News

Did you know that recent reports found 92% of consumers to believe suggestions from friends and family more than other advertising? Or that 74% of consumers say word of mouth is a key influencer in their purchase decisions?

 We talked in our previous blog about the powerful benefits of branded merchandise in general. With Christmas now fast approaching, we wanted to take a moment of your time to describe just how effective branded Christmas merchandise can be. Let’s get to it!

 Brand building effects are enhanced

 Promotional and branded merchandise is all about building the brand, and this is largely accomplished through a natural ‘word of mouth’ effect. Average statistics state that branded gifts are kept for around a year, throughout which time the item will be seen by peers many times.

 You can see why Christmas works so well. We gather as families and friends at this time, and that means more opportunity for your brand to be improved. Branded goods are effective all year round, but if twice as many people see it at Christmas, it’s done twice as much work for your company.

 Simple math’s, but with powerful results.

Positive association

 Promotional merchandise always has value, but it’s even better when you know it is received at a positive time for the customer or client. We’re emotional creatures, and our memory works in such a way that memories of happy times stay with us longer than others.

 This means that if your branded merchandise is received around Christmas, it will be both better received and more likely to have a positive mental association in the mind of the recipient. Simply put, this amplifies the already significant effect of branded merchandise on your company.

Here to help

 Another day, another helpful blog from the team. There’s real value in branded merchandise, and seasonal events like Christmas are simply ideal times to invest.  For pricing & enquiries, please contact: sales@mediaalliance.co.za

Inspiration is a word companies love to throw around to describe their businesses and brands, but guess what? Most businesses and brands are not inspired or inspiring. They live in functional worlds, providing functional benefits – competing on price, features and share of voice; never truly feeling confident about their decisions.

Ways Smart Companies Find Inspiration

Look beyond your company’s walls and learn from what has worked for others.

1. Smart companies obsess about their customers and deliver what matters.

At Panera the food is good and priced competitively, while the service is fast and friendly. But it’s the commitment to good-for-you foods—clean, simple, and healthy—that makes Panera an inspired brand.

2. They “thief and doctor” best practices both inside and outside their category.

We often ask the question of our clients, “If you were more like Disney or Uber or Zappos, what would you take from what they are doing to drive change in your organization?” The answers are always surprising. The best healthcare companies, for instance, aren’t just looking to the Mayo Clinic or Medi Clinic for inspiration. They are just as likely to be asking how they can provide amenities as luxurious as the Four Seasons, service as consistent as Nordstrom or experiences as magical as Disney. They understand that inspiration usually requires more than imitation. They infuse borrowed ideas with their own brand identity to create a distinctive offering or experiences.

3. They explore their own heritage.

Consumers crave authenticity, so brand history can offer an almost endless source of lessons. We often take clients out on what we call “brand safaris” to delve into the stories of companies such as Levi Strauss and Ford Motor Co. Studying how these great brands honor their heritage, yet still inspire customers today always sparks fresh thinking. Levi’s found its mojo again when the 529 was reinvented into the “hot skinny” jean, and Ford inspired all of us through fully reimagining its F-150. Don’t disregard the past for future inspiration simply because it’s in the past.

4. They think big and small.

Responding to large demographic changes is essential. If you don’t respect Gen Y’s demand to do everything on their phones, you won’t win. But it also means listening to the growing desire for personalization across every customer segment.

Final Thoughts

These sources of inspiration are critical for a brand’s long-term success. To stay relevant, companies must continue to innovate, creating new and valuable experiences for its customers. To do so, brands must step outside the functional and dare to be inspirational.

Let Media Alliance guide you with your branding and getting your name out there.

Contact: sales@mediaalliance.co.za

Milnerton, Cape Town 7441

CUSTOM 3D PUFF EMBROIDERY CAPABILITIES & APPLICATIONS

3D puff embroidery is a surefire way to take a custom hat or sweatshirt to another level. The 3D nature of this design method makes your logo pop from the surface of the garment and elevates the overall quality of decoration. At Media Alliance we can apply your logo to a variety of custom apparel and headwear.

Custom 3D Puff Embroidery Options Include…

Custom Hats

Sweatshirts

Hoodies

Workwear

Applications for 3D Puff Embroidery…

Promotional Products

Custom Hats

Custom Golf Apparel & Accessories

Custom Logo Corporate Apparel & Uniforms

Trade Shows

Recruiting Events

New Employee Gifts

Industrial Custom Workwear

When to use 3D Puff Embroidery as a Decoration Method

3D puff embroidery is not the easiest customization method. It has added steps in the process that make it more time consuming and expensive. However, those steps are taken for a reason. 3D puff embroidery is probably the right decoration method for you if…

You want your logo to pop – custom 3D embroidered logos have a dimensional depth to them. Being raised from the surface give makes your company logo stand out.

You want a design that lasts – 3D puff embroidery is extremely durable, even more so than regular embroidery. There’s no reason that a 3D embroidered logo or design shouldn’t last just as long as the hat or garment it’s embroidered on.

You want a higher quality look – hats and apparel decorated through 3D puff embroidery have a more stylish and sophisticated look to them. You can tell that the design was not made the cheapest way possible and no shortcuts were taken.

For more information & enquiries, please contact: Sales@mediaalliance.co.za

A Webkey is a pretty cool use of technology. One Webkey merchant claims “well constructed and highly targeted” Webkey campaigns have achieved 85 percent ROI, and that the average response rate for a Webkey mailing averages from 10 to 30 percent.

 What is a Webkey? It looks like a USB drive. They used the USB-A type port style and can be inserted into any other USB-A port connected to the internet. Once inserted into a web-ready computer, the Webkey takes take the user directly to the sender’s web address of choice – a new website, a YouTube video, social media link or even to a Google Doc or Dropbox link.

 The stick has no memory or storage. It is designed for one task – taking a customer to a web address.

 Examples include a Webkey that takes the client directly to a pizza chain online ordering page, and a campaign where the Webkey takes prospective students to a college’s online admissions community.

 So yes, the possibilities are endless.

If there is no memory on the USB stick, you may wonder what the point is of giving a Webkey to your customer? Isn’t the point getting your information into customer hands?

First, as there is virtually NO memory involved, our Webkey’s are inexpensive. They can be made out of paper, plastic, PVC or metal and branded with your logo, contact information and photos. They can be inserted into a printed mailer your customers will recognize.

They are also popular to get your customers interacting with your website. They take customers directly to the page you want them on – your sales, your product listings, your contact page. It can be the same information you’d have on a preload – like your catalog – but which may be updated often. As long as the URL doesn’t change, the Webkey will take customers there. We put a five-year-old Webkey into a computer, and it still loaded directly to the Logotech.com site.

Ready to learn about how you can use a Webkey to attract new clients? Fill out a quick quote at the top of this page and your personal account manager can help you launch your new promotion campaign.