Geiger UK

Your Brand - Our Inspiration

Promotional Gifts

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, merch in every store!

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Christmas can never start too soon for businesses and this is something that’s especially true this year. Stakeholder appreciation has been at the forefront of a lot of our minds because of the difficulties and uncertainty experienced by so many this year. Many are still working extra hard to ensure businesses can survive and thrive in the current climate.

Some companies are cancelling their Christmas parties this year and diverting those budgets into sending tokens of gratitude to staff and clients to brighten up their festive season. Others feel this Christmas is a time to show their appreciation more than ever before.

So this is Christmas. Before we know it, we’ll be digging out the decorations and writing cards. Our favourite Christmas songs will start turning up on the radio, and then, come the 25th December, we’ll be watching Home Alone. No matter what happens, Christmas is always a beacon of warmth and happiness, shining near the end of the calendar.

Getting ready

There is so much going on in the country at the moment, let alone the rest of the world. It can often seem overwhelming. And although the news, rules, and advice seem to change from day to day, Christmas, one thing that’s definitely in the diary. No matter what happens, where we can or can’t go, who we can or can’t see, and whether or not we can hug each other, we will celebrate Christmas.

With that knowledge, it’s good for businesses to start their preparations early! A thriving business always needs to be on top of its marketing, especially as the end of the calendar year comes into view.

A time for appreciation

We’ve already noted that appreciation is something that’s been at the forefront of a lot of our minds. This is as true in our businesses as it is in our personal lives. Now, more than ever, businesses of all sizes and sectors can show some real appreciation for their customers, staff, and suppliers.

Even a Christmas card with a personal, heartfelt message inside can work wonders for a staff member’s wellbeing, helping them to feel recognised and valued. The same is true all along the supply chain. Sometimes, we can be so caught up in the day-to-day running of things that we don’t always show our gratitude. Christmas is a great time to put that right, even a seemingly simple gesture can mean so much.

Another great way of drawing all these threads — Christmas, appreciation for staff and customers, business prosperity — together is to send out branded products this festive season.

Why choose promotional merchandise this Christmas?

There are many reasons why promotional merchandise works. One of the main reasons is that it’s tangible. In an increasingly digital, contactless world, that’s vital. In a world where members of the same family haven’t been allowed to see or even hug each other, it takes on an added layer of potency.

For your business, promotional items are a perfect way of standing out from the emails and adverts that have become little more than background noise for many people. Studies have found that people not only keep promotional items for many months but also pass them on to others. They’re also more likely to remember the brand or company’s name and have a good impression of them. In a lot of ways, they couldn’t be a more perfect fit for this Christmas.

Geiger Christmas range

This year our Christmas catalogue reflects everything we’ve talked about and more. The focus this year is on truly amazing personalised gifts that you can send to the staff and customers who have supported you this year — and will continue to do so as we all work together on returning to some kind of normality. It’s both the perfect way to say thank you for 2020 whilst also keeping your brand uppermost in people’s minds in 2021 and beyond.

In keeping with the still-vital safety measures around Covid-19, we have included items with antibacterial properties. As ever, all of our products can be personalised, even with individual names. This is a great way of keeping items with their owners, thereby lowering the chances of cross-contamination. As we like to say at the moment: not sharing is caring!

A commitment to environmental responsibility and an enhanced sense of what matters are foremost in this year’s range — from advent calendars to hampers. But as always, there are products to suit all businesses, all customers, and importantly at the moment, all budgets.

Get in touch

Geiger can help you choose your gifts and brand them. We can also deliver them to you or straight to your recipient’s door. Reach out to one of our team for a friendly chat about how we can help you get ahead of the curve, say “thank you” in style, and make this Christmas one part of 2020 that will be remembered for the right reasons.

Back to Learning

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When the UK went into the lockdown in March 2020, we found ourselves in a situation none of us had ever experienced in our lifetime.

 

Finding positives

Yet amid the worry and uncertainty, there were still positives to be found. For families, it became a chance to spend unexpected quality time together, something increasingly difficult in today’s hyper-paced society. Children were able to spend time with parents who would otherwise have been rushing to and from work. Parents were encouraged to become more involved in their child’s education through home-schooling. For some, this came with unique challenges of its own, but in the long run, children will likely have benefited from the extra, quality time they’ve spent with one or more parents. Despite the gravity of the pandemic, there were moments when many people were able to make the most of a temporarily slowed-down world, reconnecting to some of the most important things in life.

Back to learning

A few months later, as lockdown tentatively lifts and society continues to adjust to everything the “new normal” throws at us, it’s time for the UK’s 12-million-plus pupils, students, teachers, and parents to look forward to returning to school, college, or university. Some have already returned, the children of some key workers never stopped, others have been able to continue their studies online.  Although the enforced months at home will have had their benefit, the value of educational institutions cannot be underestimated. For younger children, they’re a place of growth and development. For those in further and higher education, they can be the path to better life chances and maybe a dream career. For everyone who learns and works in them, they’re a social hub: a place to form friendships and forge relationships that will last a lifetime. For parents who’ve been struggling with juggling the stresses of Covid, work, and their child’s education, a return to school offers some chance to restore work/life balance.

Not sharing is the new caring

Whether you’re the parent of a primary school child or you’re a post-graduate student, education is vital; but so too is staying safe as the world returns to learning. Social distancing is a part of everyday life for the foreseeable future, even in a classroom of infants. New measures limit activities; books, toys, and stationery that would normally be for all to share are either out-of-bounds or can only be used by one small group at a time. Classrooms and most of things in them will have to be sanitised after use — that goes for everyone from nursery to university. It’s not easy, but it is necessary. The new slogan is “Not Sharing is Caring”, something that goes against everything we’re taught in school but is perfect for the times we find ourselves in.

Staying eco-friendly

At the same time, we face another problem. Pre-Covid, the environment was barely out of the headlines. We were being constantly reminded of the need to recycle, cut down on single-use plastic, and use fewer chemicals. Just months later, we’re potentially sending chemical and single-use goods levels through the roof.

So how can we do our bit to help? How can we keep ourselves Covid-safe without destroying the planet? One obvious answer is to source eco-friendly items that are durable and safe to use. This is particularly important when returning to a communal environment such as a school.

Solutions for Students

At GeigerBTC, we already have a range of safe, eco-friendly essential products ready to go. These are items that can be personalised — ideal for when not sharing is caring — and some even have an antibacterial coating, keeping them sanitised should they be mistakenly used by others.

You can find some a great selection of products here. They’re safe,environmentally-minded, are great value, and let’s face it, who doesn’t enjoy having items with their name on?

GeigerBTC has always had a great reputation for quality, useful personalised goods. In the current situation, we’ve remained here for customers, stocking everything from PPE to school stationery — all of which conforms to new safety regulations.

Solutions for Schools, Colleges and Universitities

We also have a full range of products that can help to create safe environments in places of education. These include hand sanitiser stations, desk divider screens and a wide range of signage options to communicate and reinforce new procedures and guidelines such as social distancing and handwashing reminders, and walking in strict lanes or one direction.

Whatever it is you need, we have the capacity to get it shipped and delivered safely to your door helping you get back to work and to learning in the safest, most eco-friendly way possible.

Competition Announcement!

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Design a snood competition

We are inviting kids of all ages to design the official GeigerBTC multi mask!
Winners will receive a multi mask with their own design plus one for each of their classmates! They will also receive a surprise gift to keep all to themselves!

Entries to be judged by a panel including children of the #GeigerBTCteam!

How to enter: Simply create a picture or pattern that makes you smile!
Dimensions: 45cm x 22cm (landscape).

Pictures and patterns should be emailed to [email protected] with the following details:

– Child’s first name and age
– A sentence from your child telling us what they are looking forward to in brighter times (this could be seeing grandparents, going back to school or even a trip to McDonald’s!)
– Parent’s email address

Closing date: 10th of May. Winners will be announced on 11th May. Multi Masks will be delivered to winners’ schools when schools reopen. We’ll be sharing some of the entries here and we can’t wait to see your artistic skills!
T&C’s apply.

#BalanceForBetter

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#BalanceforBetter – staying safe in 2019

March the 8th sees the launch of the 2019 International Women’s Day – a global event that calls for the world’s women to unite, celebrating their unique strengths and attributes. The event originated in 1910, as an empowering force for females which raised the profile of women’s issues worldwide, and highlighted the sisterhood which can be found through a shared cause.

International Women’s Day has now become a thriving event, with branded merchandise, promotional products and corporate merchandise bringing the message to the forefront each Spring. This year’s theme for the day is ‘Balance for Better’ – but is the day still relevant in today’s society?

Do we still need to celebrate a single sex?

The reason why the event persists and thrives year on year through advertising, promotional clothing and international celebration is simple. Women do still face unique challenges in the world. Modern women are phenomenal – they balance motherhood and careers, homemaking and innovation – perpetually pushing back against traditional barriers to bring about equality between the sexes.

Keeping safe on the big day

In recognition of International Women’s Day’s celebration of female strength, and their 2019 slogan – #BalanceforBetter, we’ve found a great product to keep women safe as they’re out celebrating the big event. It’s a revolutionary new backpack specifically designed for protection when you’re out and about, with in-built alarms which sound when pressed, and have the capacity to use an app to alert friends or relatives to your predicament.

Check out the video below for more details about the ‘Cathy’ backpack, and see for yourself how the product will balance out safety for females on International Women’s Day, and beyond…

#BalanceforBetter

Check out what events and activities will be taking place in your local area on March 8th, and join in with the empowering, uniting force that is International Women’s Day, 2019! 

Brighten up your rainy days with Promotional Umbrellas

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Promotional Umbrellas

Promotional UmbrellasNot long now till April arrives and the April showers are upon us, but let’s face it we live in the UK, no matter what month or season it is, you can pretty much guarantee it will rain at some point. Which is why I was surprised when the statistics highlighted that the UK was actually below the world average on number of umbrellas owned per capita. I had almost expected in a country world renowned for its rain, that each person would be recorded owning in the region of 4-5 umbrellas!

Well we’re here to convince you that not only do you need an umbrella because on average 1,154mm of rain falls on the UK each year, but also because they provide a fantastic opportunity for advertising. In the last survey by the BPMA (British Promotional Merchandise Association) the most important quality a promotional gift must have is usefulness. It was very interesting to see that usefulness ranked above price, lead time, relevance, uniqueness etc.

All Over Print UmbrellaFrom a business point of view, there aren’t many promotional products out there with as much branding surface area as an umbrella. One great feature the umbrella has is it is not just the branding you can adjust to your specification, there are several features that you can have bespoke to your branding, giving your promotional product a more executive feel. You can adjust the grip, the pole, the contrast colour and even have fully dye sublimated panels for an all over brand.

When it comes to design of your umbrella, although it may seem like a great idea, a bright umbrella that stands out in the crowd may not be for everyone, for example executives in financial organisations may prefer something a tad more subtle. With this in mind the biggest advice we can give in this manner is know your audience, this is where trend research really comes in handy. If you know your target audience, you can research their likes and dislikes, and then adjust your design to these specifications.

Psychology of Gift Giving, Father’s Day Edition: Are Dads Worth Less?

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Psychology of Gift Giving, Father’s Day Edition: Are Dads Worth Less?

With this Sunday being Father’s day, people around the world in 70 different countries will celebrate the wonder of fatherhood by giving a card and/or gift of some sort to their fathers/father figures. Interestingly these gifts honouring that paternal bond are statistically a third less valuable than the gifts given to mothers on mother day, the National Retail Federation in the US states that approximately £146 is spent on average on gifts for Mother’s Day, but only £106 on average is spent on Father’s Day gifts.

Fathers DaySo why is this, is it because we love our mothers more than our fathers? Well Dr Lars Perner, consumer psychologist thinks it is because we think our mothers deserve more being spent on them, being the larger contributor to home life, whilst at the same time fathers are less gift orientated, less likely to want to receive memorable expensive trinkets or a bouquet of flowers.

Gift Giving

Professor Kyle Murray has identified that although the gap between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day gifts is quite large, it is continuously diminishing with more and more emphasis being put into Father’s Day gifts. This could be because the as traditional gender roles are changing, Fathers are contributing more and more to home life, thus subconsciously gift givers feel more inclined to spend lavishly to show their appreciation on Father’s Day. Companies are not completely oblivious to this fact either, retailers have noticed the trend and the results are evident with marketing and promotions ramping up for Father’s Day as it becomes ‘a more active spending occasion.’ In the UK, £658 million was spent on Father’s Day in 2014, this increased to £684 million in 2015, an increase of £26 million in just one year.

Being in the promotional product industry the science and psychology behind gift giving is not only incredibly interesting but extremely important. When it comes to promotional gifts we find that products with a high perceived value seem to excel when giving gifts at an executive and senior level. Whilst at the same time the more affordable giveaways thrive at events and exhibitions. I think the point this article addresses is that whether it is subconscious or not gift giving is and should be recipient centric, with gifts being based on the individual and what you think would be appropriate for them (budget dependant!) and it just so happens that gifts fathers like, happen to be more budget friendly!