The official “cool list” for hipsters to keep an eye on by Cool Brand’s, reveals a new but unsurprising champion in the shape of the Apple iPhone. Despite the so called credit crunch, the unprecedented success of the iPhone this year, which has sold five million units between March and June, led to it rising from second to the number one spot.

The last three previous years, Aston Martin has been the coolest kid around, probably as the luxury car manufacturer is immediately synomous with James Bond. The shortlist for the survey is compiled by 2,500 voters. The final twenty are voted on by a panel, which includes DJ Edith Bowman (I’m not entirely sure why she’s on it) and Adam & Eve founding partner James Murphy.

Technology was the dominant field, with BlackBerry and the BBC’s iPlayer being new entries into the top 20. The only real exception was kooky high end fashion label Vivienne Westwood. Other category winners include Channel 4 and Vogue, which took the title for top radio and TV station, and magazine respectively, while Google’s YouTube was the number one online brand.

Stephen Cheliotis, chief executive of the Centre for Brand Analysis, which administers the survey, said: “The iPhone is something everyone has been talking about. There has been so such a buzz around it and people who haven’t got one, want one.”

If you work in PR, and you and your colleagues fancy yourselves as the next Max Clifford, then  teams have just four weeks left to snap up a table for the industry’s ‘Oscars’ - the PR Week Awards 2009.

If you deserve some glitz and glamour, then the show-bizz event will be held on the 20 October at Grosvenor House on Park Lane, London – the home of all the UK’s great awards ceremonies – and is the PR industry’s biggest night of the year. This year, the judging panel iss headed by Mr Ian Wright, corporate relations director at Diageo.

Tables will be sold and positions allocated on a first come, first served basis – so get you skates on. As with last year we will be selling tables on both the main floor of the Great Room and the Balcony. But if you wish to book fewer than ten people you and your guests will be placed on a shared table with other companies. The ticket price includes the drinks reception, a three-course menu, an evening of excellent entertainment and, of course the awards themselves.

The PR Week Awards reward absolute excellence and represent a value-for-money, powerful, marketing tool for you and your team. Alongside categories such as Consultancy of the Year and PR Professional of the Year, there will be a new category, Global Public Relations, to ref­lect the growing international direction of the industry.

We brought you news about the original promotional Prodir Pen Books when they first arrived, and how your organisation could order them from pens2order.com. Well those clever Swiss chaps have brought out a new model - the CS8 - which is a slimmed down version of the original promotional Prodir pen book.

The new size zero Prodir Pen Book is designed to fit into any handbag or jacket pocket. While the classic printed Prodir DS3 remains tucked away inside. Prodir have been producing and supplying promotional pens and writing instruments since the early 1980s. These have and still are manufactured exclusively in Switzerland. The reason for this is backed up by the company’s philosophy which has always been “a promotional product is part and parcel of the message itself - and quality and creativity are the least we can contribute to the credibility of that message”.

The Prodir Pen Book’s cover is made from fine soft touch paper in three standard colours; black, red and grey. Your organisation’s artwork will look it’s best, with quality silkscreen printing up to two colours, or as a shiny transparent relief. This stylish note pad has an elastic band as standard in either black or white, while a personalised calendar bookmark is available as an option.

If you’re interested in the promotional Prodir Pen Book, then please bare in mind that the minimum order quantity is 500 pieces. If you require a sample, visual or quote then let the friendly team know at www.pens2order.com

It’s nearly that time of year again, when youths will be huddling around your doorstep, threatening you with the demand of either a trick or a treat. Halloween promotional confectionery is available in all shapes and sizes, but my favourite Halloween promotion are the personalised chocolate lollies from sweets2order.

You can have a completely bespoke chocolate lolly from sweets2order for less then you think, however there is an extraordinary choice of Halloween themed moulds to choose from anyway. On their site are all the traditional favourite Halloween shapes, such as chocolate Frankensteins and pumpkins to ghosts and vampires.

The level of detail on these Halloween chocolate lollies really is impressive, allowing you to have any sort of spooky chocolate treat you wish. Not only do these branded chocolate lollies look great  - they taste great too. Sweets2order don’t just allow any old rubbish to go into making your next chocolate gravestone lolly you know! All the branded Halloween lollies, are created from hand made Belgian chocolate.

To brand your Halloween chocolate lolly you can of course have a bespoke design that has your logo integrated into it. However there are different branding options available, depending on your budget and taste. You can have your Halloween lolly personalised by simply adding a full colour sticker to the outer packaging, or having a vibrant card insert behind the lolly too.

Choose from milk chocolate, white chocolate or you can even have orange chocolate for your little branded chocolate pumpkins. If you want to test the quality of the seasonal confectionery from sweets2order, just get in contact with their friendly team who will be happy to help.

The economy may well be slimming down, but you may be surprised to learn that people don’t want to cut their gym memberships from their budgets, Forbes magazine tells us. It seems that gyms our one of the ten things that people are still spending money on. Over in the US at least, research from Stifel Nicolaus predicts overall gym memberships will increase by four percent this year.

The days of simple promotional cotton shirts and shorts are coming to an end. Luckily Gift Selection has a range of high end promotional active wear for everyone. Holly Tuten, retail manager for a major Hotel & Spa in Houston Texas said, women migrate to apparel that fits snugly and provides ample support, while men are interested in a garment’s performance capabilities. “A popular fabric for women right now is Supplex. It’s a nylon fabric that’s denser than lyrca or spandex, and has a soft cotton-like feel with great support. Men love wash-and-wear product – the way they drape and feel light whether wet or dray.”

Gift Selection has a range of promotional garments made from various materials. They offer the traditional range of branded items made from; polyester, spandex and cotton blends. As well as more modern eco friendly materials such as; hemp, bamboo, organic cotton, recycled plastic and jute.

Gift Selection in conjunction with their sister site ecoproducts2order supply the best range of promotional bamboo clothing on the market. Bamboo isn’t just for Panda’s you know. This naturally sustainable, renewable plant is woven into a fabric to create a hypoallergenic, antimicrobial, odor-resistant, breathable and quick-drying garment.  Bamboo realises more oxygen into the atmosphere than trees, helping to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the air. Another reason why promotional bamboo clothing is great, is that bamboo grows quickly without the use of pesticides and insecticides.