Archive for the 'advertising' Category
Friday, December 2nd, 2011
Helping our elderly family & friends – Jar openers.
Winter is beginning to kick in and we need to think a little about what we can do to help our elderly friends, neighbours and family members. Problems like arthritis can be made worse by the cold weather and some older folk can’t afford the right amount of heating to keep warm. Everyday tasks like housework, shopping, getting dressed and even opening a jar can become much more difficult to accomplish.
As a company it is important you target your promotional merchandising to the right clients and offer them something really useful that they will want to keep for a long time.
For the more elderly clients or those with a weaker grip a branded jar opener is the ideal gift. These jar openers come hand shaped or rectangular and can be customised in full colour with your logo, message and company name. They look great and are really useful! How many times a week do we open a jar? On all of those occasions, your existing and potential clients could be reminded of your company and helped all at the same time!
Ladies often have to ask their husband to open a jar for them and sometimes a lid is on so firmly even the husband has to reach for the jar opener! If you want to know more about promotional jar openers, see www.mikkis.co.uk.
Thursday, December 1st, 2011
Everyone needs a torch on these dark nights!
Only a month ago we were experiencing very mild weather and feeling lucky people. Amazingly the weather is still fairly mild for the time of year but the nights are dark so early. At 4.30pm it is is very dark and you need a streetlight or torch to safely see where you are going! Now is the perfect time of year to present your customer, staff or potential clients with a promotional item, it’s always nice to give or receive a gift during the Christmas period.
There is now a varied range of promotional torches available, in a range of shapes and sizes, ready for your companies branding! As well as the traditional shaped torches there are torches that are hidden inside a credit card type card; torches that also make a designer desk light,wind up branded torches or ones that can charge via your pc’s usb slot. Most have either bright LED or traditional torch bulbs.
It is always important to think about the lifespan of any promotional item or gadget you are going to give out. Torches aren’t seasonal or just for a specific occasion. It gets dark every day of the year! It is likely to be used more regularly in the winter months but it has potential to be year round, year after year, what super value for money and opportunities for repeat exposure, placing your company at the forefront of your customers thoughts!
To find out more about branded torches, go the premium portfolio section of www.mikkis.co.uk .
Thursday, December 1st, 2011
USB people – something new for the promotional gadget market
Promotional USB’s and Flash drives have long been around. They are a proven staple of any marketeers promotional plan. Although usb’s are not the cheapest type of promotional item, their longevity as an item, that can and will, be used for years to come makes them excellent value for money. It’s great though, that every now and again, something new and exciting arrives. That new and exciting thing is – USB people. Very cool little people shaped promotional memory sticks. They can be metalic, plastic in a plain design or even in a work related design. Rubber heads are an option too – very tactile! Of course all these cute little men, (and women), can be branded with your company logo. A choice of memory sizes and downloads are also available. Just what the promotional marketing needed, fun novelty shaped usb’s that aren’t embaressing for any grown up, whatever their profession but are really eyecatching! We have no idea what the next big thing will be to follow the USB people but we will be sure to let you in on the secret, once we know!
At Mikkis we do an enormous range of promotional items, however, these little guys are supplied by our sister company, www.usb-europe.co.uk, why not check out their fabulous range too. 
Friday, June 24th, 2011
Platypus in danger due to climate change.
It seems that the amazing Duck Billed Platypus may become endangered in its native Australia. The Platypus likes the cool rivers and streams in which it lives but temperature rises in Australia could cause problems for the animal. This strange creature caused problems for naturalists when it was discovered as they didn’t know how to classify it. It has the bill of a duck, reptilian movements but the furry body of a mammal plus it lays eggs. Some people thought it may even have been a hoax when it was first discovered.
The research is important for three reasons. First it highlights the potential problem for the platypus of climate change. Secondly it shows that climate change can have implications not only for land living animals but also for water based animals as the rivers and streams heat up. Thirdly, it highlights how climate change can have an impact on many creatures including the Platypus.
It is the Platypus’ insulating fur coat that allows it to survive in zero degree temperatures that may be its downfall as temperatures rise. The only place for the Platypus to cool off is in its burrow but it can’t feed there so has to be able to go into the water to survive.
The rising temperatures will probably make the Platypus’ move location to find deeper cooler streams in which they can thrive. If the trend continues it may be that they will end up congregating in areas such as Tasmania, King Island and Kangaroo Island where the temperatures are cooler.
Whilst we can’t supply you with a Platypus we can help you if you would like an animal stress ball to give away as a corporate gift. We can provide animals as diverse as a ram, mouse, toucan or puffin as well as panthers, gorillas, pandas or frogs. To see our entire range of stress balls just visit us at www.stress-balls.co.uk or www.mikkis.co.uk where I’m sure you will find something of interest.
Tuesday, June 14th, 2011
House Prices Fall slightly in the year to April
UK house prices have not yet recovered it seems as the national survey of house prices suggests that prices actually fell in April by 1.1%. This makes the whole year trend a drop of 0.3% on last year. A survey of chartered surveyors suggests that people are still being put off by the economic climate and continued mortgage rationing.
Although mortgage borrowing actually rose in April the Council of Mortgage Lenders said that this was not the likely trend for the year.
The surveys published this year all seem to show a slight downward trend in house prices, as well as a widespread variation in house prices throughout the UK.
A RICs spokesman said that interest in buying property has remained flat throughout the year due to both the economic climate and the lack of mortgage funds.
It seems that house prices in England remained the same whereas in London they grew by 3.6%. Northern Ireland saw a drop of 15.2% as did Scotland 1.2 % and Wales 1.4%.
If you work as part of the housing market then why not consider purchasing a house stress ball to promote your company. We here at Mikkis can supply these as well as bricks and many other housing related stress balls. We are all providers of all kinds of promotional items and corporate gifts so why not visit our sites at www.mikkis.co.uk or www.stress-balls.co.uk where I’m sure you will find something to spark your imagination.
Tuesday, June 14th, 2011
Images of the Brain and Consciousness
Doctors have finally been able to obtain an image of the brain as it slips into unconsciousness. The image shows the brain’s waxing and waning of electrical activity that occurs when the brain slips from consciousness into the unconscious state.
It seems that different parts of the brain are talking to each other as consciousness slips away. It is hoped that the work will ultimately help doctors to pinpoint damage caused by stroke and head injury. The findings support a theory put forward by Dr Susan Greenfield of the University of Oxford that different parts of the brain inhibit each other as consciousness wanes.
The new technique called Functional Electrical Impedance Tomography by Evoked Response (fEITER) is a more compact process that fMRI, which can be easily used in the operating theatre. It works by sending low electrical impulses through the skull by way of tens of electrodes and the signals are interrupted by the brain’s own electrical signals and tissue.
It is hoped that this technique will be able to tell much about patients with stroke or head injury as well as tell us much about consciousness itself.
If you would like a little reminder of this technique or are just interested in brains generally then why not consider purchasing some brain stress balls to sit on your desk? These are miniature squeezy brains intended as stress relievers. They are the ideal corporate gift especially if you are in an NHS related profession. To see our entire range of stress balls and our other promotional gifts just visit us at www.mikkis.co.uk or www.stress-balls.co.uk where you will find a huge range of items to choose from.
Monday, June 13th, 2011
Why are chocolate bars getting smaller?
Why are chocolate bars getting smaller?
Have you noticed that chocolate bars these days appear to be shrinking? It’s not just a memory failure as we get older I’m sure, they actually are shrinking. In fact Dairy Milk have reduced their 140g bar of Dairy Milk to 120g, the equivalent of losing two chunks. The reductions seem to be due to the ever increasing prices manufacturers face in getting their products to the shelves. Many products have been slashed in size whilst their prices have remained the same. PZ Cussons have reduced the size of their Imperial Leather soap bar from 125g to 100g because of the increase in the price of palm oil.
Toblerone have reduced the size of their bar by one triangle to ensure that shops like Poundland could continue selling it for one pound. It is interesting that the manufacturers have decided to reduce sizes rather than increase prices and this is due to the fact that customers resist price rises more than size reductions. If the prices of a chocolate bar increases the customer might think twice about whether to buy it.
This however is one trend that you won’t see in our business our stress balls are great value and are still the same size that they have always been. If you would like to see our full range then just visit our sites at www.Mikkis.co.uk or www.stress-balls.co.uk where you are sure to find something to suit you.
Monday, June 13th, 2011
The new ipad 2
The new ipad 2 is now 33% thinner and 15% lighter. It makes surfing the web and emailing your friends so much easier than ever before. The new ipad 2 had two powerful cores in one A5 chip meaning it can do twice the work at once. Doing multiple tasks is now faster and smoother than before. Graphics are now up to 9 times faster making game play and photo viewing even faster.
It has the same amazing 10 hour battery life as before even though so many aspects have been improved upon. There are now two cameras on the ipad 2 for face time video calling. The new smart cover for the ipad 2 means that when you take the cover off the ipad 2 wakes up instantly and accordingly when you put the cover on it automatically goes to sleep. The cover is available in a wide variety of colours. It has a 9.7inch backlit display which makes viewing super easy.
With Multi-touch on the ipad 2 everything is at your finger tips. The sensitive system converts your every touch, swipe or press into appropriate actions for your application.
However, despite the ipad 2 being so popular and so impressive there is always going to be the need for desk top computers and the associated mice and mouse mats required for them. If you would like to purchase some mouse mats for your company why not consider having them branded and giving them away as corporate gifts or give-aways? We can help you because we here at Mikkis can supply any type of promotional mouse mats you may require. Just look at our web site www.mikkis.co.uk for our complete range of mouse mats and other promotional items and gifts.
Monday, June 13th, 2011
Task Force Set Up to save the Royal Bengal Tigers
A task force has been set up in Bangladesh to save the Royal Bengal Tiger. The 300 strong task force will try to safeguard the 400 Royal Bengal Tigers that are left in the Sundarbans Forest region between India and Bangladesh. This move was prompted by the discovery of tiger skins and a large quantity of bones recently.
Officials admitted that they did not have the manpower to cope with the increasingly sophisticated techniques employed by the poachers. Money for the training and equipping of the task force will come from the World Bank Loan. The Task Force will also attempt to stop the illegal trafficking of animals which is a growing problem.
If you like tigers then why not consider having a stress tiger printed with your company logo as your latest giveaway? These are great items and are a beautiful item to have on your desk. To see an example just visit us at www.mikkis.co.uk or www.stress-balls.co.uk where you will find the tiger and many other great stress ball items to choose from.