ASI Chicago Day 1: Our Favorite Promotional Products

Whew! Day one of exhibits at the ASI Chicago show is in the books.  It’s been promotional products all day long since leaving Hopkinsville before the sun was up.  We just couldn’t wait to do a quick recap on some of our favorite promo items and gifts.  And we’ve yet to make it even half way through the show floor, so we’ll share more after the tradeshow ends!

Thing You Need For Your Next Event

We vote the Cash Cannon the thing you need most for your next event.  Whether it’s a huge outdoor gathering or your next holiday open house, this makes coupons fun, and even makes cash more fun if you’ve got it like that!  Our only regret is we didn’t get a video of this one in action!

 

Best Ladies Logo Wear

Sarah here.  I am forever on the hunt for logo wear and apparel that fits well, is flattering, and isn’t just another polo.  This infinity scarf takes care of wearing your brand in style when you just don’t quite find the right piece, or it goes well on top of other branded apparel.  This one is our leading favorite for a fun ladies option.

 

Best Use of Patterns

Again with the fun, usable items for the ladies…the RuMe bags.  I saw the display from a mile away and was drawn to it.  And then I got the full demo of how the bags work, what the logo options are…let me just say to my customers if you don’t see a Williams Advertising RuMe bag with your next delivery, it will be because I’ve run out already.  LOVE these!

 

Most Needed for Winter, tied with Favorite Large Format Branding Opportunity

The IceScreen.  If you were around Kentucky a few months ago, you would have seen the need for these everywhere.  Had we had these then, you would also have seen the logo of very smart Williams Advertising clients who realized this is a huge opportunity in large format branding.  Let’s say the forecast calls for snow and ice…you pull in to the parking lot at work, pull your IceScreen out, and there it sits in the parking lot all day long until the snow hits, making you look like a well-prepared pro who gets to pull out of there at 5 while the rest of the lot is stuck scraping off their cars.  And that’s the end-user…clients who get the promotion all day?  Genius.

 

But First, Let me Take a Selfie

We’ve seen the selfie stick, and they’re great fun.  But what’s better than a clip-on lens that shows your brand whether in selfie mode or regular camera?  This little lens clips right over the phone camera lens on either side (there are grippies to protect your phone), and automatically widens the shot and backs it away a bit from being a photo taken THISCLOSE.  This one is one of the most fun new techie items we saw today.

 

These are just a few of our favorite new items that we saw today.  We visited with one of our favorites for printing…cannot wait for our next business card order, our printing partner has some great deals going on with their new thick cards!  We’re on the hunt for more good pens…a good, lower-end pen that you don’t have to stress over handing out because your entire marketing budget is spent on it.  We’ve found a couple of contenders but testing and customer feedback will be the tell on that!  And finally apparel.  If you attended the ASI show in Chicago today, you may have seen a lady touching EVERY.SINGLE.SHIRT. in the exhibit hall.  It’s because Sarah is on the hunt for the World’s Softest T-Shirt.  More to come on our findings there, as well as all the goodies we collected for our customers’ upcoming projects and events…we should have some fun items coming up soon on spotlights!  Stay tuned for more post-show coverage with more of our favorites.