allbranded Glossary

Advertising material

Advertising material describes all methods used to convey a message that are used in the advertising industry. The advertising material communicates the message or brand of the company to the recipient with specific intentions and uses. In comparison to advertising media, they are not forms of expression of the advertisement, but that have an advertising effect. The most frequently used advertising material includes: displays in print media and commercials on radio for example.

Advertising medium

Advertising medium describes media that is used to convey promotional messages to the target group. Therefore, they are the means that contain and transport the promotional message of that specific company or brand. They often come in the form of promotional gifts, giveaways, strewing articles and free advertisements. While advertising material is the objectified form of promotional messages, advertising media conveys the message to the recipient themselves. Therefore, there is always an interplay between advertising material and advertising media. The goal of advertising media is to successfully convey the promotional messages to the target audience.

Advertising printing is the design and printing of promotional items, for example with an individual advertising message, a company logo or a motif.

Branded

Brand products are products that have a printing or engraving that refers to that specific company or a brand. Our online shop also features numerous products that can be custom-printed with your company's branding or logo. They type of products have several advantages for businesses such as a high recognition level, unique identifiability and high quality.

Branding

The term "branding" contains nearly all activities that aim to build a brand. The process of branding aims to emphasize the own offer in comparison to similar offers of the competition. It supports the overall perception and image according to the company strategy.

Business-to-business (B2B)

Business-to-Business (B2B) is a professional relationship between at least two companies, businesses, or organizations. it is one business working closely with another. Our online shop is also a typical B2B portal for advertising and promotional items, giveaways etc., as it only sells to companies, institutions, and clubs.

Business-to-consumer (B2C)

Business-to-Consumer (B2C) is the opposite to Business-to-Business. B2C relates to private people buying personal items to keep for themselves. The focus here is not the business relationship between multiple companies, but the communication and trade relationship between companies and consumers. Advertising products are a special instrument in the relationship between company and consumers. They can be a fundamental sign of appreciation and contribute to building and strengthening of this relationship.

CMYK vs. RGB

In the final creation of print data, the choice of the right colors is particularly important. In image processing, a distinction is made between two color models: CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) and RGB (red, green, blue). The 4-color print is a method that uses the four standardized colors Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key (CMYK) to achieve a colored image.

Whether a smartphone, monitor, printer or digital camera - technical devices display colors individually. Depending on the device class, color spaces are individually registered and ultimately displayed.

Color scale

The color scale is the foundation for the color standardization. Test prints are made in a laboratory, taking into consideration similar conditions like the same stock and layer thickness. They comprise a composition of the four printing colors for the 4-color print. They are offered as color fans, enabling the customer to inspect the real color. The color scale aims to eliminate irritations caused by the computer screen or a lack of uniform printing when bulk ordering products.

Corporate gift

Corporate and company gifts are usually promotional products, some type of advertising material or a promotional gift that a company gives to customers, employees or suppliers for special occasions. For instance, employees receive small gifts from the company for Halloween or Christmas. Gift baskets or chocolate as well as blankets are especially well suited for clients are top company partners.

Corporate giveaways

Corporate giveaways are rather small and budget-friendly promotional items that can be distributed to a large audience. Distributing corporate gifts with the firm's logo or slogan on events and fairs, or on any other occasion where a many potential customers are expected, is also common practice. These types of promotional items aim to increase the interest and awareness for the company. Practical and original corporate giveaways, the brand, or a product can be emotionally charged and anchored in the mind of the targeted audience.

Corporate image

The company image is a specific, clear-cut image that a person or the whole public has of a company. Therefore, it is the external picture of the company, which can be influenced, but not dictated. Negative headlines or inappropriate advertising strategies create a negative reputation of the company, which reduces the success, popularity and revenues. Therefore, a positive firm image is especially important in order for customers and business partners to stay and to facilitate customer acquisition. The selection of promotional products can also influence the firm image. Therefore, it is recommendable to use high-quality or eco-friendly items.

Counter-cyclical advertising

Counter-cyclical advertising is advertising campaigns that are executed in times of decreasing revenues when the company is struggling to survive. The goal is to gain new customers, retain old ones and generate attention for the company. Promotional items are especially recommendable during such times. However, counter-cyclical does not only mean doing advertising during bad times, but also times with low competitive pressure. The same goes for a reduction of advertising expenses during times when competitive pressure is high. The application of counter-cyclical advertising results in the lowest scatter losses, and it achieves exactly what is counteracting a decreases in sales - increase sympathy, a stronger image, customer loyalty and a higher recognition value.

In order to get the best print result on your promotional item that will satisfy your requirements, you need to submit an optimal print file to the online store or printer of your choice.

Digital printing means that the print image is directly transferred from the computer to the printer. Similar to a laser printer, this is an electrographic printing system. The advantage of this system is the cheap and fast production of large quantities. This technique is usually applied for printing catalogues.

Doming is a cost-effective and high-quality finishing technique for printing on various items. It is weather resistant and protects the branding from wear and tear. Doming leaves a 3D effect once dry.

Eco-friendly promotional products

Eco-friendly advertising material, as the name suggest, is an advertising means that consists of products made from purely organic and other natural materials. The main characteristics of this advertising media is the sustainable way of production, and ultimately, aiming to protect the environment. Companies use such products to act sustainably and convey a message of being eco-friendly in their branding and advertising. Examples of such promotional products are cotton bags, metal pens, bamboo notebooks and recycled plastic water bottles.

Embossing or imprinting is a manufacturing technique where engraved and heated rollers use pressing power to emboss a certain structure (e.g. logo, slogan, motives etc.) on different printing stocks. Materials are often precious metals like gold, silver and bronze, some popular examples are Olympic medals, money coins and door signs.

Embroidery is a printing technique where embroidery threads are used to shape letterings, logos, or emblems onto a printing stock, either by hand or with a machine. The most common application is for textiles, but other objects like car seats and terry products are also popularly used for embroidery. There are many different embroidery techniques, e.g. cross-stitching, goldwork and the kilim.

Finishing technology

Finishing technique is a generic term for different printing methods that are used to print on advertising media. These include transfer printing, screen printing or foil printing. Depending on the advertising objective and material, different printing techniques can be applied.

Flexographic printing is a high-pressure printing method and is similar to letterpress. The roll rotation printing process uses flexible printing plate made of rubber or photopolymer. The advantage of flexo printing is the simple and cheap production of the printing plates. It is especially well suited for printing packaging, labels, or other promotional products made of paper, carton, or plastic.

Flock printing is a printing method where textile fibers are applied to a fabric that is coated with a glue. The fibers are worked into the glue through an electrostatic filed, creating an even and durable surface. Large letterings, logos and motives are especially suitable for flocking.

Fonts are always embedded when a PDF file is exported. This prevents problems arising during the final print and the print result from being inferior.

Freebies

Promotional items are products that companies give away for free to potential customers or interested parties. Classic promotional products include key chains, pens and lighters. In most cases, such corporate gifts are used for customer acquisition and customer retention. However, many businesses also give them to their employees as a part of their internal communication strategy, for instance to raise awareness for an upcoming product launch, fair or other special occasions.

Laser engraving branding means that letter and decorations are cut into different metals like silver, steel, copper and glass as well as other solid materials with a laser. Advertisers and companies often use engravings to give promotional items a personal touch. With an individualized gift, companies evoke loyalty in their customers and business partners to create a personal connection. Moreover, they show appreciation and increase the chance for word of mouth promotion.

Loyalty gift

Loyalty gifts are presents that show appreciation for customers or business partners for a long and successful cooperation. They are also recommendable for successful closings of contracts. These kinds of gifts should always be of high quality and creative in order to give the customer the feeling that he or she is very special and has chosen the right company. If you give gifts to your customers, they will feel the desire to return the appreciation and attention. Therefore, it increases the chance that he will decide to work with you again in the future. The effect is intensified when the loyalty gift is seen as relevant and valuable by the recipient.

Metal printing

Metal printing is an offset printing technique for printing on cans and other metal packaging. In order to prepare the slick aluminum surface for the paint application, it is usually treated with a special coating prior to the print. After the print, the metal is dried in a chain run oven to achieve a lasting color effect. This method is applied for printing on beer cans, for example.

Offset printing belongs in the category of indirect flat printing processes and is often used for print media like books and magazines, but also for advertising means and packaging. In this process, there is no direct contact between the printing plate and the paper. The color is first applied to a blanket cylinder and then to the paper. This results in lasting effect for the printing plate, which can be used for several stocks and always results in the same quality. Prior to the print, four printing plates are created for the CMYK colors. Later, they are filled with paint or stay clear.

Outdoor advertising is one of the oldest forms of promotion. It already existed 5000 years ago, when Egyptian salesmen used signposts. Generally, outdoor advertising refers to advertising in the public space, e.g. on squares, in streets and other places, that is accessible to a large public audience. In this way, it allows to target a large potential customer group in a specific location. In the classic sense, posters and billboards are outdoor advertising, but also permanent advertising and transport advertising.

Pad printing is an indirect intaglio printing method and is especially suited for printing on three-dimensional (3-D) objects. The printing color is applied to the object with a "pad" which is made of natural rubber. First, the steel or plastic print form is colored. Excessive paint is then stripped off with a squeegee. The pad is pressed on the print form and takes on the print motive. After that, the pad is pressed on the object, achieving a high printing quality - especially for the smallest font sizes and motives.

The Pantone Matching System (PMS) is an internationally accepted color matching system. The system contains 1755 special colors that cannot be achieved with a simple four-color-printing. It is composed of 14 basic colors and they result in all other colors when being blended in different portions. Pantone is often used to guarantee that the color turns out as specifically desired on different printing stocks. This system also facilitates communication between everyone involved, as Pantone color codes be objectively and easily exchanged globally.

Print preview

The term print preview refers to a hand- or computer-made sketch of the print motive. It is primarily used to ensure that the customer's wishes are correctly fulfilled. It is always created prior to the printing order to avoid misunderstandings and high costs. The order is carried out only after the confirmation of the sketch.

Relief printing is a printing technique that accentuates lines, letterings and ornaments in a 3D effect. All kinds of printing stocks can be accentuated with relief embossing. Typical examples are book covers and greeting cards – but also leather, linen and cartons.

The sales letter explains in a comprehensible way how to successfully market products or services and encourage your target group to interact.

A sample order is a great opportunity for you to order the product to test the quality before you order a larger amount. Sample orders are not available for branding with your logo. These sample orders always have a $6 shipping cost. Once you place a larger order from this sample, your sample order product will be refunded.

Screen printing is one of the most common printing techniques in the advertising product industry. Color is pressed on the material through a fine fabric. The template is close at the areas that are not to be printed, so that no color can reach the printing surface. The advantage of screen printing lies in the variety of print colors and fabrics in various levels of refinement that can be used. This leads to a high level of color fastness and picture genuineness. Screen printing is an affordable printing technique and allows to apply color effects to many different materials and shapes.

Custom-made products are promotional articles, giveaways and corporate gifts that are produced individually according to your wishes as the customer. The client can choose material, color and use of advertising and design the products completely in their own corporate design. This is also helpful for large bulk or wholesale orders.

Supplement articles

A supplement article is a marketing instrument that is added to a product for free. This additional use is intended to motivate the customer for a purchase. Free additions are often used by fast-food chains as well as beverage companies. For instance, they use glasses as promotional products in addition to a paid main product (a specific menu, alcohol etc.) and awake the collector's passion in their customers. The final goal is to increase revenues and leave a positive image.

Sustainability

Sustainability is a special success-increasing characteristic of promotional items. Sustainability means that the products have a high longevity and do not break after the first uses. High-quality materials and practicality are essential when thinking about sustainability. In this way, your brand will stick in the mind of your consumer for a long time.

Transfer printing or sublimation printing is a printing process where mostly textiles are branded with the desired motive through a pre-printed transfer foil. The foil is applied to the textile with a thermos transfer press and combined with it through heat. The 4-color digital print realizes multi-colored motives in photo quality and in a single step. Moreover, this process is cheap and guarantees a very high quality at the same time. The print is UV resistant and generally cannot be washed out.

Vector graphics are made up of geometrically defined basic elements compared to pixel graphics, which consist of single small points. The single vectors contain lines, curves, circles or polygons, which result in a complex graphic and only need a little information. Therefore, vector graphics are well suited for printing geometric designs and letterings. Another advantage is the small memory requirement as compared to pixel graphics and that they can be scaled up and down without loss of quality.