Ivan Gonzalez is the founder and CEO of IG1 Communications. Ivan shared his story on creating a unique logoed pen to create more conversations with his customers.
Please tell us a little bit about yourself?
Hello, my name is Ivan Gonzalez, owner of IG1 Communications. We are an award winning video production company. We work with medium and large businesses, to get them get a leg up on their competitions, and stand out. That’s what we do, and we are located in Irvine California.
What type of promotional products did you order? (If you have multiple orders tell us one project/campaign that is most memorable in your experience) Do you have a favorite or “go to” promo item for your business and industry?
My go-to item in promotional products is this pen that folds. When I give them out to clients, their first impression are always like: is this pen broken? Then I show them what it does – fold the pen, place it on the desk, and put your phone in front of it. It holds up your phone! I tell everybody this is so you can watch my videos with! Everybody loves it and I always get asked if I have any extra pens. So that’s my favorite promotional item that stands out, as well as other promotional items we have done such as webcam covers and things like that. We always try to go out of our way to be somewhat different and useful at the same time. The industry of video production is very competitive in California so this helps us stand out.
Tell us about your goals and priority of your project/campaign.
There are businesses out there that have a lot of customers, but then there are a lot of companies out there that have fans. Just look at Tesla, Apple. My company is turning into one of those, at a smaller scale. Thanks to promotional products, our clients are not just clients, they are fans. Obviously they love our service, they love getting new fun stuff from us every year. It keeps them interested.
Tell us your search process process for this promo item. What method did you use (google, social media, referral etc) on your research?
I found Swire through networking, we happened to run in the same circle. Eventually I looked at his catalog and the items that he has, I really like the quality of the products. I know a lot of promotional items people, and I feel like Swire’s items are the upper echelon of those. I like using Swire for all my promotional products and recommend him for all my clients.
Usually I will have a conversation with Swire, we come up with ideas and he would send me some samples. From there, I look to see what fits within my budget to create the most impact. It’s a very easy way of doing it.
Can you walk us through this decision making process on this promotional product?
So with the pens I found that they are always good quality, while there are other vendors there maybe a little less. The quality is always good with Swire. So we stick with him!
Tell us about the result of the project. Are you happy with the outcome on your ROI? Do you feel that you have achieved your goals with these products?
I feel like whenever I give an end of the year gift or VIP gift to my clients, I always get my return on investment by the first quarter of next year. There maybe clients that I have not talked to for awhile, and I give them a bag of goodies. Within a couple of months we hear from them, they have something. It is like they have forgotten about us and all of a sudden we are back. So we definitely get the return on investment.
What advice would you like to share with people who are interested to order promotional products? Do you have any best practice? Would you consider ordering again?
One advice I have with ordering promotional products is that don’t be constrained by pricing. In my industry it is similar sometimes, there are clients that understand that you have quality, and there are clients that are only looking at the bottom line. The problem is very similar to promotional items, the problem with just looking at the bottom line is, yes you will save money if you go with the lowest bidder, but is it going to be there on time? Most likely not. Is it going to be the quality that you’re hoping for? Most likely not. So take everything into consideration before making your decision, not just the price.
