Global Advertising Products

Every day we have new and interesting promotional products come across our desk, many more than we can promote our to our client base. This is one reason why we so strongly promote the idea of customers working closely with us – this way we can gain a strong understanding of your business, and then use this understanding to select promotional product ideas that are relevant to their business, industry and target market – this way we can be of much greater value to your marketing.

While there are a lot of great ideas out there, every now and then we see something so strange that it boggles the mind as to who the target market for the product is, and even what would possibly make someone think of the product in the first place, let alone why someone else would agree it was a good idea and start producing it!

One such product arrived in my email today. Basically, it’s a manicure set (tweezers, nail clippers etc) hidden inside a plastic fold down flower vase type contraption. Not only is the idea strange to start with, but I can’t see any way that you could put water in this without it leaking out – I’m guessing artificial flowers would need to be used. I personally can’t think what type of client would appreciate a gift of a gaudy green metallic fake vase that holds no water but folds down to reveal a manicure set – it doesn’t even fold in a cool way, you will need to put it off the shelf just to have room to fit the bits that stick right out!

Which brings me to the point of this post (besides a bit of a laugh)… Continue reading »

It’s been a while since my last blog post, no excuses really but thought it’s about time for another one!

With the last post being on drink bottles which are classic summer product (but popular all year round), I thought I would continue the Drinkware theme, and being Winter now here in Australia, Coffee Mugs would be a good product to focus on.

Printed coffee mugs are an ever popular promotional item for the reason that they are genuinely useful, have a large branding area, are kept for a long period of time, and used every day in the workplace. In some ways they are almost the ideal promotional product.

Coffee mugs are also a bit of a danger product for the purchaser of promotional products. There is a lot of price disparity out there, and we can guarantee you will find printed coffee mugs available online for at least 50% less than our prices. An unusual admission, but it’s true, and seems unusual especially if you are aware we print coffee mugs at our own production facility. There is however a very important reason for this, and it’s well worth noting if you don’t want to end up with a product that lets down your marketing efforts!

Lets start with how to do things properly: A quality promotional mug starts with an A-Grade ceramic, porcelain or bone china coffee mugs. Mugs come in two grades, A or B, with A-Grade giving a smoother bump free surface and standards required for high firing and long life print technology.

Secondly, and most importantly is the print. The correct way to print a coffee mug is via a transfer which is applied to the coffee mug using a carrier. The mug is then heat fired in a kiln (also known as high fired or hi-fired) at 650+ degrees celsius – in most cases at 850 degrees. The inks used are also a specialist product, which starts as a powder containing colour pigments specifically designed for ceramics and is then mixed to become a printable ink. This combination of quality mug, quality ink and high temperature kiln firing will ensure the print on your coffee mug is there to last.

Now, the wrong way: Some “budget” and “less than reputable” suppliers of printed coffee mugs use a technique known as “pad printing” to print coffee mugs, and then run them through a small heat tunnel. This is the same way products such as pens and golf balls are printed, and a great printing technique – for the right product! For coffee mugs it’s completely ineffective; not only do genuine ceramic inks not exist for pad printing; and not only is pad printing a technique that doesn’t deliver a thick enough layer of ink for a coffee mug, but the lack of proper firing means that the print will scratch off and wear badly over time, if it even lasts that long – many pad printed coffee mugs lose their ink in the first couple washes.

Global prints coffee mugs in-house at our own printing facility, with all coffee mugs being kiln fired to ensure your print will last. All our coffee mugs are A-Grade quality and confirm to the very high standards required for our high firing and long life print technology. Pad printing or lower temperate firing may look ok, but the will scratch off and wear – there are no shortcuts to a quality job when printing on glassware, coffee mugs and other ceramics.

Only a professional and reputable glass and ceramic printer like Global can give you the print quality and longevity you expect. And with lower minimums than most (from 36 units) and great pricing we are the coffee mug printer of choice.