Stumped for a corporate gift that won’t end up in the trash or collecting dust? Here are nine unique options that are sure to jump-start your creative thinking.

Corporate gifts are meant to reward, delight and thank recipients. But most of all, companies are looking for items today that will surprise their clients or employees. The same old same old simply won’t do anymore. T As the holiday season approaches, and clients begin to decide what to give out this year, they’re trying to identify items that will stand out from the crowd of corporate gifts. Fruit baskets and popcorn tins are always popular, but companies have to spend their gift budgets wisely enough to present unique items that will be appreciated and have lasting effects.

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Dale Kirby says breast cancer awareness has grown from a one-month-a-year crusade to a year-round campaign within the promotional products industry – and she has the items to prove it.

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Q: Should you blog? How can it help your sales? What are the do’s and don’ts?

A: Commit Yourself
I have been regularly blogging for almost a year. Most importantly, blogging is all about commitment. If you start one, keep blogging on a regular basis. You wouldn’t open a restaurant and some days you’re open and some weeks you’re closed. The biggest pitfall is posting three or four entries and then nothing for a year. That’s not a blog. There needs to be a pattern of regularity established so your visitors will look forward to your next entry.

Decide what you want to achieve with the blog before you begin. If it is a travel log, then people will not visit you for “hot products on sale.” If you are writing about a new product or special pricing on a hot item, insert a picture or direct link to the page featuring the product. Clarity from the start will help establish a base of regular followers. You’re either a fan of the blogger and want more, it is just blah, blah, blah.

Dale Kirby, director of marketing
Promopeddler.com (asi/300367)
blog.promopeddler.com

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When Chandler unveiled a kiosk last fall to commemorate its pioneer families, organizers marked the event by handing out palm-size black and gray foam trains. The trains were stamped with the Web address for the city's public history program, www.chandleraz.gov/history. Other departments handed out freebies, as well: a pocket measuring tape, jar openers and magnets with Chandler's logo and phone number. Chandler isn't unique. In recent years, Valley cities have significantly increased their spending on promotional items, known as trinkets in the industry.

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When you combine a well-known brand like Fidelity Investments with an icon like Paul McCartney, you know that the promotional products required will be anything but ordinary.

Such a powerful duet prompted ad agency Arnold Worldwide to bring in promotional strategist Larry Cohen of Axis Promotions (asi/128263). His New York distributorship specializes in customized promotional products for top brands. The mission: to create a unique incentive that would reward baby boomers for opening new accounts with Fidelity and to recognize individuals who donated $40 or more to Fidelity’s Music Lives Foundation – a charity launched in October 2005 to fund music education in schools.

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