Everybody knows that having a name and a pretty logo is only a start for any company – Actively promoting your business branding is simply essential, obviously with the aim of increasing visibility and generating that all-important ‘brand awareness.’ Traditionally, there have always been certain tried and trusted methods in which companies promote their brand, such as through newspaper or magazine adverts, leaflets & flyers, posters or free gifts. But things have moved on and any business worth its salt looks to keep up with these fresh new advertising channels…Personalised flags and associated custom-printed products are one such way.
Funky freebies!
When it comes to freebies, anyone who has ever attended a trade fair or exhibition will be familiar with this scenario: An assortment of a company’s printed pens, stickers, mugs, calendars, coasters, USB pen drives being thrust at semi-grateful observers, in the hope that the recipient remembers their business next time they put down their brew on it! Well maybe they work to a degree, but they do feel a little tired nowadays. A new, fresher equivalent of the branded free pen is the personalised paper hand flag, which is a great, inexpensive and funky visual product that adds a new angle to the corporate freebie. Kids particularly love them so they tend to stick around longer, which is the holy grail in terms of ‘giveaway’ advertising! The British Promotional Merchandise Association has conducted various surveys and undertaken research that demonstrates the clear correlation between promotional product advertising and an increase in brand recognition. A rise in sales is the natural result of this, of course. So there’s no doubting its validity, the question is how creative can you get with it?
Getting noticed…
Increasing numbers of businesses are making increasingly-innovative use of custom printed flags and personalised banners as an innovative and highly-visual method of promoting their business brand. Of course they come in all shapes and sizes, depending on individual businesses’ needs and set up. Forecourt flags are a popular and effective way of highlighting the business brand outdoors in front of a premises, a particular favourite of car dealerships and similar companies. Obviously, these are designed to act as a strong visual signpost, a hard-to-miss beacon that bellows the company brand clearly to any approaching potential customers! Obviously, the space limits are much less so real impact can be made with these and their 24/7 permanence is a real plus also. As long as they can withstand the UK weather, that is!
Many events or exhibitions see businesses promoting themselves via personalised feather flags These take their name from the shape and they have a eye-catching modernity to them. They are ideal suited to quite cramped areas as they have a fairly narrow base and rise upwards, thereby needing less space than large banners. They also look great framing a business entrance…
Façade flags are the kind that you tend to see draped down the exterior wall of buildings. Ideal for signposting a business when space is maybe at a premium, they make a real statement and strongly announce a business’s presence! Again these function brilliantly to catch the eye of either new or returning customers, as they can be seen from near or far! Custom-printed teardrop flags are also a unique way to promote your business or event in a bold way. The striking droplet-style shape of the teardrop flag affords a nice clear area for logos and text and again they look very modern and stylish as opposed to linear straight edge flags.
Internal branding
It isn’t all about external promotion though! The huge part that social media now plays in business profiling means that companies have new forums in which to show off their creative branding promotion. There has been a recent shift in corporate culture away from the standard office environment of rows of desks, chair and PCs to something a lot more hip and funky. Open-plan areas, slides, breakout spaces, on-site gyms and table football/pool tables/table tennis are becoming the norm at work for some! Some millennials now get to work from ipad whilst splayed out over cool personalised beanbags, whilst other eat their sushi (or whatever else is a trendy lunch currently) sitting on custom-printed cube chairs. A bit much for some traditionalists maybe, but it’s getting more and more common so is maybe here to stay!
It may make you wonder when anybody actually gets any work done, but the thinking seems to be that if you create a fun & fresh environment then people will be more productive and stop viewing ‘work’ as a chore. Who knows, maybe it’s true? One of the major ways that this approach pays off though is the advertising benefits – The company can capitalise by posting photos and videos showing off their trendy work environment and all the personalised, company-branded furniture and gadgets then gets viewed by thousands. It’s all branding promotion at the end of the day!Modern digital printing technology has made custom printed flags and personalised products a much cheaper option than it used to be. These personalised flags, banners and other items can last years, thereby offering a longevity to the advertising that just is not their with other channels such as print adverts or social media. Made from professional standard 115gsm knitted polyester, the flags are durable but importantly are also lightweight. These can be printed on one side or both and are available in a range of flag sizes from 3ft x 2ft to 10ft x 6.5ft, meaning whatever space you have can be adapted to. Differently-sized and shaped custom printed flags add to the versatility too, including Portrait flags, Feather flags and Fabric Hand flags.