CFpromo and the Northwestern Red Raiders Custom Slate Coasters

CFpromo, headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota continues to showcase our ability to produce truly custom marketing and promotional items with our latest creation for the Northwestern College Red Raiders Basketball Program. Based in Orange City Iowa, the Red Raiders are a perennial powerhouse in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and they wanted a way to say thank you to top supporters and coaches within the program and they looked to CFpromo to come up with a one of a kind item that would portray their appreciation to their supporters, staff and school. CFpromo then began to devise an appropriate size of slate to begin the process of etching the Red Raider logo and all other important details onto our standard slate coaster. The rest is carved in stone and will last the test of time!

CFpromo, where EVERY day is CUSTOM MADE EASY!

CFpromo and Custom Embroidery in Sioux Falls

As the leader in custom embroidery in Sioux Falls and South Dakota, CFpromo always goes through painstaking detail to ensure our custom embroidery exceeds every customer’s needs. Our custom screen printing and custom embroidery services are legendary around Sioux Falls and the Midwest. What started as a very humble request from one of our customers to help improve their corporate look, became a mission on our part to improve embroidery in Sioux Falls to new heights. As you can see from the pictures above, it is not hard to distinguish how embarrassed our customer was to wear their previous corporate apparel versus the entirely revamped arsenal of custom polo’s, dress shirts, office scrubs and other apparel at factory direct prices from CFpromo. The generic peach shirt has very poorly digitized logo work which equated to a horrific looking logo with gaps, spaces and barely distinguishable lettering. Our Land’s End products delivered sharp lines and clear custom embroidery, due in part to the fact we don’t use cheap digitizing to deliver a logo. After doing a sew out and showing the Lilly Family Dentistry how impressive they could and should be looking, it wasn’t long before CFpromo helped them feel great about showing up to work every day with a big smile! In addition, and always from factory direct CFpromo, they actually paid less per item than their previous order!!

What separates CFpromo from everyone else who is in the custom embroidery business?

- Clear and distinguishable letters that are of appropriate size on your garment, apparel, hat or product.
- Stitch counts that don’t cause the embroidery to pucker or bubble.
- Our custom process to utilize our own digitizing keeps your costs low (no extra stitches need to be added to offset a cheap digitized logo)
- If requested, we will literally do a sew out to show CFpromo customers what their custom embroidery will look like before it is placed on an $80 Nike or Carharrt garment.
- We embroider a wide range of products than no one else offers such as shoes, chairs, sports bags, bean bags, and much more. CFpromo Can even custom embroider your Chuck Taylor shoes if requested! http://www.cfpromo.com/blog/custom-chuck-taylors-from-cfpromo/

CFpromo and custom embroidery from Sioux Falls, South Dakota to Anchorage, Alaska to Miami, Florida…….where every day is Custom Made EASY!

Q+A Session with our President/CEO

Highlights of a recent interview with our President/CEO Scott A. Van Egdom and the EUWIFO Business Report on the worldwide landscape and prospects of brand marketing and promotional products/technology integration for 2013 and beyond.

EUWIFO: Thanks for your time and insight today Scott. How has your operational structure changed in 2012 and what do you see in 2013?

VAN EGDOM: Thank you. We have taken a very proactive approach with our business model and overall I’m pleased where we are and where we are going. A few years ago we saw the need for wider product lines, distribution channels and world class manufacturing, sourcing and logistics. We also say the need to align ourselves with marketing and brand agencies that share our common values and mission. With that, we have molded our model into three entities: our custom technology division (CFgear), our custom promotional products division (CFpromo) and a division dedicated to fundraising activities (Dakota Fundraising). Each plays a significant role for our customer base and their needs, but our key is leveraging all of the above under one roof and complementing the businesses with some of the brightest and most creative minds in not only sales and marketing, but branding, logistics, design, financial and international supply chain experts. Combined, we feel good about where we are and where we are headed.

EUWIFO: What is the most recent figures on revenues generated by promotional products?

VAN EGDOM: I haven’t seen the latest Q4 ’12 figures to this point but based on what I saw through Q3 ’12 more than $17 billion was spent worldwide by companies interested in marketing their brand and products through promotional items and custom technology. Although overall growth has slowed during the worldwide economic slowdown, revenues have climbed as those who know the importance of maintaining their brand identity and growing their product lines remain convinced the investment is well worth the time.

EUWIFO: How have businesses evolved in 2012 regarding promotional products and marketing?

VAN EGDOM: It really breaks down into two categories of needs. Small to medium businesses and large Fortune 1000 type accounts. Larger customers are looking for brand partners. Not necessarily to drive a brand, as they have internal staff for this concept, but actual help with their own teams on how to use products, services and technology from the promotional products company as part of an overall strategy. It’s really about education and integrating corporate messaging and brand into the products and not always the products themselves. We talk much more about our specific Promo Papers and things like ROI than we used to. We literally sit at the table with brand agencies and the customer to help devise real promotional products strategy versus ten years ago when just handing out coffee mugs at trade shows was the norm.

EUWIFO: We hear much about consolidation in the promotional products companies in the US and internationally with suppliers. What is your take?

VAN EGDOM: There is a fair amount of consolidation on both ends. In the US, companies that only sell products are consolidating at a rapid pace. Lots of mom and pop type shops are being forced to partner with bigger entities that have more marketing skill and clout to remain viable. Internationally the pressure to deliver higher quality at lower prices is driving massive consolidation on the supply side. We recently returned from a trip to Asia and the amount of mothballed capacity was startling compared to what we saw last year. There is tremendous pressure to lower costs and return stronger ROI’s for businesses I believe driven by need and the present economic times. Companies that just pitch products and cannot provide historical ROI data to assist the planning of the purchasing organization will begin to struggle very quickly in 2013 and beyond. In addition customers are looking for more one stop shopping and we’ve been ahead of that curve for some time as we saw it coming back in 2010 or so. Co-op buys and consolidated spend to get superior pricing and the highest ROI are number one on the radar screens of every marketing executive today.

EUWIFO: What role is social media playing and how does your organization use them?

VAN EGDOM: Social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Linked In and YouTube are changing the game in certain ways. I see social media as a bridge to excite our overall customer base with information and visual ideas on what we are doing and have done. It is also a great way to for our account executives to stay in touch with our contacts or introduce themselves to new contacts after trade shows, etc. As we look forward, the application of these social media formats in mobile devices will grow exponentially and we are working diligently to ensure our web properties are tailored to meet this rapid growth of mobile social media. I personally believe the figures that say 31% of all consumers only use a mobile device to access the internet is accurate for social media, but I also believe there are still so many companies without mobile optimized websites, that computer viewing for actual purchases and research is much higher than just 69%. Just opinion. :)

EUWIFO: How is price impacting purchase decisions?

VAN EGDOM: Price is a VERY important factor in nearly all purchasing decisions. As I mentioned before, have the best supply chain, factory direct networks, and logistical superiority is critical to maintaining a healthy business. However, organizations like ours that take time to fund case studies and research so we can share hard ROI facts, are as important as price in many cases. For instance on the CFgear side of our operation, many companies are no longer interested in using CD/DVD technology to share their message and they want to utilize USB flash drives. On paper, USB flash drives do cost more than a DVD. However, we funded a study to check actual usage rates of a USB flash drive versus DVD. The end result was nearly 60% more potential customers accessed the USB flash drive versus the DVD. Our customer was shocked. We weren't and explained that another study we had recently completed show that of the 1.2 billion computing devices sold around the world in the last 36 months, less than 1/3rd even have a CD/DVD included! It's ROI data such as this that helps a brand manager or CMO understand that price matters, but so does delivering a message and products that hit the target.

EUWIFO: What are some ways you help customers understand the value of ROI on purchases of products and services?

VAN EGDOM: There are lots of high value ROI data points that exist from the largest trade association groups. Things like the average adult male owns 8 hats or that the average adult female will hang onto a tote bag they like for on average of 4 years. Some of these data points can help in various ways. However, we take that data to an entirely new level with research and actual PROMO PAPERS on specific projects we've done or commissioned to have more ROI relative results. Promotional products remain one of the lowest costs per impression of any advertising medium, appeal to the senses, evoke strong brand retention and favorable impressions. Traditional media is no longer sufficient or even adequate with all the satellite radio options, lack of newspapers and DVR's eliminating commercials. Actual promotional products elicit higher ROI than anything else in this new age of brand and marketing management. The key to the entire equation is making sure that the promotional product or service meets the brand expectation, whether the promotional item is something tied to actual sales of a product or whether it is used as a marketing vehicle to lead to more brand awareness of a company in general. In many instances, customers need our help understanding what the the need and goal is to ensure we deliver a product or service that will return the desired ROI.

More South Dakota Basketball Tournament Success for CFpromo

CFPromo based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota continues to be the one stop shop to help you run your baseball, basketball or volleyball tournament. CFpromo has everything you need to have a successful tournament and with our experience of handling hundreds of tournaments, we can share a few additional ideas to help your specific tournament stand out and be one that every team wants to attend year after year. As a factory direct supplier of more than 100,000 items, we have a vast supply of products and services at the best factory direct prices in South Dakota.

At CFpromo we can have all of the items below reading and waiting for your tournament:

medals, trophies and awards ( in many cases we recommend something different than a plain old medal that sits in a duffle bag until the end of they year and then is tossed)
custom tournament t-shirt, hoodies and other apparel from more than 20 brands including Nike, Adidas, Under Armour and more
custom banners to help promote your tournament, or as seen pictured…to highlight your division champions at each tournament. We even have a cutout banner so each team member can take a piece of the banner home with them.

CFpromo has the dedication, experience, knowledge, products and pricing to help make your next South Dakota baseball, basketball or volleyball tournament a complete success. If you are planning an event call, click or come in and witness the CFpromo advantage for yourself.

CFpromo, where every day is CUSTOM MADE EASY!

CFPromo and Sioux Falls Christian High School Chargers

For years, CFpromo has been a loyal supporter of all of our local schools in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Whether branded t-shirts for the Sioux Falls Lincoln Patriots, logo water bottles for the Sioux Falls Washington Warriors, gymnasium banners for the Sioux Falls O'Gorman Knights or custom hats for the Sioux Falls Roosevelt Roughriders, CFpromo is involved in many ways with our local high schools. One additional school is the Sioux Falls Christian Chargers. We find ourselves as the true marketing and promotional arm of their school, handling promotional product, trade show materials and custom apparel orders for everything from sporting events, musical events, spirit wear and more. We often get to showcase our factory direct ability to the Chargers on our more than half a million available items with the best price in the Midwest and the fastest turnaround times available.

Recently we completed a set of custom USB flash drives for the SFC Chargers. These are not just any simple devices. These are the SlapBandz that CFpromo is making famous all around the USA. SlapBandz are the newest way to allow students to utilize USB storage without worrying about losing their USB flash drives, SSD drive or portable hard drive filled with homework assignments. Simply "slap" the band on your wrist and you have a very comfortable, yet stylish school colored USB drive that looks just like a cool silicone bracelet, but with the advantage of having your data and information right at your fingertips! In addition since the USB drive is waterproof and spill proof, there is no risk of water or the elements causing your custom SlapBandz USB drive to fail. It is a virtually indestructible custom technology item from your technology experts at CFpromo.

More than a dozen schools in South Dakota have already found the CFpromo SlapBandz to be their USB flash drive of choice and now more than 50 schools across the nation have also signed up to use the CFpromo SlapBandz as their custom branded flash drive of choice.

Just sixty two more reasons why CFpromo is always CUSTOM MADE EASY every day!

CFpromo Supports the Sioux Falls Community

As part of our corporate philosophy and mission statement, CFpromo team members recently contributed their time, money and fund raising expertise to Junior Achievement of South Dakota. As a celebration of these efforts, CFpromo participated in a bowl-a-thon to help Junior Achievement of South Dakota continue to raise awareness to their cause while also celebrating our help on custom South Dakota t-shirts and other fun products that helped showcase the event.

Whether you are a school in South Dakota looking for a custom apparel or custom t-shirt company who will help with fund-raising (and donate a healthy portion of the proceeds back to the school), a business looking for a factory direct supplier of custom branded products that will promote your company internally and to the public eye or an organization like Junior Achievement of South Dakota who looks to CFpromo for the best priced, one stop shop for all their apparel, water bottles, custom technology items, hats, custom embroidery and custom screen-printing, CFpromo is just what you are looking for.

We deliver more custom factory direct products from South Dakota for South Dakota than any other company in the state. Our ability to deliver one of a kind items as part of an overall marketing plan and model, makes us second to no one and we take a great amount of pride in our work for every customer. At the same time we do our very best to remain a valued corporate citizen for companies in Sioux Falls, Aberdeen, Huron, Brookings, Watertown, Mitchell, Yankton, Vermillion, Rapid City and more than fifty other locations in South Dakota. Whether providing an in kind donation of product, financial assistance, marketing assistance or fund raising help, CFpromo cares about South Dakota and will do what we can to help you, your school, your business or your organization meet its goals!