The sun has definitely put his hat on, meaning now is the time to roll out your summer promotions. If your organisation has links with travel and tourism, then there are many great low cost promotional items, that will do a great job of getting your brand noticed far and wide.

How do you feel about beach balls? Perhaps not an obvious choice, but for a low cost item that can easily be stored away for a trip abroad – it could be worth enquiring. The beauty of branding fun leisure items like this, is that your brand will be associated with happy times and fond memories.

One promotional product distributor who specialises in European type items is Promostore. They have a great selection of summery promotional items, that might not be what you were originally looking for, but once you see them – you know you’ll love them.

Whether it’s branded beach towels, branded beach games, you name it Promostore can supply it. What’s more the vast majority of the branded goods are available in a variety of vibrant and attractive colour options.

The only thing they can’t brand is ice lollies – but they’re working on that.

Have you seen the unusual range of promotional travel packs that Gift Selection have made available? Each branded pack has a distinct theme, which are ideal for different sorts of clients you may have.

My favourite of these promotional gift packs, is the branded Automotive pack (pictured). The idea behind this quirky promotional product, is that it is kept in the recipient’s glove box at all times. For organisations such as hire cars, car dealerships, valleting businesses – this promotional product would be absolutely perfect to give away to their better clients.

Well what do you get in this promotional gift pack? In a quality branded box, one receives a mini torch, tire gauge, a pen and paper, small ice scraper, two adhesive plasters, plastic gloves, cleaning wipes and a little random I admit – a poncho.

There are many other promotional options (this is just my favourite), such as; First Aid, Anti Crises, Survival, Business and Travel. As always, if you have any questions about this (or any promotional), contact the friendly experts over at Gift Selection.

Branded cosmetic items are nothing new, a quality promotional product supplier like Gift Selection can offer a great range of branded beauty and grooming gifts. Recent research has shown that we would have appreciated some promotional make up, far longer ago then we first imagined.

Scientists in Murcia Southern Spain, claim to have found the first persuasive evidence that cave men, wore body paint and make up approximately 50,000 years ago. Their team reported their findings to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), showing that shells containing pigment residues were used as Neanderthal make-up containers.

The team said their findings end “the view of Neanderthals as half-wits” and shows they were capable of symbolic thinking. I’d like to mention that I’ve seen plenty of women in the Preston area wearing plenty of make up, which I wouldn’t say guaranteed any sort of thinking, symbolic or otherwise.

Professor Joao Zilhao from the Bristol University in the UK, told the BBC that; “this is the first secure evidence for their use of cosmetics… the use of these complex recipes is new. It’s more than body painting.”

A simple but effective promotional product relating to the cosmetic industry, would be a printed lip balm. My favourite style of printed Lip Balm, are the little round pots which can be branded in vibrant full colour. Printed lip balm pots can not only be printed in full colour, but are available in really vibrant and attractive colour ways too.

Whether you want branded lip balm sticks, branded lip balm balls, branded lip balm lanyards or branded lip balm boxes - Gift Selection in conjunction with Promostore can be of service.

 A few weeks ago I brought you news of an unprecedented marketing campaign by the Atheist Society, who were (and are) promoting their controversial but optimistic message of Atheist propaganda. Well it seems the saga continues, as the three heavy weight Christian groups are set to retaliate with a promotional campaign of their own.

It is the Christian Party, the Trinitarian Bible Society and the Russian Orthodox Church who have organised the campaign which is set to be spread onto fifty of London’s bendy buses. The first message that Londoners will be exposed to is: “There definitely is a God. So join The Christian Party and enjoy your life”, I personally would have appreciated more of a hard sell, something like: “Repent…Or Burn in Hell for Eternity”.As much as I admire the enthusiasm of these Christian groups, I can’t help feeling that there absolutist claims of a God ‘definitely’ existing to be a bit on the dodgy side.

The government is due to announce its controversial plans to build a third runway at Heathrow Airport. Ministers are all set to confirm the decision later, despite rising opposition from residents, environmentalists and MPs from all the different parties.

Leading business and union figures who back the project, made the important point that it will create much needed jobs, and boost the UK’s competitiveness.

The Tories said a third runway would be an “environmental disaster”, and pledged to stop it happening if elected. The government has long held the position that they would only be in favour of the scheme if necessary noise and air pollution restrictions are put in place. While new safeguards would be put into action, which would limit the runway to the cleanest of aircraft.

Aside from the obvious Tory backlash, there is deep unease within the Labour ranks about the decision, with more than fifty MPs openly against the decision. These plans make it seem less likely that the government will reach its own targets, of cutting carbon emissions by 80% by 2050.

This recent news means that it is even more important for your business to invest in environmentally friendly promotional products. One business that fully supports the move to a greener world is ecoproducts2order. They have an extensive range of promotional items and corporate gifts made from; recycled, organic, sustainable and ethically sourced materials. There promotional products make use of materials which would otherwise be destined for landfill sites… they have a range of promotional products that make use of; recycled paper, card, wood from sustainable forests, recycled plastics from car parts, computer keyboards or mobile phones, recycled newspapers, recycled tyres, recycled paper money, recycled denim material, water power, solar power, natural cotton…the list goes on and on!

Planning on travelling to the continent any time soon? Maybe you and your work buddies, are making the journey to the PSI Trade Fair next month. If you are - then I’d advise you in getting one of these urgently!

 PSI Dusseldorf is a Trade Show for Advertising Specialties is the biggest showcase of promotional products in Germany. It is a must-attend-event for European professionals of the promotional product industry and the number one meeting point and business platform for the first half of the year.

The pound also hit a new record low against the euro of 1.059 Euros on the expectation of further cuts in interest rates by the Bank of England. The only bright side is that at least you won’t have to bother with a promotional currency converter while you’re over there!

If you’re reading this from across the pond, things will be just as expensive as the dollar is expected to remain weak against the euro for the foreseeable future.

What Was The Point?

To find out how popular promotional products were with business class travellers.

Who Did It?

A survey was taken by the Promotional Products Association International (PPAI)

Where Did They Do It?

Chicago O’Hare and Dallas/Fort Worth international airports

What Were The Results?

That 72% of the interviewees had in their possession at least one promotional product. Of that group, 73% recalled the advertiser’s name or message before showing it to the pollster.

So?

People appreciate their promotional products! If your looking for a great selection of promotional products that will keep in people’s minds then giftselection is the market leader.

Going on holiday can be a stressful time, however this summer we were all prepared at the airport.

It was an early start, so I reached for my corporate canned energy drinks and some fruit smoothies for the kids. I was left in charge of the printed square travel bag, which was safely storing are treasures for our weekend away. I scribbled in our details onto our robust promotional window luggage tag, and headed towards check in. With each of the kids having their own lightweight personalised matching Goudhurst backpacks we were all set. Our airline proof onboard toiletries bag, let us bring our essentials on the plain without any fuss.

Once on board, we set up our inflatable travel cushion for extra comfort and had our corporate ear plugs ready if we needed them. My better half isn’t the best flyer, so she used her promotional nail file set, and had some corporate match box mints to distract herself, and once we were off she was fine.

All that was left for me to do was adjust my trusty personalised syncro watch, that came from gadgets2order to local time, and then sat back to enjoy the flight.