Big Promotions Blog

Crowdsourcing: Everyone Contributes, No One Gets Paid

Susan Morgan — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 18:28:10 +0000

If you haven’t heard the term yet, you will soon. Starbucks and Dell both do it. Last year’s $1 million Netflix prize (for a better algorithm for film recommendations) was seen by many as a victory for crowdsourcing — this is, using the wisdom and labor of a crowd for creative or other services. Ideas [...]

Census Ad Specialties Work Better, Cost Less

Susan Morgan — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 20:49:15 +0000

Here’s a real world example of how affordable, and effective, promotional products can be… courtesy of an unlikely source, the 2010 U.S. Census. You probably haven’t heard much about the part promotional products, also known as advertising specialties, are playing in getting the message — the importance of being counted — out to the masses. Reports have the census bureau sending [...]

When There’s Cadmium In Your Kids Cup

Susan Morgan — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 19:36:30 +0000

Recalls are so much in the news. Cars. Medicines. Spinach. Now our kids cups. No doubt you’ve heard about the McDonald’s recall of 12 million Shrek Foever After 3D promotional glasses due to unsafe levels of cadmium in the paint pigments on the glasses. In case you’re wondering how the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CSPC) found [...]

Single Use Plastic Bags On Their Way Out

Susan Morgan — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 17:00:34 +0000

Not surprising that California is the first state in the nation to enact legislation banning those landfill clogging, single use plastic bags… affectionately known as urban tumbleweeds. With the passage of AB 1998, shoppers will soon be bringing their own reusable bags to the store (grocery store, drug store, liquor stores, etc.) or have to [...]

More Than Toys And Trinkets: Powerful Advertising

Susan Morgan — Fri, 21 May 2010 19:35:49 +0000

As our economy continues to “recover”, marketing budgets have remained under nearly constant scrutiny. When money’s tight, the temptation to cut advertising spending is almost irresistible for many businesses. This makes the need for marketing programs that truly deliver even greater — in fact, it might surprise you to learn that quality promotional products have proven [...]

Good-bye Desktop, Hello Smartphone?

Susan Morgan — Sat, 01 May 2010 16:23:13 +0000

Last month blogger Joe Wilcox asked a bold question, “Will the smartphone replace the PC in 3 years?” Part of the answer to the question comes in the form of a new report by a trio of Morgan Stanley analysts that charts the most important online trends and given us a glimpse at the possible future [...]

Twitter Ads: Value Before Profit

Susan Morgan — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 18:02:32 +0000

I continue to admire the group at Twitter. According to figures from marketing research firm comScore, Twitter had 22.3 million unique visitors in March 2010 in the United States, up 140% year-over-year. While the company itself usually doesn’t give out numbers, published estimates have Twitter with over 105 million users and 180 million unique visitors a month. Each [...]

Earth Day 2010: Your Chance To Go Green

Susan Morgan — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 14:28:27 +0000

Spring has to be one of the most incredible times of year, especially if you live in the colder climates. The temps get warmer… the snow and ice are melting fast and the color green is literally everywhere. As the 40th anniversary of the first Earth Day approaches, I can’t help but think back to one [...]

New For Spring: Getting Your Business Noticed

Susan Morgan — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:20:31 +0000

Not sure about the rest of the country, but where I live you can literally smell spring coming. There’s a noisy woodpecker behind the house who’s announced his return from wherever it is they go during the winter, and the birds are noisier and more numerous every day. The snow and ice are losing their [...]

Google Alerts: An Unexpected Tool For Your Business

Susan Morgan — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:03:17 +0000

Promo Marketing blogger Michael Cornnell recently put up a great piece on Google Alerts, a web tool that more and more business owners (myself included) are finding rather useful. If you aren’t using it already, you might want to start, especially after you see all the ways it can pay off for your business. Google Alerts [...]