Before we begin if you have no idea what custom embroidery is, it’s the process of forming decorative designs on objects with needlework. For your business this can be your company name, logo, slogan or all three stitched on a hat, shirt or other product.

It’s easy to get your companies information on clothing from an online store. Usually you only need to select the type of product you want embroidered and upload your graphic or text wait 2-4 weeks and then start marketing.

The best part is it’s not just a one shot and done advertisement such as TV or Radio commercial it is a multi-viewable advertisement that a potential customer has the opportunity to see over and over again. Even if they’re not currently in the market for your product or company at the time they view it, you’ve planted the seed.

According to the Bender Graphics Blog; they created a custom shirt to help the Red Cross raise money for September 11 relief and from a post dated May 2 2008 “Just yesterday I saw one of those shirts being worn around town. That was six years ago”.

It also allows for another portion of the marketing spectrum; customer trust. Unlike the above mentioned TV or Radio commercial or even a billboard on the side of the road it adds a face to your business, every one of those embroidered products that is seen being worn by another person is a personal endorsement from the wearer that they like and respect your company. There is nothing better than a personal endorsement for selling your business or product.

Think Nautica, Calvin Klein, Polo or Kenneth Cole every piece of apparel they manufacturer comes with an embroidered Logo or name on it. The person wearing that article of clothing is actually advertising your company to every person that sees them wearing it.

It doesn’t even need to be someone buying your apparel. If you create a company shirt you can have all your employees wear it to work. They’ll then be seen at other places advertising your company such as the grocery store, hair stylist or dentist. You can even give them to your current clients whenever they make a purchase; you never know when they’ll wear it and who may ask about you and your company.

Don’t you want thousands of mini custom billboards advertising your business over and over again? What are you waiting for?

If you want Custom Embroidery or some Custom Hoodies for your companies marketing strategy talk to Bender Shirts.

Which celebrity does not have their own fashion line? The list seems to be getting shorter as more and more stars announce their new lines and fragrances to be sold at already well established and accessible stores around the globe. The next time Sarah Jessica Parker is seen on the red carpet she may be wearing the likes of Marc Jacobs, but her new fashion line Bitten is not aimed for this Prada toting crowd. The new trend among celebrities is reaching out to the masses by providing them with trendy and affordable duds on the high street and in shopping malls everywhere. But what does the future hold for the real designers out there?

The recent deaths and retirements of a few major leaders in fashion have piqued the interest of fashionistas everywhere that are wondering who, when, and even if, they can be replaced. Some of these designers and their associated brands such as Versace and Calvin Klein have lived on in the hands of designers happy to take on and continue the legacy. In other instances the designer brand is bought out by bigger corporations looking to cash in on the already established client base. These big name designers who are so often worn at movie premiers and award shows might continue to reign but the question lies in whether or not the public and the celebrity elite will see any new big names and faces associated with fashion, as we have seen in the past.

David A. Wolf, a fashion trend forecaster and creative director of the Doneger Group believes that the era of massive empires built upon a single name or face are probably over. “The people who have empires and giant names, happened to begin their careers with the maximum window of opportunity for that kind of enterprise,” said Mr. Wolfe. “That doesn’t seem to exist anymore. I just can’t imagine who would be a new Donna Karan.”

The task for new young designers on the scene has been made doubly difficult by the number of celebrities who already have face and name recognition coming out with their own designer fashion lines. These celebs have used the already existing economic infrastructure of big names like Topshop and Tesco to market and sell their designs, or in many cases someone else’s design that they have attached their name and face to. This strategy is what can give many new designers a ray of hope, using mega stores and recognisable brands to get their designs out there to be seen, purchased and worn.

The time may soon come when young budding designer’s dreams are not their first catwalk show during London’s Fashion Week, but a job with a big name high street store like Marks and Spencer, Debenhams or Kate Moss’s choice of Topshop. The benefits of designing for big stores has even been highlighted on shows such as Project Catwalk, a reality show where young designers compete to win a job working as one of the designers at Debenhams.

This new building ground for designers just starting to get their feet wet has potential to benefit all parties involved. The designers receive more capital via sponsorship from an array of initiatives from big names stores with deep pockets looking to capitalise on fresh new looks and the public can happily drape themselves in the newest trends for prices that will not break the bank.

Elisha Burberry is an online, freelance journalist and keen traveller and watersports enthusiast. Originally from Scotland, she now resides in London.

They sound like characters from an action video game – Orange Monster, Black Samurai, White Knight – but in fact, they’re three of the hippest watches made by Seiko and are much sought-after by wealthy enthusiasts and collectors, particularly in Asia.

This may come as a surprise, but Seiko watches are gaining an image as hip and collectable. In many parts of the world, the Seiko watch brand has been seen as reliable, but unremarkable. But look closely and an exceptional story begins to emerge.

Seiko burst onto the international watchmaking scene in 1969, when it caught off-guard and almost destroyed the Swiss watch industry with the launch of the Astron, the world’s first battery-powered quartz wristwatch. The Astron was more accurate and durable than the hand-wound mechanical Swiss watches costing several times as much. Overnight, demand for mechanical watches plummeted.

Many watchmaking innovations over the past three decades are probably due to Seiko: the first quartz watch; first quartz LCD with six-digit display (hours, minutes and seconds); first calculator watch; first quartz with day and date; first quartz chronograph (date, stopwatch and alarm); first TV watch; first thermic quartz watch (powered by the wearer’s body heat); first kinetic quartz watch (powered by the wearer’s movement)… and the list goes on. Seiko watches have been at the center of watch evolution, and its influence extends far beyond watchmaking: the LCDs in your clock radio, microwave oven or CD player all owe a debt to innovations made by Seiko.

Seiko, in fact, has been the innovator of so many industry “firsts” that it’s difficult to name them all. Recently, for example, was the 40th anniversary of the first quartz chronometer, launched at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Used to time marathons, it brought unprecedented precision to sports timekeeping, being accurate to within 0.2 seconds a day. Just a few years ago saw the 10th anniversary of the world’s first kinetic chronograph, the quartz watch powered by the movement of the wearer’s wrist, thereby eliminating the need for a battery. To celebrate the event, Seiko launched the Arctura Kinetic Chronograph, which takes kinetic movements to a new level of precision, being accurate to within 15 seconds per month.

While innovation and continuity rarely go together, Seiko has both. The company, founded in Tokyo by Kintaro Hattori in 1881, is still a family business. Although part of the business is a publicly traded company, the current president of Seiko Watch Corporation is the founder’s great-grandson, Shinji Hattori, who is also the nephew of the current honorable chairman.

Given Seiko’s history of producing revolutionary products and ideas that are emulated everywhere, you might expect that it would enjoy a reputation similar to that of Apple or Sony. Yet many people don’t few even realize that Seiko is the world’s leading manufacturer of watches, selling over 14 million watches annually. It also annually sells more than 350 million quartz movements to other watch makers. Here again, Seiko has revolutionized the watch making industry. Previously, only Swiss and Japanese companies could make reliable watches. But now anybody can simply add a dial, case and strap to a Seiko quartz movement and sell it under their own brand name. Although it doesn’t want to name companies it provides movements to, Seiko’s quartz movements are at the heart of many watches sold by some of the biggest name brands in fashion and sports.

Seiko doesn’t really get the respect it deserves. The product quality is phenomenal, but there’s a misperception of their brand.

Some people believe Seiko offers too many budget-price models. Cheap, in the public’s mind, means poor quality even if that’s not the case. Also, Seiko’s watch designs change too often. Some of the best Seiko watch designs never get the chance to develop a following, whereas the best Rolex or Omega watches stay in production for 20 or 30 years. For collectors, it’s a problem, and collectors add value to brands.

One Seiko executive recently stated the company is in the process of refining its brand. “We have very strong brand awareness, with around 70 per cent recognition of Seiko as a watchmaker. But there was some confusion about the brand. The company’s pioneering history, our dedication to producing elegant watches, wasn’t really understood. We’re proud of the company, so we decided to streamline and focus the branding, and emphasize our legacy.”

Until recently, regional Seiko companies sold the brand according to local tastes. But just recently the Japanese parent, Seiko Corporation, decided to overhaul its branding and marketing strategies. The company’s position is that customer perception of the brand should be the same in Tokyo, London, Paris, New York or Sydney. That means building a brand image that conveys core values, no matter what the market. Over a period of several months Seiko has revamped its public profile, from billboard and TV advertising to in-store presentation and packaging.

So far, the strategy has been successful. In line with company expectations, Seiko is gradually being seen as a premium watch brand. Not just trustworthy and reliable, but a real status brand. Technological innovation is at the heart of company, but Seiko watches have a certain refinement that they’re trying to emphasize also.

So, how might Seiko improve its brand status? Being the largest watch company, with an excellent line of products and constant innovation, perhaps Seiko could start by being a little less modest about their product.

Watch Source Guide is a comprehensive source of information about watches for enthusiasts, or for anyone planning to purchase a watch and wants to make an informed decision. Includes sections on watch functioning, maintenance, articles and more. More information on this and other related topics can be found at http://www.watchsourceguide.com

Festina, a Swiss watch manufacturer, was established in the year 1902. It is the certified timekeeper of the Tour de France. Being over 100 years old, it comes among the leading names in Europe and also a best seller in its home country. At the moment, the Festina brand carries on its heritage of fashionable European watches with a widespread compilation of stylish, handy and sporty watches for almost every occasion.

From the period of its establishment, Festina watches have carved out a niche brand by way of an inimitable persona. Shaped in the midst of the altering generations, these watches are elegant, vibrant as well as highly efficient. Theses are genuinely meant for people who breathe their lives strongly and love to cherish every single moment through the thick and thin of life.

These watches are composed of Japanese quartz movements and other matchless, inherent features. The Mecaquartz movement, a no-battery mechanical quartz movement, is another distinguishing feature of the brand. In addition to all theses exceptional attributes, a major chunk of Festina’s watches take account of sports chronographs comprising the globally advertised Road Warrior string of chronographs.

Festina also hogged media limelight in the year 1998 through a dubious reason. The team sponsored by the Festina in the Tour de France, was trapped in a doping scandal.

Festina offers a broad product range – digital, analog, chronograph, leather, stainless steel and titanium. It truly doesn’t matter, whichever model you pick, it will have a long, lasting effect on your personality. Some particular models have pitched Festina on the top of the market and almost turned it into a monopolistic brand in the watch market. Some models are extremely adored by sports enthusiasts and from time to time, the company has come up with innovative features to give them further boost.

The Tour De France alarm watches, when rolled in the market, fuelled the competition and forced other watch producer to match its level. The brand got some rave acclaim from the competitors as well. Its status received a further boost when it launched the modified version of the brand by presenting it as Festina Tour de France Alarm Chronograph watch.

For the past 15-20 years, Festina watches have created a sort of segment for itself by touching the pulse of the watch lovers. Now, it mainly focuses on the sports range due to the growing popularity of the sporting events. It has a strong team in the form of technical support which is primarily focused on the process of innovation. Sponsoring of some professional cycling events has given it a world wide reach as well as recognition.

In the terms of marketing strategy, Festina has surpassed even some leading watch makers and still holds a reputable place. For every country, it has adopted a different set of strategies. Its association with cycling events has created a vast market for it even outside Europe. US being a large market, the company adopted an entirely different strategy for the U.S. It allowed some U.S. distributors to make merry by selling the watches through the bike shops. It provided some discount as well to boost the process and is now reaping the rewards in the form of growing demand of Festina in the US.

Zai Zhu is a watch collector and a watch dealer. Visit http://www.discountwatchstore.com to learn more about wristwatches. You can also shop over 2400 styles of fine watches including many Pulsar watches, Casio watches, Festina watches, Mondaine watches, Seiko watches, Sector watches, Movado watches, Bulova watches, Accutron watches, Wittnauer watches, Citizen watches, Invicta watches, Luminox watches as well as other brand name watches such as Adee Kaye, Corvette, Croton, Lucien Piccard, Orient, Perigaum, TW Steel, Vanceur, and Wenger.

Awakening Meaning at Work: Three Powerful Questions to Ask Yourself

Are you in the habit of of taking time each day to reflect on what matters most? We are usually so focused on getting through that ever-growing To Do list that we live in the future and not the present moment.

Many of the leaders in my executive coaching programs complain of not finding meaning in their work. We work on helping them to ponder on self-reflective questions.

What questions do you ask of yourself?

You can awaken a sense of meaning at work. There are many consultants, trainers and coaches who are committed to this process. Whether one is an executive looking for ways to rekindle commitment and community in the company, or whether one is simply burned-out and bored at work, here are some exercises and suggestions for awakening meaning. Using a professional coach will greatly enhance the effectiveness of these suggestions.

Ask yourself three questions daily:

1. What ignites my passion in work today? This first question serves to reclaim attention from the tyranny of the urgent and redirect it to what is truly meaningful.

2. How can I bring true value to this moment? The cosmetics question serves to disengage from emotional entanglements and view issues with a fresh inner perspective. This leads to constructive action.

3. What would I like my legacy to be in this assignment? The third question serves to bring more value and meaning to an onerous project. Whenever an assignment begins to weigh heavily and becomes a work pressure, this question can redirect and reenergize.

In the same way that these questions can provide personal energy to everyday work life, an organization, whether large corporation or small business, might ask itself these questions:

1. What brings meaning and community to our company?

2. How can this meeting or project be an expression of our highest aims?

3. What would be of service right now?

4. How can this conversation be more open, clear, or authentic?

5. What is our larger responsibility as a team or organization?

Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the BarOn EQi and CPI 260 can help you jewelry a more inspiring and visionary leader. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become happily engaged with the strategy and vision of the company.

Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the BarOn EQi and CPI 260 can help you become a a more inspiring and visionary leader. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become happily engaged with the strategy and vision of the company.

Dr. Maynard Brusman is a consulting psychologist, executive coach and trusted advisor to senior leadership teams.

We provide strategic talent management solutions to select and develop emotionally intelligent leaders and lawyers.

The Society for Advancement of Consulting (SAC) awarded two rare “Board Approved” designations for Dr. Maynard Brusman in the specialties of Executive/Leadership Coaching and Trusted Advisor to Attorneys and Law Firms.

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