We all have them on our desks, in our cupboards and at home in the kitchen crockery cupboard. Sometimes full of tea or coffee, other times full of pens. I am talking about promotional mugs. This article is a guide built up over my many years of experience of sourcing and supplying promotional mugs. I will explain the different sorts of mugs that are available, and the advantages and disadvantages of them. I will cover the methods used for printing and branding the mugs. I will detail how to specify the logo and receive samples for approval. Finally I cover the process of delivery of the mugs to the client and distribution to the customers.
Promotional mugs come in many different types. By far the most popular is the Durham mug. So called because of the popularity of earthenware pots amongst the earliest inhabitants of the City of Durham. The Durham mug is a traditional mug design. As such it is also the most cost effective mug to use for your promotion, starting at around £1. Other popular choices are the far more modern insulated travel mugs which come in aluminium or plastic. If you want something different then try the frosty mug. This is a hollow plastic mug filled with coolant liquid. Keep it in the freezer. Then pour in your iced tea for a drink that will stay cool in hot weather. Another temperature related mug is the WoWMug which has a heat sensitive coating that reveals a hidden picture when the mug is hot.
Going back to the Durham mug, it is also popular because it has a large print area. Basically all of the outside of the mug bar a 20mm strip near the handle can be printed with your logo and phone number. Needless to say the larger the print area, the more effective your brand awareness campaign will be. The standard and lowest cost printing process is screen printing. This allows two or three solid colours to be used. So no tints, but fine for basic logo and contact number reproduction.
Luckily though mug printing processes have moved on in the last 18 months with the advent of dishwasher safe dye sublimation transfer printing. This allows photo quality printing onto the mug. A consequence of this is a recent upsurge in demand from video games manufacturers. Video game promotions require high quality artwork to reflect the product, and now these graphics can be printed onto promotional mugs. So keep an eye out for those collectible mugs at the next E3 Expo Video Games Exhibition.
So you have decided on a type of mug and the printing process to use. The next step is to send over the artwork and get a sample sent back. Up until recently some mugs were still made in the UK. But now nearly all are made in China. Typically the UK based printer will hold a stock of these Chinese mugs. So the process starts by sending the artwork in electronic form, usually in EPS (encapsulated postscript) format to the printer. The printer will be able to return an electronic sample (an electronically generated picture of the mug with the logo in situ) by the end of the day for approval sign-off.
If the sample is approved then delivery can normally be taken within 10 working days. Delivery within the week can be achieved for urgent or express jobs. Occasionally the customer will ask for a physical sample. This is possible, but will incur extra cost and time delays.
There is a so called one-off origination charge for small orders (normally less than 500 mugs). This is to cover the cost of creating the screens (one per colour) or transfers used in the printing process.
So, you have had the mugs designed and printed. Now you need to arrange delivery. The mugs are packed in reinforced boxes of 36 and will be delivered by a next day carrier. Once you have received your promotional mugs, you will need to distribute them to your customers. If the promotional mugs are for a mail out then they can be individually boxed. If they are for handing out at a conference or some other venue then there are agencies who provide that service.
I hope this article has given you a good introduction into how to choose your promotional mug, Hopefully the glad recipients of these promotional mugs will use them for many years to come, and keep calling your company for repeat business thanks to the high level of brand awareness and lead generation that a promotional mug creates on your customer’s very desk top.
E3 Expo Video Games Exhibition. So you have decided on a type of mug and the printing process to use. The next step is to send over the artwork and get a sample sent back. Up until recently some mugs were still made in the UK. But now nearly all are made in China. Typically the UK based printer will hold a stock of these Chinese mugs. So the process starts by sending the artwork in electronic form, usually in EPS (encapsulated postscript) format to the printer. The printer will be able to return an electronic sample (an electronically generated picture of the mug with the logo in situ) by the end of the day for approval sign-off. If the sample is approved then delivery can be taken normally within 10 working days. Delivery within the week can be achieved for urgent or express jobs. Occasionally the customer will ask for a physical sample. This is possible, but will incur extra cost and time delays. mug personnalisé