Calendar of Events: July

Branding Ideas has been compiling monthly lists of possible occasions worth celebrating this summer. Remember to always seek out holidays and special occasions that fit with your business's brand and message. Not surprisingly, July is National Grilling Month and National Hot Dog Month, but did you know it's also Social Wellness Month and Women's Motorcycle Month? If any of those occasions spark an idea for a special promotion or marketing strategy, run with it! Or drop us a line for some help in coming up with ideas for how to celebrate. National Baby Food Week starts July 21st and Moby Dick Week beings July 31st. Daily observances include National Hug Your Kid Day (July 20th) and National Day of the Cowboy (July 25th). Unfortunately, today is the last day of Be Kind to New Jersey Week, but keep our Garden State friends in mind for next year!

Extreme Marketing

We've always encouraged people to think outside the box, and video game developer THQ has done just that. The company launched the latest installment in its popular first-person shooter game "Red Fraction," titled "Red Fraction: Guerilla in London," by taking the guerilla to the extreme. THQ's promotions department placed 100 copies of the new game inside a parked car on a busy London street and allowed passers by to smash the windows with a sledgehammer and walk away with a free copy of the game. Simon Watts, THQ's PR manager, explained: “Because 'Red Faction Guerrilla' features the world’s most realistic destruction engine, we thought that it would make for an interesting experiment to find out how many people, going about their everyday business, would stop in a busy city street to work out some stress by smashing their way into a car to earn a copy of the brand new game.” Makes complete sense, right? Either way, the extreme promotion seems to have worked, because we're talking about it. What can your business do (that's preferably a tiny bit safer!) to get people talking?

The Price of an Apple

The hefty $399 pricetag of Apple's iPhone didn't stop tech junkies and PDA aficionados from lining up to snag one when they went on sale a few years ago. But surprisingly, Apple commands just a tenth of the smartphone market. And in the current economic environment, price is what's going to separate the Davids from the Goliaths. Last year, Apple cut the price of of the iPhone in half, tripling sales and perhaps inspiring the company to continue slashing prices in 2009. At Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference yesterday, it was announced that the iPhone 3G will be offered for a relatively affordable $99, making Apple more competitive than ever. Other products, like the MacBook also got retail makeovers, with both added Pro features and lower prices. More affordable upgrades for Mac computer users aim to keep current loyalists happy and, well, loyal, but the price cuts are also presumably aimed at converting new customers, especially price-conscious ones.

Leveraging price with market share is always a tricky endeavor. An established company like Apple can afford to experiment with price to cut into its competitors' bottom lines, but how can a smaller business entice fence-sitters while at the same time making a profit? One way is to offer limited-time price reductions. Avoid using the word "sale," but explore inventive, price-based ways of getting prospective new clients through the door. If Apple has proven anything, it's that people are loyal to a brand once they've been hooked.

Calendar of Events: June

As we mentioned in our last post, summer isn't the time of year when clients, suppliers or customers expect corporate gifts, which means that if you do decide to use the season as an opportunity to launch a special promotion or just send out a special thank-you to your most valuable associates, it could potentially have an even bigger impact. Branding Ideas has decided to compile a list of possible occasions worth celebrating this summer. Some of them are downright silly, and you should seek out holidays and special occasions that fit with your business's brand and message. For example, June 5th is World Environment Day, which is the perfect opportunity to explore all of the great eco-friendly promotional and gift ideas we talked about during the weeks leading up to Earth Day last month. June also marks observances for Fireworks Safety, Gay & Lesbian Pride, Great Outdoors, National Safety, Professional Wellness, and Student Saftey. Here's a list of daily and weekly observances that might give you some new ideas:

June 5th World Environment Day
June 7th National Cancer Survivors Day
June 7th - 15th National Automotive Service Professionals Week
June 11th Nurses Assistants Day
June 11th - 18th Nursing Assistants Week
June 14th Family History Day
June 14th - 20th National Flag Week
June 15th Native American Citizenship Day
June 15th - 21st Men's Health Week
June 21st Father's Day
June 21st World Humanist Day
June 23rd Public Service Day

Need some ideas for how to celebrate? Drop us a line!

Promotional Gift Ideas for Summer

All summer long we're going to be brainstorming ideas for new and exciting promotional items and gift-giving ideas for the season--while we're lounging poolside, of course! There are plenty of affordable ways to promote your business, brand or project for the warm weather. One of our favorite ideas is a 6-inch multicolor inflatable beach ball, which gives you big fun at a little price. There's plenty of space to place a logo, picture or slogan, and they're easy and affordable to ship too. Mail them as invitations in a standard envelope or give them away at a summer beach party! Another great beach/backyard gift is a 9-inch recycled fun flyer. Made from recycled material with an enhanced biodegradility additive, it's a fun, eco-friendly way to promote your message all summer long.

Summer isn't the time of year people expect corporate gifts, so why not surprise your very best, valued clients with a special family gift that will keep you and your business on their minds all season? The portable Mini Fridge Personal Cooler/Warmer allows users to enjoy cold drinks in the hot summer and warm food in the chilly winter, which means that with your logo or brand printed on it, it's a summer gift that keeps giving throughout the year! Another great corporate gift for summer is the Catalina Riviera Edition Picnic Basket for Two, a classic style picnic basket, the durable wood and designer fabrics of which are fresh, summer, European pattern-picnic perfect. And it comes filled with glasses, napkins, plates, utensils, salt and pepper shakers, a tablecloth, food storage containers, a cheese cutting board, and more!

Check back here throughout the summer for more promotional and gift ideas!

Twitter Nation

In case you hadn't noticed, Twitter is inescapable. Everyone from college students to "power moms," who are described by Greta Weiner of the Internet marketing company GWDC LLC as "moms who are very busy, but want to keep up with what their kids are doing and keep up with the latest information," are all atwitter. If your business is not already twittering, you should start. It's a great way to stay in touch with existing clients and customers and an even better way to attract new ones. Mashable.com posted a great article yesterday on how to build your personal brand on Twitter. Twitter itself is an expanding business that, according to eMarketer.com, is expected to grow three-fold by next year. Impressive numbers, to be sure. A post on the official Twitter blog yesterday, however, dismissed traditional web banner advertising: "The idea of taking money to run traditional banner ads on Twitter.com has always been low on our list of interesting ways to generate revenue." Instead, the social media upstart is exploring ideas like "account authentication, management tools, and discovery mechanisms" that facilitate "connections between businesses and individuals in meaningful and relevant ways." If you're scratching your head and wondering what the savvy brains who came up with the pithy communication concept that has taken over the nation are talking about, they're happy to tell you that they'll "keep you posted" on the matter. Cute.

Google Places First TV Ad

Advertising Age is reporting that Google is placing its first-ever television ad. The commercial, which is already posted on YouTube, is part of a multi-platform campaign to push Google's new web browser Chrome and will air on Echostar's Dish Network and several NBC Universal cable channels, including CNBC. Google is a minor player in the internet browser market, behind biggies like Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Mozilla's Firefox, and even Apple's Safari, but the company is betting that a mix of traditional marketing like TV ads combined with their strategic online presence will pay off. Other industries are being forced to think outside the box these days too. The publishing industry has changed quite a bit in recent years, with books being rush-released to keep up with consumers' technology-fueled demand. Self-publishing is becoming more and more popular, and even the marketing departments of traditional publishing houses are trying to find new ways to reach prospective readers as budgets get slashed and attention is being pulled to newer mediums. Some publishers and authors are using a more grass-roots approach, using social media like Twitter to get fans to help promote and generate buzz about new releases. Finding new ways to reach potential customers is key to growing your business, brand or product. Try something new and explore unique marketing opportunities and previously untapped resources. After all, necessity is the mother of invention...and reinvention.

M Is for "Evolve"

No, we don't need a lesson on the alphabet. But a post on TIME.com's TV blog Tuned In yesterday got us thinking about the evolution of branding. The "M" in MTV hasn't really stood for "music" since the early '90s, and a new press release announcing the pop culture cable network's "diverse new programming slate," which includes reality, fashion, sports, comedy, and animation, proves that MTV has no intention of returning to music videos any time soon. None of these genres are particularly new to MTV, but the focus of the programs will purportedly be on the Millennial generation that helped put Barack Obama in the White House. According to TIME's James Poniewozik, the "M" in MTV now stands for "Millennials." The evolution of MTV's brand over the last quarter century has been remarkable. The network's programmers have always managed to tap into, if not help mold, the zeitgeist, whether it was reality television in the early '90s (The Real World), obsession with material things later in the decade (House of Style, Cribs), or teen-pop fanatacism (TRL). Now, MTV wants to grow up. The new slate of programming will include shows that reflect the optimism and can-do spirit of Millennials. Poniewozik is cynical about the endeavor, but what MTV realizes is that evolution is essential to the long-term success of any business, and growing your business means growing, and evolving, your brand. Even if your target audience isn't teenagers, it's essential to be aware of current trends. Knowing what's going on in the world, not just what's going on in your industry, can be a useful tool in branding your company or product and elevating it to the next level.

Happy Earth Day!

We've spent the last couple of weeks discussing strategically designed promotional ideas that are eco-friendly, sustainable, organic, and practical. We're going to continue bringing you green ideas, but today we're putting our business mind aside and celebrating our big green Earth. For ideas on how you can get involved in the solutions to the problems facing our planet, head over to US EPA's- Earth Day site, Greenpeace International or Wiki How's Celebrate Earthday page. If you have children, help them discover the wonders of Mother Nature with Walt Disney's new documentary, Earth, which opens nationwide today. For every ticket bought this week, Disney will plant a tree. Or celebrate by simply spending some time outside. But don't let it end there: Earth Day should be every day.

Happy Earth Day from Branding Ideas^TM!

ECO-friendly Idea of the Day: Recycled Leather

For the past few weeks Branding Ideas^TM has been brainstorming ideas to help improve the health of your brand and the planet at the same time. With Earth Day fast approaching (this Wednesday!), we've decided to check in with some of our most popular suppliers of promotional items to see what they're contributing to the cause. One of our favorite lines is Leed's, who've come up with their own list of environmentally responsible gift ideas. From growables to recycled cardboard, they're one of many inventive partners who have helped us help you gift green. One of their product lines in particular caught our attention: Recycled Leather. Made from all natural material and using notepaper made from 70% post-consumer product, it's a unique product line we want to bring to your attention. From small, affordable items like a recycled leather pivot pad, to more high-end gifts for your long-time clients and customers like a Day-Timer Eco Zippered Desk Planner, these recycled leather items prove that new eco-friendly promotional ideas are just a click or call away.