Battle of the Branded Coffee Mugs

Branded coffee mugs can be compared to the food industry. Yes, there are fast food outlets that can give you a cheap, fast meal, but is it actually any good in terms of the long term health of your body? Or you can go to a restaurant that takes longer to prepare the meal, but the quality is superior and the enjoyment factor is greater. At the end of the day, when you are working with relationships with a client, what is the choice that is going to show that you value the relationship? Do you expose your client to the “fast food option” to branding or corporate gifts or the “time intensive” quality approach? As I sit here I have three types of branded coffee mugs on my desk. All of which we actually sell. So my experience is based on actual performance of each process. Exhibit 1: A pad printed mug Exhibit 2: A sublimated/digitally printed mug Exhibit 3: A kiln fired mug Which mug do you think that I as a corporate gifting specialist use for my own company branded coffee mug? I use the kiln fired mugs. Why? I bought these mugs over five years ago and while some mugs did not survive because of getting chipped by being knocked against other hard objects, over years of washing, every single mug still has the print intact. The extreme heat used in kiln firing bonds the material to give a very strong finish. There is no fading or distorting or peeling. In fact, while I would never give away a used mug, the branding is so prefect that five years down the line, that if you were to give away this mug, no one would ever guess that it is not brand new. That is what I call longevity of a corporate gift. The pad printed mug we sold to a client who did not have the budget for kiln firing and did not have the time to wait either. This mug has gone through the same use as that our own branded mugs have, but the last letter of the pad print has finally peeled off. The digitally printed mug faired the best in the low cost area. But over time the print did start to fade, after exposure to microwave and washing. While the pad printed and digitally printed mugs are still good quality, the results speak for themselves, that the print process of the kiln fired mugs out-performed the pad printed and digitally printed mugs. What is Kiln Firing? Kiln Firing is a basically a type of oven,that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or chemical changes. Various industries and trades use kilns to harden objects made from clay into pottery, tiles and bricks. For coffee mugs, the kiln basically bakes the print into the mug. It is one of those ancient technologies that has stood the test over time over centuries and why ancient artefacts can still be considered beautiful these days. What do you need for a kiln fired mug? Firstly you need a logo that is in Vector format. The company who designed your logo can help you with this, or you can have your logo redrawn. Vector files such as AI and EPS can remain editable so you can open them back up in Illustrator and edit any text or other elements within the graphic. We can assist with having your logo redrawn at a fee. Secondly, you will need to plan. The kiln fired mugs take time. The decals have to printed, then applied by hand to the mug and then they have to be kiln fired. Cooling down on the branded coffee mugs takes a minimum of 24 hours and if you try to artificially speed this cooling down process, the mug will crack. In total you will need to budget a minimum of 10 working days. What is the kiln firing process? The mugs are silkscreened; each colour is printed separately, one at a time, which is why the artwork for these corporate gifts needs to be supplied in Vector format to enable the layout technician to separate the colours. The print is first printed onto a decal. The print is then submerged into soapy water which allows the printer to apply the print by hand onto the mug. Full wrap prints are possible this way. After the mugs are decorated, they are then placed into the kiln, which is heated at 800 degrees Celsius for ceramics and 600 degree Celsius for glassware. The end result is a professional job that is permanent, scratch fee and dishwasher and microwave safe. Styles of branded Coffee Mugs available Bullet Branded Coffee Mug Cone Branded Coffee Mug

Jumbo Cone Branded Coffee Mug

Slimline Branded Coffee Mug

Sqaured Branded Coffee Mug

Standard Branded Coffee Mug

Spoon Branded Coffee Mug

Uses for Coffee Mugs Exhibitions Bosses Day Cancer awareness New product launches Year End Gifts Introductory visit gifts Valentine’s Day World Aids Day For more information on other promotional items contact us on info@belleregalo.co.za or 082 948 7461 or visit us on http://belleregaloshop.bcgshop.co.za/

Coffee Mugs are Great Winter Promotional Gifts

As winter approaches, there is nothing quite as satisfying as a hot steaming mug of tea or coffee to brace off the winter chills. One of the things that I look for in a mug is the comfort of the handle. I must be able to comfortably wrap my fingers into the handle and I must be able to wrap my hands around the mug, because that is what gives the most comfortable soothing winter warming effects. Mugs that work well with these qualities are the standard coffee mugs and the bullet coffee mugs. They have good rounded surfaces to wrap your hands around. If you really want to indulge, then the cookie mug also has all the good qualities of a coffee mug, with the added benefit of having a handy place to keep a tasty close at hand. The cookie mug has a wonderful print surface area. The standard mug, bullet mug and cookie mugs can have wrap around prints. This means that the print wraps all the way round the mug, except in the handle area. That gives you a big fun surface area to be creative with. I also love the look of the spoon mug, the one challenge is that if you damage the ceramic spoon that comes with the mug, and then you are unable to replace it. However, you can still slot a normal teaspoon into it. But for multi-functional mugs, from a practical perspective the cookie mug still comes out tops. Being in the industry we have a lot of samples of different mugs that we can use whenever we want to and I find that I still always revert to the bullet mug and standard mug and on occasion the cone mug. When deadlines are on and you desperate for a strong caffeine fix, then you can revert to the jumbo cone mug. It is a novel, high impact corporate gift with a wonderfully large print surface area and a full wrap print area. Although it is fun to have a photo on a mug, this is done using digital printing and I personally still prefer a kiln fired coffee mug, which has to use water based silk screened decals. The mugs are then hand decorated and are then baked in a kiln at extremely high temperatures. This ensures that the print is permanent and microwave and dishwasher safe. For more information on branded coffee mugs and other corporate gifts or promotional gifts contact us on info@belleregalo.co.za or call us on: Office Line: (011) 593 2450 or Office Cell: 082 948 7461

Great Corporate Gift Give Aways

Are you looking for great give ways for 2014? Back to school items are a terrific way of marketing your brand. Some idea for university students are: • sticky notes • free rulers • coffee mugs • flash drives • pens • water bottles • Conference bags • Cell phone covers • IPad Covers • Dairies Sticky notes make great corporate gifts or back to school gifts. These are practical and low cost corporate gift. When studying or researching students can use sticky notes to mark pages that are important. Free rulers are a low cost corporate gift that is a wonderful give away. Because they are used every day, the cost per impression is very low, making this corporate gift exceptional good value for money. Coffee mugs are by far the most popular give away corporate gifts. They are low cost corporate gifts with high value. A terrific back school gift for university students. In the digital age students are really into gadgets and technology. This makes a flash drive or USB a perfect corporate gift. Who can go wrong with a pen as a promotional give away or a corporate gift? Conference bags make excellent book bags for students. There are so many colour options to choose from these days, making your corporate gifting or conference gifting option much easier to work with. Keeping hydrated is a critical part of good brain functioning, so a water bottle is a healthy lifestyle gift for anyone, but particularly students who need to keep high levels of brain functioning. Cell phones are almost an extension of a student’s arm. Promotional cell phone covers make for an idea student give away or corporate gift. Many schools and universities are moving towards using ipads as an educational tool. This makes and IPad cover an idea corporate gift. All students need diaries, which make 2014 diaries a perfect student back to school gift or corporate gift. For more information on these and other corporate gifts visit us on wwww.belleregalo.co.za or e-mail us on info@belleregalo.co.za

What Are People Spending on in Terms of Corporate Gifts?

Sometimes you may feel that your corporate gifting strategy is just based on a feeling that you get when looking through a catalogue, but there is a lot of data that can help you make more informed decisions. In this article we have presented some of the statistics available for promotional gift spending based on the US figures. We also look at how this related to our market and what gifting options are popular within these categories. Based on US studies corporate clothing remains a firm favourite for promotional spend, with t-shirts representing 13.8% of total spend. T-shirts represent $ 2.7 billion of the $ 19.4 billion distributor revenues for 2012, the year in which the study was completed. Other clothing items represented in the study were polo shirts, which

we refer to as Golf shirts or Lacoste shirts, coming in at 6.7% of the annual spend. Other shirts come in at 2.1% and other wearables at 4.8%. Making the total clothing spend at 39.6%. If you add the cap spend at 5.6%, then you get to 45.20% of the total corporate gift and promotional gift spend. Corporate clothing can bring profit for your company in terms of quality, standards and reputation. Just spending a little money for your corporate clothing can pay you back in terms of much costumer and better reputation for your company. Corporate clothing can be used for promotional give away. But you can also kit your staff and clients our with leisurewear such as sweatshirts, tracksuits, customised cycling gear etc. When they are wearing it at gym or a sporting event that brings exposure to your brand. At Belle Regalo our figures confer with this our clothing sales being on a year to day basis 50.36% of our total sales. This year was a big t-shirt selling year for us, with corporate shirts or lounge shirts and golf shirts being other good sellers. Other big areas are bags at 8.7%. However it is interesting to note that in the US from 2009 to the close of 2012, bags had

decreased by 21%. The study does show which bags have caused the decline, as there are so many types of bags to choose from: Drawstring bags, shoppers, totes, shoulder bags, backpacks, conference bags, laptop bags, sports bags, double decker bags, trolley bags and eco-friendly bags Top sellers would definably include drawstring bags, document bags, lunch bags or coolers. These are low to medium cost bags that can suit most budgets and are very well received. Writing instrument sales in the US were 8.1% of total spend on promotional items. There was an 8.1% increase in the market from 2010 to 2012. Pens do remain a firm favourite as a promotional item. There are a number of good quality low cost pens to include in your corporate gifting budget. They are an excellent conference gift or hotel gift. Drink ware came in at 6% of the total promotional gift spend in the US. One of the great drinkware items is the ceramic coffee mug.

Coffee mugs have endless possibilities for use. The most natural is for the use of tea, coffee. Hot chocolate, warm milk. But we have found that some of our clients use our coffee mugs as pencil cups. I have to admit that was a surprise. A coffee mug is a safe choice for corporate gifts. Pens and pencils are often lost or even thrown away and bags are used for s specific purpose. But a coffee mug is used time and time again. Coffee mugs are placed in the top five items as a preferred corporate gift. At Belle Regalo we prefer to Kiln fire our coffee mugs. The mugs are decorated by hand using water sliding decals and then baked in a linear kiln at 780 Degrees Celsius. The heat allows the decal to bond to the glazing of the mug. When it is cooled, it is permanent and dishwasher safe. Although USBs drives made up 3% of total promotional gift spend, as a group USBs and other electronic and technical products represent 10% of the overall market. Great technical gifts include, cable management, car chargers, earphones, IPad Covers, laser pointers, stylus pens, USB hubs, USBs and webcams to name but a few. What we found very interesting was that incentive awards are rebounding with the economy. This category has grown by 105% since 2009. This means that there is an optimism that is showing in where people are spending. This study gives some perspective on where people are buying. It can give you hints on what are popular choices for your corporate gifting strategy. For more idea on corporate gifts visit us on www.belleregalo.co.za or e-mail us on info@belleregalo.co.za