Company Swag with Typos? YIKES!
Details. They can make or break you.
We have seen company swag with typos and/or words spelled wrong. We called on a prospect in Charlotte NC who handed us one of their promotional pens (purchased from one of our competitors!) asking if we could find something more upscale. No problem. And then we looked at that pen printed with their logo, company name and phone number.
'Mangement' instead of 'management.' They had ordered 5000 of these customized pens with part of their company name spelled wrong about three months before. She also told us there were only a handful left. Gulp. Should I tell them or not? (We did.)
Who's responsible for buying company swag that enhances your brand? If your brand is 'top shelf' 'high end', your company logo shouldn't be on cheap giveaways. Define cheap. Define your brand. Don't count on a staff member to 'get it.'
(I once asked a team member what was her definition of an expensive car, a dream car. She told me a $30,000 mini van. Another team member responded ' a G Wagon' -- the $120,000+ Mercedes Benz vehicle. Everyone has different definitions. You can't count on a staffer to understand your brand without guidelines.)
We understand that sometimes incorrectly spelled words are typos and that you really do know how to spell “presence”. I could show you a web design and marketing company’s website that says “Website Prescence” is important. I’m being good this week, so no link. But do you think I want them working on my website with no more attention to detail than that?
And another one: a graphic artist’s website who says “detials” are important. Right. And I trust them to add taglines, addresses and phone numbers to my client’s logo correctly? Don’t think so.
The last example--a competitor, a promotional products distributor who has this on their website: 
Spelling words correctly tells me you are a professional and the buck stops at your desk. If this company can’t spell their tagline correctly, what makes you think they’ll get your business phone number correct on your branded items? What about paying attention to details in general?
None of us are perfect and yes, PROMOrx has found typos on our website that we fix as soon as we see. Spell check isn’t going to catch ‘stationary’ when you meant ‘stationery’ as both are legitimate words and we know that.
Knowing HOW to proofread is key.
So, what does proofreading have to do with picking the right promotional products for your business? DETAILS.
The company swag you choose to put your business logo on should be correct--not only the information printed on the promotional product--but the quality of that giveaway should be one that enhances your brand image. Just a few of the details we've pointed out to clients recently:
- The notepad in that debossed portfolio comes branded with the factory name.
- That pen + stylus looks the same as one you've found but it's aluminum not brass, so it will be lighter weight.
- Those promotional water bottles are single wall stainless and will sweat all over the place unlike an insulated stainless bottle.
- That custom mobile charger has such a small battery, it will barely charge an old iPhone.
- Those executive pens come packaged in plastic bags.
- That usb flash drive you've found is aluminum, not steel like our upscale flash drive.
- That iPad case the factory says will work for an iPad Air? It won't.The Air swims in that case.
We promise to tell you the truth about company swag. And there are lots of not so great swag items. If you are looking for a partner who cares about how good all your branded items look as much as you do – you've met your perfect match.
Contact a PROMOrx MD**Marketing Specialist for your free consultation! 888.553.9569 x 3
