PROMOTIONAL NOTEBOOKS & JOURNALS CUSTOM BRANDED with YOUR LOGO

Promotional Notebooks - A Custom Branded Gift Idea for All Time

It would seem to the gimlet-eyed observer that in this day and age of electronic communications and digital messaging that the traditional ways of doing things at home and around the office have gone by the wayside. Why would you need a custom printed notebook when you can just as easily type out a quick message on a mobile phone and then send it across the world at the touch of another button? While there are clearly good reasons for the electronic office revolution the idea of the paperless office is not as close at it was once prophesied to be, This is not solely because an older generation of business operatives have refused to move with the times but more because some of the old ways still offer a genuine utility which is not yet matched by the new technological solutions. Such is the case with the custom notebook. For all the innovations available in the world of electronic messaging there is still nothing as viable, simple and effective as jotting down a message on a piece of paper or a phone number of a business contact for later reference. Here we go through the multiple reasons why companies still invest in promotional notebooks and offer a range of ways in which they can be utilised to maximise the return on your promotional investment.

Cost Effectiveness is a Promotional Essential

In the ever changing world of marketing and promotions practitioners are always looking for the latest and greatest thing ,or at least a promotional merchandise idea which will provide all of the basic budgetary and imagery related requirements to provide utility and equity for a brand. Because promotional marketing is more an art than a science you cant always be sure that you will succeed, however the thing that matters is that you keep marching forward, attempting new ideas and engaging with the zeitgeist so eventually you will strike upon an option which delivers in multiples of the budget deployed. This is the objective of all promotional activity - generating sales in excess of the cost of advertising as it would be a road to ruin to spend more than one earns. As Mr. Micawber so wisely explained, "Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds nought and six, result misery.” This same principle applies in your everyday marketing activity and this is why using promotional notebooks is a proven way to maximise your return on promotional investment.

Why are Promotional Notebooks Still so Popular?

When handing out promotional products to your staff and business contacts there are twin imperatives at work. First you want to attract attention to your branding and company image by way of creating awareness for the brand. The branding added to the products you choose is the medium by which this thrust of the marketing activity plays out. So The idea is you want a product which will become part of the daily activity of the client so your logo and branding message is seen regularly and gains traction by osmosis, if you will. The slow and steady accumulation of the generally scattered attention of the average citizen is the target objective of this side of the promotional marketing equation. And choosing the right product and branding it is a sympathetic manner which adds apparent value to the product is objective in achieving a positive outcome. But then there is a second side to the process. A more nuanced and shall we say esoteric dimension, which is where the art of promotional marketing comes to the fore. And that is the objective of creating a positive emotional bond with the recipient of your promotional gift product. This dimension cannot be assessed in terms of budget, or direct return on investment of even the number of anticipated impact/views of your logo over a prescribed period of time. Instead this is a world of emotions, where the clinical assessment of the balance sheet goes out the window and we hope instead that the emotional centre of the recipient drives them to appreciate, understand and recognise the positive attributes of your company and brand offerings.

Which brings us to the point at hand, that promotional notebooks are always popular because they broach both sides of the eternal promotional equation. They are eminently practical items which people will use on a daily basis and refer back to when they wish to consider the notes taken in the heat of battle, but also, as things of beauty with textured finishes which have a distinctly feminine quality in that they are a device into which one can implant ideas and values, they inevitable generate an emotional cinnection with the user. And with your logo printed front and centre on the cover ift is inevitable that some of this emotional appreciation will spill over into your brand.

People venture out into the business battlefield every day and like an infantryman with his rifle thrown into a scene of battle so too is the business operative equipped with certain essentials for survival. One such business essential is the custom branded notebook. Always at the ready to assist when required there are few better ways to record important information or jot down the detais of a planned meeting than to use a handy piece of paper. The problem, of course with just writing on any old scrap of paper is that it can be mislaid, but this is not the case when you have a notebook on hand. Everything you write is contained in one handy location and you will never have to go through your pockets or handbag looking for the scrap of paper you used to find the phone number of the persion who called you out of the blue desperate to buy something you want to sell. In fact those notes are there forever and you will be able to refer back to everything you write years into the future so any thought or idea which has occurred to you on the road will always be there even if you need it years into the future.

Custom Branding of Promotional Notebooks

The great advantage of notebook branding is that you can do it subtly or you can go BOLD. You can produce a stylish and fashionable notebook look by printing a smaller version of your logo and matching the colours and texture to the external cover of the notebook. This might be the best option if you’re offering corporate gift notebooks to your clients and staff. But if you're staging a conference or event maybe a large scale screen-print on the cover will get people’s attention. It depends on your promotional objectives and the ideas below here cover all the options.

Custom Screen-Print of Your Logo

If you want to make sure your logo gets notices and indeed make it a prominent part of the design of the custom notebooks you’re offering a large scale screen-print could be the best option. Screen-printing is a time consuming process which produces a high quality result and is best for a large scale result.

Custom Pad Print Branding

Pad printing is the industry standard for most promotional branding and is cost effective and high quality, though it generally works well when you want a one colour print. Multiple colours can get tricky and it probably recommended that you use a digital print if you want more than two colours. For most notebooks a pad print is perfectly ok and given the fact that many notebooks cost less than five dollars it would be the sensible option. You don't want to spend as much printing your logo as you do on the notebook itself.

Full Colour Digital Print on Promotional Notebooks

In recent years there has been a revolution in the print industry with digital print systems becoming widespread.Where the early digital systems were complex and costly these days they are easy to manage and cost effective so that many products which could previously only be printed using a traditional pad print system can now be branded using the modern digital techniques. The great advantage of the digital system is that is is as easy to print in one colour as it is to print in full colour. So where for many decades promotional products were traditionally printed in only one colour by dent of the limitations of the print systems available there days you can have full colour print on your custom branded notebooks for only a small increase in price. And digital is the future. The trend is certainly towards more and more products being branded in full colour. Notebooks and journals are particularly well suited to digital print systems as they generally offer a flat surface which allows easy reproduction of logos without the distortion which can come from rendering a logo on a curved surface.

Embossing and Debossing Notebook Covers

This is the premium branding option which is usually employed when producing corporate gift notebooks or higher quality, premium gifts for valued clients and staff when you want to make a strong impression. It’s a costly process because you have to produce a metal die which is used to “strike” the cover of each notebook leaving a permanent impression of your logo and message indented into the cover material. Embossing pushed the logo into the surface of the notebook, leaving a concave impression, while debossing does the opposite, resulting in a raised, textured version of your branding. Either way the branding becomes an integral part of the notebook cover and certainly provides a premium appearance which cannot. scuff of scratch which is the case with printed branding options.

Custom Manufacture of Notebooks

For those who want something completely unique and different, and who doesn't these days, having your own custom notebooks produced is a genuine option. However this is only really viable if you want a large quantity and want to make this a regular part of your promotional activity. This can work really well if you're sponsoring a conference of a major event. The whole cover of the notebook can be custom printed to show your design and make an additional impact. If you hand them out at your event people will take them home afterwards, complete with the notes and contact details opf the other people they met at the event and the standout cover branding you have had custom printed will be a constant reminder of your event. If it’s a conference which happens every year having such a vivid reminder on hand is likely to generate year-round interest and ensure people signup to attend again.

Huge Range of Different Notebook Styles and Price Points

The best thing about notebooks is there’s something for everyone. If you have a couple of dollars to spend or a hundred there’s a promotional notebook style which will suit your marketing plans. As always, if you are confused by the choice and uncertain which style and budget is the best option for your planned program give us a call and one of our experts can guide you through the options. As they say, it pays to keep it Fresh!