Gift & Premiums blog

Promotional Gift Award 2011 – turn in your innovative products!

Karen — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 08:08:33 +0000

The Promotional Gift Award 2011 is entering the next round. For the ninth time in succession the search is on for innovative promotional products – from give-aways to premiums and from custom-made designs to communicative products. The motto of the Promotional Gift Award (PGA) is “Create the difference“ and it therefore tries to inspire designers to be creative and innovative in order to give a boost to the promotional market.

The prize-winners of the Promotional Gift Award will be selected in 2011. Companies have the opportunity to submit their innovative products up until November 19, 2010. The competition is open to international manufacturers, importers, distributors and designers. An unlimited amount of products can be submitted; all mass produced products and special designs are eligible for entry. The award-winners will be judged in four categories: Give-aways, Communicative Products, Premium Products & Brand Items as well as Custom-made Designs.

In December 2010 an independent jury comprising of branch experts – including representatives of the promotional products industry and promotional products users – will select the award-winners from the entries. The number of winners is not fixed in advance, the decision depends entirely on the quality of the entries. Last year the percentage of winning entries was 14%, 39 items out of 289 entries won an award.

Those emerging from the judging session as winners will receive top-class PR coverage free of charge and will be given the opportunity to use the image-profiling label to advertise their product: The winning products and their suppliers will be presented both in the various renowned magazine publications and on their respective websites and in their e-mail newsletters the whole year round at international level.

Applications for the Promotional Gift Award can be submitted online at www.promotionaward.com. All further information and an FAQ list can be found here as well. Should you have any further queries, please don’t hesitate to contact the team of the Promotional Gift Award:

Andrea Bothe (Project Manager)

Tel.: +49/221/68911-17

Fax: +49/221/68911-10

bothe@waorg.com

The entry deadline is November 19, 2010.

WA Verlag GmbH

Promotional Gift Award

Waltherstr. 49-51

D-51069 Cologne

www.promotionaward.com

Source: Eppi

Macma closes its UK subsidiary

Karen — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 07:32:08 +0000

UK/D – The German import company, Macma, has closed its sales office in the UK on September 24, 2010. All enquiries will now be processed by the company’s location in Germany. Macma will continue to issue invoices for customers in the UK and Ireland in British pounds and in Euros. The samples warehouse in Great Britain will remain in operation and the hitherto valid British bank account also remains unchanged.

Source: Eppi

proPSI: “Continue and improve”

Karen — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 07:13:07 +0000

From 25-27 August 2010 proPSI took place in Amsterdam. The Dutch trade show, held for the third time and known for its open character – you don’t need to be a member of any branche organization to visit – was slightly different from the previous editions in that it was a joint-venture between the Dutch Organizers, Pro Exhibitions & Publishers and PSI.

A total of 178 exhibitors (2009: 223) showcased their products in the Europe Hall of the RAI Exhibition Center in

Amsterdam. Prior to the event it was estimated that around 5,000 trade visitors would attend the proPSI. Although the actual number of visitors turned out to be only 3,478 (2009: 4,731), the organisers were still satisfied. “If I consider the current economical situation, our show cooperation actually got off to a good start. We have to give the show some time to develop. In any case the demand is definitely there” said John Swaab from Pro Exhibitions & Publishers. PSI Director Michael Freter expresses his wish to continue organizing this show: “The opinion of the exhibitors is clear: Continue and improve”.

A detailed report will be printed in eppi magazine no. 77 (Ocober 4, 2010).

www.pro-psi.com

Source: Eppi Newsflash

Promota: new event in 2011

Karen — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 12:33:02 +0000

The British promotional products association, Promota, announces that the Promota Show, which was traditionally staged in the spring for the past 21 years, will not continue in its present form, but is to be replaced by a new event in 2011. No details have been announced so far, but it is expected to be an international event that is exclusively open to the Promota members, just as the Promota Show was. Whether the cancellation of the Promota Show has anything to do with the optimistical expectations and the scheduling of the rival Trade Only National Show, which will be held in Coventry, UK, on 26 and 27 January 2011, is not clear.

Promota is also planning a series of regional meetings, which offer the Promota members the opportunity to meet up with representatives of the Promota Board in their local region. The first of such meetings already took place at the end of July in Bracknell at the offices of 3M. These meetings have been initiated as part of the restructuring measures, which the new President David Webster introduced for Promota after the failed merger negotiations with the BPMA.

Source: Eppi Newsflash

Erasable liquid pencil by Sharpie

Karen — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 08:03:44 +0000

Do you like the idea of an erasable pen but haven’t found one that actually does what it’s supposed to do? Check out this cool new product that Sharpie plans to release this fall: the liquid pencil!

This innovative new writing instrument is a combination of a pen and a pencil. It writes as smooth as a pen, but uses a liquid graphite “ink” that is erasable for up to 3 days, just like a pencil. After 72 hours have passed, the ink sets permanently just like any pen ink would.

The innovative Sharpie Liquid Pencil is available in stores from september 2010.

Source: blog.epromos.com and blog.sharpie.com

Almost 20,000 visitors at the HKTDC Summer Sourcing Show

Karen — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 07:50:30 +0000

The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) organised two well-attended trade shows from July 5-8, 2010: the Summer Sourcing Show for Gifts, Houseware & Toys and the Hong Kong Fashion Week. The 7th edition of the Summer Sourcing Show presented newly-devised exhibition areas and placed the focus on environmentally-friendly products – the HKTDC underlined the increasing significance of eco-friendly products with the Green Gifts & Houseware Zone.

On an exhibition surface covering around 9,000 m² the trade show offered distributors, who wanted to expand their product line-ups prior to the imminent Christmas season, a colourful selection of products comprising of lifestyle accessories, household goods, gift items, toys and more. In addition to the accompanying programme including numerous product presentations and glamorous fashion shows at the Hong Kong Fashion Week, the agenda of this year’s Summer Sourcing Show also included a seminar programme.

This year the Summer Sourcing Show recorded 409 exhibitors from 14 countries and regions. Over half of the exhibitors, 236 to be exact, came from abroad. In total a number of 19,922 trade visitors from 88 countries and regions attended the show.

Source: www.summersourcingshow.com
Eppi Newsflash

EPPA Survey: Positive look ahead to the second term

Karen — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:08:34 +0000

A market survey, that is being carried out every quarter among the member associations of EPPA, demonstrates that the business situation of the first quarter of 2010 has improved compared to the previous year. It also provides a cautious optimistic view of the future.

Distributors and suppliers from the associations in Germany, England, the Netherlands, France, Belgium and Austria were interviewed. The poll was carried out by the Institute for Trade Research (IfH) in Cologne. One result of the survey is that although the turnovers of the majority of companies interviewed had improved in the 1st quarter of 2010 compared to the 1st quarter of 2009, or at least had not decreased, between 8.3% (Belgian distributors) and 40.7% (French distributors) consider their current business situation to be worse. Among the suppliers, the German companies view their situation the most pessimistically (36.4%). The Austrian suppliers find their situation the most positive: Only 10.3% complain about the situation being poor. On the other hand 50% consider it to be good – the peak cross-country value.

Asked about their forecast for the coming six months, the overwhelming majority stated that they expect to experience at least a stable, if not indeed an improved development in the turnovers. The battered British are at the top of the list here: Almost 64% of the distributors and 45% of the suppliers are reckoning with a recovery of the economy, more than 30% of the distributors and more than 40% of the suppliers are at least expecting the situation to stabilise.

In France almost 52% of the suppliers are assuming that the business situation will improve (peak value in the comparison between the European suppliers). The German distributors are the least pessimistic: Only a good 3% are expecting the situation to deteriorate. A more detailed report will be published in the next issue of eppi magazine, No. 76 (August 9, 2010).

Source: Eppi Newsflash

Senator and Koziol sign distribution partnership in the UK

Karen — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 12:46:20 +0000

UK – Senator, the writing instruments manufacturer, is now the exclusive promotional partner for the highly original range of Koziol products in the UK. Melissa Chevin, Marketing Manager at Senator, said: “The truly exceptional range of Koziol is perfect for promotions with a difference, and guarantees adding a sense of fun and humour to any campaign message.

The products have great synergy with the Senator range of writing instruments as both combine high quality with striking aesthetics. The stylish range will bring a smile and a splash of colour to any desk, creating a real talking point and generating the wow factor that is so important in promotional campaigns.

www.senatorpromotion.com/uk

Mid Ocean Brands hosts first European partner event

Karen — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:04:56 +0000

For a period of two weeks (May 31 – June 11, 2010), the Spanish/Dutch importer Mid Ocean Brands invited more than 200 customers to one of the most stunning European locations: Loch Lomond in Scotland. Customers came from all over Europe (some even from India) to participate in the Mid Ocean Brands partner event. The event provided Mid Ocean Brands with a platform for exchange: The company not only shared valuable information with their partners, but also listened to what their partners had to say in order to further align and strengthen their future offerings. Since this was not logistically possible for 200 guests simultaneously, the partners from the different countries were each invited to Scotland for three days at different times.

One feature of the event was a presentation by Mid Ocean Brands’ CEO, Willem van Walt Meijer, during which he explained the decisions taken by Mid Ocean Brands in the months following the economic crisis and the impact that they have had on the promotional products market. In the following regional sessions, the Regional Director of each Mid Ocean Brands office discussed a certain number of topics with their customers. A more detailed report will be published in the next issue of eppi magazine, No. 76 (August 9, 2010).

Source: Eppi Newsflash

Bic-Pen as cutlery

Karen — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 10:29:26 +0000

If you ever find yourself without (disposable) cutlery when you want to grab a bite of food, Zo_Loft Designs might have the perfect solution for you. Their new “Din-ink” series of Bic pen style tops allow you to convert your pen, which you probably always have at hand, into a fork, knife or spoon! The idea is clever but simple: you just change the cap of the pen into one that has a knife, fork or spoon on it.

They are small, practical, hygienic, safe and very durable: it is 100% biodegradable. Might come into handy when you want to have an office picnic!

Source: vanbavel.wordpress.com – www.zo-loft.com