I recently had the opportunity to spend a night at the Aloft Hotel in Dallas. Aloft is one of nine brands under Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.

Aloft positions itself as a modern, fresh and fun destination, and I certainly felt that theme as a guest, in every detail, right down to the mini bath products and other hotel freebies.

The hotel's decor was gorgeous- my room, the lobby and common areas, truly every space- but working in promotional products, it's the little branded details that really catch my attention.

Take the notepad and pencil above, for example. How stinkin' cute are they?

They're not just cute, they're a smart use of promotional products, and they embody a best practice by which I like to abide.

The best practice I'm referring to is asking yourself, with every project- can it be just a little bit better?

With notepads, adhesive or non-adhesive scratch, standard decoration includes a 4-color process sheet imprint with optional full bleed. Many businesses just print their logo at the top, maybe a phone number or website at the bottom of the pad, and call it a day. To me, that seems like a waste. You've already paid for the entire sheet imprint, so why not get playful with design and create something more attention-grabbing?

Aloft upped the ante on a simple notepad (without upping their piece price) with the addition of the "a-list" ghost imprint. It's very subtle, and I'm sure many guests wouldn't pay it a second glance, but to someone like me who appreciates a good pun and clever design, it added a little something to my experience.

Take a lesson from Aloft, and before you sign off on your next promotional piece, take a moment to ask yourself (or to ask your trusted promotional rep)- can it be just a little bit better?

What belongs to you alone, but is used more by others?

Your name!

Okay, you've probably heard that riddle before. Hopefully the rest of this post will tell you something you don't already know.

We've discussed full color, digital decoration a few times before on the blog, but we've never mentioned incorporating variable data. 

The next time you order promotional products for a targeted campaign- whether internal or external- consider personalizing each item with the recipient's name. It's a minor addition, but it increases the item's perceived value and adds a personal touch.

Personalizing certain items, like deep-etched drinkware or embroidered fleece jackets, will add a run charge to your promotion. But, if the item will be digitally printed, like the writing utensil caddy in the above picture, the addition of a name is FREE. Just send us an Excel spreadsheet with a list of names, and we'll do the rest.

Digital printing is an excellent solution for all kinds of copy changes, not just name drops. Need 100 journals for your ad agency? Why not order 10 for each of your 10 largest accounts, and decorate the cover with the client's brand? So long as you use the same item and hit the catalog minimum, you can change the printed logo as many times as you like. Pretty neat!

As product consultants, our job at Sonic Promos is to advise and guide our clients' choices in branded materials. Much of the time, this entails recommending apparel styles, brands, colors and decoration techniques.

Our choice in product must be synonymous with the campaign's message and budget, but it's equally important that the product appeals to its target audience. If the item's recipient doesn't like the look, feel, or quality of the product, the branding impression loses value.

Pleasing everyone is especially tricky when it comes to apparel. People tend to like clothing for various reasons: the cut fits them well, the color flatters their complexion, the material feels nice against their skin, or the imprinted design appeals to them visually. Unfortunately, these preferences aren't always homogeneous across a target marketing group. Your intended audience probably contains a mix of ages, a mix of body types, and a mix of blondes/brunettes/redheads.

Despite these surface differences, there are generally features in clothing that most people can agree on.

Just for fun, I asked a few Sonic employees to send me pictures of their favorite T-shirts. Though we are a varied bunch in terms of appearance and style, you'll notice several similarities in our choice of tees.

Jamie



These are my favorite shirts for two reasons: 1) the soft fabric and 2) the vintage-style decoration. The blue Red Sox shirt uses a washed, soft-hand ink for its screen print, and the grey Red Sox shirt is decorated with a distressed appliqué. The Celtics shirt is also really soft, but I like the color more than anything. Green looks good on redheads. It brings out the "Irish" in me.

Seth


The Quactus shirt is for my brother Gabe's band. I think the logo is fun, and the colors look nice together. It also makes me think of my kids when I wear it. There's an adorable photo of them wearing the same shirt, taken about four years ago.

The Judge shirt is another favorite of mine because it's red, and I can wear it at Caps games. I get a lot of comments when I wear it... mostly people yelling "JUDGE!". I like to respond with, "I'll be the judge of that" or "This is my Judge Reinhold fan shirt" or "You can't judge a shirt by its color, or can you?"

Lindsay

I bought this shirt a few weeks ago, and if it's not on my body, it's in the wash. Of course I love the cute imprint, but it's the comfortable material that really won me over. This is the American Apparel Track T-shirt, and I've used this model several times for work projects. For some reason, I've never owned one of my own... until now. I also adore the faded blue grey color. In the same vain vein (heh) of Jamie's reasoning above, blue looks good with blonde hair. 

Eve


This shirt is one of my favorites because it's the first T-shirt I bought when I visited Austin before moving there. Being a New York girl, I thought it represented the city's vibe well. Now I know that the "Keep Austin Weird" shirts are much more appropriate!

Jen


I got this shirt at one of the last concerts I attended in El Paso before moving to the DC area, so I associate it with good memories. I also really like the material; it's very comfortable to wear.

Michael


This sweatshirt is one of my favorite pieces to wear. It was a gift from my lovely girlfriend, and it was made by a small apparel company in Cleveland, Ohio. It's very soft, and the neutral grey color goes well with brown, orange, blue and red (Browns and Indians).

I realize this little office poll isn't exactly statistically significant, but it does show you that people look for similar features in a T-shirt. Comfort seems to be a consistent theme in our responses, for example. Though standard heavyweight cotton tees are an economical choice, it might be worth it to invest in a better quality, brushed cotton or fine jersey tee for your next apparel campaign.

It is also important to note that we all personally identify with the branding/imprint. The boys are all proud to support their favorite sports teams, and Jen, Eve, Michael, and I all have fond memories of travels and time spent in our hometowns.

So, while selecting the style(s) and color(s) for your apparel campaign are important decisions, remember that your branding is often the trump card. Ultimately, the whole point is to promote your organization/band/team/company and to connect with your supporters. Work the power of brand equity. Your fans already like you... just give them something fun and comfortable to wear, and they will.

Where will you be on April 22nd? Helping your neighbors? Beautifying the community? Making a difference?

More than 10,000 Jewish teens around the world will be!

J-Serve, the International Day of Jewish Youth Service is scheduled for April 22nd this year.* Taken from the J-Serve website- "J-Serve provides teens with the opportunity to fulfill the Jewish values of gemilut chasidim, acts of loving kindness, tzedakah, just and charitable giving, and tikkum olam, the responsibility to repair the world. Across the globe, teens will join each other to make their community and the world a better place."

For several years now, Sonic Promos has been proud to be involved with this great event. Starting in 2008, Sonic took on the job of designing an event T-shirt and organizing a national order to unite community projects around the country. 

Each year, all shirts share the same front design...

... and information about national sponsors on the back.

Communities have the option to customize the shirt's upper and lower back with their city name(s) and local sponsors.











There are several advantages to group purchase programs-

1. High total quantity and a great price for all: As is true with all promotional products, the higher the quantity of items, the lower the piece price. Some parties might need a large order of 400 pieces while others require just 50. By grouping everyone together, they all benefit from a lower price. 

2. Branding consistency: Printing all materials in one location ensures that there will be no inconsistencies in artwork. Avoid color variations, size discrepancies, proportion distortions and other errors by centralizing production.

3. Centralized invoicing and customer service: This feature of group purchasing is especially advantageous when a central finance department foots the bill for purchases made by multiple branch offices. Would you rather receive invoices from 12 different suppliers in 12 different cities or a single invoice from a single vendor? Easy decision.

If your organization could benefit from group purchasing, contact us at info@sonicpromos.com to organize a program.

*Several communities conduct their community service activities on alternate dates.

I know I'm not the only one with spring fever.

Mild weather, blossoming trees, outdoor festivals, Cadbury Creme Eggs and softball/Frisbee/kickball leagues are just a few of the things I look forward to this time of year.

Spring sport leagues are extremely popular in the DC metropolitan area. Weekday evenings and weekend afternoons, you'll find the National Mall absolutely mobbed with coworkers and friends slinging bats and hucking Frisbees.

The competition is fierce, but there are two things that matter even more than your skills on the field. 

1. Your skills at happy hour.

2. Your T-shirt design.

Washington DC is known for its bright, young professionals. We're witty, we're punny, and we take our trivia nights VERY seriously. For this reason, sport leagues put a lot of time and thought into their team name and logo.

The pressure to be creative is on.

If your personal team doesn't have a graphic designer on its roster, our design team at Sonic Promos would love to help you create a great shirt.

Many thanks to our clients for allowing us to share their fun designs.

Pink tee by Melissa Amano at melissa.amano@gmail.com.