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Archive for the ‘branded flash drive’ Category

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What A Difference – 4 Colour Printing On USB Flash Drives

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

If you’re planning to buy some USB flash drives for your company or school then one of the things you’ll need to consider is whether you print your logo on the USB flash drives in a single colour (typically black) or whether you opt for a full colour print.

If one of your objectives with the flash drives is to help develop your brand and improve your brands awareness then ideally you need to make the flash drives as visually stunning as possible. The simplest way to do this is to choose a flash drive model and colour that compliments your brand/logo and to get your logo printed onto your chosen USB flash drive in full colour.

Full Colour Printing On USB Flash Drives

Full Colour Printing On USB Flash Drives

As the examples here illustrate a full 4-colour print on an appropriate coloured USB drive really does lift the overall look and feel. By comparison a standard black USB drive printed in black looks a little dull and boring and is hardly going to excite anyone its given to. Not a problem if the only objective of the USB drive is to distribute information but if you want to enthuse the recipients about your brand a single colour flash drive with a single colour print falls into the “Ok but could try harder” category.

Despite the aesthetic benefits of a 4-colour print some people are put off buying them because of the extra print costs. Most suppliers of promotional USB memory sticks charge for each colour you have printed with some also charging an “origination fee” per colour as well! If this is the case a 4-colour print on both sides of the stick can add significantly to the overall unit cost.

But, with increased competition between suppliers it is now possible to get 4-colour printing (on both sides of a USB stick) at no additional cost – just make sure you shop around. At the moment USB2U are offering FREE 4-colour printing on both sides of any flash drive supplied from their Classic Range (the offer excludes their rush service) – just call them for full details.

If you really want to push the boat out you could combine a 4-colour print with a pantone matched body shell. Pantone matching is simply an option that allows you to chose a specific colour for the body shell of the USB flash drive. So instead of going with the standard black, red, blue, yellow and white you choose an exact colour for the shell. Typically you’d choose a colour that compliments your logo and get the flash drives manufactured in this colour. If you’re ordering less than 300 units expect to pay a small set-up fee for this option and allow a couple of extra days for the factory to produce your custom shells.

Remember if one of your primary objectives is to get people to remember your brand and your company then it’s worth taking the time to get the print and colour of the USB flash drive right.

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What A Difference – 4 Colour Printing On USB Flash Drives

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Still Sending Out Paper Brochures – Save A Fortune With USB Flash Drives

Monday, June 27th, 2011

Are you one of the thousands of companies that are still sending out glossy, thick, and expensive sales brochures in the post? It’s bad enough if you’re sending these out domestically but if you’re sending them internationally the costs can spiral rapidly.

Print and paper cost are much higher than they used to be and postage costs continue to escalate at levels way beyond inflation.

If you’re a regular buyer of paper for your brochures you might have been lucky enough to see relatively modest price increase of around 4-5% in the last year but without a contract you could have seen prices increase by as much as 20%!

Postage costs are not much better either – to send a relatively small brochures to most major European countries will cost around £3-£4 in postage fees alone and you’ve got to add to this the cost of a large, decent quality padded envelope as well!

On this basis a printing and mailing a moderate sized brochure to customers in the UK could easily cost an average of £4-£5 and brochures sent into Europe could cost as much as £10 each. That’s an awful lot of money for something that “might” get used or might just end up in the bin within a couple of minutes of being opened.

A much cheaper option and an option that is likely to get your brand much higher levels of exposure is to use a branded USB flash drive printed with your company logo and contact details and pre-loaded with an “electronic” version of your brochure.

Twister USB Flash Drives

Twister USB Flash Drives

Branded USB flash drives (even with your data pre-loaded) cost as little as £2-£3 each and because they are much small and lighter than a paper brochure the cost to post them out is a fraction of their paper equivalent.

The real beauty of using flash drives to distribute your brochure is that you can include so much more information without any increase in the cost. For example you couple pre-load onto your USB flash drives price lists, technical drawings, press releases, video clips and presentation files.

The recipient of the branded flash drive can either transfer the electronic brochure onto their work PC or they can keep it on the flash drive. Either way they’re likely to keep the flash drive and use it to store and carry their own data on – in this way your brand gets on-going exposure.

If you’re interested in getting a quote for USB flash drives printed with your logo and pre-loaded with your brochure then give us a call on 0800 008 7079 or fill in the on-line quote form on our web site.

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Still Sending Out Paper Brochures – Save A Fortune With USB Flash Drives

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Branch Out With Wooden USB Flash Drives

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011

If you’ve got an event coming up soon, perhaps a press launch, or maybe you’re exhibiting at a trade show or retail trade fair then somewhere on your shopping list for the event needs to be something to give people. Why? Well, typically if you’ve gone to all of the trouble and expense of organising these events and you’ve invested in having executives and other key personnel present at them then you want people to leave not only remembering who your company is but also what you have to offer them.

Of course you’re not going to win over lots of new customers simply by giving them a little promotional gift neither can you expect any journalists attending a press event to write in more positive tones simply because you’ve given them a branded USB flash drive. But, it is important that you engage with your audience at these events and ensure they leave fully equipped with all of the information they need to either make a buying decision or equipped to write reviews on your products/services.

wood usb

wooden USB flash drives

You could of course just hand out basic promotional items like pens, mugs, caps or place mats – all of these work at a certain level albeit many of them have a tendency to end up in the waste bins or discarded in the back of a cupboard. Their primary function is just to reinforce your brand and act as a gentle reminder of who you are. What they don’t do because they are fundamentally inert objects is interact with the recipient and provide any more information on your company. At best you can typically get you brand, web address and phone number of them and possibly, depending on the object, a couple of small images of your products.

Promotional USB flash drives on the other hand not only meet all the same criteria as a basic promotional product that carries a company brand but they go significantly further when they are pre-loaded with data. A typical promotional USB flash drive today has around 1GB of storage on it which is more than sufficient to carry electronic versions of your company’s sales brochures, presentation slides, price list, technical PDF’s, media files, TV adverts and dynamic links to your web site(s).

Loading this type of data on a promotional USB flash drive not only makes sense commercially and economically (if nothing else it saves the cost of printing the material you load onto them) but, its relatively cheap to do and if you shop around when sourcing USB flash drives you’ll find some suppliers will to do this at no cost to secure your business.

Juggling USB Flash Drives

Juggling USB Flash Drives

If you accept the argument that you should/ought to offer a promotional item at your event(s) then you should put branded USB flash drives to the top of your list. They deserve to be there because they remain incredibly popular, your customers’ll snap them up, they’ll get used (rather than tossed away) and they are a great way to distribute tons of information about your company and its products.

There are lots of really attractive designs of USB flash drives to choose from these days and the eco-lobby are also accommodated with a growing number of flash drives manufactured from wood or bamboo. These are ideal if your company is pushing an environmentally friendly message, they’re particularly strong when combined with “electronic only” documents pre-loaded on the wooden USB flash drives rather than printed out!

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Branch Out With Wooden USB Flash Drives

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Black and Yellow – A Huge Hit (and with USB Flash Drives)

Tuesday, March 8th, 2011

Love it or hate it (and I guess it’s a song that has a resonance with a certain age group) the song Black and Yellow has been a massive hit around the world. The song was released by American black rapper Wiz Khalifia on September 14th 2010 and reached No 1 on the US Billboard Charts in February 2011. So far over 2.5 million digital copies of Black and Yellow have been sold.

Black and Yellow USB Flash Drives

Black and Yellow USB Flash Drives

The song’s title pays homage to the colours of the City of Pittsburg and its various sports teams who mostly play in “black and yellow” strips. The most notable being the Pittsburg Steelers, the City’s local football team.

In the branded USB Flash Drive market the colours Black and Yellow are also proving popular because they’re an incredibly striking and powerful combination. Printing black text on a strong yellow background lifts the text and really makes the USB flash drive stand out – they’re certainly hard to avoid!

Black and Yellow Flash Drives

Black and Yellow Flash Drives

Of course, it helps if your brand or company colours are black and yellow to start with but even if they’re not its worth thinking about whether this colour combination could work for you. If not you might want to think about using two other strong colours to use – sometimes the old adage “less is more” is a useful guide when printing flash drives.

By using fewer colours the finished USB drives will be cheaper because you typically pay a fee per colour and

Black and Yellow Twister

Black and Yellow Twister

potentially they’ll be stronger on the eye. The objective with promotional USB flash drives is primarily to get the recipients to build some affinity with your brand and to buy your products or services. So, starting with a flash drive that is striking and crystal clear in terms of the message you want to get out will help.

If you’re not sure what colours will work best for you then throw the challenge and your USB flash drive supplier. Most good and reputable suppliers will have in-house designers whose job is to help customers visualise the options and get the best from their budget.

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Black and Yellow – A Huge Hit (and with USB Flash Drives)

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Build Your Own USB Flash Drive

Monday, February 21st, 2011

USB flash drives are incredibly popular at the moment and have pretty much replaced the CD and DVD as the preferred medium on which to store and carry personal data. Floppy disks, with the exception of the few die-hards that still use them, are all but extinct and there’s a whole new generation that will have never seen or used a floppy disk.

USB flash drives are popular because they’re relatively cheap, they’re easy to use, they’re small, they’re portable and you can transfer data onto them quickly and without fuss or any technical knowledge. Because pretty much every PC and Mac has a USB port when you use a USB flash drive to store and carry data around with you, you know you’re going to be able to access the data on pretty much any PC you use, whether the PC is at home, work or school.

Of course most people when they want a new USB flash drive they’ll pick one up at the local store or order one from the myriad of on-line stores that sell them.  The only downside of doing this is that most of the stores carry the same style, brand and type of flash drive and most of them are the same rectangular shape – not exciting but they work and the core design around which most are built is a tried and tested shape.

Build Your Own USB Flash Drive

Build Your Own USB Flash Drive

Many crave the opportunity to be different, to push back on the bland uniformity of everyday product design but for many part from putting a “sticker” or two on the drives there’s not much that can be done, or is there?

USB flash drives are pretty simple devices made up of 4 components; the core flash memory module, the flash memory controller chip (the brains of the unit); the PCB with integral USB connector and the “shell” that encases these parts and gives the flash drive its styling and look.

Today it’s possible to buy a USB PCB with the flash memory module and controller chip already on-board. – This effectively give you a functional USB flash drive but without a body shell. But if you buy these then you can design and make your own shell and have a truly unique flash drive that is personal to you.

Some schools are catching on to this idea and buying USB PCB’s and setting their students the task of designing and building a USB flash drive – it’s a great idea and a fantastic way to get the students engaged in product design, manufacture and packaging – who knows, they might even come up with a design to challenge the big, established brands.

USB2U is a supplier of branded USB flash drives but can also supply “build your own USB Flash Drive” kits for schools or colleges – call now for a quote or fill in the on-line

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Build Your Own USB Flash Drive

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Why Choose USB2U For Your Branded Flash Drives

Thursday, February 10th, 2011

A common technique used by some suppliers of USB flash drives is to play on fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) of customers. By suggesting that the prices quoted by their competitors are “unrealistically low” or that goods supplied will be of “very poor quality” or that they are supplied from a “non-certified” factory they infer that the buyer and more importantly the buyers brand will be put in peril if they buy from anyone but them.

FUD in the branded flash drive market can be particularly unnerving if you’ve never purchased USB flash drives before not least because some of the terms within the industry will be unfamiliar to any new buyer.

Branded USB Flash Drives

Branded USB Flash Drives

If you are considering buying branded USB flash drives from USB2U then here’s a few facts to help dispel any FUD being put around by our competitors:

  1. USB2U and USBNow are trading names of Secure Living Ltd and have been supplying USB flash drives since 2002. During this time we have supplied USB products to over 250,000 customer including thousands of schools, universities and companies both large and small. Our university clients include Cambridge and Oxford and we’re regular suppliers of flash drives to some of the leading companies in the world including Microsoft, BT, IBM, Orange, Unilver and many many more.
  2. We don’t have our own factory because we prefer to partner with a small number of manufacturers including Netac who invented USB flash drives back in 1999 and who hold the core patent for them. Just like Netac all of our partner factories are certified ISO9001 and we visit them regularly to ensure their on-going compliance.
  3. Cheaper prices – By partnering with factories we don’t have to pass on the overheads of managing and maintaining a factory to our clients. Instead, by creating a competitive environment between a small number of trusted partners we are able to secure the best possible prices for the flash drives and ensure diversity of supply.
  4. Fast Lead Times – the vast majority of our customers will receive their printed drives within 10 working days from order and artwork confirmation and for many its even quicker. Unlike many other suppliers we also hold significant stocks of blank (unprinted) flash drives in the UK that we can get printed and delivered within 48hrs!
  5. Always New and Grade A Chips – Our flash drives are built around New Grade A memory chips and you can even request a specific flash module if you have a particular requirement. We can supply Samsung, Hynix, Intel and Micron.
  6. In-house design team – we have our own team of designers in the UK who will work with you and our factory partners to ensure you get a top quality product – the amount of repeat orders we get from our customers is testament to the quality of the drives we produce.
  7. Our “standard” minimum order threshold is 50 flash drives. We can supply less and have accepted orders for 10 units but the reality is that when you buy less than 50 units each flash drive has to carry a number of “fixed” costs, which in turn makes the drives expensive.
  8. We offer 30-day payment terms to all educational establishments, public sector bodies and customers who place a second or subsequent order with us (subject to credit approval).
  9. No Fancy London Office – we’re based in Northampton in the Midlands in a comfortable but basic office/warehouse. The price you are quoted for your flash drives reflects this. Our focus is not on global domination but on providing top quality flash drives at the best possible price in the shortest time we can realistically deliver them.
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Why Choose USB2U For Your Branded Flash Drives

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The Twelve USB Flash Drive Days of Christmas

Thursday, December 9th, 2010

On the first day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
A flash drive in a pear tree.

On the second day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Two USB writing pens,
And a flash drive in a pear tree.

On the third day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Three USB Credit Cards,
Two USB writing pens,
And a flash drive in a pear tree.

On the fourth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Four leather flash drives,
Three USB Credit Cards,
Two USB writing pens,
And a flash drive in a pear tree.

On the fifth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Five golden USB keys,
Four leather flash drives,
Three USB Credit Cards,
Two USB writing pens,
And a flash drive in a pear tree.

On the sixth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Six mock-up requests,
Five golden USB keys,
Four leather flash drives,
Three USB Credit Cards,
Two USB writing pens,
And a flash drive in a pear tree.

USB Partridge in a Pear Tree

USB Partridge in a Pear Tree

On the seventh day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Seven USB twisters twisting
Six mock-up requests,
Five golden USB keys,
Four leather flash drives,
Three USB Credit Cards,
Two USB writing pens,
And a flash drive in a pear tree

On the eighth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Eight printers printing
Seven USB twisters twisting
Six mock-up requests,
Five golden USB keys,
Four leather flash drives,
Three USB Credit Cards,
Two USB writing pens,
And a flash drive in a pear tree

On the ninth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Nine ladies packing,
Eight printers printing
Seven USB twisters twisting
Six mock-up requests,
Five golden USB keys,
Four leather flash drives,
Three USB Credit Cards,
Two USB writing pens,
And a flash drive in a pear tree

On the tenth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Ten Account Managers leaping,
Nine ladies packing,
Eight printers printing
Seven USB twisters twisting
Six mock-up requests,
Five golden USB keys,
Four leather flash drives,
Three USB Credit Cards,
Two USB writing pens,
And a flash drive in a pear tree

On the eleventh day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Eleven designers designing,
Ten Account Managers leaping,
Nine ladies packing,
Eight printers printing
Seven USB twisters twisting
Six mock-up requests,
Five golden USB keys,
Four leather flash drives,
Three USB Credit Cards,
Two USB writing pens,
And a flash drive in a pear tree.

On the twelfth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Twelve customers cheering,
Eleven designers designing,
Ten Account Managers leaping,
Nine ladies packing,
Eight printers printing
Seven USB twisters twisting
Six mock-up requests,
Five golden USB keys,
Four leather flash drives,
Three USB Credit Cards,
Two USB writing pens,
And a flash drive in a pear tree.

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The Twelve USB Flash Drive Days of Christmas

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Did We Mention We Do Boxes For Flash Drives

Tuesday, December 7th, 2010

Gift boxes and presentation tins for printed USB flash drives tend to be a bit of an afterthought but undeservedly so because a good quality gift box can really lift the overall look and feel of a branded USB flash drive.

Whilst a gift box will add to the weight and transportation costs of the USB Flash Drives there’s no getting away from the fact that flash drives given out in gift boxes look better than flash drives given out without them.

USB Gift Boxes

USB Gift Boxes

There is a wide range of presentation boxes available and there’s something for every style of USB flash drive, USB pen and USB credit card. Some are manufactured from card; some from plastic and some from tin but they all come with a custom insert that is cut to the shape of the USB stick they are going to hold.

Most gift boxes and presentation tins can be overprinted for a small additional cost, some come with “windows” in the lid so that you can see the branded flash drive though the lid whilst others are made from a translucent plastic so you can see the flash drive without opening the box.

Flash Drive Gift Boxes

Flash Drive Gift Boxes

If you’re planning to give out lanyards, keyring attachments, or other accessories then boxes are a must to keep the drive and accessories all neatly bundled together. Without a box your USB flash drives will just look messy and all the effort you’ve put into choosing the type of drive, getting the print right and getting them on time will potentially be lost or at the very least they just won’t look as professional as they could do.

Branded USB Flash Drive Boxes

Branded USB Flash Drive Boxes

Gift and presentation boxes only add a small amount to the overall cost of printed USB flash drives so if your budget allows and you don’t have to worry about shipping them overseas (when the freight costs will be high) they are definitely worth considering. At the very least ask your supplier to mock up a couple of box options for you so that you can get a feel for how your printed USB sticks might look in a box.

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Did We Mention We Do Boxes For Flash Drives

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Twister USB Flash Drives – A Drive For All Seasons

Monday, November 29th, 2010

With temperatures plummeting and snow blanketing large swathes of the country it’s understandable that promotional flash drives are not the top of everybody’s agenda at the moment. After all if you can’t even get into the office or you been trying gallantly to make it in but have found yourself stuck in drifting snow then your thoughts are probably more on roaring log fires, warm cups of soup and getting home rather than anything work related.

USB Twister Flash Drives

USB Twister Flash Drives

Come rain, come snow or come sunshine the best selling promotional USB flash drive irrespective of the season is the Twister USB flash drive (sometime referred to as the “rotate” or “capless” drive). For several years this small, relatively simple USB flash drive has out stripped sales of all other flash drive models by some significant margin. Partly its down to its simplicity, partly its because it does not have a “cap” to worry about losing and partly its because its incredibly flexible when it comes to branding and printing.

Twister USB

Twister USB

Originally available in just a few standard factory colour the Twister Memory Stick is available in pretty much any colour you want and if its not available off the shelf in the colour you’re after then don’t worry because the factories that produce them will make them in that colour. The lasting appeal of the Twister has also been helped with the introduction of “mono version” (Black/black or White/white) and the ability to supply them with a superb full colour finish.

Combine the Twister Flash drive with a lanyard in a complimentary colour or a presentation box and you can really lift what is a fairly ordinary looking USB stick into the “premier league” of sticks. If you don’t like the idea of lanyards or boxes you might want to consider getting them in a range of different pantone colours and using the colours to make a real visual impact.

Hopefully when the snow has gone and the sun starts to peek out from behind the clouds our chaotic world will return to “normal” and those in search of the best branded USB flash drive money can buy will settle upon the humble but all conquering Twister.

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Twister USB Flash Drives – A Drive For All Seasons

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Irish and EuroZone Worries Drive Up Flash Drive Prices In The UK

Wednesday, November 24th, 2010

Although the Republic of Ireland has agreed a rescue package with the EU to prop up their ailing finances and to the tackle the huge hole in the government’s finance the outlook remains bleak. Whilst some countries, notably Germany, are “bouncing back” from recession there are plenty of others in addition to Ireland and Greece that are still causing real concerns.

One of the many consequences of the turmoil in the Eurozone is the knock on effect on the currency markets. Over the last couple of weeks the Euro and the British Pound have fallen against the US Dollar. Today the £ stands at around 1.57 when a couple of weeks ago it was trading at over 1.62. Most trade from the UK with China is undertaken in US dollars so this 3% fall in the value of the British Pound has a direct impact on the cost of many imported goods including USB flash drives.

Currency USB

Currency USB

Of course, in the overall scheme of things, a modest increase in the price of flash drives is inconsequential, particularly when millions of jobs are being lost and countries and governments are being brought to their knees.

However, if you looking to buy USB flash drives printed with your logo on its useful to understand why quotes from suppliers of flash drives have such a short validity period.

Several factors influence the price of the flash drives including exchange rates, customer demand for flash products (not just USB flash drives) and seasonal factors including the Chinese Holidays. Taken together the price of flash drives is best described as “fluid” and UK importers of flash drives need to keep a close eye on market movements and fix their prices accordingly.

Most branded USB flash drive price lists are “fixed” daily taking into consideration all of the above so if you have what looks like a good price its worth grabbing it because if you ask for a re-quote a week later you could find the price has gone up. Conversely, it could also have gone down but as with most things you buy prices seem to go up more often than they come down.

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