We’re getting an increasing number of requests from customers for data loading onto branded and promotional USB memory sticks. It’s a trend that’s been developing for a couple of years now as more and more people realise the real benefit if preloading data onto the sticks.

The simple act of printing your logo or brand on a USB memory stick will create a fantastic promotional tool that will well received by anyone its given to. It will help develop and promote your brand and because USB memory sticks are used your brand will stay in the mind of the recipient.

But if you give-away Promotional USB sticks without preloading data onto them you might be missing a trick. Lets face it the memory sticks are fundamentally designed to store and carry data so you might as well use some of the memory you are paying for you load up your catalogues, power point presentations, flash presentation or a pop-up link to your company website(s)

Preloading data can be time consuming but if you’ve got your data ready when you place your order we can get the data loaded for you during the manufacturing process. Even if your data is not ready until closer to the delivery data we are still able to offer a competitive post-manufacture data loading service. You just supply us the data and we’ll take care of the rest.

There are several options to consider when it comes to data loading:

Standard Preload – A standard pre-load just is where we copy your data/files onto your promotional USB drives. Users can access the content at will but they can also delete the files if they don’t want them.

Pros: The data is not intrusive meaning the memory stick is more likely to be used leading to a higher retention value and thus more exposure of your logo/brand.

Cons: The user can easily delete any preloaded files.

Non-Erasable content

In some circumstance it might be appropriate to ensure that data loaded onto your USB memory sticks cannot be removed/deleted. Providing the data is supplied and loaded by us during the manufacturing process then this is not a problem.

During manufacture the memory on the USB Sticks will be “split” (partitioned) into two parts. Onto one section the protected data is loaded leaving the other section blank and available to the user to store/delete their own data.

Pros: Your data/files are always there and available to the user ensuring continuous and on-going exposure and data retention.

Cons: Users cannot delete data from the protected area of the disk to free up extra space. You also have to have the data ready when placing the order because its only possible to protect the data and partition the memory stick during the manufacturing process.

Non-Erasable Autorun

Autorun files do as they suggest – as soon as the USB memory stick is used it will launch a presentation or application. Typical examples would be a flash presentation, a browser with a dynamic link to your website or any other type of executable file that can be autorun in Windows. The autorun files cannot be deleted and as such they are not particularly popular with the recipients because they do become annoying after a while.

Pros: They’re a great way to get information about your company, your products and your brand “in the face” of the user.

Cons: Typically deemed as intrusive, a little annoying and as such retention value is impacted. They also sometime won’t work on older PC’s with Windows 98 or some networked PC’s.

If you’re not sure whether preloading files would be right for you or which type of preloading would be appropriate for your branded USB memory sticks then give us a call and we’ll talk you through the options in more detail.