When it comes to buying promotional USB flash drives there are several factors that you should consider because they will help you to get the best possible “bang for buck”:

• Don’t pay for unnecessary memory – USB flash drives are available in a wide range of sizes starting from 32MB all the way up to 64GB. Popular USB flash drive sizes are 1Gb – 2GB and these are normally ample for any corporate gifts or promotional give-aways. If you buy USB flash drives larger than this then the costs start to rise quite substantially. Similarly if you buy flash drives smaller than 1GB the price reduction is relatively small but more importantly the likelihood of the flash drive being used on an on-going basis is dramatically reduced. Without on-going use you don’t get the benefit of your brand being continually recalled or promoted.

• Reduce the number of colours you want printed – Ink costs and each colour printed has a set-up cost associated
  

  Barclays USB Flash Drives

  with it. Whilst some suppliers might absorb some of these costs to secure your business its unlikely that they’ll swallow all of them. If you have a complex logo or a logo with 4 or more colours see if you can simplify it. Its not unusual for there to be various “complex” and “simple” versions of a company logo available because good designers understand that a logo will be used in a variety of way and so they plan ahead accordingly.

• Plan ahead and order early – The vast majority of USB flash drives that are printed up with a company brand or logo are manufactured to order from factories in China. Despite the distances involved and the freight costs associated with shipping flash drives around the world it is still considerably cheaper to get flash drives this way. If you order flash drives at the last minute then you’ll pay a premium to get them printed locally and you’ll have far less choice in terms of memory size and style of memory stick.
• Only buy gift boxes if you really need them – this speaks for itself but its worth checking that any price you are quoted does not include a charge for gift boxes (unless you want them). Most branded USB flash drives will come in individual “poly” bags or they’ll be in a free plain white box.
• Pre-load any data during the manufacturing process – one of the best ways to offset the cost of buying branded USB flash drives is to pre-load them with your company sales brochures, media files, presentation files and so on – saving this data onto the flash drive means you won’t have to go to the expense of getting them printed. The trick though is to make sure you have the data ready early so that it can be loaded onto the flash drive at the point of manufacture (this is usually free). If you are late supplying your data then expect to pay a fee for it to be loaded post manufacture.
• Get several quotes before ordering – we all have our own favourite or “preferred” supplier(s) but when you’re sourcing branded USB flash drives its definitely worth shopping around and getting several quotes. If you do choose a new supplier make sure you get a firm quote in writing, read any associated T & C’s and payment terms and make sure the price is a fully inclusive price. In particular watch out for print set up, print origination charges and high delivery charges!
• Buying the cheapest USB flash drives can end up costly in the long run – before you just accept the cheapest price you are quoted its best to make sure you are comparing “apples with apples”. Some unscrupulous vendors will supply graded or re-cycled flash chips unless you specify “new”. Whilst most of these will work you can expect a much higher failure rate and much slower performance – not exactly what you want if you’re printing your brand on them! Choose your vendor carefully, check out their testimonials and if you’re at all concerned take references.
• Avoid buying your USB flash drives during the peak demand periods – there are a couple of times of the year (every year) when the price of flash rockets and this has a knock on effect on the price of USB flash drives. The times to avoid if at all possible include the early run up to Christmas (late September and October) when many large manufacturers buy up flash chips for their Christmas manufacturing schedules and the time around Chinese New Year when there is a general scarcity in the market.

Boots No.7 Twister USB

Taking a lead from the more gentle, non-invasive approaches of these program’s we’ve applied the same principals to some of our branded USB memory sticks and come up with some interesting new looks and styles. Of course changing the colour of the rotating “clip” on a Twister style USB flash drive is not quite as radical as undergoing cosmetic surgery but by applying different coloured clips to the standard models that are usually supplied with a plain silver/metal clip the results are stunning.

The Twister USB flash drive has long been the best selling promotional USB drive and the introduction of these new colour options that allow you to mix and match the body shell with a “clip” in a complimentary colour almost guarantee its position as “top dog” in the branded USB memory sticks market for the foreseeable

Max Factor USB Twister

future.

With a certain degree of irony its interesting to see that some of the first customers to embrace these “madeover” Twister USB drives include two leading cosmetic companies; Boots No.7 and Maxfactor. Of course you’d expect these brands to have their finger on the pulse when it comes to what’s current and hot in the market so perhaps it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. For them it was the black on black option that was the winner but for other clients like the National Trust the ability to mix a metallic finished clip with a pantone matched body shell to create a bespoke look was the way forward.

National Trust Twister USB

Following on from the success of the makeover to our Twister Range of USB flash drives we’ve now got our designers looking at a couple more products within our Classic Range to see if we have any other candidate for a makeover.

If you’re looking for branded USB memory sticks for a forthcoming event, show or promotional activity then just give our team a call and they’ll talk you through the options.

Pretty much every USB flash drive available anywhere in the world will have been manufactured in China and because branded (versions printed with a company logo) are made to order Public holidays not only cause challenges during the holiday period itself but there are in the aftermath there are always delays as the factories and courier firms try to play “catch-up”.

This year the Mid-Autumn Festival will run from 22^nd Sept to 24^th Sept shortly followed by Chinese National Day holidays that run from 1^st Oct to 7^th Oct. Some factories and courier firms will be operating during the few days between these two holidays but many won’t. Some businesses are predicted to close on the 18^th September and resume again on the 10^th October!

Many employees combine these two national holidays to travel back to their families in the provinces and given the distances involved its understandable why the holiday periods are so long.

So, if you are planning to use USB Flash Drives with your logo printed on them for any event, campaign or show in the near future then its worth buying them now to avoid disappointment.

If you do find yourself caught up in these holiday delays don’t panic. Give us a call at USB2U and we’ll talk you through the options.

Twister USB

If you can get the students fired up and interested in a design project then it follows that they are more likely to take an interest in the wider concepts and challenges of product design, product specification, manufacturing processes, packaging and marketing. Some students will need more of a steer than others and some will no doubt prefer to work within a class project or framework that includes a group of them.

One area worthy of consideration because its meets these criteria is a project to design and build a unique custom USB flash drive. Most students will be familiar with USB flash drives with many of them using flash drives to store data, music files, media files and hopefully homework. Typical USB flash drives that are available to buy in the UK are standard rectangular shaped drives that are functional but they don’t always excite.

USB PCB

So, the opportunity for DT teachers is to set their students a challenge to design, build, package and develop a marketing plan for their own custom USB flash drives, perhaps a flash drive that appeals to a specific market niche or a USB flash drive that has a unique design or function. The internal components of a USB flash drive (this is a single PCB that includes the flash memory and the flash controller chips) are readily available from suppliers like USB2U. The challenge is then to design the “shell” into which the PCB sits.

The completed customised USB flash drive will work and function just like any regular flash drive.  Designs that are considered good enough could always be put forward to USB companies as potential products to take to market. The promotional sector is a big user of branded USB flash drives and is always looking for new and innovative designs.

Custom USB Ideas

Whilst a project to design a new design for a USB flash drive won’t in itself lift the overall pass marks for the DT GCSE it could be just the “spark” to get more students actively engaged in the subject and get involved in a “hands-on” project that they can relate to.

For information on prices for USB Flash Drive PCB’s and tips and advice on how to use them as part of a self build project get in touch with the team at USB2U.

However, if you need something that can accommodate a larger, more complex logo, or perhaps multiple logos then you need something that’s got a large print area and ideally something that can accommodate full colour printing or photographic print then these smaller USB models just won’t work. Any attempt to “squeeze” your design onto them will just result in an illegible mess that will do no favours to you or your brand. Conversely if you choose just a very large USB flash drive you could end up with something that’s not only unwieldy and just not particularly attractive.

Our recommendation if you have a complex or large logo to print is to consider one of our range of USB Credit Cards. There are several USB Credit Cards to choose from and they all support full four colour or photographic quality print finishes. As you would expect from the name they are exactly the same size as a conventional credit card, bank card or ATM card. The beauty of this is that they fit neatly into any wallet, purse or bag that your customer or prospect might have and sit alongside their regular credit cards for what the banking industry call “share of wallet”

Credit Cards USB

USB credit cards are only marginally thicker than a standard card at just 2mm and the USB connector and memory is stored discretely in the body of the card. They are available in a wide range of memory sizes from 64MB all the way up to 16GB with 1GB and 2GB versions currently the most popular.

Just like any regular promotional USB flash drive, USB credit cards can be pre-loaded with your corporate information or product information before distribution. The finished product as these images illustrate looks fantastic and they make a real impact when given out. For the relatively small incremental cost of a USB Credit Card they are the best option for large or complex logos.

Whilst many schools and universities will have already purchased their USB flash drives in anticipation of the start of the new school year we know many haven’t. If you are one of these and you are looking for a supplier of high quality USB flash drives then you should consider USB2U.

USB2U has been supplying memory sticks to the education sector since 2002 so if you’re looking for a trusted and reliable supplier of branded memory sticks that can work to your deadlines and within your budget then you’ve come to the right place.

Schools USB Flash Drives

At USB2U we supply a wide range of “standard design” flash drives but we can also produce fully customised (bespoke) memory sticks for you, we can provide them with serial number printed on them to “bind” them to a pupil and we can supply them in retail blister packaging should you want to sell them via the school or university shop.

We offer the following preferential terms to all UK schools and universities:

• Free design and mock-up service using your school logo or crest.
  

  University USB

• Free design consultancy to assist in the development of Custom USB concepts or to help you choose the most appropriate USB flash drive for your school logo or crest.
• Free samples.
• We happily accept all School, University or LEA Purchase Orders.
• Credit terms of 30 days from delivery are standard on all school orders irrespective of order value.
• Free plain coloured lanyards or key rings can be supplied with every order at no additional cost
• Optional “signature panels” can be offered on each USB memory stick
• Free data-loading (excluding autoruns and subject to a maximum file size of 100Mb)
• Discounted prices on all gift boxes with standard gift boxes supplied free of charge
• Free delivery to any school address on Mainland UK
• Discounted prices

If you’ve got your school crest or logo (ideally as an EPS, TIFF or Vector File) then simply email it over to us and our design team will send you back a range of examples of USB Flash Drives with your logo on.

What else is there for less that a few pounds will be so warmly and gratefully received as a USB flash drive particularly when the flash drive is in effect a Trojan Horse that is carrying inside it all of your compelling sales information. Bear in mind that the few pound that the printed flash drives will cost you can often be offset by not having to print your glossy corporate brochures, your presentation slide and other corporate material. Good quality brochures cost a fortune and printing out and collating Powerpoint slides in-house is equally expensive so it makes sense to pre-load these onto a flash drive and hand them out.

People like and in many ways prefer to get their product/corporate information this way, particularly if they are getting it at a trade show or event where they are likely to be offered brochures and product information by lots of vendors. No one really wants to “lug” bags of brochures around all day – walking around trade shows and consumer fairs is hard work in itself before you weigh yourself down with tons of brochures many of which will find their way straight into the bin.

USB flash drives, because of their perceived value and their usefulness will get kept and they will get used and as soon as they are used your company data (if you’ve pre-loaded it onto the USB flash drives) will be presented to them. Even better as the USB flash drive is used it will generate more brand exposure and hopefully engender some brand loyalty.

Leather USB Drives

But how do you choose which of the many thousands of USB flash drives is right for you, your company or your event/activity. Well, if you’re looking for a steer based on what’s popular then you can’t go far wrong with the Twister Model (sometimes also called the Rotate) but if you want something a little different with a touch of luxury and class about it then you might consider a leather USB flash drive. The leather versions of the USB flash drive are warm to the touch, tactile, robust and work incredibly well as a give-away or promotional product.

At USB2U we’ve just taken delivery of some exciting new leather USB flash drives which we think are well worth a look. Interested? – Give us a call for free on 0800 008 7079 or complete our no-obligation quote form on our web site.

But, the odd few hours delay on the road networks in the UK are trivial compared to the 9 day traffic jams now being experienced in China along the Beijing-Tibet Expressway. This is an arterial road connecting coalmines to the ports on the eastern coastline.

China is incredibly an incredibly power hungry nation which is no surprise given their status as the world’s fastest-growing major economy. Their demand for coal to produce electricity to power their factories grows unabated with electricity consumption up a reported 22% in the first half of this year.

With a lack of suitable railway links from the primary coalfields the major trucking routes have now become almost impossible to travel on. The situation has been exacerbated by the closure of some mines on the grounds of safety putting even more pressure on a smaller number of coal producers all of whom truck their coal on the same Expressway!

Apparently the situation might get a little easier in 3-4 years when new rail lines are expected to come on stream but if you’re currently at the back of a 9-Day tailback I’m not sure how much comfort that is going to be to you!

Fortunately the factories that produce the branded USB flash drives are unaffected by the delays and problems this monster traffic jam is causing the Chinese economy albeit the USB factories, like many in China, do suffer the occasional power outage.

Twister USB Flash Drives

At the moment there are no reported delays to any orders for branded USB memory sticks but if you are considering buying branded USB flash drives its always better to plan ahead and allow yourself sufficient time to deal with most eventualities – in essence, if you can, build in a few extra days of fat into your timescales.

If you are up against it time wise then its worth remembering that some suppliers with offer a “rush” service for printed USB flash drives – this typically means they will supply you from their own plain (un-printed) stock and arrange for the printing to take place in the UK. This will ensure you get your flash drives in time but you’ll always pay a premium for this service.

Long gone are the days of tired and rickety rides and poor on-park facilities. Today, there seems to be a rolling program of investment in new rides and attractions in an every increasing attempt to lure more of us to the parks and to extend our stay(s) by staying at hotels on the park site(s).

Branded USB Flash Drives - Rollercoaster

The investment seems to be working. Despite the current economic uncertainty we’re all facing attendance levels at theme parks around the world have held up pretty well with around 200 million people expected to pass through the parks turnstiles this year alone.

The innovation at theme parks is not restricted to the rides either. Anyone who’s ever been to a theme park will have been photographed pulling all sorts of embarrassing faces and poses on the rides as they hurtle around the track. Typically these photographs are available to purchase from the kiosks at the end of the ride or from a collection point as you leave the park.

The photo’s serve as a great memento of your day at the park and they’re very popular but for many the prospect of carry around relatively large photographs all day or taking care of them on the journey home is now one they relish. Undoubtedly lots of enthusiastic park goers will have purchased their photo’s from the ride kiosks only to subsequently get them drenched on the water rides or bashed and battered on the extreme thrill rides!

Some Theme Parks have offered the photo’s on a CD or DVD but again these are not the smallest or easiest things to carry around with you all day and even when printed up they’re not the most attractive item. An alternative that is now beginning to find favour with some of the more innovative park operators is a branded USB flash drive.

USB Roller Coaster

Branded USB Flash Drives are small, discrete, holds loads of photographs, can be slipped into a pocket very easily or attached to a bag or belt with a keyring or lanyard. The flash drives can be printed with the logo of the theme park and they can be uploaded with all the photographs from the kiosk around the park quickly and easily.

Flash drives are work really well as an on-going advertisement for the park. Its typical that once the photographs have been transferred from the flash drive and stored on a home PC or printed that the flash drive will continue to be used as a “flash drive”. This in turns ensures on-going brand recall and exposure and hopefully generates repeat business to the park!

Most professional photographers and “snappers” alike will today use digital cameras or mobile phones to take their images and once taken the images are easy to store, enhance, share and it’s easy to produce print from them. For many the real joy of and benefit of digital photography is the ability to share their photo’s with family and friends by uploading them onto sites like Flickr and Facebook.

The immediacy of digital photography and the ability to take literally thousands of images for barely any incremental cost has turned us all into a nation of “snappers” and “posters” but when it comes to photo’s of that “special event”, family portrait or portfolio photo’s then we still, in the main, turn to Professional Photographers. The ability to take “fun” and personal “snapshots” is within the grasp of all of us but photography, good photography is still an art and a profession that by definition is best left to the professionals.

USB Flash Drive - Photographers

Growing number of Professional photographers now not only supply their clients with hard copy prints of their photographs but they also supply them with a whole collection or portfolio of shots on some form of digital medium. For the last couple of years the digital medium of choice has been a CD or DVD because these carry large amounts of data (photo’s) and they do so relatively cheaply. The downside of CD’s and DVD’s is that they are not really considered a great “keepsake” and they do little to promote the Photographer’s business or create any form of recall –in short they do the job but they are just not great adverts for the Photographer’s business.

With the continued fall in the price of USB memory sticks allied to their proven use as a promotional product more and more Professional Photographers are now starting to use them to hand out to their client. The client’s photographs are pre-loaded on the USB memory stick and the USB memory stick is branded (printed) to carry the logo, contact details and typically the web address of the photographer.

Branded USB memory sticks unlike CD’s or DVD’s have great perceived value, they enhance the service offering from the photographer and they more importantly work as an on-going sales “billboard” which in turn should generate more business for the photographer.

Just as we’ve seen a significant shift in way in which we all take photographs its likely that we’re on the cusp of a change in the way in which professional photographers supply their images to their clients