PEOPLE TAKE THEIR playtime seriously. Just ask an employee to work a few hours unpaid overtime, a child to do a few chores or an editor to write over a weekend, and see how cranky they get. It stands to reason, then, that if you’re in the business of promotional toys, you better be able to give something that people are going to accept into the precious few moments of free time. With that in mind, below are nine of the more interesting, unique or just plain fun toy promotions out there.
Crazy Aaron’s Putty World’s Sunburst Thinking Putty
Putty that shifts from orange to yellow via the heat from your hands. The putty can be packaged in small, medium or large tins, each with customized sticker imprints.
Why It’s Great: Besides being highly malleable and colorful, the putty is also clean and odorless. Its tactile properties are so great, in fact, that Aaron Muderick, CEO and inventor for Crazy Aaron’s Puttyworld, Narberth, Pa., said the putty can help children with sensory processing disorders, like autism or ADHD.
A Fun Way To Play: Muderick cited recruitment fairs as one of the places putty excels. “Millipore Inc., a life-sciences company, generated a 300 percent higher response rate with Thinking Putty than with previous gifts of T-shirts, high-end pens or other desk toys,” he said. (866) 578-2845
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Aakron Rule’s 91⁄4″ Heavy-duty Flyer
A flying disc with a little more muscle, the Heavy-duty Flyer weighs in at 110 grams and has a matte finish that helps avoid scratching. Its weight is by no means leaden, but the 110-gram size will help the disc fly farther for adults, while still allowing young children to play.
Why It’s Great: One of the most popular and recognizable toys out there, it’s hard to imagine why it wouldn’t be great. Denise Morgan, marketing director for Akron, New York-based Aakron Rule, also pointed to the item’s longevity and how easily it crosses age brackets.
A Fun Way To Play: “One restaurant used the flyer for their kid’s meal,” said Morgan. “They flipped the flyer upside-down and placed a paper plate inside to serve the food on. After the kids were done eating, they kept the flyer as their toy.” (800) 828-1570
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The Imagery Group’s Promo Blocks Custom Sets
The bright and engrossing building blocks of your youth, only imprinted. A one-color imprint is standard on the blocks, but full-color imprints are also available.
Why It’s Great: Besides being a different and popular toy suitable for any market, the nature of the blocks opens up a bunch of options for creative promotions. Not only do block sets come in interesting shapes like houses, apples and construction equipment, but promotions can be designed around ideas like “building our future” (shown), involving the toy’s function in the marketing plan.
A Fun Way To Play: Josh Robbins, vice president of marketing for the The Imagery Group, Nashville, Tenn., spoke of an instance where Promo Blocks were used as an icebreaker at a children’s hospital. Each child was given an initial set of blocks, and every time a doctor or nurse would visit the child, they would add a block to his or her collection. The blocks were color-coded by profession, and also had the name of the professional in question on them. “By using these blocks, they kind of got familiar with who it was coming in to their room, and just really kind of helped ease the transition while these kids are going through their treatments,” said Robbins. “It helped them out quite a bit, and then they ended up with a huge set of blocks.” (800) 451-5141
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CleggPromo’s Tangle Therapy
Gardena, California-based CleggPromo offers a diverse selection of Tangles—jointed stress relievers that form a small rope of interchangeable elbow pieces. The Tangle Therapy is a little different from the others, featuring a soft, rubberized finish with small, raised nodes that create an interesting texture.
Why It’s Great: Besides its unusual and satisfying feel, the Tangle Therapy is one of the few toys with an auditory component, making a satisfying clack when the joints are separated. Additionally, Michael Bistocchi, vice president, sales for CleggPromo, pointed out some of the therapeutic benefits of the toy. “Perfect for arthritis exercises, it serves a dual purpose—stress relief and real therapy,” said Bistocchi.
A Fun Way To Play: Like Imagery Group’s Promo Blocks, Tangle Therapy is made of interchangeable pieces, making promotions based around assembly possible, as well as combinations with other tangles that share the same joint fittings. (866) 704-4839
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Bullet Line’s Playing Cards Portfolio
A set of cards with a few more bells and whistles, the Playing Cards Portfolio comes with a pencil and pad for keeping score and a leatherette case perfect for a nice, clear imprint.
Why It’s Great: Designed for group play, cards would be a good promotion on their own, but pairing the item with a pencil and pad ensures the item will see more use, since more complex games will be possible.
A Fun Way To Play: Playing cards are versatile enough to fit into most toy promotions, but this item’s carrying case opens options for hotel or travel promotions as well. Consider matching the item to a promotion themed around a specific game, like hearts or rummy. (800) 749-7367
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BamBams’ Reflective Slap Bracelet
Incredibly popular in schools through the ’80s and early ’90s, but if you’re unfamiliar, a slap bracelet is a roughly ruler-sized item that is straight until it’s “slapped” across a user’s wrist, causing it to coil around like a bracelet.
Why It’s Great: “[It’s] like adding special kung-fu chopping action to a basic action figure,” said Jeff Allen, marketing manager for BamBams, Lorton, Va., in regards to the bracelet’s slap feature. He also pointed out that the item’s larger and more detail-friendly imprint area makes it a good alternative to conventional silicone awareness bracelets.
A Fun Way to Play: Tween or school spirit promotions would seem like the obvious choice, but don’t forget that the generation that grew up with and loved these toys is now in the workforce, making these bracelets a viable choice for a workplace stress reliever. (866) 913-4463
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Zenith Promotions’ Woven Rainbow Jump Rope
Not just for recess anymore, the Rainbow Jump Rope is as classic as it is versatile, crossing gender lines through school fitness and athletic programs.
Why It’s Great: Maria LaFichi, executive vice president for Zenith Promotions, Lawrence, N.Y., pointed out how the toy can reach kids who are disinterested in conventional sports like baseball or basketball, adding that some schools have jumping rope as an official sport.
A Fun Way To Play: The Rainbow Jump Rope’s origin provides a good example. LaFichi mentioned how she heard about fruit and vegetable distributors handing out jump-ropes at schools to encourage children to be healthier. “I modeled the rope colors after fruits and vegetables for that tie-in,” she said. (516) 371-2727
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Specialty Line’s Decoder Rings
A toy to tap everyone’s inner cryptologist, the Decoder Rings fit all fingers and have a 11⁄2″ diameter imprint area, minus two small holes for the decoder features.
Why It’s Great: A rarely seen item, the decoder rings not only benefit from their uniqueness, but also their ability to engage the end-user with their puzzle-like features.
A Fun Way To Play: “A number of years ago, a distributor asked us to make a decoder ring for one of his customers who wanted to use it as a fun way of mailing special offers to customers (all adults) in newsletters,” said Hank Schone, consultant for Specialty Line, Santa Ana, Calif. “The offer was coded so it could be read only if they had the ring which was sent to them previously.” (800) 854-8402
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Anico International’s Cozy Companions
A new line of stuffed animals from Anico International, Springfield, N.J., featuring tweaked features and new sizings on old standards like dogs, bears, monkeys and pandas (shown).
Why It’s Great: Longevity. “You go to a doctor’s office, a dentist’s office, any kind of office, if they’ve already got a stuffed animal … you notice it’s always laying on a desk somewhere? You go back seven months later, it’s still there,” said Carmine DeGregorio, vice president of sales for Anico International.
A Fun Way To Play: DeGregorio mentioned something one of his customers would frequently do at trade shows. The distributor often handed out gift bags full of items like shirts, pens and ice scrapers, and always made sure to include stuffed animals in the mix. “He bought a bunch of little things, and when they went home … they had a lot of different things that ended up in the office or in the home,” he said. “In other words, his name was all over the place.” (888) 862-6426
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