Everyone seems to be in the business of being green. Our new office cleaning service even asked us if we wanted them to use green cleaning products. Of course we replied yes, we are in the business of selling green promotional products right!

Over the past year MCM has consulted with many of our clients to help them look at what promotional items they purchase and if there may be a more “green” way to use them. In the past year our greatest discovery was leaning to look beyond the label. Look at organic cotton. Sounds like the green alternative. It uses a fraction of the chemicals of traditional cotton but during its initial harvest years its uses considerably more water. Then look at where most of the organic cotton comes from. Peru, Turkey, Africa and China. That’s one big carbon foot print before it reaches you. Solution = We always believe that every project should start with its goal not with a product. This is particularly true with going green. This makes it easier to incorporate recyclable or sustainable products from the inception.

Our next lesson came when we were working on a very large recycled banner bag order. The banners were extremely heavy and the freight cost / carbon foot print. Solution = Both MCM and our client knew that dumping banners in a landfill was the least favorable option so we found a new supplier whose location cut the miles by 60%.  

Learn more about green promotional items at Green Products or give us a call at 888-344-6060.

Summer is about half over but there is still time to purchase custom printed towels or imprinted towels for your event. Any time a client says beach, pool or cruise we say custom or imprinted towels.

Towels are a perfect logo or theme “billboards”. They are also intimate and when connected to a memorable outdoor event, they will repeatedly re-enforce the positive impression that you created for years to come.

There is a catch. We sell basic towels for as little at $.79 and also sell some amazing custom printed towels for more than $25. The variables are size, material, quality and decoration. That would give you about one million options.

We are standing by and ready to go to work for you. Tell us about your event, your budget and how many towels you need. With our 20 plus years of imprinted towel and custom printed towel expertise we will narrow your choices down and get you what you need to be successful.

Let us select from, cotton velour, screen printed, embroidered, mid weight, tone on tone, stock art, custom art, cabana stripe, eco-friendly, appliqué, Turkish cotton and more. We know the highest quality suppliers and how to get your custom printed towel delivered to your event on time!

There is still plenty of time for you to select a custom printed or imprinted towel before summer ends. Give us a call for all of your event needs at 888-344-6060 or e-mail us at sales @mcmproductions.com

Promotional building block sets continue to be a popular and versatile product. We like to call these classic products. Just look at how Legos have grown in popularity and recognize that this iconic firm has been around since 1932.

Four generations have been playing with building blocks and apparently our infatuation with them is growing. Deep in our genomes we obviously have a need to build things. Perhaps it’s a primal instinct to obtain shelter. These blocks connect us with our inner child and they put a smile on everyone’s face.

When you add in the messaging potential, these promotional building block sets become a powerful vehicle to deliver both a visual and symbolic message. They are perfect for campaigns that involve building on a theme or depicting multiple layers of a strategy.

Take a look at the gallery below to see how many stock shapes are available. If you have more time, we can help you design a custom shape that will heighten your impact. Promotional building block sets should be on your list of choices for any project where you need to show the inter-relationship of several key points.   

MCM Productions works only with the highest quality promotional building block set manufactures. Let us help you save time, obtain the most impact and get you competitive pricing. Call us at 888-344-6060 or e-mail us at sales@mcmproductions.com

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The other day we took Rufus, our office pet to the vet for an infected cut. Let’s be honest and accept that we are so attached to our pets that we drop everything and rush them to the vet probably more quickly than we rush ourselves to the doctors. A lot of people spend more time researching the best vet as compared to the best doctor and we spend plenty of money to care for our pets.

Veterinarians take note that we want your name and phone number made as visible as can be next time there is a pet emergency. That’s why promotional pet products are a perfect fit for you business. Every pet visit is an opportunity to establish your brand in the household.

Think promotional pet products anytime there is a pet related event in your town. Open house at the local shelter, a fun run with dogs, pet show with children. There is always something taking place in our town that involves pets.

Take a peek at the gallery below. It has some of our favorite promotional pet products and most of these have been field tested by Rufus. We take his word on what’s the hottest promotional pet product in the market today. Give Rufus a bark or call us at 888-344-6060. He doesn’t have an e-mail account but we can read it to him if you send your request to sales@mcmproductions.com

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Rufus says the collapsible bowl and the “poopie bag” with carabineer are the 2 favorites of his and his friends.

We are keen on personalized flash drives as they are a very versatile product. There is no doubt that the custom shaped flash drives have the greatest “WOW Factor”. But they are not for every application due to minimums, lead time and cost.

Don’t despair; we have relationships with several promotional flash drive manufacturers that offer an array of incredible stock shapes. We can help you personalize them to get that powerful impression that will stay in front of your audience forever.  Think, stock shapes are the new custom. The shapes and materials are too lengthy to list but include light bulbs, vehicles, pens, laser pointers, leather, wood, human and cappuccino machines, just kidding on that one, but I’m sure somebody is working on it. Check out the gallery below for some ideas.

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Not sure why or how to get the greatest impact with personalized promotional flash drives? Check out Creative Uses for Flash Drives. It’s a brief piece on explaining some different ways to market with promotional flash drives. We are also very diligent about which suppliers we work with as Flash Drive Quality is difficult to determine. That’s why  we only align ourselves with the most reputable firms.  

Let us assist you with your next personalized flash drive project. Tell us about your project and we will do the research to narrow down the choices that will work best for you. Call us at 888-344-6060 and send us your art work at sales@mcmproductions.com. We will be back to you in a flash.

Yes you can teach an old dog a new trick. This weekend I washed our cars and dried them with the Shammy Towel. I could not believe how well this simple promotional car towel worked.

First a little history. This dog has been seriously washing cars for decades. I have used everything from baby diapers to a $50 chamois. I take car washing and detailing seriously.

For 5 years this blue Shammy towel has been sitting in my bucket of car towels. I never took this sample seriously. For some unknown reason I grabbed it and began to dry the car. Wow, it soaked up tons of water even though it’s only 10 ½ x 16 inches in size. In a few minutes the car was super dry and there wasn’t a single water spot. There was no lint like my towels nor was there any of the slimy feel of the expensive natural chamois.

I’m hooked and I must recommend this promotional car towel called the Shammy to anyone who is marketing to a serious automotive market. Your audience will not be disappointed. Stay tuned as I plan on testing this as a dust towel and a glass polishing towel as soon as this page is published.

Give us a call at 888-344-6060 and we promise to help you find the perfect promotional product to wow you audience.

Based on the published dated of 7-06 one could assume that we were overcome with an abundance of patriotism over the 4^th of July weekend. The MCM team including our dog Rufus even marched in the local parade and we watched our share of fireworks.

Patriotism is a good reason to buy promotional products made in the USA but if you read our 6-30 company newsletter you will see that a series of global economic events is making this move even more compelling.

When the current recession began in 2008 with companies around the globe reducing staff and cutting back on inventory. This immediately resulted in a ripple effect of longer lead times and a marked decrease in customer service. Pricing also became very aggressive and there were calendar year end bargains.  At the end of Q1 in 2010 the first signs of a recovery appeared. The strongest growth was reported in China. 

The Chinese growth has much to do with more and more internal growth as their economy is being driven by their own consumption as opposed to exports. Chinese wages are rising and this means their prices are also rising. The ripple effect here is that US goods are becoming more competitive. Toss in the added freight costs and longer lead times and promotional products that are made in the USA are becoming much more competitive. The Chinese government has also begun to let their currency float. 

Let us help you make the most competitive choice. Call us at 888-344-6060 or e-mail us at sales@mcmproductions.com

I found this very odd story that dry sun burned lips are ending relationships in record numbers. It is so obscure, I could not fact check it but it’s a good reminder that we are in summer and customized lip balm is always a fitting product for the season. 

Customized lip balm or personalized lip balm is a perfect fit for a goody bag at a summer outing or as a stand alone product at a summer event. You can really never have enough of them. Your purse, golf bag, car, back pack, toilet kit, bathroom, office desk, go name it. 

The manufactures are keeping pace with the market and you can now get personalized lip balm made with natural ingredients and SPF 15 UVA and UVB protection along with  Beeswax, Shea Butter, Aloe Vera, Vitamin E and a host of flavor options. Our favorite suppliers can offer customized lip balm with a vivid 4 color image and a highly durable laminated label to protect your investment.

You can further customize your lip balm with shapes that include the familiar tube, skinny tube, mini tube or tins. Take it a step further with a neoprene sleeve, a lanyard or a carabiner. For the ultimate in personalized lip balm you can give it flavor. Think vanilla, orange citrus, mint, green tea or smore’s. If you want to go over the top take a look at Marketing a New Flavor and learn about the almost unlimited selection of custom flavors. 

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Give us a call at 888-344-6060 and we can get your lips protected and help you with your next project. E-mail us at sales@mcmproductions.com

We road warriors just retuned from some air travel and TSA is just not making life any easier. Yes, they are doing an important job but with the airlines charging exorbitant fees for checked bags you really need to pack in a way to optimize your passage through the security check point particularly if you use a laptop bag. 

Nothing speeds the way like a well designed custom laptop bag. We have tested several and believe that the, “Life in Motion” bags are some of the best we have seen. They will speed your way through the checkpoint with their super easy laptop access. 

These bags are highly sort after gifts from the college market right through to the corporate executive. Check out the high value Global Computer Portfolio that’s packed with all of the right features at an unbelievable price. For something trendy we like the Primary Computer Backpack which is a favorite with the younger crowd. For the executive road warrior you can not beat the super practical Wheeled Computer Portfolio. It is a proven back saver. 

Custom laptop bags are highly valued gifts and your logo will be proudly displayed around the globe by your road warriors. When you are considering a highly practical gift we would like to show you the entire Life in Motion product line. Give us a call at 888-344-6060 or e-mail sales@mcmproductions.com

Something New! Take a look at this innovative travel mouse. Aside from its compact size and extremely useful retractable cord, this mighty mouse packs a web key. OK, “web key”, it’s a device, usually a flash drive that automatically links to a pre-programmed web site. If you want to learn more check out our post entitled, “Technology with a Visual Impact”. 

We really like the functionality of a web key to drive traffic to a specific web site. When you try this web key enabled mouse it will become your trusted companion. With a single click on its center button it brings up a pre-programmed web site URL. There is simply no better way to drive your audience to your web site or to a unique landing page. 

Here are some perfect applications for a web key mouse: 

1. Financial Institution or Financial Planner linking to Client login page.
2. Realtor linking to New Listings page
3. On-Line Retailer linking to Today’s Specials page
4. Credit Card company linking to Client Login page
5. Car dealer linking to Make a Service Appointment page 

The options are enormous. I just checked my list of personal password to web sites and it’s over 100. Each of them is a marketing pathway. 

Add in the additional exposure of having your logo in the 1” x 5/8” imprint area and we know you will agree that this travel mouse is a super hero. It comes attractively packaged in a white box. Call us for more info or for a sample at 888-344-6060  e-mail at sales@mcmproductions.com.