As a marketer, you know that the branded promotional merchandise industry is large and growing.

The business world is full of David vs. Goliath scenarios.

Sensing an opportunity, large companies will frequently enter a market to compete with smaller established vendors, relying on large budgets and even larger volumes to make lower prices their main selling point.

Short-sighted consumers are easily persuaded by the lower-cost argument and will cast their lot with the big companies without understanding the larger ramifications of their decision. More discerning customers, however, look at the big picture before deciding how to spend their hard-earned budgets. More often than not, they realize that saving money now on a single purchase will result in higher costs down the road.

That’s because, perhaps counter-intuitively, smaller companies actually have a number of advantages over larger organizations in areas other than price—services that ultimately matter more to clients.

Have you ever wondered why certain colors are often associated with specific industries?  For instance, many fast-food companies use red in their corporate branding, while technology companies tend to favor various shades of blue.

There’s a reason for this.  A brand's colors are intended to project a certain image, reflect a certain energy, or send a message about the business’ products and the company’s trustworthiness.  These companies are attempting to influence their target audience by taking advantage of their emotional reaction to their corporate colors.

Last week, we described how artificial intelligence (AI) is fundamentally changing the way organizations find the right vendors to help them solve their business problems. If you haven’t already read it, you can do so here:

In this blog post we’ll walk through some real-world scenarios, providing end-to-end examples of how a company might actually use AI to find and vet a qualified partner, using the example of “marketing fulfillment vendor.” By following these best practices, you can use your preferred search engine to find exactly what you’re looking for without having to scroll through pages and pages of links.

Drinkware has long been a favorite among branded promotional item categories—an accessory that makes a statement that its owner is a member of the current in crowd.

It seems that every season there is a new drinkware brand that everyone is desperate to get their hands on. In the not-too-distant past it was Yeti or Stanley; today Owala is so popular that the promotional industry can’t meet the demand or keep the shelves stocked.

Drinkware has a long and interesting history, with favorites coming and going so quickly that a disruptive brand today might be rejected tomorrow as trends head in a new direction. In this blog, we’ll explore where it all started and offer predictions on where it might be headed.