We love our favourite brands, and they love us, as we faithfully part with our hard earned cash for certain companies and their logos. But who was the first to recognize the importance of branding?

 Bass & Company, the British brewery, claims their red triangle brand was the world’s first trademark. Lyle’s Golden Syrup makes a similar claim, having been named as Britain’s oldest brand, with its green and gold packaging having remained almost unchanged since 1885. Another example comes from Antiche Fornaci Giorgi in Italy, whose bricks are stamped or carved with the same proto-logo since 1731, as found in Saint Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.

Cattle were branded long before this; the term “maverick”, originally meaning an unbranded calf, comes from Texas rancher Samuel Augustus Maverick who, following the American Civil War, decided that since all other cattle were branded, his would be identified by having no markings at all. Even the signatures on paintings of famous artists like Leonardo Da Vinci can be viewed as an early branding tool.

Remember if you want to put your brand out there via the medium of products, contact the experts over at Gift Selection.

USBs, data sticks, flash-drives, memory cards these are all popular names for the same thing, but many people don’t know much about them, despite being a very important product for all kinds of industries.

What is a flash memory?

In your promotional USB stick, you will find a flash memory chip, which is a component of almost every electronic device. This memory is super-portable, and importantly is constantly powered. This allows the user to program or erase data safely and quickly, without requiring outside power to maintain date stored on the chip.

Why is there often no prices on promotional product distributers website?

Branded USB sticks vary in price because the memory chip inside varies in price. Why would there price fluctuate? Flash memory is treated as commodity product, as only a couple of manufacturers (Samsung, Intel etc) supply the entire world. This leads the supply and demand ratio open to easy manipulation, as there can be a very large demand from only a few organisations. Apple Computers for example is responsible for buying 20% - 30% of the entire market.

How long will my promotional USB last for?

Branded USBs are extremely robust, leave one in your jeans while there in the washing machine, and they’ll still probably work (I said probably, don’t sue me if it doesn’t). Partly because they have no moving parts, they aren’t prone to wear and tear.

There is some disagreement over how long your USB flashdrive will keep running for. Some say they will last forever, but I would disagree. It is safe to say that for all intents and purposes your USB won’t break down on and you, and will very likely last longer than you.

Flicking through the latest issue of ISP magazine, I came across news of news of their Spring Graduation. Nearly 50 graduates of three ISP educational courses, alongside representatives of the agencies or brands many of them work for, friends and family, gathered in the MPs Dining Room at The House of Commons last February.

The audience listened as Clive Mishon, chairman of the ISP, and John Greenway MP, the ISP’s representative in Parliament, explained the importance of the highest levels of professional education to the survival of the UK’s self regulatory system for advertising and marketing.

Chris Bestley, the ISP’s director of education, pointed out that the fact that a small but significant number of students who had started out on all three courses had actually failed was evidence of the hard work those who passed had put in. John Sylvester a director of motivation company PM&M and one of the main men in establishing the diploma, said the course was as challenging and as relevant today as it was when it fist ran in 2005.

If you’re involved in the promotions industry, you may have come across the fascinating design insights that I’ve come across recently from Martin Lindstrom, author of ‘Buy•ology’.

Lindstrom, through a study of the human psyche, throws light on the subconscious mind and how that plays a major role in deciding what the buyer will buy. In doing so, Lindstrom breaks a number of existing myths related to advertising and promotion.

An interesting theory of his, is his idea of a “smashable” product. In 1915 the Coca-Cola company decided that it needed to do something about the design of its bottles, as they felt there straight-sided containers weren’t distinctive enough. The result was that the Root Glass Company of Terre Haute, Indiana, proposed the swirling, curved “contour” bottle, which remains, one of the most recognisable and loved brand icons.

Why did this happen do you think? In 1915 the designer of Coca-Cola’s bottle was given a simple yet brilliant brief: design the bottle systematically and so distinctive that, if smashed, a single piece of glass would be recognizable as, and signify the Coke brand. As Martin says himself; “The Coke bottle story is fascinating from a brand building perspective. In theory, all brands should be able to pass this test. So, working on this principle, if you removed the logo from your brand, would it still be recognizable?”

Remember if you would like any free branding advice, contact the friendly promotions team over at Gift Selection.

We sell promotional products to all different sectors of the economy, and to a wide range of business and organisations. Our main client base is made up of public sector organisations like schools, councils and the NHS. We also sell promotional material to lots of charities, and to large businesses via marketing agencies.

One sector we haven’t broken into is the space industry – yet! The government in conjunction with industry and academia, have said the UK space industry can become a much bigger global player, employing thousands of highly skilled workers and turning over approximately £40bn a year.

The report does warn greater investment is needed, but will position the UK for future success. The Space IGS wants to see R&D spending within industry increase by £5bn, and for the government to double its annual civil space budget to £550m over the next ten years.

The nearest promotional item we can offer for the space industry, is the branded Fisher Space Pen. The Fisher Space pen range was designed for use in Space, when astronauts began to explore the reaches of outer space, Paul Fisher realized that there was no existing pen which could perform in its freezing cold, boiling hot vacuum!

If you think a promotional Fischer Space pen, would make a great corporate gift for your organisation, contact the friendly teams over at Gift Selection & Pens2order.

 Yesterday I touched on promotional products with the Fairtrade logo, but what exactly does this mean?

Fairtrade is all about ‘decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world.’ The fair trade market in the UK is growing, and has a estimated retail value of £493 million in 2007.

The Fairtrade Foundation is the UK member of Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International (FLO). It helps improve the position of producers in the great scheme of things, by assuring a fair price for their goods. How does it achieve this? By certifying produce groups that meet its minimum social, economic and environmental requirements; setting a minimum price for particular products; then allowing registered licensees to apply the mark to products that meet its criteria.

In regards to the promotions industry, it doesn’t just apply to branded confectionery, but also to textiles too. If you require Fairtrade cotton shoppers or cotton T shirt for example, then contact the friendly team over at ecoproducts2order who will be happy to help. Eco friendly promotional items can be utilized by any number of organisations, and need not cost the earth. If you require eco promotional items for the home, office or for conferences and exhibitions – ecoproducts2order can meet your demands.

Were you one of the lucky 4,700 professional attended this years PSI show in Gay Paris? (I wasn’t.)

A PSI spokesperson said: “The high caliber of visitors was remarked upon by most of the exhibitors. The selective policy of the PSI Paris trade show was first decided on several years ago, and now guarantees that the event is a success.”

There were 187 exhibitors at the show, with more than 370 brands represented. Also announce at the show were the PSI Awards, honoring the most innovative products in the fields of “creation, trend, design, leisure and gastronomy, office and sustainable development.”

The show was a great opportunity for companies involved in the promotional products industry to unite, exchange ideas and boost their business. If you missed out, then there’s always next year. Exhibitors and delegates will be back in Paris early in 2010, as PSI has changed the dates for next year’s show to February 2-4. Hopefully I might even get to make an appearance, keeping an eye out for the latest and greatest promotional products.

Browsing over the ever informative marketingmagazine.co.uk, I now know that branded-goods manufacturers spend £25.6 billion annually on sales promotion activity within retailers, according to the Institute of Sales Promotion.

It’s not just promotional products that businesses use to increase sales. Over 50% percent of that total, £14.4 billion, was spent on retailer promotions such as BOGOFs n the 2007/8 financial year. That compares with £18.6 billion spent on above-the-line ad spend in 2008. The research is the first project overseen by retail industry researcher Colin Harper, who was recently named as the ISP’s first head of insight.

‘People only tend to notice the obvious marketing spend, on above-the-line advertising or obvious Point of Sale (POS) activity, for example. But sales promotion is a bit like an iceberg — there is far more going on below the surface than immediately meets the eye,’ Harper said.

There is currently a conflict in the French promotional product market regarding trade show dates. The PSI Paris, which has traditionally been held in September for eleven years, has pulled its 2010 event forward to February 2-4, parallel to the existing schedule of the ‘Communiquez Textile’ in Lyon.

The Lyon trade show for promotional textiles was launched in 2008 and quickly established itself as an obligatory date for those involved with the promotional products industry. While the organisers of the PSI say , visiting the event will guarantee that you will meet the best manufacturers and importers as well as branders and silkscreen printers for promotional products and textiles.

Clemence Long of PSI Paris is also aware of the fact that the amended schedule could put the suppliers in a difficult position: “It is clear to us that the suppliers will have to make a choice and this decision will correspond with their corporate strategy. The fact that Paris is the economic centre of France speaks in favour of the PSI.

Interestingly, every visitor to the PSI Paris show in September 2009 will obtain their free entrance for next years event.

The best selling promotional pen that Gift Selection offer is the promotional Senator Super Hit. But who exactly are Senator? Time for a quick history lesson…

Under the name of “Merz & Krell” three people with a vision founded the company back in 1920. Two brothers Friedrich and Geog Merx, together with master wood-turner Justus Krell. Their maxim, “ideas and products which are different from others”, still applies today.

The high-quality handicraft company for promotional pens and mechanical pencils is now one of the international leading manufacturers of promotional products in general. Promotional Senator products can be found in more than a hundred countries around the world.

Senator themselves look to the future and consistently invests in innovative promotional product ideas, unique design, efficient technologies, measures for active environmental protection and an even higher quality of customer service.

For the full range of promotional Senator Super Hit pens, check out the imaginatively named www.senatorsuperhit.co.uk. For more expensive promotional Senator pens, ask the friendly team at Giftselection and pens2order who will be happy to help.