Difference Between Vector Art and Raster Art-We Need Vector

Vector Graphics typically are generated using drawing or illustration programs (e.g., Adobe Illustrator) and are composed of mathematically-defined geometric shapes—lines, objects and fills. Since vectors entail both magnitude and direction, vector elements thus are comprised of line segments whose length represents magnitude and whose orientation in space represents direction.

Vector graphics usually are easily modified within the creating application and generally are not affected detrimentally by scaling (enlarging or reducing their size). Because vector elements are mathematically-defined, scaling simply requires modification of their mathematical locations. However, vector files do not support photographic imagery well and often can be problematic for cross-platform exchange. Vector graphics typically are saved as EPS format.

This makes vector graphics ideal for printing, promotional items, screen printing, embroidery and signage. Creating a vector logo is more difficult but the effort pays for itself when the vector logo file is sent to printers or sign makers etc. The vector logo can be scaled up or down with out losing quality and would enable smooth transition between various media.

Raster Graphic Images are produced by digital image capture devices: digital scanners or digital cameras, or by pixel editing programs (e.g., Adobe Photoshop). Raster images are composed of a matrix (grid) or bitmap of digital picture elements (pixels). Pixels are squares or rectangles described as black, white, gray or color. Raster images typically are saved as TIFF format, but can be saved as EPS as well.

Whereas conversion from vector to raster is easily accomplished, raster conversion to vector is much more difficult (and often is not possible). Raster images typically are easily shared across various platforms, but can be more difficult than vector graphics to modify. As well, raster graphics are impacted by scaling.

Creating a raster logo design using Adobe Photoshop might be ideal for web only usage but if you are serious about branding, then the resulting raster PSD logo file will be of limited use. When sent to a printer or sign maker and when they try to scale the raster logo, the quality deteriorates and pixellation occurs. Yes, agreed, creating the raster logo design in Photoshop would enable a designer to pile on stunning effects (such as drop shadows, beveling, blurring etc). But the final deliverable will have limited uses.

CASE STUDY OF THE MONTH

Hotel Celebrates With Party & Promo Products

         Marriott Hotels recently hosted an interactive cocktail party to celebrate their global marketing campaign, Travel Brilliantly.

The party was designed to reflect the Travel Brilliantly manifesto, where map patterns were placed on a variety of items including cocktail glasses, coasters, napkins, servers’ aprons and gift bags.

Marriott Hotels decided to use branded material to communicate its new verbal and visual identity, which was rolled out globally in July. To signal industry change, Marriott Hotels worked with their distributor partner to develop a new look featuring a series of maps and travel-inspired patterns.

The canvas gift tote bags for the San Francisco Travel Brilliantly launch were filled with a travel charger for mobile devices, a branded USB, press materials and photos. Other branded items produced for the campaign included on-property elements such as key cards, flags, "do not disturb" hangers and in-room directories.

Want to celebrate a company milestone or other festive event? Contact your promotional products partner to help design a theme and deliver the best logoed items to highlight the occasion.

-Successful Promotion-

Earth Day Is Around The Corner

Eight Earthy Marketing Ideas

 Earth Day is April 22, which begs the question: Do you have what’s needed to field an eco-friendly marketing effort?  Here are eight ideas to help you develop your company’s environmental awareness into an effective Earth Day marketing campaign.

1. Plant a Message – Say "Come Grow With Us" to customers by labeling seeded promotional products to get your Earth Day message across. Choose from a wide variety of plantable products that can be mailed or hand-delivered, including seeded postcards that customers tear off and plant to grow colorful wildflowers. Calendars printed on seeded paper can be planted at the end of each month. A business card can be produced on full color seeded paper. All of these items have the capacity to display your message in vibrant hues, and once they’re planted, the colorful results linger on.
   
2. Tee Off for Earth Day – At your next golf tournament, hand out biodegradable golf tees packaged with a customized wraparound imprint that can be illustrated to "tee-off" current sales campaigns or to introduce new products. The promotional tees are made from corn which biodegrades three times faster than wooden tees, and when the tees get left behind, they won't splinter and cause blade damage when chopped up by golf-course mowers.  If you’re playing around water, add another eco-dimension by offering biodegradable golf balls that can be left in place if they land in water hazards.
   
3. Bag New Customers – Experts estimate that if used once a week, four or five reusable grocery bags can replace 520 plastic bags a year. Many reusable bags are biodegradable, including ones made from woven hemp which is also resistant to mold. Add your logo and a "Shop With Us" message before handing out these reusable promotional greenies at your trade show booth.
   
4. Write-Up Sales – Biodegradable pens with vividly colored barrels and striking trim will add Earth Day excitement to sales calls.  Eco-conscious customers will be anxious to accept these promotional pens from your sales team when they find out they can toss them in the trash can with impunity once they’ve outlived their usefulness. They’ll biodegrade anywhere, and their carbon imprint is 22% lower than conventional pens.
   
5. Keep It Healthy – Offer health-conscious customers a recycled mouse pad with an antimicrobial surface with a sublimated "Let’s Build A Healthy Relationship" Earth Day message.  This mouse pad will attract interest by using its antimicrobial properties to keep computer areas germ-free. Health organizations, medical facilities and doctors’ offices are just a few of the health-related customers who will appreciate your campaign efforts when accompanied by this promotional gift. 
   
6. Dress-Up Retention – Develop an Earth Day customer retention program by awarding recycled promotional clothing to repeat customers. Add a "We Appreciate What You Do For Us" message that lets repeat customers know you’re rewarding them with eco-friendly clothing that’s produced with less fossil fuels, creating less waste and fewer carcinogens.
   
7. Grow A Customer – Try something different with a beautiful desktop terrarium that’s guaranteed to garner prime space on your client’s desk. The terrarium provides a perfect home for plants that thrive in indirect light and grow with little effort.
   
8. Light the Way – Let your sales team impress potential clients with a "We’ll Light The Way For You" Earth Day message by handing out eco-friendly light-crank LED flashlights that will keep your customers safe during power outages. For extra impact, choose promotional brands that include AM/FM radios, headphone outlets, emergency sirens and cellphone chargers.  

Successful Promotions-ASI

Caped Crusader at Comic-Con

Warner Bros. Entertainment was flying high at the San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) last summer, when it gave away branded backpacks with a detachable cape that allowed every attendee at the convention to be a superhero. It was the “must-have” accessory of the show, and fans with capes bearing titles from the media monolith’s TV, motion picture and animated movie offerings could be spotted throughout the convention center.
                 
"Con is a huge showcase for us. It's the one time where Warner Bros. TV is front and center with the fans and with our brands," says Lisa Gregorian, chief marketing officer of Warner Bros. Television Group. "At Comic- Con, we all stand together and the entire company is represented – the power of the shield."
 
SDCC is the world's largest gathering of pop culture fans under one roof, a four-day event that draws some 150,000 passionate fans of a wide variety of pop culture mediums. Many of the attendees show their enthusiasm for the event by wearing costumes honoring their favorite characters of comic books, movies and TV series.

Warner Bros. has been making the official Comic-Con bag since 2008, and its booth at the convention sparks a frenzy of fans. "We give away the bags as a thank you to our fans," says Gregorian. "There is always complete insanity at our booth." Fans use the Warner Bros. bags to tote all the swag and licensed merchandise they pick up at the convention. Over 130,000 bags were distributed at last year's convention.

Each year, Warner Bros. offers something unique. Last year, it changed its bag style to a backpack, to make it easier to carry. Gregorian has been lobbying for a cape for years, and finally, at the 2013 SDCC she got her wish. The capes, which were easily detached from the backpacks, were a big hit.
Each of the backpacks featured double-sided artwork: One side carried the official Comic-Con design, and the other showcased titles from the Warner Bros. entertainment stable. Warner Bros. usually offers 10 designs per convention, and incorporates all of the company's divisions, including DC Comics, WB Gaming, Theatrical and Television, says Gregorian. The planning process for the artwork and the bag starts about 8 months ahead of SDCC, held annually in June.

Gregorian estimates some 40% of convention goers of all ages were wearing the capes. "We know it's a hit when our stuff ends up on eBay," she says. There is also an active aftermarket for the bags, as fans trade among themselves to get the show or movie they follow. Attendees were tweeting each other, seeking to trade bags. Some of the stars of the Warner Bros. shows were tweeting links to the bags. When Warner Bros. posted the cape backpacks on its "Media To Go" press site, they got so much traffic the site went down for a half hour.
    
The company also distributed a host of other products at Comic Con, including T-shirts, hats, books, masks, figurines, iPhone covers and medallions, as well as nearly 40,000 branded hotel key cards that provided Warner Bros. TV points of interest to the top hotels in the area.
-Successful Promotions, ASI-

Boo Boo the Bear Boosts Awareness

When children become ill or injured, one of the first things they reach for while they're on the mend is a favorite stuffed animal. Leaders at The Canadian Association for Wound Care (CAWC) decided to capitalize on patients' need for comfort toys, and together with their distributor partner, designed a custom teddy bear mascot named Boo Boo to raise awareness of the organization's mission and elements of the core brand: caregiving, comfort and security.

The main undertaking of CAWC, a nonprofit organization of health-care professionals, researchers, corporate supporters, patients and caregivers, is to advance wound care in Canada. "The teddy bears were created to aid in CAWC's efforts to improve the health of Canadians living with wounds or at high risk of preventable wounds," says a company spokesperson. The plush mascot featured a paw in a sling and a leg in a cast with a CAWC logo and a matching red ribbon.

The initial target audience was young children and the elderly, both prone to injury, and over 1,000 bears were given to patients and attendees at trade shows and conferences. Because of Boo Boo's popularity, he was eventually used to enhance professional education, support investments in wound management, inform and educate the public and empower patients to speak effectively about the importance of wound prevention and care. Plans are also in the works for distribution at the retail level, and they are currently for sale at CAWC gift shops.

According to a distributor spokesperson, it's important not to limit what one product can do to increase brand awareness for your company. "Boo Boo expanded from what he was made for originally, which was as a distribution item for wounded patients," she explains. "He became an ambassador for education and investment in CAWC."

Branding on a shoestring

 

Every business has a brand that it needs to promote and protect. But while big companies may spend a fortune on their name and image, small firms can create their own powerful brand on a very small budget, as David Gent reveals

Small firms have to give branding as much thought as big firms because SMEs are competing against other businesses that use branding effectively. What's more, the principles of branding are the same whether you are an SME or a large corporation. But getting the right branding needn't have to mean a huge outlay.

What makes a brand?

A brand is far more than just a name and an identity. It's about reputation and you must live up to the promise of your brand - your image has to be backed up by the actuality.
Choosing the right name and developing a good visual signature is vital, however. The brand should convey what is special about you. One way to do this is to have some kind of tagline. This should not be one of those bland mission statements that many companies adopted in the 1990s. It should be something that conveys your USP - whether that's your quality or simply the fact that you are handy, around the corner.
You can't keep chopping and changing your identity but if you're not happy with your brand, you should change it. It can be good to fine-tune your visual identity over the years. Take brands like Mars and Polo - they've been refined many times, but they are still familiar as they've never been radically altered. That said, sometimes it is good to significantly change your branding. It can provide good PR opportunities and help customers to see you in a new light.

Creating a brand identity

For small firms with limited budgets, the good news is that it has become easier and cheaper to create a brand identity than ever before. You used to have vast manuals to show how to use logos and so on but it's a simpler proposition these day. Now with jpegs and pdfs, you can create and send visuals electronically and it's easier to get consistency across everything from stationary to signage and vehicle livery.

Your brand asset

A good brand should be an asset and something that is hard to copy. Because of desktop publishing, a lot of small firms simply choose a typeface and put it in italics. But you don't have to spend a lot to get a tailor-made identity.
It's worth using a designer to create your identity. It doesn't have to cost a lot and you'll come away with an asset, something that is totally individual and hard to copy.
When you are choosing your name or logo, it can be unwise to consult too widely. You're never going to find something that everyone agrees on and the danger is that you pick the one that is least offensive. It's better if one person takes control.

Brand consistency

Managing your branding is vital and you have to make sure everything is consistent, from typography to colour. Even simple signs and price labels in a store must have a consistent style. I've seen retailers, for instance, who use their branding in lots of different ways, changing fonts and colours.
This is not a good idea. You have to think about and plan for every branding eventuality. You don't necessarily want your staff using dayglo paper and felt-tip pens to advertise special offers in your store, for example, or interior signing that departs from the brand style.
You also need to reproduce your company colours consistently wherever they appear, whether on paperwork, in your shop window or on your van. The more exotic the shade, the more difficult it can be to reproduce, so when it comes to colour it can be best to choose classic shades.
-From-Marketingdonut.co.uk

CLEAN SWEEP IN LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES

As the exclusive laundry products sponsor of Little League Baseball, Sun Products Corp.'s All and Snuggle brands sought to deliver the message, "Strike out Stains" at the 2013 Little League World Series, held in Williamsport, PA, in August. The series draws about 400,000 people each summer.
            
The two brands hosted a Fan Fun Zone, a booth where players and their families could play games, win prizes and help raise money for the Little League Challenger division, which enables boys and girls with physical and mental challenges to participate in the sport. Snuggle Bear, the Snuggle brand mascot, also made guest appearances in the booth.

Sun Product's distributor partner came up with creative promotional product ideas to help drive the brands' message home. They suggested branded laundry bags to promote the laundry products' sponsorship. This was the first year of a multi-year sponsorship for All and Snuggle for the series.
The idea proved to be a home run. The 1,000 branded bags were used to transport all the dirty uniforms of the players, coaches and referees in the World Series, which were laundered daily and returned to the players at their hotels in an eye-catching branded vehicle.

In addition to the bags that carried the teams' clothing, laundry bags were also awarded to winners of games in the Fan Fun Zone. In one game, participants tossed balls of socks into a Strike Out Stains washing machine and, depending how many socks hit the mark, they received either prizes or coupons.

In another version of the game, the makers of All and Snuggle donated $5 for each sock that landed in the washer, raising a total of $5,000 for the Little League Challenger Division. Another game included a ball toss into the laundry bags.

All and Snuggle posted images of the Fan Fun Zone and the Little League World Series on their Facebook pages and tweeted images using #SOSLaundry. In addition, Snuggle gave each of the players in the World Series mini stuffed Snuggle bears.