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Promos That are Sure to Make a Splash

 

Think about it. When’s the last time you purchased an umbrella? Chances are, the umbrella you use most often is one that was gifted by a brand or company. Odds are even better that if another brand or company offered you an umbrella today, you’d probably say, “yes!”

Umbrellas branded with company logos and colors tend to be better and more sturdy than most, since lesser quality would reflect poorly on the brand. That’s something to consider when you’re selecting the umbrella you’ll want out there representing your brand. And, if recent weather is anything to bet on, we’re sure your clients, team members, and friends will have plenty of opportunities to use a great umbrella – and thank YOU for it! Here are some Dunstan Group favorites this season:

Rebel Sublimated Umbrella

The Rebel Sublimated Umbrella from The Dunstan Group will not only protect you from the rain, but also from a rain-soaked umbrella! The Rebel umbrella is an inverted umbrella, a revolutionary designed to keep you dry when closing. The unique feature allows the water to push away when closing, making it easy when entering or leaving a car or through a door. Features include a 48″ arc, auto close pongee fabric and a straight rubberized finger grip handle.

WindPro Vented Auto Open Umbrella

Rain or shine, you will be ready for a fun-filled day on the golf course with this Windpro® Umbrella from The Dunstan Group! Designed with an automatic opening, this umbrella features a big, 62 inch arc (157.5 cm), a square shaped vented canopy that’s engineered to resist windy conditions, FRP fiberglass rib construction, a gel-filled grip handle and a fabric/mesh case with bungee cord-lock closure. Choose from an assortment of canopy colors and customize each umbrella with your brand name, logo, or message!

Fashion Print Compact Umbrella

Create a promotional giveaway that’s eye-catching, memorable, AND one they’ll use all the time. The Fashion Print Compact Umbrella from The Dunstan Group is the perfect canvas for your unique design or message, and it comes in your choice of fashion prints. It’s constructed with an auto open and close mechanism, steel 3-section shaft and ribs, a 42″ arc and rubber coated handle. Small enough to take along for work, travel, or outdoors; and big enough to keep you dry.

Stratton Reversible Inverted Umbrella

Now, for something completely different—the Stratton Reversible Inverted Umbrella from The Dunstan Group. The reverse, open/close technology ensures that your wet umbrella drips away from your car, floors and you. Featuring 190TPG polyester material with a perforated liner, this umbrella has a resilient, fiberglass frame designed to stand up to strong winds, a push button, c-shaped handle for easy opening and carrying, with self-standing for easy drying. Utility with a unique twist!

Telescoping Travel Umbrella

Your clients, teammates, and friends will always be covered with this easy-to-carry folding travel umbrella from The Dunstan Group. It comes with a black EVA case and metal shaft, and featuring a 37″ arc for max coverage in a mini package — conveniently folding down to just 6″. Available in several eye-catching colors, you can customize this item by adding a silkscreen imprint of your company logo or design. Measuring 6 3/4″ x 3″, the black case has a matching colored zipper, too!

Want more umbrellas? Check these ideas from The Dunstan Group!

Golf Promos for the Win

The dust has hardly settled from the Wells Fargo Championship, but there’s plenty more golf to be played in Charlotte. Whether the weather is perfect year-round where you are, or the season is just starting to turn, it’s easy to make your brand stand out on the course. Here are the best bets from The Dunstan Group to tee it up for your clients, partners, and team members this season!

Mid-Tier Golf Kit

The mid-tier golf kit will be a hit with golfers at every level! This one includes three Titleist® TruFeel™ golf balls, a metal poker chip with ball marker, packaged in a synthetic leather valuables pouch. The price includes a full-color imprint on the golf balls, poker chip, and pouch.

Golf Kooler Bag

Introduce your brand to new customers with the golf kooler bag from The Dunstan Group! It’s made of 420 denier polyester with PEVA lining and holds up to six cans to keep them cool and ready. Other features include a detachable and adjustable padded shoulder strap, web carrying handle, side zippered main compartment, front double-zippered pocket, and a reusable ice pack. Imprint this with your branding and get more people to see the value you can bring!

Golf Kit in a Sleeve

Tee up your next great marketing campaign with this course-ready product! This GolfElope features 4 tees, divot tool, and a ball marker in a silver dispenser wrapped within an envelope sleeve. A great gift for dad on Father’s Day, an executive gift, or any fan of the game! Made in the USA!

Sun Bum Outdoor Kit

This Sun Bum® kit comes with everything you need for a day on the links–  without the sunburn. Use the sunscreen, cool-down lotion, and lip balm to stay protected while enjoying a day on the course. A perfect tournament gift or giveaway that your clients can use immediately. Add your company name or logo for maximum visibility!

ColorFusion Golf Towel

The ColorFusion golf towel is a proven winner! It’s made of an absorbent velour Turkish combed cotton blend, measures 16″ x 24″, and is printed with edge-to-edge designs in vibrant colors. It features its own sewn-in loop for easy hanging. It’s perfect for recipients to keep on hand when needing to clean off their clubs.

Stand Out with Color in Any Season

Your brand or business may not be jumping on the all things neon trend, but you can take advantage of the excitement by examining how your corporate apparel and promotional products can stand out with color.

Traditionally, most garments selected for corporate apparel or promotional purposes have stayed within the tried-and-true neutral favorites: black, white, navy, gray. But bold color choices can make your brand stand out from the crowd.

“Choosing the right color is key,” says Scott Dunstan, president and founder of The Dunstan Group. “Accent or supporting colors can often be found in a brand’s color palette or brand guidelines… they’re often underutilized opportunities to fuel a fresh take on a branded merchandise and apparel.”

Carissa Richmond is director of national sales with BELLA+CANVAS. She says although many promotional products and apparel customers look for neutrals or classic red or blue first, they are drawn to other colors once they see what’s available.

“We’re seeing that a lot of customers are gravitating towards colors that differentiate their offering,” she said in an interview with PPAI Media, our industry trade association. “A lot of them realize that if they’re going to add a color that none of their competitors have, then that really differentiates their offering and helps continue to grow their brand.”

“Taking advantage of color can mean the difference between being seen on a crowded trade show floor, golf tournament, or at an event,” adds Dunstan. “In a sea of black, blue, and white and your team is wearing orange… it’s easy to understand where your eye will go first.”

The color experts at Pantone have highlighted a variety of colors we’ll see plenty of in 2023. Along with Viva Magenta, the color of the year, expect to see vivid reds, pink and orange, as well as classic lime green, and grayish blues.

Put to color to work for your brand this season. Freshen-up your team’s corporate apparel, branded merchandise, or corporate gifts that are on trend and on brand.

Tees for the Win

How Ronald McDonald House Counts on Branded Apparel for this Annual Event

​​Everyone loves a great tee shirt. And a great tee is even better when it supports a great cause. Every year, thousands of people participate in a one-of-a-kind event that does just that! Sport A Shirt, Share a Night benefits Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Charlotte, where participants “sport” a Ronald McDonald House tee shirt to “share” the cost of a family’s stay in the House.

“The Sport A Shirt, Share A Night program is one of our biggest fundraisers for families using RMHC of Greater Charlotte programs,” said Kristin Young, Director of Marketing and Communications at Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Charlotte. “This campaign not only raises funds to provide comfort and care to families experiencing a medical crisis, but it also allows us to bring awareness to our mission of keeping families close by involving our community to “sport a shirt” and be our brand ambassadors.”

It costs $130 per night to host a family at RMHC of Greater Charlotte. ​Sport A Shirt, Share A Night helps cover some of these costs so families can stay at the Charlotte house regardless of their ability to pay. Young said this year’s goal is to raise $152,000 through sponsorships and shirt sales. Last year, more than 6,700 shirts were sold, raising over $200,000 – their most successful year to date.

For the 2023, The Dunstan Group is not only producing the campaign tees, but has joined as a program sponsor.

“Being a part of growing and thriving community means supporting organizations that are doing great things to make it that way,” said Scott Dunstan, president and founder of The Dunstan Group. “When we can be part of a win-win relationship like this, it’s a no-brainer for us!”

This year’s Sport A Shirt, Share A Night campaign wraps-up with a collective community “Wear Day” at the April 28th Charlotte Knights Game.

“It has been a pleasure working with The Dunstan Group on this HUGE fundraiser,” added Young. “Coordinating the order and the delivery of over 6,700 t-shirts is no easy feat. We are so honored to have them join on as a sponsor this year too! They’ve been a huge supporter of our mission and our families, and we are excited to see our partnership grow!”

Shirt sales for the 2023 Sport A Shirt, Share A Night campaign have ended, but you can always make a donation to the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Charlotte here: https://www.rmhclt.org/donate1.html

Here’s What’s Sustainable: Picking Products They’ll Actually Use

Whether “going green” is baked into your company mission statement or not, sustainability is a buzzword across almost every industry these days. Yes, that includes branded merchandise, promotional products, and apparel. But being sustainable doesn’t have to limit your choices. It just means making better ones. In fact, we’d argue the most sustainable promotional products are the ones you and your clients will use most often!

Here are five tips to begin sourcing the kind of promotional products, branded merchandise and apparel your team and your clients will actually use.

  • Start with your team. What kind of products do they use most often, or are more likely to keep rather than use once or throw out. 
  • Conduct a quick review of your key clients and partners to determine the kind of products they use in their line of work. If you’re not sure, just ask! 
  • Consider a good-as or better-than-retail promotional product or piece of apparel. They’ll last longer and those on the receiving end will be more likely to use it.
  • Look at the label. A Made-in-the-USA promotional product or piece of apparel is sustainable in many ways.
  • Ask the pros here at The Dunstan Group for data about the most-used promotional products in your industry, and those that reflect your company’s mission and values. 

Really into sustainability? Check out these “Green Today & Beyond” products! 

Bottom line, we all want the promotional products, branded merchandise and apparel we choose to get used often. That’s a good – and sustainable — investment!

 

PPAI Pyramid Awards: Promo’s Best Campaigns Of 2022


As the pandemic slowly receded in 2022, promo pros helped clients of all stripes get back to business. Entries from the latest PPAI Pyramid Awards demonstrated the boundless creativity of the promo industry, as well as its ability to provide memorable experiences that yield measurable results.

The PPAI Pyramid Awards, sponsored by Pacesetter Awards, have identified the leading achievement in promotional product marketing for more than 60 years. PPAI salutes the 2023 winners, chosen from campaigns created between April 1, 2021, and April 1, 2022, for the innovative and forward-thinking programs they developed to help clients build lasting and lucrative relationships with customers and end users.

The Dunstan Group was named among the winners in this year’s client programs.

Silver Award Winner: The Dunstan Group

After its successful survival kit program, Duke Energy again engaged The Dunstan Group to supply vulnerable customers with tools to keep up with critical alerts, call for help or report an outage if a storm knocked out electricity to their homes. The Dunstan Group helped select and deliver 7,000 handheld emergency tools (weather radio with LED flashlight, power bank, solar, and hand crank power) branded with the Duke Energy logo to customers in coastal Florida and the Carolinas at the start of hurricane season.

Also provided was a manual including a phone number and directions in English and Spanish to report outages. By sourcing a multi-function product likely to be put in a prominent location and used as part of storm preparation and recovery, rather than kept in a drawer, The Dunstan Group helped Duke Energy boost brand awareness and make sure its customers know their power provider and how to reach them.

* Source: Promotional Products Association International (PPAI)

Customers Agree: Promotional Products Work in Any Economy

 

Downturn or up, the economy is really only as “good” as your company’s bottom line. And every business wants its marketing dollars to fuel that bottom line in any economy. New research shows that even in a downturn, promotional products are a successful strategy.

A Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) survey finds consumer value of promotional products actually goes up in a softer economy when compared to other forms of marketing and advertising.

The February 2023 study shows 59% of people would rather receive a useful promotional product than be exposed to ads on television, social media, radio, and other forms of advertising. The study also revealed:

  • 53% of people feel included in their team when they receive promotional products.
  • 62% feel appreciated by their employer when they receive promotional products.
  • 67% of people would like to receive promotional products from brands they know and like.
  • 61% said that they would look up a brand they didn’t know if they received a promotional product from them.

“The results are clear; promotional products make people feel special,” says Robert Fitzpatrick, PPAI research manager. “Whether employers are aiming to boost morale or businesses are trying to reach new customers, promotional products can help. Not only do people want more useful promotional merchandise, but they’re open to it coming from brands they’re familiar with and brands they’re new to.”

Scott Dunstan, president and founder of The Dunstan Group, agrees.

“When promotional products, branded merchandise, or apparel that are thoughtfully chosen, they can make an impact a real impact,” he adds. “The more time lead time we have, the more creative we can be, and the more options our clients can consider.”

Promotional products strengthen the loyalty of existing customers and employees, while also opening the door for building relationships with new clients.

“Have you ever heard a client say, ‘thank you,’ when they see your ads?” asked Dunstan. “When done right, promotional products have the power of a well-chosen gift…that’s not a power we take for granted.”