Think cottage and country; barbeques and pick-up ball games; swimming pools and parties. Send out a “Happy Birthday, America” card to everyone on your mailing list, and tuck in a football-shaped beach ball as your free gift. Promote your medical supply business with a free gift of Sport Guard – a sweat and water resistant SPF 30 sunblock packaged in durable, twist-off packets. Lycra swimming caps (the ones that don’t pull your hair off) are extremely useful items for schools, and in summer camps, health centers and hotels.

If it’s a company picnic you’re targeting, make the employees’ kids happy with a Deluxe 6-foot “Celebrate America” firecracker. Doubling as a holiday display, this great promotional product is filled with 90% licensed and name brand toys including Disney, Scooby Doo, Power Puff Girls, Marvel super heroes, Winnie the Pooh, NASCAR, and Spiderman specifically selected based upon gender balance and play value for 4-10 year olds.

For purely patriotic, reflective Action-Bands might fit your bill. Used as an arm band or napkin ring, the extremely economical 4-color imprint topper can be designed with our own star-spangled banner or other appropriate symbol of American liberty and independence: the eagle, the Statue of Liberty or simply those three big letters “USA”.

Call Farfromboring.com 866-364-1012 for all of your Holiday Promotional Product needs.

In an article by imediaconnection, NRF President Tracy Mullin says that "because retailers across all channels and formats have something to gain from Father's Day spending, we expect the holiday to be quite promotional this year."

E-retailers need to make it easier than easy for the growing numbers of online shoppers to choose their product or service. This is especially true when it comes to traditional annual events like June 18th which is a designated observation (i.e., easier to forget) rather than a personal celebration like a birthday or anniversary.

Product quality aside, consumers look time-saving convenience. One such promotional method is to send helpful e-reminders to past customers about the upcoming event; another is to ensure that all shipments in the weeks prior to Father’s Day include special gift ideas together with a magnetic-backed coupon case with coupons.

You may consider pizza ties slightly over the top, but you’ve gotta admit: it’s a great “tie-in”!

One Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) in Montana is fighting for those all-important tourist dollars by offering gas debit cards. Along with the usual travel-package coupons for discounts on everything from lodging to restaurants and attractions, the debit cards (worth up to $50) are being used as a further enticement for vacationers.

By directly addressing the problem of high gas prices that’s keeping people close to home this summer, debit card issuers are hoping to sustain healthy tourist numbers. The theory? Once vacationers get to their destination, the tourist dollars will be spent.

Those in the travel industry who ignore the very real issue of soaring gas prices (affecting travelers driving to and from the resort area as well as those simply exploring the region) may be hit doubly hard: by the high gas prices and by savvy tourist-based businesses that promote tourism by using gas debit cards.

To get more ideas about golf items or other promotional products, check out www.farfromboring.com, or call Sharon at 866-364-1012 x113.

If you are looking for a different way to use the t-shirt as a promotion, look into doing a compressed t-shirt. For more information about these shirts and other promotional items contact Samantha at 866-364-1012 or samantha@farfromboring.com

Check out the Travel Adventures Highway Kit and other safety-oriented promotional products at www.farfromboring.com, or email us at sharon@farfromboring.com, or call Sharon at 1-866-364-1012 x113.

CEA's Industry Analyst, Steve Koenig, says this information means that "a huge opportunity exists for retailers through the popularity of gaming "although there are differences between the gamers: the PC dominates the adult game market, but teens spend more time on game consoles. Additionally, the study showed portable gaming to be decidedly more popular with teens than adults. Only 25% of adult gamers who own a portable game device have used it in the past six months compared with 77% of teens.

This information can be used for promotional products in marketing campaigns. If you're targeting adults (whether in hi-tech industry or computers, computer products, accessories and games), a promotional item like the portable USB memory stick with 16MB - 2G storage capacity is certain to capture interest. The device is for everyday use to store, backup and transfer data, and your non-erasable advertisements are broadcast automatically each time it's plugged into a computer.

Teens will definitely get a kick out of the Joystick - FM autoscan radio with transparent stick. Just press the stick to turn on the radio and the transparent stick will be illuminated. Cool.

It's interesting that several long-term effects are calculated in the cost of the promotion: not only does the higher tuition paid by out-of-state students helps cover the cost of maintaining high quality public universities, but because a certain percentage of these students will remain after graduation, Maine's economy will benefit; furthermore, the state will reach its goal to increase the number of residents with a college degree.

The promotional items being used are print brochures, posters and catalogues and which will be mailed to potential students and school guidance counselors. This fairly standard and conservative direct mail approach could easily be made more exciting (and thus memorable) by:

* emblazoning the envelope with the attention-grabbing message GIFT ENCLOSED
* including a highly useful student calendar on a magnetic wipe-off board with dry board black ink marker

It's the AIDA principles hard at work here: get their Attention, arouse their Interest, stimulate their Desire, and Ask for Action.

For more information about these items and other promotional items check us out at www.farfromboring.com or contact Samantha@farfromboring.com 866-364-1012

He claimed that it is critical to segment your database of customers in order to target appropriate offers to the right consumer at the right life stage, citing as one case study Best Buy Co.'s use of customer profiles to remodel its 660 stores nationwide and boost per-store sales as customers felt more comfortable shopping there.

The same theory holds true for the products used as promotionals: the more relevant to the recipient, the more successful you'll be in terms of ROI and long-term loyalty.

If your school is represented at a writer's convention, for example, have standard trade show badge pouch notebooks ready for booth visitors. Each features a large back pocket, and opens up to a full size wallet with a notepad, a pen holder, a clear vinyl window and two small pockets and cord. It's a handy item for anyone at any type of conference, and will be referred to at home for business cards of interest and for information jotted down on the fly. Because the targeted recipients in this example are writers and/or academics—people who tend to keep writing material always close at hand—the TSBP notebook will likely be used for quite some time after the event.

Together, Six Flags and Papa John's said they are aiming to reach new customers. During the summer season, Papa John's will display Six Flags advertisements on its boxes at restaurants within 100 miles of a theme park and will distribute promotional DVDs. At Six Flags theme parks, customers will receive Papa John's coupons and other promotional materials.

Long-term brand loyalty can be developed by both businesses here – get the kids when they're young, and they'll be back—with their moms and dads now, and with their own families down the road. Some promotional ideas that would work well here include a plastic kids' cup with lid. It's colorful, useful and long-lasting, with two imprint locations – very convenient when you're in synergistic mode.

Seatbelt pals are a somewhat more unique promotional product, and because they're safety related (and keep children entertained during car trips), parents will be suitably impressed too. Of course, the fact that the soft, plush animals are just so darn cute will make them a major hit with kids of all ages.

A PMQcom article says that of more than two million specially made Pepsi cans (each a prize in itself), 305 have been fitted with a sensor device that produces an orange flash once the can is opened. Consumers who have been flashed win a Video iPod, valued at $379.

Pat Finelli, Vice-President of Marketing for Pizza Pizza, says "it's appropriate that Video iPods are the prizes that can be won during the contest, because they, in their own right, represent the advancement of technology in this particular field - just as the flashing Pepsi can is an excellent example of the use of technology in promotional contests."

In order to be memorable, promotional campaigns and products need to be unique in some way, with hi-tech fun prizes and give-aways certain to accomplish this goal. If you don't have Pepsi's marketing budget, not to worry: this affordable sleek Ace Line flashlight features an AM/FM radio with built-in speaker and safety siren.

Exhibitors took time to see what fellow vendors were offering, and were of the opinion that the expo was well worth the cost, one saying visitor curiosity levels were higher than expected. Businesses representing local interests included beach resorts and spas, home product and boat distributors as well as catering and tourist services.

One businessman markets Silver Liberty coins, and says they're "already popular with tourists for their novelty and souvenir value." Some island merchants will honor the currency as cash, and can even purchase Silver Liberty money at a discount, "so they can make money giving change."

As a promotional product, tokens like the Junior Rounds, are one of the most cost effective because – unlike coupons or stamps – they're used over and over again. Virtually any retail business building traffic or rewarding repeat customers benefits from token based promotions.

One method is by use of promotional items along with consumer education. He offers the example of a home printer manufacturer that sent field marketing staff into outlets where they took digital photos of shoppers. The pictures were printed out to demonstrate the quality of the home printer as well as to teach how to use memory cards. Finally, the "photos were framed and given to the shoppers as a lasting reminder. The result was a sales lift of nearly 35%, and goodwill was generated for the brand."

Other electronic consumer goods companies are using the same type of demonstrations with gift idea, but not always limiting their field marketing to retail outlets. For instance, "Panasonic [is] showing cameras and peripherals to European business travellers at airports."

A final reason to incorporate promotionals in your field marketing? "Industry figures showing that the awareness generated by experiential marketing lasts longer than other channels, decaying by only 5% a week, compared with 15% for TV advertising."