There has never been a busier time for a PR agency in the UK. Whether it’s dealing with the excess of Premier League player transfers, the launch of a new parental DNA test, or the introduction of an online Police Crimes database.

The core of any successful PR agency is to ensure that the story they are trying to push makes an impact with the target media. They are competing against other agencies try to grab the same column inch space.

So how do they make sure that the PR message is delivered in a manner that is impactful, cost effective, relevant and above all practical?

The answer is the simple USB Memory Stick. But not just any generic, standardised and boring shape or size. What the optimum delivery vehicle for any press pack is the Customised USB Memory Stick. Technology has now markedly improved, to allow  a simply picture or graphic to emerge as a unique Customised USB Memory Stick that is in the shape of the story / product / brand they are trying to promote.

So whether its the launch of a new car, drink, food, financial product, in fact any shape or size they can think of, a Customised Memory Stick can be made to that shape. Simply load the press pack onto the Customised Memory stick and away they go. So why does it tick all the boxes?

• It is human nature for someone to start playing / pulling apart a Customised USB Memory stick and to start showing it to other colleagues and ultimately plugging it in to see what all the fuss is about. For example, a well known health product provider wanted to launch a new female sanitary towel and a key part of this was PR. So they produced a USB memory stick in the shape of the product! The impact was dramatic, how could it be anything else.

• A range of factual and multimedia data can be loaded onto the Customised memory stick which autoruns once the memory stick has been plugged in.

• This is a great keepsake so the story / product they are trying to promote will have longevity.

• The cost of manufacturing has fallen dramatically and the minimum order quantity for Customised Memory Stick can be as low as 100 units.

So how to they go about getting a Customised Branded USB Memory stick? Firstly contact an established and reputable UK USB Memory Stick provider. The process thereafter is simple.

• Send a picture of the shape of the memory stick they are after.

• A 3d Cad drawing will be prepared for sign-off

• Tooling will be produced and a pre-production sample manufactured.

• Once this is agreed the full production and delivery will take less than 2 weeks.

So before pulling together that next cardboard folder full of reams of paper, think again….. Customised USB Memory sticks could be what makes their PR campaign a success or not.

There seems to be much confusion in the market about what Custom USB Flash Drives are. The situation is not helped by suppliers who refer to USB flash drives that are simply printed with a logo as “custom USB flash drives”.

Custom USB flash drives or bespoke USB flash drives as they are also referred to in the UK are drives that have been designed and manufactured from scratch in a shape of the customers choosing. Typically the shape of the flash drive will reflect the type of products they sell or be a representation of the customers brand. Typical examples might for example be a Flash Drive in the shape of a Fork-Lift Truck for a company manufacturing or servicing Fork Lifts or a Flash Drive in the shape of Training Shoe for Nike.

Nike Custom USB

These types of drive are truly “custom” in all senses of the word. A designer develops the 3-D designs, the factory then produce a 3-D mock-up before committing the design to production. The first stage of this is to manufacture a “mould” or “tool” which is unique to the drive and “owned” by the customer who is commissioning the drive. Once the mould has been approved the factory will then start the mass production of the USB flash drive.

Historically the set-up costs and the time involved in creating a Custom USB flash drive meant that it was only feasible for very large projects involving many thousands of flash drives. Today this has all changed and it’s possible to get as few a 200 pieces produced without paying a huge premium.

Brands Created as a Custom USB Flash Drive

Custom Flash Drives are definitely not standard “factory designed” flash drives that have simply been printed, engraved or “stickered” to make them look a little different. Whilst these simple printed USB drives can look excellent they don’t deliver the same “wow” factor as custom flash drives and because of this they don’t do as good a job in terms of brand development, brand recall or brand loyalty– something which to many businesses are the core reasons for buying and distributing flash drives.

So if you are looking for Custom USB flash drives then make sure you deal with suppliers that understand what a “custom” USB is and have the capability to work with you to develop the concept and produce drawing of sufficient quality and detail for the factory to work from.