Do you think twice about lending a pen to a coworker? Or readily share yours because you want other people to get hooked on your favorite brand? People have their quirks when it comes to pens. We think these isms really say something about you. Want to know what your pens say about you?
You don’t question a classic, you’ aren’t picky, and you’re up for anything. You wouldn’t hesitate to share your pens because you probably have a whole stash, and you don’t hold things tightly.
Drawer of Random Pens
You know the quality is in the writer, not the thing they write with. Plus, you may like to pick the pen that suits your mood. You’re even more laid back than the ballpoint people, but it might be time to clean out your stash. There’s a good chance that half of your collection has dried up.
You either just moved, or you’re really into labeling things. Like really into it, so much so that color coordinating is a high priority. You sleep better knowing things are in their place and bring order to your world.
These pens are super functional even though the levers can get stuck as you shift from red to blue. You don’t care, because you like to keep your options open and your pages colorful. You write things with varying levels of significance and meanings and want your nuance to stand out.
This choice may be associated with borderline snobbery, but the benefits out weight the stigma in your mind. You like your words to appear boldly. Your ideas quickly transpire through ink that moves fast, and you like having smartpens to accompany your brilliance.
You know how to go for the gold when offered a bunch of free objects at trade shows. There’s a good chance that highlighter outlives your dog, but that’s okay with you. You just hold onto the good stuff and enjoy it as long as you can.
You’re easily captivated by a sense of nostalgia. Or maybe you’re just willing to own the fact that you aren’t flawless and need to erase and begin again sometimes. You and your work are approachable and adaptive to change.
you like to mess with the status quo and make your mark distinctive from everyone else. You aren’t disturbed by the sight of an entirely black and white sheet with touches of blue. If this isn’t you and you love your blue pens, you might just feel extra protective of your pens, and like that a rogue blue ink sighting gives away a possible pen thief.
You like to own your fancy. You’re not ashamed of your love for the finer things. If you aren’t that fancy, maybe some relative gave you a fountain pen for a momentous occasion, and you just couldn’t let quality go to waste. Either way, you give off the feeling that you’re an aspiring Dickens.
In the current climate, people spend more time at home than ever before
This means customers are trending towards products that make their home a more livable space for work, rest, exercise and just hanging out
Your brand can turn a customer’s home from the place they have to be, to the place they want to be.
With everyone working from home these days, our spaces house a wide range of activities. Now our home has to hold our aspirations of producing great work and winding down after a long day. Many people are making upgrades and adjustments to their home to create an atmosphere that fosters personal and career success. This means you can create a more sustained presence in your customer’s life by integrating your brand with the home. Here are trends to watch for in the Promo industry that are all about making your home the hub of your life.
Seamless Transition
Now there’s no need to worry about your appearance in your workspace, except when you need to look decent from the waist up for a video meeting. For this reason customers want versatile clothes that feel and look good while getting work done, exercising, and lounging on the couch. Steer customers towards athleisure that can always fit what they are looking for. Collectively, people veer from items that feel complicated or uncomfortable. Customers want to seamlessly transition from one thing to the next.
Look for footwear that feels good around the house but functions well for walking the dog or making a trip to the grocery store. As people spend more time at home, slippers and slides are more sought after. Versatile house shoes can market your brand and make a constant appearance in the lives of your customers.
Capitalize on comfort
For many new work-from-homers, their office is actually their kitchen table or a not-so-comfortable desk that used to only exist as decoration. This means customers are looking for ways to feel at ease in their work environment and minimize distracting thoughts about an uncomfortable chair. Customers want products like a padded chair cushion, lumbar backrest or keyboard rests. These items will keep people feeling happily productive thanks to your brand’s comfortable additions.
As comfortable as your home can feel, people are always open to products that can increase their contentment. Consider ways to take a customer’s comfort to another level. Weighted blankets can decrease stress and anxiety, which helps when you can’t escape work stress because your home is also your office. Help people ease into a peaceful setting with a room diffuser. This item can help your customer feel focused or relaxed. Products like these will brand you as a companion to feeling content.
Environment to Thrive
Due to all the changes happening in the world, people don’t have their usual outlets to stay healthy mentally. This means customers want to make their homes a place to thrive in every aspect of their life. Focus on products that integrate wellbeing and ways to unplug, these products will show your brand cares about the customer completely. Highlight products that de-stress and ease the strain on your body from work. Think about products like blue light blocking glasses, that will help your customer keep unhealthy levels of blue light from their eyes so they can fall asleep at night after a long workday.
Products that also alleviate stress like a yoga mat or self-care items will help your customers switch gears and take a break. Emphasize ways to boost wellness and healthy habits at home. This means that when customers are missing their gym or spa, your brand can offer an outlet for boosting their well being.
Wrap Up
Current trends show that people want a home that is comfortable and fulfills every need. Be the brand that can make a customer’s home the ideal spot for every task. Following this trend will set you apart as a vital aspect of your customer’s life.
Virtual trade shows have become more sophisticated while in-person events are not possible.
Virtual trade shows may feel incomparable to in-person events, but for the current climate they offer great ways to collect leads, display products and establish new business relationships
Learning to adapt to the virtual platform will ensure your relevancy in the evolving economy and prosper your brand
With in-person events forgone for the foreseeable future, virtual trade shows offer an adaptation to quench our craving for interactions. Though the virtual substitute can’t replace those meaningful handshakes, they have many features that will spark new business relationships and generate sales. Here’s an idea of what we can expect from the platform and understand the impact on the promo industry, with help from Jessica Del Rio, the event manager for the upcoming Sage Show, a promotional products trade show.
Many Ways to Communicate
Virtual events offer a variety of ways to connect. Live showrooms have moments where exhibitors speak with more than one person at their showroom or lounges. Virtual events accomplish the same over group chat rooms, one on one chat and video call. In showrooms and lounges, you can speak to the room’s audience to address significant questions or break off into one to one meetings to discuss deals. In these One to One meetings, attendees can meet with distributors and talk specifics about products. At the Sage Show, everyone can also schedule meetings at a time outside the trade show. In addition to this, Sage will group people into lounge areas by local areas. This way, attendees feel a closer connection while remaining far apart.
More Attendees and More Data
Virtual events can allow for more attendees because the barrier to entry is lower: the cost or time involved with travel can’t impede anyone. Jessica Del Rio shared that Sage expects the same number of attendees at their virtual rendition of Sage Show. In addition, virtual events offer more data on who attended your panel, presentation, or showroom and how long they stayed. Every move within the virtual landscape is traceable. Through this data, exhibitors will walk away with an understanding of the pieces that make their brand successful, even though they may not feel a perceivable reaction from buyers through a screen. At the Sage Show, exhibitors will also receive chat logs so distributors can draw out useful tidbits from a conversation or read exactly what a potential buyer shared.
Custom Booths and Showrooms
As a distributor, expect to work with specific software to create your showroom to display products, videos, and demos. This platform still allows your customers to walk through your unique landscape. Expect a 3D simulated environment that is entirely customizable. These spaces offer you the ability to put your brand name throughout and create demo areas. The Sage Show will have a leader board in the main lobby to tally up distributor interactions like initiating chat features or scanning their badge. Attendees will feel incentivized to get the most out of the experience.
Educational Sessions
Virtual trade shows do not compromise on insightful educational sessions for the industry. Some trade shows even allow for extended access to these sessions after the event. Though the Sage Show doesn’t plan to make speaker content available later, they have made it easy to enjoy the sessions during the show. Speakers pre-record their message so they can chat with attendees anytime throughout the show, and attendees don’t have to accommodate their schedule to attend.
Promotional Products Included
Though promo products can’t be passed out as readily in a virtual setting, there are ways to integrate promo into the experience. After an attendee finishes their visit to your booth, they can be promoted with a “thank you for attending” message with space to fill out their shipping info and choose a gift to receive later. This interplay won’t feel as spontaneous and exciting, but attendees will remember your interaction when they receive their free promo in the mail. Jessica Del Rio says the Sage Show allows potential buyers to request samples, which are easy to access because every item is in Sage World. They also plan to continue having a product pavilion with top products from the industry, that are “cool and fun” so everyone can stay on top of trends in the promotional world.
Secure Lead Capture and Payment
Virtual events allow lead capture to be faster, easier, and more reliable. Most platforms have systems in place to track attendees’ contact information and gather lists of buyers to follow up. At the Sage Show, an attendee can click to have their badge scanned when they enter the booth. This action will generate a lead for the supplier. Some platforms guarantee a minimum amount of leads. For any deals you want to make on the spot, virtual trade shows embed eCommerce platforms into the event to allow your brand to secure transactions at the end of a deal.
Extended access to Content
VIrtual Tradeshows are typically shorter, some as few as two hours. The Sage Show is six hours. Following the live event, some platforms allow participants can access any content they missed or revisit showrooms, panels, and presentations. Different trade show mediums offer varying levels of access to the information after the event and lengths of exposure, from 30, 60, to 90 days afterward. The Sage Show makes leads accessible to exhibitors any time after the show.
Conclusion
Virtual Trade Shows will feel different but can be a great asset to your brand. Expect the emergence of these events to create a safe option anytime a pandemic or natural disaster disrupts plans for in-person trade shows. Adapting to virtual shows can ensure your brand will prosper no matter the circumstance. These online experiences will also make you appreciate shared spaces and handshakes even more in the future.
Coronavirus is causing an uptick environmental consciousness
Anticipate connecting with customers through gifts made from sustainably sourced materials with a minimalist trend and expansive function.
Expect your sustainable products to convey your brand’s passion more effectively and foster unity with your customers
In the coronavirus age, customers will track with brands who work alongside them in earth conscious efforts. With news constantly developing, signs of environmental reprieve have given us a reason to be hopeful about our future. 2020 could be a year for reduced emissions and an overall healthier planet. That means customers want to be reached with gifts and products with sustainability as the throughline.
People care where products are sourced and take stock in cleaner origins. This means customers will notice the previous life of any promotional product. You can expect interest to gravitate towards items made with renewable and reclaimed resources, like these wheat-based sunglasses. People want to recognize the material used in a product, and most of all they want to know that using that source will not hurt the earth. They especially like products made from sustainable materials that are easily recycled when it’s time to give it up.
Following this trend towards consciously sourcing and producing gifts is a new way for your brand to team up with customers. Working towards an external goal of being better by the earth offers another way to win with your customers. The collective you target will want to partner with brands who value their priorities.
Maximize Minimalism
Coronavirus has caused everyone’s world to shrink, which means people are taking stock of what they have and what they actually need. This trend of environmentalism signifies that people want fewer, more meaningful products that add something valuable to their sphere. They also appreciate products that are sustainably packaged. Customers will notice brands that involve a small amount of material that is recognizable and recyclable.
For this reason, overdoing the number of gifts given or using wasteful materials will anger customers and move back your brand’s rapport in sustainable efforts. Customers desire for less means that promotional products get to be more purposeful and give your name more gravity. One product to consider is Wireless headphones, they will stick by your audience’s side and keep your name on their mind.
Emphasize Multifunctionality
Coronavirus has blurred lines between many spaces from home and office to the gym and living room. For this reason, people will trend towards products that offer multiple functions because they make life easier and waste less. Gifts like weatherproof outerwear let customers have one jacket that can offer protection in any environment. Multi-use powerbanks make people feel like multiple needs can be met with one object, and less material is wasted.
A desire for multifunctionality makes it easy to show up in customer’s lives through multiple avenues and concepts. Becoming more environmentally conscious doesn’t just mean using better materials, but using your resources more effectively. Multifunction products also make people feel like your partnership is a win after giving something more useful.
Wrap Up
Especially in the wake of a global pandemic, customers care about doing right by the earth. Following this trend of responsibly sourcing materials, wasting less and emphasizing functionality will foster respect and popularity around your brand. Emphasizing consciousness will share your mission with the world. Then people will desire to partner with you in the prosperity of their business and the earth.