—maybe you won a contest
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