Umbrellas
Promotional umbrellas are a great promotional item for any season – they’re weather-resistant, practical and reusable, rain or shine. Whether you choose to print a spot logo or full-color graphics and photos, the colorful images on your promotional umbrella easily grab attention and create instant recall for your logo, brand or message.
In the summer, beach umbrellas, parasols and outdoor dining/sidewalk café umbrellas carry your message across. In the rainy months, umbrellas deliver not just your desired message, but a vibrant shot of color into an otherwise gloomy day.
Getting started - Nail down the basics.
a. Business objective. For what purpose are you producing this promotional item? What do you want to achieve by giving away this item? Brand awareness is the most common answer, but there are others.
b. Message. What is the one thing that you want to highlight? You’ll really just have to limit yourself to one thing to avoid jumbled messages. Simpler means higher customer recall.
c. Distribution. How and when will you distribute your promo key chain (by mail, raffle, at a big event like an opening)? Who are your intended recipients (customer or staff incentive)?
d. Budget. How much are you willing to spend to achieve your objective? This is an important thing to ask yourself because promotional umbrellas don’t come as cheap as other items While this is a huge factor, it’s not the only one.
Define your specifications. Identify the look you want (corporate, classy, novelty, kiddie, what have you), size and dimensions, corporate colors, price, weight, and quantity. You’d be surprised at how many different incarnation the humble umbrella can take. It needn’t be “just” an umbrella.
Develop the design. Work closely with your own in-house graphic designer or subcontract the design process to a third party. Some suppliers and distributors offer in-house design and customization services – worth a look, but ask to see samples or a portfolio first.
Shop around for a supplier or distributor. The Web is one of the best sources for this. The variety and breadth of suppliers it turns up is staggering. Another way to go about it is via referrals. Consult similar businesses, businesses you know that have their own promotional items, or businesses with promo items that you really liked, and ask them to refer their supplier.
Be sure to get the following important information about your supplier’s capabilities: umbrella fabric and structural material, customization option, minimum order volume, delivery lead time, shipping and delivery fees, and packaging options.
Request for a quotation. Do this by providing your specifications, budget, contact details and the time frame within which you expect a quotation. Allot enough time for the quotations to come in, and compare once they’re all in. Good luck!
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