The FInal Straw

Big news! The Final Straw is not the hump that broke the camel's back; instead it's a game changer to better brand engagement.


Partnering with innovative partners leads to unique brand opportunities for you.  Our partner at Leeds is both an innovator and a purveyor of major brands. Their recent partnership with FinalStraw, a manufacturer of collapsible, reusable straws, is an exclusive partnership bringing a popular Eco-friendly brand to the promotional products industry.

Since January 2019, our partner at Leeds's has been carrying FinalStraw. This straw is a game changer because it is a collapsible, re-usable straw that comes with a squeegee to clean and a small case to carry it. This product is offered with multi-color decoration and can be done on next day turn with SureShip®.

What's so cool about this product? Watch the video

"Leed's is an industry leader who understands the importance of corporate social responsibility, so our partnership with them felt very natural," said Emma Cohen, CEO and Co-Founder for FinalStraw. "FinalStraw was started in response to the devastating impact that plastic pollution has on our environment. By selling in the promotional products channel, we hope to get more reusable straws into more people's hands to reduce plastic pollution."

It's a great opportunity offer an in-demand product that gives brands a chance to align themselves with a timely, positive message – and have a tangible impact on waste elimination efforts.

 FinalStraw has a strong understanding of the promotional products market," said Heather Smartt, Global Category Director at PCNA. "Now more than ever, there's demand for non-disposable items and we are fortunate that, as a company, we are able to bring these types of items to our industry in an effort to provide consumers with the brands and items they want."

Plastic waste elimination is a significant cultural and corporate trend right now. Consumers today, especially millennial's and Gen Z, place a much higher priority on environmental issues - and they are demanding that the companies and organizations they interact with uphold these same values.

Corporations and the public sector are beginning to act in response to consumer demands for increased environmental responsibility. Last year, Starbucks, Aramark and American Airlines all publicly vowed to eliminate plastic straws. Seattle and Washington, DC have both banned plastic straws, while New York City, Hawaii and California all have pending straw ban legislation.  

Click here for more information on FinalStraw. Ask us how to position this product as a game changer for your brand.

Is It Organic? How Do I Know?

What does it mean to have an "organic'' personal care product? 

What should you look for when finding an organic personal care product? 

Why should you care about how personal care products are made? 

These are all great questions that are easier for me to answer when we've established a relationship with a knowledgeable supplier! Our partners at The Lip Balm Company complied this information.

1. Look for the term 'certified organic' and certified logos

• To bear the green-and-white “USDA Organic” seal, packaged organics must be certified by one of the 48 USDA-accredited certified agents in the U.S. and contain at least 95 percent organically produced ingredients (excluding water and salt).

• Closely read packaging labels when shopping for genuine certified organic goods. A ‘certified organic’ label on food and cosmetics acts as a guarantee that a product has been tested and checked by an approved body.

2. Look at the ingredients list

• If you are buying a product that isn’t packaged with the ‘certified organic’ label, read the ingredients lists to detect any unnatural components. This is a good way to detect if the product has organic ingredients even if companies have not spent the money for the certification.   

• Becoming familiar with the USDA organic label helps consumers assure that USDA organic products are verified organic at all steps between the farm/manufacturer and the store.

The organic food market in 2017 was reported at $49.4 billion in North America. 

It is projected that by 2020 the organic skin care and cosmetic market 

will reach $15.8 billion globally. 

Statistics in the billions reinforce that the demand for organics across multiple product categories is growing and desired by consumers. 

Below is a list of the most common applications for our organic personal care items:   

• Corporate wellness programs to drive healthier choices
• Brand awareness programs for environmentally conscious companies
• Premium gift programs where retail-inspired products are important

The Lip Balm Company is proud to be a green company, with several initiatives in place that show our commitment to sustainability and a minimal environmental impact. They maintain this commitment by recycling, reusing, and adopting processes that meet FDA and environmental legislation in their LEED- certified facility. Another great indicator of our their efforts is their B Corp certification. This certification recognizes companies that meet the highest standards for both environmental and social performance, along with transparency and accountability.


Reading our blog pays off for you- check out this limited time offer on green products, including USDA Organic Lip Balm that is produced in an organic certified facility, made with organic beeswax and organic sunflower oil.

Ready to shop for organic?  
Our April newsletter will feature some additional GREEN inspiration! 

Guest Post:Things Come Full Circle

Hi! I recently started at Promotional Partners and thought I’d share my small moment of how life has come full circle. I graduated from North Carolina State University’s Wilson College of Textiles. At that time, I was in the Textile Technology program which was a manufacturing focused track. 

Some of the terminology I learned then that I am now coming across are:

1.       Hand of fabric: Quality or characteristic of fabrics perceived by sense of touch. Some synonymous terms might be softness, firmness or drapability.

2.       Wicking: Dispersing or spreading of moisture or liquid through a given area by capillary action in a fabric.

3.       Water proof: Keeps outside moisture from penetrating the fabric. The waterproof rating is typically expressed in milliliters based on water pressure tolerance over a 24hr period.

4.       Snag: Created when a sharp or rough object pulls, plucks, scratches, or drags a group of fibers, yarn, or a yarn segment from its normal pattern.

5.       Water repellent: A fabric's ability to cause moisture to bead up and roll off a garment.

I find these terms interesting because they are common enough that if you don’t already know them, once explained you can still relate it back to a previous experience where you were unknowingly evaluating it. In the College itself were many pieces of heavy machinery, including one that conducted the Uster Evenness test.

What is this you ask?  The evenness of yarn is one of main indexes to measure the quality of yearns. The unevenness of yarns will deteriorate the mightiness of yarns, and increase the end breakage rate in the spinning, and the increase of the end breakage rate will directly limit the speed of the machines and reduce the productivity.

Why should I care you ask? The unevenness of yarns will seriously influence the appearance quality of textiles, which will in turn affect any finish that might be placed on it, like waterproofing, or the appearance of a logo if being dyed on.

A great example of this would be the M-Dade polo I saw in the showroom.

It's snag resistant, has UV protection, has wicking properties, and is perfect for multiple decoration methods (like in the photo above).

While an embroidered logo is classic, a new decorating trend I learned about sitting in on a consultation is laser etching. It is a decorating process that burns a pattern into the top layer of fabric, giving it a subtle tone-on-tone appearance like this!

If hand is a fabric's properties related to touch, then haptic sensing is the sensory information we get from touching a product. I find myself constantly walking into the showroom to check out products whenever I have a question about it's properties - apparently I am a tactile person.

I am excited to see what other dots I can connect back to previous experiences!

                                                                                  Jessica

* These types of decoration processes will be featured at our May Showcase- follow your newsletter for details.

A League Of YOUR Own

While many people are watching March Madness, others have their thoughts on an favorite sport- Baseball! 

A fun fact from the film A League of Their Own:

The extras in the hall of fame scene are the actual players from the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

Teaming in the workplace, like in baseball, fosters trust, blends complementary strengths and creates a since of unity. Corporate groups, churches, non-profits and schools often use branded apparel as a way to unify their team and generate awareness for their message. This past fall, West Lake Middle School unified and pumped up their staff team during the annual new year kick off celebration with raglan tees. The theme for this year's school year is "Be The One" .  Their message of 1 team, 1 unified goal was created by Miranda, our in house graphics gal, and images are routinely shared in the school's twitter feed featuring staff in their team gear.

A classic twist on popular team raglan's might be the perfect way to bring your team goals together.

 

The Sport-Tek^® Colorblock Raglan Jersey has the classic  ¾ sleeve look and is 100% ring spun cotton. 

The District ^® Women’s Game V-Neck Tee has distressed printed stripes at the sleeve and is 60/40 ring spun cotton/poly blend.

Why do people keep a tee?

Would you  be surprised to know that tees are among the most kept and used promotional item? 

Given that a tee offer high impressions, longevity for your brand message and cost less than a penny per impression I'd say tees are a home run idea. Also, no buyer's remorse, after all wasn't Tom Hanks famous line, "There's no crying in baseball"?