Research proves that advertising calendars are useful and valuable. The Advertising Specialty Institute says that 74% of people can recall the advertiser on their promotional calendar. They’re powerful little marketing tools, and if you’re not using them in to enhance your brand visibility… your competitors are.
Bankers Advertising Articles
Give the gift of YUM with Food Gifts!
October 9, 2020
The holidays are a time to celebrate your customers, associates, and employees who have contributed to your success. Food gifts draw attention, are affordable, and appeal to all people.
Food gifts are the #1 holiday business gift.
- Make your holiday food gift-giving convenient. Instead of sending an employee to a retail store or spending time on the internet trying to find the right gifts, you can purchase your business gifts from Bankers.
- Keep it fresh! Fresher gifts taste better (and say something nice about the sender). Our gifts are packed to order just before the order is shipped, not made up many months in advance like so many gifts from mail-order and retail giants.
- Promote your company’s brand on your gift! When your recipient opens their gift, the first thing they’ll see is your logo. Your logo or message is included on every gift.
There is no hiding!
September 29, 2020
’Tis the season! Camouflage style products are all the rage every fall, and camo has continued to prove itself to be a timeless classic.
Originally known as hunter’s apparel, it’s now very popular in the fashion world as well as trendy in the retail world. We’re consistently offering and expanding our camo line of products. We are bringing continuity throughout these items so their styles have the same pattern, look and feel.
There are a lot of variations of camouflage patterns from the ever-popular Mossy Oak® & Realtree to military camo and digital camo. Now trending is the CamoHex pattern. Camouflage is not just for men, it’s for ladies too. We even offer pink camo and camo with neon accents! 
The most popular items that we continue to see as top sellers are: caps, T-shirts, sweatshirts and jackets, drinkware, coolers, bags, and now masks.
Check out some of our camo items here! Ask your Bankers consultant to help you stand out from the crowd.
Connecting Through Promo
August 28, 2020
Members of the 185th Air Refueling Wing Civil Engineering Squadron, Iowa Air National Guard uses a skid loader to remove downed trees among downed power lines in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on August 18, 2020. High winds uprooted trees, caused wide spread structural damage and power outages throughout Southeast Iowa. — U.S. Air National Guard photo Senior Master Sgt. Vincent De Groo
On Monday, Aug. 10, a derecho (essentially an inland hurricane) barreled through the Midwest, leveling some of its worst damage, with sustained 100+ mph winds, as it passed over Eastern Iowa, including Iowa City, where Bankers HQ is located. We were largely spared — some staff were left without power at home, some lost trees, but our office is unscathed. We were lucky enough to keep power and internet service, although many in our city remained without for several days.
Just half an hour North of here, where a few of our suppliers are located, as well as several of our sales partners and customers, the situation is a lot more grim. The entire city of Cedar Rapids lost power. Many are still, two weeks later, without internet, and cell service is spotty. Lines at the few working gas stations were hours long that first week. Sales partners and customers across the state of Iowa have been affected to varying degrees by the wide swathe of the storm.
When friends and neighbors are facing devastation like that, it’s easy to feel helpless. It’s the same feeling we all feel, as a nation, as we trudge through month five of the COVID-19 pandemic. But feeling helpless, while entirely natural, gets us nowhere. I am a member of Delta Gamma sorority from my long-ago college years, and our motto is Do Good. I think of that motto frequently in these times of tragedy upon tragedy. It’s so simple, but it’s our best, and often only, choice. And one powerful way to do good is through promo.
Fortune Favors the Bold
April 29, 2020
Rice Krispies advertisement from the 1940s. — public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
In the midst of quarantine and confusion, there’s a real temptation to look only forward—to tomorrow, next week, next year, when surely, everything will be “better,” or “back to normal,” or simply “safe,” whichever is your fantasy of choice. But a better tomorrow can’t come unless we pursue it with intention and wisdom, and to do that, we need to turn around and examine the lessons of the past.
Have we ever experienced a pandemic at the scale of this novel coronavirus? Not in most of our lifetimes, no. But that hardly means the past is devoid of clues for how to proceed, succeed, and thrive. Specifically, it’s valuable to look at times of past recession for inspiration in this era of perilous financial straits. How have companies approached various aspects of their business plans during previous periods of belt-tightening, and what tactics have worked better than others? (more…)
The TRUE Power of Promo!
April 1, 2020
The current novel coronavirus pandemic has the whole world in a tailspin. Many of our suppliers have been benched as non-essential businesses in states with shelter-in-place orders; many more are making the call to close themselves, out of an abundance of caution, to protect staff until the worst of this passes.
But some manufacturers in the promo industry are taking a different approach.
Promotional products factories nationwide are being tweaked or even retrofitted to enable production of PPE, or Personal Protective Equipment — the face masks and face shields so desperately needed by so many hospitals, first responders, kitchen staff, and more — and other, more typical promo products that are in high demand right now, including hand sanitizer. Companies that already produced such things are refocusing their efforts to increase quantities drastically.
Still other suppliers have quickly pivoted their production schedules and developed new stock and customizable signage, decals, banners, flyers, and printables to help ease the strain on businesses having to incorporate messaging regarding coronavirus safety, closures, and more on short timetables.
This spirit of community effort and willingness to fill the needs that arise is central to our industry. Promotional products are always flexible and responsive, rising to the occasion, whether it’s a new trend that customers are suddenly craving or a global emergency that needs support.
Bankers Advertising is proud to partner with suppliers that are making efforts, both large and small, to be responsible corporate citizens in this time of uncertainty and anxiety.
How Stuff Works: Blue Light Blocking Glasses
March 23, 2020
Blue light blocking glasses are more popular than ever, especially as more and more employees are working from home and taking fewer breaks between their work and personal screens. But how do they work, and why are they a perfect choice for your staff and customers? Read on to learn more!
TREND ALERT! Marble: Still a Classy Classic
March 9, 2020
Our suppliers continue to consistently highlight a trend that’s been hanging around for a few years now: marble!
It’s not just for countertops and classical statues — and it’s not just for hard goods, either.
Off We Go into the Wild Blue Yonder!
December 6, 2019
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Wait, what? Are there holidays happening, too? No, I mean the Pantone Color of the Year announcement! Every year, the color mavens at the New Jersey-based Pantone Color Institute analyze trends and dive deep into art, culture, and lifestyle around the world to arrive at their pronouncement for Color of the Year, a hue that then goes on to spark its own trends and influence a multitude of different industries, including fashion, industrial design, and of course: promo!
Pantone made their 2020 announcement this year early evening of Dec. 4, right around the time when the normally softer sky deepens and darkens to just this shade: PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue. The elegant and emotive color of twilight will be everywhere we turn next year, and I for one couldn’t be happier! It’s just a titch lighter than our beloved Bankers blue, but we can forgive that.
In their announcement, Pantone calls the color “timeless and enduring.” Blue certainly has had a host of connotations over the years, from honesty and trust to calm and concentration. A 2012 University of Maryland study showed that 42 percent of men and 29 percent of women chose blue as their favorite color (the highest percentage of any color for both). Studies going as far back as 1941 have shown the same, a 2017 Artsy article claimed, going so far as to call it “the world’s favorite color.”
For Pantone’s part, they see it as both “reassuring” and “thought-provoking,” banking on their Classic Blue to “bring a sense of peace and tranquility to the human spirit.” They believe that it will resonate with “our desire for a dependable and stable foundation on which to build as we cross the threshold into a new era.”
Pantone Color Institute Executive Director Leatrice Eiseman doubles down on these ideas with her ode to Classic Blue: “We are living in a time that requires trust and faith,” the announcement quotes her. “It is this kind of constancy and confidence that is expressed by PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue, a solid and dependable blue hue we can always rely on. Imbued with a deep resonance, Classic Blue provides an anchoring foundation. A boundless blue evocative of the vast and infinite evening sky, Classic Blue encourages us to look beyond the obvious to expand our thinking; challenging us to think more deeply, increase our perspective and open the flow of communication.”
That’s a tall call for a color, but Classic Blue seems more than up to the task. And it’s certainly comforting to have both a clear vision and clear skies to look ahead to in 2020. Such a classic color also will be straightforward to find in products, making it easy to integrate into promo marketing programs right away.
And it’s perfect for the season. You can even get a head start on next year and have a “Blue Christmas” in a few weeks!
‘Tis the Season!
October 21, 2019
Explore our seasonal Gift Guide!
As we roll into fall, there’s a better than average chance that you’re starting to make a list of your top clients or donors and checking your budgets twice! That’s right, it’s time for everyone to start thinking about gift giving, large and small.
We want you to be fully prepped and ready for the season of giving! One great place to start is our Gift Guide, which is filled to the brim with products and ideas for all your giving needs. From travel and party supplies to the best in wearables and electronics, the guide has a myriad of options.
However, we also like to pass along some insight into some of the industry’s hottest trends for the cold weather holidays. We’ve pulled together ideas from our top suppliers, who know which way the (chilly) wind is blowing! These ideas and products will be well-received by everyone from clients to donors to staff.
COOL COLORS
Expect the unexpected this fall! There’s a particularly strong leaning toward pastels, but the key takeaway is that your customers should NOT be afraid to experiment. And they’ll have plenty of support from suppliers and even name brand collaborators for whatever they’re seeking.
What we’re reading: “There are plenty of opportunities to experiment with new colors this season—whether it’s a pastel tote or an umbrella in a soft heathered gray. Even legendary workwear brand Carhartt has broken away from traditional brown with new colors and styles that people are going crazy for.”
PLANET-FRIENDLY PICKS
The current state of the earth’s environment — from fires in the Amazon to an ever-increasing number of jurisdictions banning single-use plastic to weather patterns hammering already hard-hit areas — is a huge concern for a lot of people. Even if you aren’t an adamant environmentalist yourself, many of your clients may be; it’s a win-win scenario to seek out promo that protects the planet, like this bamboo cutlery. Clients can certainly feel good about a renewable resource that can be harvested repeatedly, especially when it looks this good! Many suppliers have whole lines dedicated to this trend.
SHIMMERING SELECTIONS
One of the most popular ways that designers are pulling in those pastel colors we mentioned earlier is through iridescent and holographic products. A recent industry article on this trend noted its ubiquity in the retail sphere, the creative freedom it offers the end user, and the influence of the rising younger generations. It also pointed out that the icy look of it is perfect for winter holidays. Gift season is the perfect time to have some fun with a little shimmer and shine!
Be sure you as your representative about these ideas this fall. They’ll be happy to show you samples and more generally keep you informed on all of the hottest trends of the season and all year long!