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Features Great idea that’s driving ahead While others are busy altering and adapting the external design of their flash drives, a new product distributed by Desktop Ideas (DTI) is taking branding inside as well as out. StickyDrive is a versatile, customisable program which can be installed on any normal flash drive. When the user inserts the drive into their machine, they’re greeted with a customised, branded interface which allows them to access pre-loaded content on the drive. Its customised interface features company brand, logo and custom message. The brand and messages are incorporated into the normal function of the drive, as opposed to a simple and distracting pop-up. StickyDrive features an integrated search tool as well as its own music, photo and video players, negating the need for external, separate programs. And because all this happens in software, Sticky- Drives can be updated to maintain fresh and current design, look and content. Content can be included on any flash drive and launched using the StickyDrive interface, including Microsoft Word documents, Adobe Acrobat <strong>PDF</strong> files, promotional videos – the possibilities are endless. And to make sure your customers are right up to date, the StickyDrive software can replace or update documents remotely via the internet after the drives have been distributed to recipients. And of course, StickyDrive will feature an automatic link to your website. The potential benefits are clear, says DTI. The StickyDrive software keeps products and service offerings current, gives maximum exposure for your branding, provides an updateable marketing platform and provides a higher ROI on flash drive give-aways. As well as StickyDrive, DTI is also casting its eye towards the next wave of storage gifts, as flash drives, no matter how innovative, become more commonplace. One trend which DTI thinks is going to develop is the move towards larger storage mediums with The USB flashdrive has been one of the major success stories of the last decade. <strong>PPD</strong> takes a look at some of the new ideas in this sector and finds out what makes this product such a universal hit... more capacity, in the form of portable hard disk drives. This trend, DTI believes, will make memory devices be seen again as a true executive gift rather than a “throwaway” or “scatter” item. Portable hard disc drives can go right up to one terabyte (1000gb), offering a huge amount of storage. Consumer lifestyles are changing and with an increased reliance on digital gadgets and tools for things like music and video – all of which involve files of considerable size – a portable hard disc drive may just be the ultimate gift. More at tradeonly.com/dti Size does matter... 4510 Portable HardDisk Leather from 160 GB Promotional Gadgets 4500 Portable HardDisk from 160 GB Desktop Ideas Ltd sales@desktopideas.com t. 0845 365 7624 New catalogue out now! www.d-vice.info 8
Features Careful choice is the key to standing out in crowded market By Paul Maye of Primetime There can be little doubt that Flash Drives are the product of the decade – you will be hard pressed to find a promotional product distributor that doesn’t supply some form of memory stick to their clients. Where can the regular distributor buy them – virtually anywhere! USB sticks, memory sticks, flash drives, pen drives; call them what you want, but the UK has a plethora of recent “specialists” attempting to capitalise on the popularity of the item, but PrimeTime were one of the first to offer flash drives with printed logos to the promotional industry. And lets face it; the flash drive is absolutely now a commodity – no longer a “nice to have” but a “need to have”. And as with all commodities, a price war has ensued. Distributors are targeted almost daily with e- mails of flash drive price lists issued by suppliers in an attempt to keep up with the continually fluctuating price of flash memory. It’s a bit like the oil business – except car drivers can’t deal directly with the cartels in the Middle East, whereas the promotional product distributor can buy directly from China if they so wish and cut out their trusty UK trade only partners. Understandably, the price benefit justifies this action perhaps as a no-brainer. But I would argue that when posed with the origination question (Where can the regular distributor buy them), the answer should be emphatically from a trusted UK trade only supplier. Outrageous! Why Because they probably know what they are doing and what they are supplying for one. They will be aware of patent issues, the bad side of which is a road distributors really don’t want to go down. They will not be supply anything but genuine Grade A chips in their memory sticks. What about more basic reasons, like credit, comeback if there’s an issue – maybe even supporting a UK trade only supplier partner By definition, your trade only partner will not be undercutting a path direct to your client. Of course, one thing the flash drive business has over the oil business is that there are hundreds of varieties of sticks that do exactly the same thing, giving distributors a huge choice of colours and designs to select or propose from. Many of the suppliers offer the most popular models which have developed into instantly recognisable standards, like the “twister” for example – who doesn’t sell it On the downside – these popular models have been selling well for a few years and are looking a little tired. That’s perhaps one of the reasons that genuine “own design: patented flash drives, like Primetime’s “USB People” range, have done so well. There seems to be no end in sight to the USB stick’s popularity. Models evolve which are quite literally the size of a fingernail but the branding possibilities are clearly less. Similarly, memory cards are brilliant but when used, there is no brand visibility. Stick remains king. Long live the king! For more about our products, visit tradeonly.com/primetime A flexible and useful gift that customers will keep handy Perhaps one of the most positive aspects of USB flash drives as a promotional gift is that they are almost universally welcomed by the recipient as something really useful – a handy-sized piece of kit which they’ll use nearly every day. That’s certainly the experience of Neil Harris, marketing manager at USB-FlashDrive.com, who says: “They’re certainly not a give-away that gets thrown away.” Neil adds: “USB flash drives are extremely affordable and excellent value for money. “Memory capacities have increased over the years from moderate megabytes to gigantic gigabytes, making flash drives even more appealing.” There’s also added promotional value to the bit of the drive you can’t see, Neil adds. “Larger memory sizes also allow for more space when uploading promotional material such as brochures, multimedia and other data.” Another great marketing aspect of the flash drive is that you’re not confined to the familiar “plastic tab” shape. Indeed, USB-FlashDrive.com has established something of a reputation for selling some of the most unusual designs. These include casino chips, vehicles and even beer barrels. Neil concludes: “Simply put, USB flash drives offer a multitude of advantages to both the giver and receiver.” For an in-depth interview with Chris Love, managing director of USBFlashDrive.com, see page 11. For more, visit tradeonly.com/usbflashdrive 9
Page 1: JULY 2009 ISSUE 14 Showing the way
Page 4 and 5: News Diary Dates Dates correct at t
Page 6: News Show business pays off for LSi
Page 11 and 12: Insider Flash of inspiration Six ye
Page 14 and 15: Products Newcomer is a timely help
Page 16 and 17: Products Innovative drink idea puts
Page 18 and 19: People Best man for the job as Chri
Page 20: Regulars More than ever, it’s all
Page 23 and 24: Regulars Define what you do properl
Page 25 and 26: Regulars Minority retort: Opportuni
Page 27 and 28: Why the devil’s in the detail whe
Page 29 and 30: Sleek and silvery is a hit - and no
Page 35 and 36: Features Perfect finish Its time to
Page 37 and 38: Insider The write stuff Neil Cleere
Page 39 and 40: Retro gaming: Firebox’s Sega Mega
Page 41 and 42: Features Making gifts special makes
Page 43 and 44: News Success stories: Jose Thomas w
Page 45: Two days out of the office will hel
Page 48 and 49: collection 61192 61003 61188 btcact
Page 50 and 51: PCD Fruit of the Loom offers new ha
Page 52 and 53: PCD Sock it to them with fun, festi
Page 54 and 55: A F F O R D A B L E P R O M O T I O
Page 56 and 57: The Trade Only National Show 2010.
Page 58 and 59:
Tittle Tattle Where are they this w
Page 60 and 61:
Supplier Directory To feature in th
Page 62 and 63:
Supplier Directory To feature in th
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