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There’s a brand new purple popping up on promotional products these days, and it looks very familiar – but with a little more punch. Pantone, the purveyor of palettes, has for the very first time in its history, created a brand new color to be Color of the Year: Very Peri.

Veterans might recognize the lavender hue, but this is not your mother’s “periwinkle” – aka Pantone 18-3943. Nor is it the old-school flower that grows in grandma’s garden. It’s grandma’s Gen Z namesake with short hair and a sassy little kick. It takes a familiar, comforting hue of bluish-purple and adds some warmth and energy with violet-red undertones, and it’s coming to your branding stylist soon.

Pantone created the color to reflect the unprecedented times we’re living in – and hopefully emerging from. It combines a traditional and familiar feeling with the boldness of wanting to get out and get going again.

“We are living in transformative times,” says Pantone in its introduction of the color. “PANTONE 17-3938 Very Peri is a symbol of the global zeitgeist of the moment and the transition we are going through.” The company calls Very Peri the “happiest and warmest of all the blue hues,” meant to symbolize transition and new possibilities.

Products inspired by the trendy transition – from toothbrushes to bicycles – are already showing up in the marketplace. Pantone itself offers Very Peri in a coffee mug, lanyard, key chain, and notebook. And if you’ve searched the color on the web, you’ll start to see Very Peri tennis shoes popping up everywhere in your feeds.

Color selection communicates your brand globally, and The Dunstan Group will offer Very Peri branded products and apparel very soon.

“We can offer custom shoes these days, so that sounds like a great place to start,” says The Dunstan Group’s Founder and President, Scott Dunstan. “We’ll likely see items imprinted in that color and garments start to surface in that color very soon.”

The first place you’ll see the color, says Dunstan, will be as an imprint or decoration for an event. Artists and event planners are likely to work it into a design, rather than using it as a complete color overhaul. That’s where The Dunstan Group can deliver your products that are on-trend.

Pantone suggests pairing Very Peri with pale pinks or taupes for light balance, or eggshell blue and forest green for a very natural, outdoorsy look. Very Peri matched with Pantone colors Pink Flambe and Tawny Orange kicks in an active, upbeat look.

We all want to emerge from the last two years with an upbeat feeling, so chase away the blues by working Very Peri into your branded items today!

 

 

 

When you’re a networking group that can’t meet in person during a pandemic, how do you show members they’re still important to you? Send flowers and candy for Valentine’s Day? Or a gift bag? That sounds nice, but The Dunstan Group helped Hood Hargett Breakfast Club show their love in an award-winning way. The PPAI – the professional group for the promotional products industry-recognized The Dunstan Group’s above-and-beyond efforts for the “Local Love” Box with their Silver Pyramid Award for Client Programs.

The idea for a Local Love Box started as a way to reach out to members during Hood Hargett Breakfast Club’s February 2021 virtual meeting. Our country was already a full year into pandemic lockdowns, and the idea needed to stand out in a month known for love — and Valentine’s Day. The result was a beyond-hearts-and-flowers success.

Hood Hargett Breakfast Club wanted members to know they were all loved and appreciated not only by the club but by each other. What began as, “Thanks for being here,” turned into an opportunity for members to reach out and “show love” to each other with custom gifts and special opportunities they could use to elevate their brands and boost each others’ businesses and their own.

The donations started small but grew as members pushed each other’s creativity. Free billboards, radio time, and printed ad space joined unique branded items that not only shared members’ names and logos, but stood out and were helpful, too. In all, each “Local Love” Box, emblazoned with red hearts and messages of “Love, Networking, & Support,” held $4,075 worth of branded love for Hood Hargett members.

The Local Love Boxes were delivered with lunches from an upscale restaurant by a member black car service, just hours before the February virtual meeting. Members were told not to open it early, and their reactions showed the campaign was a huge success!

“We started with a simple goal,” says The Dunstan Group Founder and President Scott Dunstan. “In the month of love, Hood Hargett wanted to show members they care. We helped them do that with products that would keep each member’s business top-of-mind in a year they couldn’t shake hands in person.”

In the end, the Local Love Box showed that branded merchandise works to elevate what each company could give back to the group and to each other, and to generate business. The idea of showing “Local Love” was the warm embrace each of us had missed in a year of social distancing when businesses yearned to welcome back customers and share smiles face-to-face.

“Working with Scott Dunstan, Brian Young, and the entire Dunstan Group team on our COVID ‘Local Love’ Box project changed the way our organization does business with each other,” says Jenn Snyder Gibson, Executive Director of the Hood Hargett Breakfast Club. Acknowledging the difficulties of taking an exclusively in-person networking group into the virtual world, Snyder recounts the amount of work it took The Dunstan Group to secure creative branded items from 75 members for the box in just two weeks.

“Hands down, The Dunstan Group is THE MOST talented, creative, and forward-thinking team I have ever worked with!” she exclaimed.

Beyond that initial meeting, the Local Love Box continues to share exponential and immeasurable returns as members return to their tables, shake hands, and remember the Local Love and branded merchandise given to them when they needed each other most.

How many of us love the freebies we get at conferences, office stores, and holiday parties? Admit it, you’ve probably got a pen with a company logo (yours or someone else’s) somewhere in your possession right now.

You’re in good company. New research from Promotional Products Association International, or PPAI Media, shows that nearly 3 out of 4 of us have kept a branded pen, pencil, marker, or highlighter that’s been given to us. More than two-thirds of us have a magnet imprinted with a logo. This shows that we don’t just like getting free stuff, we feel drawn to the companies whose branded items we keep and take home.

“This study confirms what we’ve known for years at The Dunstan Group — that branded items make a big impact because they stick with people for a long time. These products remind them of your business identity for months and even years to come,” says The Dunstan Group Founder and President, Scott Dunstan. “An investment in branded products and apparel creates long-term value because they forge connections between consumers and brands as the products are looked at, worn, and used again and again.”

How long does that branding last?

Nearly half of respondents in the study say they often keep promotional products longer than FIVE YEARS. The most common reason to keep a product, according to 3 out of 4 respondents (75%), is because it’s useful. More than a third of the people surveyed (38%) say they kept the product because it reminds them of an event or experience. Other reasons for keeping a branded product is because it’s fun (35%), they like the design (34%), or they wanted or needed it at the time (33%).

The Dunstan Group can help you find just the right useful, fun, and well-designed branded product to share your unique business personality with your customers. Scott Dunstan and Director of Business Development Brian Young say items on their list of this year’s favorite things will be used again and again because they help your customers be efficient with their technology on the go.

Scott’s choice of a branded on-the-go connector set is something customers will keep nearby to make sure all of their phones and computers can talk to each other. A JBL Flip Waterproof Speaker is sure to travel a long way between the office, home, pool, and boat.

Among Brian’s favorite things are a branded Octoforce wireless power pack that can be pulled from a briefcase or bag in a pinch, or a branded no-wire mouse pad that charges your phone while you work at your desk or your destination.

If you want to find one of these great gifts or another branded product that gives customers “a charge,” call us! We’ll find just the right one for you.

Halloween has come and gone, which means we’re now on that slippery slope to Christmas and the end of the year. It’s quarter four for everyone and every kind of business, and this one seems to get away fast. With all of the end-of-year responsibilities, deadlines, and commitments, it can be easy to let your co-op dollars remain unspent. If you’re anything like us, you’re not a fan of leaving money or opportunity on the table.

Before things get too far gone, now’s the time to take stock in that invaluable and unspent marketing money. Depending on your business or industry, you may be racking up these dollars with any number of distributors, partners, or manufacturers you work with. According to industry reports, each and every year nearly $70 billion in co-op marketing funds go unused! Or worse yet, they’re spent in a panic or without thought on how to use them best.

There’s no need to panic, though. In many cases, branded merchandise and apparel easily fits within brand and partner requirements for manufacturers and distributors. Check your individual agreements first, but we’ve found is that in most cases co-op dollars can be spent here. The Dunstan Group has years of experience working with following co-op guidelines. No matter your co-op budget, we’ll help you find a branded merchandise and apparel match that will provide long-lasting impact.

By now we’ve seen nearly every pandemic-inspired headline imaginable keeping products of all sorts from reaching their destination. Supply chain issues, raw materials and shipping container shortages, labor slowdowns at western ports… it feels like Jiffy Express is on the job these days!

One headline that’s been underreported, in our opinion, is how all of these factors will weigh on holiday shopping. Doorbuster specials or deep discounts are dinosaurs. Product availability will make this year’s holiday merry – or downright disappointing, if you’re unwilling to be fast, flexible, or creative.

And that’s where the team at The Dunstan Group can help! We’ve make a quick list and checked it twice. Here’s some easy-to-use holiday gifting advice!

Order early

We get it. It’s hard to think about holiday gifting when temps are still in the 80’s and 90’s. But getting your holiday gifting orders placed now will ensure you’ve got the most product selection, plenty of time for customization, and enough time to get your product delivered in advance of your event, holiday gifting, etc.

Consider your options

Got your heart set on a particular product, brand, or style? We get it. Sometimes it’s hard to look at other products once you’ve got something particular in mind. Especially when there are seemingly endless other products. Be open to looking at several different items to maximize the opportunity you’ll get what you want when you want it.

Act now

You’ve found the product you want, add it to your order, only to find it’s gone before you can complete the transaction. It happens with our suppliers, too. Our recommendation is that once we’ve found what you’re looking for, confirm the order immediately. While the price quote may be good for days or weeks, someone else may swoop in and make their order before you’ve approved yours.

As always, the team here at The Dunstan Group is here to help. Make your holiday and Q4 plans less stressful – and a whole lot more creative! Connect with us now, and let’s get to work.

 

If your email inbox is anything like ours, you’re probably already getting ads for holiday décor and gift ideas. Admittedly, it feels a little earlier than usual. And for good reason. Supply chain issues are still dogging most every industry—from cars, to coffee, to computer chips. That includes the branded merchandise and apparel industry, too.

Truth is, if you have plans for Q4 or holiday gifting, you really do need to think and act on them now. And not just because the holiday promotions seem earlier and earlier each year. With a little bit of planning and flexibility, your holidays can still be merry, bright, and a lot less stressful.

Order early

We get it. It’s hard to think about holiday gifting when temps are still in the 80’s and 90’s. But getting your holiday gifting orders placed now will ensure you’ve got the most product selection, plenty of time for customization, and enough time to get your product delivered in advance of your event, holiday gifting, etc.

Consider your options

Got your heart set on a particular product, brand, or style? We get it. Sometimes it’s hard to look at other products once you’ve got something particular in mind. Especially when there are seemingly endless other products. Be open to looking at several different items to maximize the opportunity you’ll get what you want when you want it.

Act fast

You’ve found the product you want, add it to your order, only to find it’s gone before you can complete the transaction. It happens with our suppliers, too. Our recommendation is that once we’ve found what you’re looking for, confirm the order immediately. While the price quote may be good for days or weeks, someone else may swoop in and make their order before you’ve approved yours.

As always, the team here at The Dunstan Group is here to help. Make your holiday and Q4 plans less stressful – and a whole lot more creative! Connect with us now, and let’s get to work.