Saturday, January 28, 2012

BrandCharger© - Charge two devices with the dual ports

BrandCharger© has two useful USB ports and comes with a standard set of connectors that work with most popular mobile devices. And of course, you can always use the original USB cable supplied with your mobile phone or MP3 player.

The perfect travel companion on the road ensures your customer’s mobile phone, handheld computer or GPS is always powered.


LED powered logo display including 1M USB cable and 6 connectors. Available in any PMS color 
With dual ports, both driver and passengers are guaranteed to have a positive brand experience and can simultaneously charge their mobile devices.




Suitable for any car (universal) | Dual USB port 1000 mA | Perfect travel companion | Professional blister packaging | 360° branding | High quality look and feel |Air and waterproof | Alternative packaging available



Custom packaging with every order of 100 pcs or larger. Full color imprint on both sides of insert card.
Prominent logo visibility is paired with function and practicality. And with 90% of the handheld devices having USB connectivity, the car charger will be used more time after time!


Friday, January 27, 2012

SmashLight™ - It's a Smashed Flashlight (Flat not Round)

The SmashLight™ is made from a soft flexible vinyl material and features a magnetic back, wrist cord, and a momentary on/off switch (press to turn off, release to turn off). It's like a normal flashlight but it smashed flat.



  • 2 LED bulbs
  • 2 non-replaceable lithium batteries (battery shelf life lasts several years)
  • Momentary on/off switch (press on, release off)
  • Magnetic back
  • Wrist cord
  • Printing: spot color screen printing on entire light (up to 10 spot colors combined, front and back),  1 color pad print on front side (in white oval), full color offset printing also available
  • Product Size: 5" w x 1.5" h x .5" d

Custom SmashLight™ with your custom colors can be created for a minimum of 500 pcs.
Stock SmashLight™ with a one color imprint - minimum of 250 pcs.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

QR CODES 3-3-9

QR CODES 3-3-9
(3 DO’s – 3 DON’Ts & 9 SUGGESTIONS)

Three DO's
1. DO | create a Call to Action... give them a reason to scan your code, tell them what they'll get; view this video on You Tube (create a video about your product)...   join our mailing list… find our nearest location…  download this info article about… enter our drawing… like us on Facebook... follow us on Twitter.
2.  DO | always Test, Test, Test… before publishing, test your code on all smartphones (Android, Blackberry, iPhone, Win7) with different readers. There are many popular code readers available. I personally use i-Nigma on my Android (go to www.i-nigma.mobi on your phone to download it free). I’ve heard that Qrafter for iPhone and iPad is good ( iTunes  store). When printing on a promo item, have the factory test the code after printing a few or get a pre-production sample to test the code yourself, this could save some problems later.
3.  DO | use a URL Shortener... this helps to increase the number of scans. Use a service like bit.ly or their atternative j.mp (one character shorter) . Another is goo.gl. Both offer tracking with their use. Or use your own URL shortener like I do, KPQR.US. I then customize for each customer such as  KPQR.US/att, KPQR.US/teen.

Three DON'Ts
1.  DON'T |send them to your normal website... create a mobile-enabled version of the page you want them to see.  90%+ of scans come from a smartphone, make sure they can read your message.
2.  DON'T |make the code too small... the smaller the code the fewer phone that can scan it... phones without auto focus will have a problem, try to keep the code size to a minimum of ¾” square. The amount of data in the code affects scanability, the more data, the larger the code should be.
3.  DON'T | reverse colors to a white code on black or other darker color, reversing colors will work with some smartphones but many code readers will not be able to render it. If you have to print a code on a dark color shirt, put down a white background square and print the black code on it.

Nine Best-Use Suggestions
1.  Use error correction at the M lever, (most code generators have this option) this means that even if up to 15% of the code is blocked or dirty, it can be corrected and still be read.
2.  Save your codes as a SVG (
Scalable Vector Graphics) if possible, which is a vectored image XML file, it can be increased or reduced without losing resolution and makes for a better printed code. You can also put colors into the code using Illustrator or CorelDraw. Try out different colors and test, test.
3.  A good margin or white space is important to the proper rendering of a code. Most codes are 25 modules up and 25 modules across. I like to have at least three or four modules of white space. Do not print on black without having white space beyond the code itself around it.
4.  Not every target has a smartphone... it’s best to show the URL link the code renders to, next to the code when you print. This helps increase your scan rate. About 50% of mobile phones in the USA are smartphones, make sure the other 50% can respond to your promotion by showing the URL link.
5.  Show how to get a free reader. Print ‘get a free reader at your app store’ near to the code.
6.  Some URL shortener services will let you change the destination link without changing the code. You could then use the same code and redirect it to a different You Tube video or offer each week.
7.  Make sure you have color contrast... a dark and a light color... no less than 4:1 ratio (black/white is best). If there is not enough contrast, your code will be harder to read or not be read at all. Other colors can be used as long as you stick to the 4/1 ratio, brown/yellow or red/white would work.
8.  Create your code so you can track how many scans it generated... using analytics to improve your project. Both bit.ly and goo.gl offer free analytics when you use their service to shorten an URL.
9.  Finally, make sure any code you create for printing is not RGB, even when printing black and white, it should be changed to a grayscale or CMYK so only the black plate is used when printing. This will help the resolution and make scanning easier by more smartphones. Saving a SVG code as a jpeg will work if it is the actual size it will print at, if it is saved as CMYK and if it is saved at a minimum of 300 dpi.

QR Code projects make good sense for any kind of business. You’ll see more and more use of them for many years.

Ken Kelsey, MAS
KelseyPromo
KPQR.US

Ken, a 40 year veteran of the promotional products industry, is a former board member and the former technology committee chairman at Promotional Products Association International (PPAI). He has owned KelseyPromo dba of XtremePromotions.com in Livonia, MI since 1973.

You can view a PDF of the article online here KPQR.US/qr339

QR Code is registered trademark of DENSO WAVE INCORPORATED.