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Looking for promotional products? You've come to the right site! Whether you are looking for a specific item or just browsing for ideas, our site is your one-stop source.

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Gritty: Marketing Gold or Short-Term Stunt

The Philadelphia Flyers new mascot is a viral sensation, but can his appeal last? We hope so, because he’s awesome.

The Philadelphia Flyers took over the Internet Monday when they debuted their new mascot, Gritty. One look at Gritty tells you why:



As you can see, Gritty’s appearance suggests he deserves to be at the forefront of a dubious pantheon of homicidal maniacs that includes characters like the clown from It and everyone’s favorite murderous doll Chucky. But as some experts see it, Gritty is genius marketing on the part of the Flyers. Over a 24-hour span early this week, Gritty was the top searched term on Google. Social media exploded with commentary. Press across the U.S. and Canada covered the new face of the Flyers. By midday Tuesday, Gritty had 40,700 Twitter followers. In fact, Gritty was trending so wildly that there was already a beer being brewed up in his honor. To put it succinctly, Gritty is the definition of a digital age viral phenomenon.



Sure, a lot of the buzz around Gritty is replete with negative comments. But that’s not a big a deal, says Ken Wisnefski, a social media marketing expert and founder/owner of digital marketing agency WebiMax. Wisnefski believes the Flyers knew exactly what they were doing with Gritty. A blasé mascot wasn’t going to generate much buzz. However, a towering orange behemoth with meth amphetamine eyes who looks like he killed every other character on Sesame Street was always going to get a lot of attention (our words, not Wisnefski’s…)





The upshot, says Wisnefski, is that Gritty has put the Flyers – and the upcoming hockey season – in the national spotlight at a time when football season is in full swing and baseball is nearing its playoffs. “Not since IHOP tricked people into believing that they changed their name to IHOb (International House of Burgers) have more people taken to social media to share their opinion on a marketing tactic,” says Wisnefski. “A generic mascot was not going to get people talking. Ultimately, if the Phillie Phanatic debuted today, he would be blasted across social media, too. However, he would connect with kids and accomplish the goal of getting people talking.”



Not everyone necessarily agrees with the point about connecting with children:



Jokes aside, Wisnefski says the Flyers are in a strong position to capitalize on Gritty’s appeal if they play their cards right. “It’s vital for the Flyers to get creative with how they position Gritty moving forward in order to take advantage of his popularity,” says Wisnefski. Certainly, we could see a lot of novelty Gritty T-Shirts and hats selling this season around the City of Brotherly Love and its suburban counties. Gameday merch could include Gritty bobbleheads, toys, youth caps, pennants, pins, water bottles and the like. We could see a lot of that swag appealing to adults keen for quirky novelties, just as much as it would kids. Admittedly, we’d be terrified to wake up at night to find a Gritty bobblehead staring at us from the shelf or mantelpiece, but this would not prevent us from desiring such an item.



While the jury remains out on how Gritty will do in the long-term, he is most certainly the marketing win of the moment. Kudos to the Flyers. We look forward to seeing how Gritty is leveraged through promotional products and branded merchandise. And now, more from social media:



Some celebrities couldn’t escape Gritty comparisons:





Gritty had his fans too:









And for those who were critical, Gritty just bid them a good day and got on with things:



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Stranger Things Merch Stars in Halloween Horror Nights Swag

The new promotional products support Universal Studios’ special Halloween event. The collection also includes Michael Myers merch and more. Universal Studios’ annual spine-tingling Halloween extravaganza, Halloween Horror Nights, begins Friday, Sept. 14. Fortunately, branded merchandise for the event is now available – and fans of Stranger Things, the Halloween movies, psycho doll Chucky, and spooky fun in general are already howling at the moon with delight. Loving the merch from @HorrorNightsORL @HorrorNights this year! Who’s with me?! @HNNightmares @HHNCrypt @HHNYearbook #HHN28 #hhn2018 pic.twitter.com/JYkDkmf1cT — FirstClassHorror (@class_horror) August 26, 2018 Stranger Things swag created for Horror Nights 2018 includes T-Shirts, hoodies, drinkware, phone cases, a light-up pin, lanyards, and more. It’s all really cool, IMHO. Check out some samples available from The Universal Store: Light-up pin. Those who get a thrill from Michael Myers and the Halloween flicks will probably want to add this tee to their merch collection. Meanwhile, Chucky aficionados had tees and a poster with which to bolster their swag horde. There is also Horror Nights merch co-branded with characters from Stranger Things, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, Poltergeist, and Trick ‘r Treat. Items include a hoodie and a drawstring backpack. Also eye-catching is this tee for annual passholders: With the Halloween event season poised to launch throughout the U.S., it’s still not too late for promo pros to provide promotional products for local events. Draw a little inspiration from the Halloween Horror Nights merchandise and get cracking today on contacting prospects. They can include entities that range from farms that do “agritainment” with haunted hayrides to community theater groups that offer haunted houses and performances, to bars and nightclubs with Halloween-themed events. Still here? Check out the sneak peek from Horror Nights below. And, be sure to leave the lights on. Here's your FIRST LOOK inside the maze based on @netflix's @Stranger_Things at this year's Halloween Horror Nights! Who's ready to enter the Upside Down? #UniversalHHN pic.twitter.com/tVsTct5ZgA — Horror Nights (@HorrorNights) September 5, 2018
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Instagram Testing Video Tagging Feature

Depending on how things go, it could be a boon for brands, marketers and social media influencers.

Heads-up, marketers: Instagram is beta-testing a new feature that would allow users to tag friends in their video posts – a development that, if fully rolled out, could help extend the reach and views of posts on the visually-driven social platform.



Currently, Instagrammers can only tag friends in photos. TechCrunch reported that the video tagging feature being tested works similarly to photo tagging, but with a twist. With photos, clicking an icon at the bottom left prompts a list of tagged names to appear over the image. But with videos, clicking the icon will take users to a list of tagged people.



TechCrunch spotted this example of video tagging on the Instagram account @cablegirlsrd.

As of now, video tagging is only available on Instagram’s mobile platform, not the web version. Only users who opted in to the beta test can access the feature. Unlike with photos, videos do not currently appear in the profiles of tagged Instagrammers. Still, that could change as Instagram refines the feature.

As TechCrunch’s Sarah Perez noted, video tagging opens up some potentially exciting possibilities for brands. “The feature could also make way for shoppable videos, not just photos, and allow Instagram influencers to post videos of their favorite products and places, while pointing fans to those brands’ own Instagram accounts in a more structured fashion than is possible today,” Perez wrote.
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Office Location

3126 Mosser Dr. Allentown, PA 18103-3649
Phone: (610) 974-8080