Don’t Worry Be Happy!

All I have to do is make you read those words and the vast majority of you will start singing the tune……. Marketing and Branding is s stew of sociology, anthropology, finance, psychology…

We are going through one of the most challenging times in history of global economics. As difficult as it seems right now, the human spirit needs to be uplifted and it can be done. Buried within all of us is our inner child. How powerful would your message be if you could give your audience one or more moments of lightheartedness that would be associated with your brand?

I think the moment is priceless and to prove our theory we are planning a test of this. Keeping your eyes opened under the Label, “Marketing a Smile”. We have a bunch of ideas and one may becoming in the mail directly to you. Keep reading the Blog and we will be working hard to get that smile to you.

Ferris Bueller said," Life moves pretty fast". The other day we had a" drive by" meeting about our Green Page on our web site. All though the content is less than 4 months old, it felt dated. We came to the self realization that like the majority of us living on this planet we were looking at "Green" as a program. The stark reality is that Green must become a way of life if it is ever going to fulfill the objective of making our planet a sustainable and health place to live.

The team at MCM believes that we have gone green but instead of thinking that way we have made a resounding pledge to prove it to ourselves. On our web site we speak about how we test our products to ensure that they are safe, durable and send the intended message. We now will put this same practice to work with not only green products but with the actual green steps that we are using in the office and homes of our MCM team.

Right now we don't know how long or difficult this journey will be, but are committed to it and on sharing our findings with you. At this very moment I will tell you that we think we have already been practicing green for decades. We recycle, automatically lower the thermostats, turn out the lights.... Our instincts tell us there is more and we will find out. Stay tuned.

Look at how this industry is keeping pace with technology. Just a short while ago we thought that imprinted mouse pads were high tech. Today, two of the hottest technology products are USB drives and Web Keys.

Let’s simplify this for the techno – challenged. Both devices use a USB I/O (universal serial bus interface connector). That’s the tiny rectangular plug that connects most computers and smart phones to other external devices like chargers.

A USB Drive is a miniature hard drive that can contain (1) data that is permanently programmed onto the device, (2) data that is erasable or (3) blank. It either delivers the pre-programmed content or message each time it is plugged into PC or it can be used as an additional storage device.

A Web Key is a miniature hard drive that is simply programmed to automatically connect to a web site when plugged into a PC.

The trick is to understand how to best utilize the attributes of each technology.

USB drives are a very effective way to deliver robust content but they deliver it the same way a nicely designed brochure or presentation does. The Web Key when linked to a specific Landing Page on your web site permits you to continually modify and update the information. The added bonus is that you can also track the activity on that page using Google Analytics or a number of other web site tracking tools.

We can even show you Drives and Keys custom molded into almost any shape. You have to see them to believe them.

Have some questions, want to learn more? Give us a call and we will help you make the most intelligent decision on how to decide on which is the right product for your application . 888-344-6060

In a prior blog I wrote about a dopp kit that I was given as a promotional gift and fact that I used it for over 20 years. However, like many promotional products, it lacked the ability to send more than a single message.

Many of our clients come to us and they have a story to tell. Outside of digital content like a landing page on their web site we have found that a journal note book with a selection of customized pages is the ticket. Even though we leave in a world of PDA’s Smart Phone and Tablet PC’s, we find more and more people clinging to small journal note books. We believe in their power and use them as a self promo for our business and our clients constantly call asking for new ones when their pages become filled.

Aside form the traditional front page / back page we are helping clients design robust multi page inserts that can send a larger message including excerpts from Annual Reports, HR Communications, Strategic Initiatives, to the Corporate Calendar. You can add a writing instrument, a sleeve for a CD ROM and an impressive selection of covers. They come in many sizes, materials and are infinitely configurable.

There is so much more to say. We would like to tell you how to turn this into legacy promotion. Give us a call at 888-364-6060

A day does not go by when a client calls and asks for the newest, latest, greatest, totally unique, amazing…….. A while back Kiva Systems, a manufacturer of robotic warehouse systems said they were introducing a new product family of robots. We put on our thinking caps and created a squeezable (stress ball) scale model version. The squeezable mini bots take a leading edge technology and add a warm whimsical touch. The mini bots became an instant hit when they were used at their introductory trade show.

Now the folks at Kiva are more than leading edge technologists. They know how to push the marketing envelope too. During Christmas 08 a group of engineers programmed the actual robots to dance to Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker”. They filmed it and put it on You Tube. It was one of the most heavily viewed videos of the holiday week. Take a look at Kiva BotsYou Tube

This became the start of a viral epidemic at Kiva. The mini bots became a part of the day to day culture and were found everywhere. During the past 2 years clients and employees began to go on vacation with their mini bots and photographed them all over the world. Kiva Systems now has a “Bot on Holiday” Calendar. Take a look at the calendar. It’s featured on the home page of Kiva Systems web site. Who says you can’t make leading edge warehouse technology warm and cuddly?