Promotional Products May 2008

“You don’t always have to come up with the newest product. You just have to come up with the right product at the right time.”
Dona Blunt, MAS, Owner Newport Promotional Services Rolling Meadows, Ill.

Jump drives and carabiners may get all the glory, but the traditional coffee mug still remains one of the most reliable, cost-effective promotional items available. The key is not the coffee mug itself but how it’s used. “You don’t always have to come up with the newest product. You just have to come up with the right product at the right time,” says Dona Blunt, MAS, owner of Newport Promotional Services, Rolling Meadows, Ill.

Blunt and her sales team have used coffee mugs to help customers extend their brands, generate revenue and communicate with employees. For instance, her chamber of commerce hosts breakfasts each month that allow local professionals to network with each other. “Most chambers are trying to raise money, so they sell sponsorships to each month’s breakfast,” Blunt says. In the past, the chamber would thank sponsors by displaying a sign and making an announcement during the breakfast. “What they decided to do in addition is give a coffee mug that on one side has the chamber logo and on the other side has the sponsor’s logo,” she says. “All the people in attendance get the mug, so it’s a nice tangible way to thank the sponsor, who is also going to get more recognition than they would with just a sign or an announcement.”

The price of the mugs is included in the sponsorship package. Between 30 and 150 people attend each breakfast, so Blunt contracted with Norwood Promotional Products to supply the mugs each month. “In this situation, the chamber is trying to maximize its revenue, so they needed the least expensive mug they could get that could still handle two imprints,” Blunt says.

Newport Promotional Products also partnered with Norwood to help another client inform its employees of a new policy. To become more environmentally responsible, the client planned to stop providing employees with the Styrofoam and paper cups they used for water and coffee. “They distributed a mug to each employee with a message announcing they were trying to become more earth friendly,” Blunt says. Betty Rodriguez, a Newport sales rep, suggested a translucent travel mug that came in the company’s corporate colors. “They’re associated with a particular color, so Betty found a mug in that color and made a spec sample,” Blunt says. “When they got the mug, the client thought it worked so well, they didn’t ask to see any more styles.” The company ordered 3,500 of the mugs for its employees.

Blunt keeps tabs on her clients’ experience by sending them a quality control survey after each order. The survey asks whether the order arrived on time and if it was imprinted or embroidered properly. It also includes a section for comments, where clients describe their experience and if something went wrong or could be done better. Blunt reads the responses at Newport’s monthly meetings. “I never want to be in a situation where there’s a problem, and a client told the rep, but the rep was afraid to tell someone,” Blunt says. More often than not, the surveys reveal how much customers love their reps and how valuable they find Newport Promotional Products. “If we’re going to a new customer and we need testimonials, I can literally open a notebook and show them,” Blunt says.

Ode to the Coffee Mug