Electronic Promotional Products

Everyone loves a gadget! Young and old, technically savvy and not so technically savvy; something that makes our lives easier is always welcome, which is why electronic promotional gadgets are so popular. You can’t write an article such as this without reference to USBs in their many guises, but before we get to those, let’s look at something we haven’t mentioned before, webcams.

Tian Gong Technology China Ltd (TGT China Ltd) supplies webcams for the promotional and business gift market. This model TGW 054 (pictured) has a resolution of VGA 640x480, a frame rate of up to 30 frames per second, uses video format 24bit true colour and VCA/CIF format, has a focusing range of 30mm-infinity and could be just the thing you need to keep your brand name in front of your target market. The company’s webcams come in all shapes and sizes, including ones that look like feet, stills cameras and cuddly toys.

TGT China also supplies USB flash drives, flash cards, MP3s, MP4s and other electronic gadgets. Offering competitive prices and excellent service, quality control is also very strict. Each item is tested four times before shipping and there is a two-year guarantee. Customers the company has supplied include Fanta, Coco cola, Colgate, Corona and Nescafe.Tian Gong Technology China Ltd

USBs The Little Gadget That’s a Big Story

USBs seem to be everywhere and come in all shapes and sizes and we’ve got some good examples here. This racing car shaped USB is from TGT China above.

There are several reasons USBs make such good promotional gifts: they are useful, portable, can be produced in all manner of unusual shapes AND you can have your message uploaded onto them very easily, and now you can have their use tracked (see later).

Custom Memory supplies this USB in the shape of the whiskey bottle. It can have a customised label and holds up to 8GB of data. Custom Memory

As I said before TGT China Ltd produces a camcorder that looks like a stills camera and it must be a popular shape because QQUSB Technology Ltd supplies a USB in a camera shape too. The company produces customised promotional USB flash drives and promotional flash MP3 players. There are also special offers for first orders. QQUSB Technology Ltd

USB Flash Drives Are Tough

Do you remember the heroic tale of Captain ‘Sully’ Sullenberger as he ditched his Airbus 320 into the Hudson River after striking a flock of birds. But what you may not know is that all of the passengers have been getting their items back, including the items from their luggage as well as anything they had at their seat, purses, computers, books, etc.

This came as a surprise to some of the passengers, but the most surprised may have been Vicki Barnhardt. According to press reports, Vicki was very happy to see her items, especially since she had given them up for lost, having been submerged for several days in the frigid waters of the Hudson River. So what does this have to do with USB flash drives?

In the same box as Vicki’s other belongings were the four flash drives she had thought were lost in the crash. Not only did the drives look like new, but all of the data was still on them and was retrieved. Those passengers with ordinary hard drives in their computers weren’t so lucky as the water took its toll on the electronics. But the USB flash drives came through the incident with flying colours, allowing Vicki to access everything she thought she had lost.

This is perhaps the best testament about the durability of USB flash drives. If they can survive an emergency landing in the ice cold Hudson in the dead of winter, they will certainly survive anything you can dish out at them during a normal working day. Thanks to USB Company for this info.

USB Pens

USB Company has just launched the Slim Signature Pen. At only 13mm in diameter, USB Company tells us that this ball pen is the thinnest pen with USB memory on the market. The innovative design is both elegant and beautiful and marries class with the latest in technology. Available in black, nickel and silver. USB Company

NDEVR also supplies a carbon fibre pen drive with flash drive. The carbon fibre material is embedded onto the plating, allowing you to see the actual carbon fibre mesh as it would be used in actual carbon fibre applications. The mesh itself comes in a variety of colours, ranging from single colours to brilliant reds, greens and yellows. It is a unique design and a novel conversation piece. The Carbon Fibre Pen can also be sold without the flash drive.ndevr

USB Tracker

With so many USBs on the market it’s not surprising that Business Card CD Ltd of Stroud, Gloucestershire, offers memory sticks with the ability to track various actions like:

• How many times the USB is inserted into the PC
• How often your USB content is played
• What items/pages of the brochure or media is played/opened
• How many times it is installed to users PC's
• How many contact forms are sent from your chosen media and how often each web link is clicked on your card taking visitors to your website.

The USB Trackerâ„¢ can even differentiate between presentations run from the original USB and those installed on users computers. If you would like to track your presentations by distribution groups they can track that too.

For example, the company can replicate your presentation on 1000 x USBs. Each group of 100 USBs can be tagged with a different tracking number. This gives you the ability to distribute each group in a different city, mailing or trade show and track the effectiveness of each group.

They can even tag each drive with its very own unique ID. This would enable drives to be sent to targeted recipients and each drive and/or brochure/presentation to be tracked.

How is the media tracked? Now that would be telling! No cookies are used and we are assured it’s completely legal. Business Card CD Ltd

Sat Nav With Digital Tuner

Just as your phone can now be used as a sat nav, your sat nav can now be used as a TV. Pretty soon, we’ll all just be carrying one gadget to suit all situations!

From EIC, this new spin on Sat Nav is the NavMan Spirit V735 which comes with a 7” widescreen display, UK and full European mapping along with speed camera locations. The main difference is it has a built-in digital tuner so you can use it to view digital TV when the car is stationary or remove from the car and use as a portable TV.

Another great feature is its FM transmitter which allows you to play downloaded MP3 tracks via the FM transmitter through your in-car radio system. Trade prices from £235.00ex RRP £299.99 EIC

(As the above Sat Nav can be used as a digital TV, does this mean you now need a TV Licence for your car? Answer to the blog section please.)

LED Torch Tape

New to the promotional merchandise sector, Mr Tapes has introduced the MRT2 5m Led Torch Tape Measure on an introductory special offer of £1.20 (was £2.25).

Mr Tapes produces high quality professional tape measures with low minimum order quantities and a quick lead-time of just 10 days. Mr Tapes

Legal Matters, Batteries Legislation for the UK

Many promotional electronic gadgets, (cameras, phones, etc) use batteries and there are legal implications that come with the use of batteries. A good supplier should be aware of and compliant with these regulations, but here’s a brief out line for our readers courtesy of Margot Parker of EurocomConsult.com.

Batteries and Accumulators Regulation 2009 is clearly set out into a number of broad areas. Also known as the Battery Directive, it explicitly bans certain chemicals and metals (such as mercury, cadmium and lead) in batteries. It sets out maximum quantities of chemicals and metals used in batteries, and requires proper waste management of these batteries, including recycling, collections, ‘take-back’ programmes, and disposals. It also defines the financial responsibility for programmes and makes rules covering most of the phases of this legislation, including labelling, markings, documentation reviews, and other administrative and procedural matters.

Stricter rules on manufacturing and recycling batteries and accumulators (re-chargeable batteries) for UK businesses have been introduced through the implementation of the EU Batteries Directive. Battery producers and retailers will become more responsible for battery recycling. If you produce more than one tonne of portable batteries per year, you have to join an approved compliance scheme that will manage collection and recycling. If your business wants to offer a compliance scheme you must have applied before 31^st May 2009.

These rules came into force on 5^th May 2009, and producers will have to pay for collections, treatment and recycling of batteries from 1^st January 2010. Requirements on battery labelling and design, is through the Batteries and Accumulators (Placing on the Market) Regulation 2008 (S1/2164) and these rules are now in place.

For further guidelines please go to: http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file51268.p or contact Margot Parker at margot@eurocom-consult.com.

And finally …

What’s your favourite electronic promotional product. You don’t have to own it; maybe a colleague has got one that you envy … or that drives you mad for some reason. If it’s unusual, particularly brilliant or just amusing, let me know and we’ll create a corner on the website where you can comment on good, bad, indifferent or just useful promotional merchandise.

One promotional gadget that I miss is a keyring that bleeped when I whistled so I could find my keys! Leaving your keys on the hall table is not an option when people pop a stick through the door, hook them up and drive off in your car. Perhaps I need a car that only responds to my whistle too, so I don’t need keys!

Carole Bull

Editor

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