USB2U
Click4Assistance
Google-Translate-English to French Google-Translate-Dutch Google-Translate-English to German Google-Translate-English to Italian Google-Translate-English to Russian BETA Google-Translate-English to Spanish
Choose a Language
Get A Quote

Posts Tagged ‘promotional’

« Older Entries

Cheap and Fast USB Sticks – A Mutually Exclusive Statement

Friday, April 26th, 2013

If you’re looking to buy high performance USB memory sticks with fast read/write speeds then you’re best not to buy them from a company supplying promotional USB sticks.

The reason is simple – the vast majority of promotional USB sticks that are purchased are typically given away as part of a sales and marketing initiative of some description. As a “giveaway” the primary requirement is not speed and performance but value for money coupled with a product that looks good and can show off the brand that is printed on it.

Performance and speed comes at a premium and in the highly competitive promotional USB market most prices that are banded around will be for “standard promotional grade” USB sticks. What this means is that if you’re lucky you’ll get a Grade A (new and non-recycled) product that has read/write speeds of around 3MB -6MB per second. If you’re unlucky you could easily end up with sticks that look good on the outside but contain Grade B (re-cycled) components – these will be slow, they may be masked (the memory size is faked) and they are likely to have a short lifespan (the number of read/write cycles they’ll support will be small).

Forget any ideas of getting the sort of performance you’d normally associate with good quality high performance branded USB sticks you’d pick up in the high street – whatever anyone says unless you specify high performance chips and you’re willing to pay a premium (albeit often a small premium) then the USB sticks you’ll get from most companies selling “promotional” USB sticks will perform commensurate with this definition.

To be fair a decent promotional USB stick from a reputable supplier will be fine for most everyday needs. Problems only really occur when whoever buys then or uses them wants to transfer lots of large files onto them or wants to run large high quality video files from them – large files or multi-tiered data with complex file structures will challenge a promotional USB, often to the point of breaking – it won’t physically break but the data loaded onto it will either fail or corrupt.

For certain industries, professional photographers for example, speed, performance and a reasonable lifespan (backed by a decent warranty) are an absolute must. If these are attributes you want from your printed USB sticks then be very clear to tell your supplier what you plan to use them for and follow their advice. When and if they recommend you spend a little more money to buy an upgraded product remember that they are not doing it to squeeze a few extra pennies out of you they are doing it because they want the product they supply to work and for you to be happy and come back and buy again!

At USB2U we always recommend that professional photographers and videographers buy upgraded, high-performance USB sticks.

USB2U - A Trusted Supplier of Promotional USB Memory Sticks

USB2U - A Trusted Supplier of Promotional USB Memory Sticks

  • Share/Bookmark
Cheap and Fast USB Sticks – A Mutually Exclusive Statement

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in promotional usb memory, Promotional USB Sticks, USB Memory News, USB Memory Stick | Comments Off

What Happens if Your USB Memory Sticks Are Not Detected

Wednesday, September 12th, 2012

Normally when you plug any USB stick into a PC it will, after a few seconds, be automatically recognised by the PC and typically it will generate a pop up box that will give you the option to do a number of things including importing any pictures stored on the USB stick, opening or viewing the files stored on the stick or using the USB stick as a back-up.

AutoPlay-_-USB-Stick-Inserted

AutoPlay-_-USB-Stick-Inserted

The range of options presented to you in the pop-up dialogue box will depend on the Operating System on your PC and whether the USB stick has any data stored on it – if it’s a brand new USB stick with nothing saved to it then the pop-up box should look something like this:

USB-Stick---No-Files-Loaded

USB-Stick---No-Files-Loaded

If you plug your USB stick in and nothing happens and you get no pop-up box then you might have a faulty USB stick. The best way to check to see if this is the case is to:

  1. Try taking the USB out of the USB port it’s plugged into and try another USB port on the PC. Ideally use a USB port on the back of the PC rather than a front facing USB port – these tend to be more reliable.
  2. Don’t use a USB hub or extension lead – plug the USB stick directly into the PC (again, ideally into one of the USB ports at the back of the PC – yes it can be fiddly but whilst you’re trying to identify what the problem is it’s best to use a USB port at the back of the PC).
  3. Try a different PC and ideally a different PC with a different operating system on.
  4.  Try a PC that is not connected to any work network (LAN) – sometime local IT and LAN administrators will block the use of external storage devices like USB memory sticks.
  5. When doing the above even if you get no automatic dialogue box “popping up” then it’s worth using Windows Explorer to see if the USB stick has been listed and given a Drive Letter – typically it will say something like: Removable Disk (E:) although the letter used can vary.
  6. If at any point the USB stick is listed then “right click” on it and then click on “Properties” -this will hopefully then give you the option to view the size of the USB Stick (memory size), to view the Used space Vs the Free space. You also have the option on this menu list to format the drive. If the you USB stick is not working, is not being recognised then select the Format option and press “Start” – if the stick is OK then it should re-format and once done you can try the drive again (do bear in mind if you do have to format the drive any data stored on it will be erased).

    USB-Stick---Explore

    USB-Stick---Explore

  7. If all of the above fails then it’s likely that you have a faulty USB stick and you should return it under warranty for replacement.

If you’re buying promotional USB memory sticks then be prepared for a typical failure rate of around 1%. Ideally it should be 0% but despite all the QA checks that are done inevitably a few rogue USB sticks always seem to get through. One way of getting around this is to get your supplier to load data onto each USB stick because the simple act of pre-loading data should tease out any rogue sticks because they won’t be able to load your files.

If you experience a failure rate higher than 1% then it might suggest a more fundamental problem and you should consider returning the total order and requesting replacements. Too many suppliers are happy to supply poor quality products at a knock down price knowing that most are destined as give-aways and therefore they can be reasonably confident that most won’t get returned.

To minimise your risk and exposure only buy from trusted and reputable suppliers. Check out on-line forums for customers reviews and feedback and make sure that they are the sort of company that will stand behind any guarantees or warranties they offer.

 

  • Share/Bookmark
What Happens if Your USB Memory Sticks Are Not Detected

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in USB Memory Stick, USB Memory Sticks, USB2U News | Comments Off

Does it Make Sense to Pre-load Data onto Promotional USB Flash Drives

Friday, July 6th, 2012

Demand from schools universities and businesses for promotional USB Flash Drives is still pretty buoyant with overall sales in 2012 on track to outstrip like for like sales in 2011.

Part of the growth is because people are abandoning CD’s and DVD’s in favour of USB flash drives but fundamentally it’s because:

  1. People like being given USB flash drives, they have a high perceived value and unlike CD’s and DVD’s they offer real value to the recipeient.
  2. The price of printed and engraved USB flash drives have Printed and customised USB memory has fallen below £2 per unit (subject to minimum quantities and type)
  3. Flash drives, unlike CD’s and DVD’s tend to be used by the recipient to store and carry their own personal data (after all this is what they are designed for!) and as such the brand that is printed on it gets significantly more exposure.
  4. Postage costs have recently shot up again making the mailing of brochures and catalogues prohibitively expensive. The same brochures can be sent out electronically on a USB flash drive for a fraction of the price.
  5. Rather than printing and shipping hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of glossy brochures to trade shows companies are now finding that it’s easier (and cheaper) to take USB flash drives pre-loaded with their sales collateral. Unlike brochures that have a tendency to fill up the bins just outside of the exhibition halls USB flash drive get kept.

Pre-loading data onto a memory sticks purchased for your school or company makes good commercial sense. The savings made by pre-loading data onto USB sticks rather than printing the equivalent documents can fully offset the cost of the sticks. Build in the costs of transporting and/or storing heavy brochures and the costs benefits get really compelling.

Twister USB Flash Drives

Twister USB Flash Drives

Data loading or duplication, pre-loading, copying or replication is relatively easy to do but it can be time consuming so you need to plan ahead to allow enough time to get the data organised. Don’t try and load the data yourself. Most USB suppliers will offer a free data load up to a certain amount, typically 100MB.

You can “lock” any data that you load onto the USB flash drives which means that it can’t be deleted but it has to be loaded and “locked” during the manufacturing process.

You also need to consider that if you load too much data on the stick and don’t leave enough room for the user then they’re unlikely to use it and your brand won’t get the on-going use and exposure you have paid for.

  • Share/Bookmark
Does it Make Sense to Pre-load Data onto Promotional USB Flash Drives

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in promotional usb flash drives, USB2U News | Comments Off

Laser Engraved Promotional USB Flash Drives

Tuesday, June 19th, 2012

Laser engraved promotional USB flash drives delivered in just 24hrs from USB2U. The only problem you’ll have is deciding which type of USB flash drive to choose because there are lots and lots of different models to select from and they all look great.

Because we use state of the art commercial CO2 lasers to engrave our USB drives we are able to reproduce logos and images with amazing accuracy and clarity. All you need to do is supply us with your logo or artwork and then we’ll arrange for a mock-up and sample to be sent to you.

Our engraving is done in-house which is why we can turn around orders in as little as 24hrs and we can be 100% sure in the quality of the finished product.

Engraved USB Flash Drives - Wood

Engraved USB Flash Drives - Wood

The benefit of opting for engraving rather than printing is that the image (your logo) is going to last no matter what punishment is thrown at it. Any logo printed onto a USB flash drive will eventually chip and flake off so whilst printed USB sticks might look fantastic when they are delivered to you after a few months in the hands of your customers they might look like they’ve been through the wars and the brand that was printed on them may well have worn off completely!

Laser engraving or laser marking as it is sometimes called uses a fine CO2 optical laser to cut into or mark the surface of the drive so when it’s engraved the resulting image is there for good! I won’t matter if the engraved promotional USB flash drive is attached to a set of key-rings and subjected to daily abuse; any logo engraved onto the drive will survive!

As these images illustrate it’s not just wooden of bamboo USB flash drives that can be engraved, the process is also suitable for a wide range of metal and leather USB drives.

Engraved Swivel USB Sticks

Engraved Swivel USB Sticks

So, if you’re in the market for some promotional USB flash drives for your school or business and you want the logo on them to last as long as the drives themselves then it’s worth considering laser engraving rather than printing. If you need them in a hurry then providing we can slot you into our schedule you can have them the very next business day – give us a call and talk though your requirements with one of our team.

  • Share/Bookmark
Laser Engraved Promotional USB Flash Drives

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Promotional USB Drives | Comments Off

Recent Trends In the Use Of Promotional USB Flash Drives

Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012

Everyone’s favourite little storage solution, the USB flash drive, has been with us for over 10 years and its popularity doesn’t look like faltering. Part of the reason for its continued popularity is because manufacturers continue to innovate and introduce new shapes, styles and designs and people continue to find new ways to use them.

Originally USB flash drives were primarily used as personal storage devices; replacements for floppy diskettes, CD’s and more recently DVD’s. The emphasis was on personal storage with most purchases being made by the individual for their own use. The drives were used to store and carry personal files (school and work files) and would typically be nothing more exotic that standard Microsoft office files.

Over the past few years dramatic price falls combined with significant increases in the amount of storage on a “typical” USB flash drive has seen a marked shift in the purchase and usage patterns of the USB drives. Some of the more interesting recent trends include:

Professional Photographers use USB flash drives to distribute client portfolios – the move away from 35mm film to digital image capture has given photographers the opportunity to give their clients not just printed photos but digital copies (files) of the photographs on some form of storage medium. Many photographers that originally used CD’s and DVD’s have now switched to USB flash drives. The move has been driven by a realisation that the drives look more professional, they can be sold in printed gift boxes and engraved or printed with the photographers’ logo and contact details.

Births, Marriages and Deaths celebrated on a USB flash drive – today people’s lives are charted and recorded digitally. Digital 3-D and 4-D images captured during pregnancy scans are now sold on USB sticks, births and marriages are photographed and the resulting images stored of USB flash drives and then distributed amongst family and friends. USB sticks are increasingly being used by the bride and groom as wedding favours (pre-loaded with the story of their relationship) and we’ve even seen USB sticks distributed a funerals (pre-loaded with photographs, scrapbooks, music and video clips) to help the mourners celebrate the life of the deceased.

USB Business Cards

USB Business Cards

Traditional paper business cards replaced by USB Business cards – rather than continue to hand out paper business cards some companies are now opting to hand out USB business cards. These are the same shape and size as traditional paper cards albeit they’re a little fatter at 2mm thick, but the real benefit of these cards is that they can be pre-loaded with the company’s brochures, presentations, audio files, media files, press releases etc. Not only are they a great innovation but they are a real talking point and by pre-loading them with relevant media they are really cost effective.

Printed Brochures and Catalogues distributed on a USB flash drive – Companies that have historically printed glossy brochures and then distributed them in the post are now increasingly using USB flash drives pre-loaded with electronic copies of the brochure. Not only are the drives more popular with the recipients but they are much cheaper to post.

Flash Drives take the Promotional Gift market by storm – millions of USB flash drives are given away by schools, universities and businesses every year. They are typically pre-printed with a logo, loaded up with data and then given away. The intent is to deliver information on the company, its products and service, to build brand awareness and loyalty and to give the recipient something that has a high perceived value – a printed USB flash drive ticks all of these boxes.

With printed USB flash drives now available from under £2 per unit and with speeds and memory sizes improving all the time it looks as though the future of the humble USB memory sticks is assured for a few more years yet. When the adoption of SuperSpeed USB 3.0 (which delivers a X 10 increase in data transfer speeds) starts to gather pace expect further innovation to underpin continued sales and new directions of use.

  • Share/Bookmark
Recent Trends In the Use Of Promotional USB Flash Drives

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in promotional usb flash drives, USB2U News | Comments Off

Not Got the Promotional USB Flash Drives You Ordered?

Wednesday, March 21st, 2012

The very nature of promotional USB flash drives means that they are typically ordered by companies for a specific trade or retail show, a seminar or a marketing campaign.

The flash drives tend to be one component in an overall package of items that are brought together to support the activity and whilst they might not be that expensive (certainly in the context of trade shows where stands, banners etc. can run into thousands of pounds) they are nevertheless often critical to the overall event.

So, if you’ve ordered 500 promotional USB flash drives for a time critical event and they don’t turn up, or only some of them turn up, or worse still they turn up but they are wrong or don’t work then who’s to blame and what recourse do you have?

The answer to this question is, as you might suspect, not straightforward because it depends on a number of factors the two principal ones tend to be what Terms and Conditions you agreed to be bound by when you placed the order and where/who you bought the promotional USB flash drives from.

Terms & Conditions of Supply:

What Terms & Conditions have you agreed to (knowingly or not knowingly) have a significant bearing on any recourse you might have against not-delivery or problems upon delivery.  Before you commit to any order for promotional products (including USB flash drives) read the small print. Everyone has a habit of just casually ticking the box that say you agree to be bound by the T & C’s of supply without actually reading what you’re committing yourself to but if you do this don’t be surprised if you options when things go wrong are pretty limited!

Some common examples of things that most T & C’s bind you to are:

  1. Accepting a shortfall of up to 5% on your order – not great if you actually need all of the USB sticks you’re ordered for an invited guest list!
  2. Accepting an over supply of up to 5% and expecting you to pay for the additional USB sticks you’re been supplied.
  3. Accepting a delivery date that is really just an estimate with no guarantee behind it.
  4. Force Majeure – this is a standard clause that most suppliers will include and it removes any liability from them for their failure to deliver on time. It relates to things that are outside of their control, e.g. strikes, industrial action, riots and severe weather events. This is a reasonable clause because as it suggests it deals with issues the supplier has no control over but you do need to think about the implications of it if you know the goods you are buying are being shipped from overseas (there are simply more things that can go wrong in such circumstances).

Getting your supplier to take responsibility:

If you’ve purchased your promotional USB Flash Drive from a local company, governed by local legislation and things go wrong then you’re in with a fighting chance of getting a resolution. This is particularly true for the more established and high profile suppliers who have a reputation to protect – seek out those that encourage customer feedback and response to their service(s) on the growing number of 3rd party review websites. These can provide a good barometer of the level of service and support you are likely to get.

If you’ve chosen to buy from China because you wanted to cut out the “middle man” then don’t be surprised if you can’t get hold of anyone when things go wrong. Whilst there are some genuine suppliers out there, there are also lots of horror stories of customers sending money to suppliers in China only for nothing to arrive or for USB sticks to arrive that look great but don’t work!

Recommendations:

If you need you USB sticks in a hurry then ideally buy them locally. If you need them for an event with firm, immovable date then factor in plenty of time to deal with any delays or issues. Only deal with reputable, trusted and known suppliers who have clear unambiguous Terms & Conditions of supply that you have read.

Only deal with suppliers from China if you can get authenticated certificates to cover your RoHS liabilities (worth reading up on this Restriction of Hazardous Substances Legislation) and ideally only if you can pay the supplier once your USB sticks have been received and you are happy with them.

If you do all of the above then hopefully you’re reduce your chances of things going wrong or at the very least be dealing with a local supplier that will work with you to resolve any issues in a timely and professional manner.

  • Share/Bookmark
Not Got the Promotional USB Flash Drives You Ordered?

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in promotional usb flash drives, USB2U News | Comments Off

Drive Your Sales With Promotional USB Flash Drives

Monday, March 19th, 2012

If you’re sales have gotten off to a bit of a sluggish start this year then it might be worth thinking about how promotional USB Flash Drives could help inject a bit of “oomph” into them.

Whilst they are not a panacea for all sales challenges, used correctly, they can certainly help reinvigorate your sales force and add a much needed new impetus to your sales enquiries which will hopefully lead to an increase in sales.

Promotional Flash Drives (that’s USB sticks printed or engraved with your company logo and typically pre-loaded with sales material) are a great tool for your sales team because they provide the sales team with a reason to call on customers, they give them a “door opener” and they generate good will and product and brand recall.

Despite the fact that lots of people will already have one or more USB flash drives they can’t seem to get enough of these handy little gadgets and it’s widely accepted that meetings are easier to set up with the promise of one being handed over (of course it helps if its got a decent amount of memory like a 4GB or 8GB).

As well as being given to your sale team to hand out during face to face meetings they’re also good for driving traffic to your web site and sales enquiries to any in-house sales team you might have. Just put out a couple of adverts or make a few changes to your pay per click adverts highlighting that you’re giving away an 8GB USB flash drive to every legitimate sales lead and you can expect to see a lift in your enquiries.

You can drive sales equally as well by sending out promotional USB flash drives as part of a direct mail campaign (ideally choose a model that is slim enough to slot into a standard envelope and can be sent using standard post). Just include the promotional USB stick and refer to the data-loaded on the sticks in the covering letter or flyer – get creative and run competitions based on the content pre-loaded on the USB sticks – this way you can be sure that the content will be read and prospect will absorb (hopefully) your proposition and be more inclined to contact you.

None of this is rocket science it’s just about using products like USB flash drives as part of a sales and marketing mix – at the moment people like being given flash drives, they respond well to campaign and offers that use flash drives and with prices dropping it’s certainly worth spending a couple of hundred pounds to test their ability to improve your sales.

  • Share/Bookmark
Drive Your Sales With Promotional USB Flash Drives

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Promotional USB Flash, USB Flash Drives | Comments Off

Loading Files Onto USB Memory Sticks Is Tedious But Essential

Thursday, March 8th, 2012

If you’re looking to buy USB memory sticks printed with your company name on and you plan to give them out to customers at a show, event or conference then you’d be crazy to give them away without taking advantage of the storage capacity on them.

USB memory sticks are very popular giveaways at the moment because they’re not that expensive (albeit they have a high perceived value), they’re small and easy to carry and they come in a wide range of styles and colours which makes them ideal for branding up with a logo.

Most USB sticks that are given away will have a storage (memory) capacity of around 1Gb to 4GB, which is huge and will support thousands of documents and hundreds of media files. It was only a few years ago that PC’s were shipping with this sort of Hard Disk Drive capacity and now we take it for granted on a humble little USB memory stick!

USB Data Loading Machines

USB Data Loading Machines

So, if you’re going to give away a product that’s primary use is to store and transport data on it makes sense to put your own files onto the USB drive before you hand them out. After all, if the objective of giving them away is to build awareness about your company, your products and what you do doesn’t it make sense to load onto the drive, documents, PDF’s, media files (move clips, adverts, etc.) that really show off what you’re about and how the recipient of the drive can get in touch with you.

The only downside to pre-loading your USB memory sticks with data is actually doing it! If you have to manually load each and every stick yourself one at a time on your PC or Mac then not only can it take hours but you’ll soon find its one of the most boring and tedious activities known to man! If you’ve got lots of data to load each stick can take 5-10 minutes at a time so if you’ve got hundreds to do you can end up writing off an evening or two and sometimes a whole week-end!

Far better to simply hand over the data files to your USB memory stick supplier and give them the problem. It’ll mean you’ll have to be super organised and get your data ready early but if you can do this it’ll be well worth it.

Most USB memory suppliers (well those worth dealing with) will have their own in-house data loading machines that will not only load the data automatically but they’ll also run checks on the data as it’s loaded to make sure its OK and they’ll also make sure the data is virus free! You don’t want to go handing out flash drives that end up infecting the PC’s of all your customers!

So the advice is always data-load but always get someone else to do it for you (where at all possible).

  • Share/Bookmark
Loading Files Onto USB Memory Sticks Is Tedious But Essential

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in USB Memory Sticks | Comments Off

Geneva Motor Show – 8th -18th March – Lots of USB Flash Drives on Show

Tuesday, March 6th, 2012

The 82nd Geneva International Motor Show opens  in a couple of days’ time and despite the economic doom and gloom across Europe the show organises are still expecting more than 700,000 visitors to attend the show. Add to this the 10,000 members of the press and the staff and entourage of the 260 exhibitors at the show and you start to get some idea of the scale of the event – it’s huge!

This year alone more 180 new models and designs will be unveiled at the show and to top things off and add to the excitement the winner of the 2012 Car of the Year Award will be announced during the show.

What’s going to be interesting at the show this year is just how many of the motor manufacturers will use promotional USB flash drives at their press events and on their stands – based on the number of printed USB flash drives we’ve supplied to a variety of different exhibitors’ at the show it’s going to be quite a lot!

Traditional “paper” and CD/DVD “Press packs” are increasingly being replaced by USB flash drives partly because they are cheaper but also because they are more popular with the journalists who don’t really want to lug around heavy, glossy packs from every manufacturer press briefing session they attend. But it’s not only about the reduction in weight, you can load video clips, adverts, interviews, product sheets, FAQ’s and so much more on a decent sized USB flash drive.

Promotional USB Drives

Promotional USB Drives

Whether “petrol heads” will be as enthusiastic about a printed USB flash drive instead of a nice, thick, glossy brochure with lots of photos they can drool over is a different matter. But, if USB flash drives are what does it for you then you are likely to be able to collect a bag full of them at the show – arguably the value of the drives you could collect (and other associated goodies) could far outweigh the entry costs to the show!

The other interesting dimension in all of this is whether the custom and printed USB drives handed out at events like the Geneva Motor Show will become collectors’ items of tomorrow. There’s no doubt that if you can get your hands on a Ferrari, Bentley or Aston Martin USB stick that it’ll be worth tucking away for a few years – if you can get one in a presentation box then so much the better! As ever it will be the scarcity of the item combined with the exclusivity of the brand that will drive any future value.

So, if you’re planning to attend the Motor Show this year keep a beady eye out for promotional USB flash drives and where you can grab a few from the top marques. If you can’t buy the cars on show then you never know in a few years’ time the USB sticks you pick up today might go some way towards paying for your car of tomorrow!

  • Share/Bookmark
Geneva Motor Show – 8th -18th March – Lots of USB Flash Drives on Show

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in USB Flash Drives | Comments Off

Promotional USB Memory Sticks – Engraving or Printing – Which is Better

Friday, March 2nd, 2012

Demand continues to grow from companies, schools and universities for promotional USB memory sticks. Most tend to be used to drives sales, to develop a brand or simply as a way to push out lots of information (by pre-loading the USB sticks before they are handed out).

A typical promotional USB memory sticks is printed or engraved with a logo, strapline, website address, most tend to have a memory capacity of between 1GB and 4GB and increasingly they are pre-loaded with data (sales material, press releases, product data sheets etc. before they are handed out).

There are lots of different styles and designs to choose from and they come in a range of different materials with plastic, wood (bamboo) and metal being the most popular. Some can be attached to a lanyard or keyring, others (like the USB credit cards) slip into a wallet and some are supplied in a presentation of gift box.

Engraved USB Memory Sticks

Engraved USB Memory Sticks

The majority of the promotional USB sticks tend to be printed rather than engraved simply because printing is the preferred option of many of the supplier/manufacturers. Equally, many companies and schools buying the sticks want their logo’s and images presented as strongly as possible and ideally matching the pantones they use on other printed media. Printed flash drives done well can look strong, vibrant and eye catching and if they are being inserted into other printed media (brochures, direct mailers, press packs etc.) then a co-ordinated approach with consistent branding is likely to be important.

The only downside with printed USB flash drives is that over time the print will tend to scratch off. Printing onto metal, wood and leather can be challenging in the first place with specialist primers and treatments often needed to ensure a good adhesion is made. Even when these are used if the USB sticks are put onto a keyring the print is likely to come away simply because of the knocks and bumps they pick up in daily use. It’s the same if they are just tossed into a handbag of laptop bag, over time the print will scratch and once the surface tension on the print is broken the print can start to peel away.

Engraving on the other hand is, by its very nature, impervious to the bumps and bashes of everyday life. Engraving is particularly attractive on wood, metal and leather USB sticks where you can achieve an excellent contrast with the material that is being engraved. Arguably engraving (although lacking in colour) looks more professional and any engraved brand or logo will certainly outlast an equivalent printed logo.

Ultimately to engrave or print has as much to do with the personal preference of the person placing the order (or signing it off). On the right material and with the right artwork engraving can look stunning and the finished result won’t fade or chip away over time.

If you’re not sure whether to get your promotional USB memory sticks engraved or printed ask your supplier to send you samples of both – often it’s better to make a decision once you’ve seen and handled one.

  • Share/Bookmark
Promotional USB Memory Sticks – Engraving or Printing – Which is Better

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Promotional USB Sticks | Comments Off

« Older Entries
Share/Bookmark Subscribe