Back to school is an incredibly important time for schools, organizations, and businesses, and even though it's still summer, now is the time to start planning and ordering your back to school promos. You'll have the time to review samples and avoid any rush costs, plus we have many of our bestselling back to school items on sale!

If you're a school, you know how important it is to develop a sense of identity and community right at the start of each new year. For some great ideas, check out the Norwich University case study in this newsletter. ePromos has worked with hundreds of schools and educational organizations to find the right products to help students connect with their school and each other.

For businesses, back to school is a crucial time to generate brand awareness amongst the students who make up a crucial portion of your customer base. Studies have shown that reaching out to students with promotional products has proven more effective than television or magazine advertisements, particularly in building trust and a favorable impression of your brand both of which increase the likelihood of generating positive word of mouth.

Become the big brand on campus by using highly-visible, yet cost-effective products like drawstring backpacks, water bottles and notebooks. These products will act like mini-billboards to get your brand noticed. Make your message even more effective by referencing your local school or school mascot!

Bags have always been a perennial winner when it comes to promotional products. Their large imprint area makes for excellent visibility in a crowd, they can be used for practically any day-to-day activity and there are enough varieties that you can find a bag that fits any situation or budget. And when it comes to bags that deliver on all the above (and still fit into a small budget), there is no more useful bag than the drawstring.

The drawstring backpack is as versatile and inexpensive as they come. For as little as $1.52 they won't break your budget, and with tons of colors and options to choose from, you will have no trouble matching a bag to your company logo and your recipients needs. When it comes to a perfect gift for your clients, drawstring backpacks are the product of the year.

Break out the bathing suits and flip flops and get ready to head down to the nearest seaside because August is the time to celebrate Beach Month! Don't let your company miss out on the wave of opportunity that beach promos have to offer. Trips to the ocean bring thousands of people outdoors every day, so make sure you take advantage of all that exposure by choosing beach-themed promotional items that will get your company noticed.

• Plan ahead and take advantage of the following promotional opportunities. You'll find a wide choice of personalized products as well as predecorated items that feature unique messages and slogans to help you celebrate your event.

July

• National Recreation & Parks Month
• Family Reunion Month
• Herbal & Prescription Awareness Month
• National Culinary Arts Month
• National Grilling Month
• National Make a Difference to Children Month
• National Purposeful Parenting Month
• Social Wellness Month
• Mental Illness Awareness Month
• Independence Day - July 4th
• National Therapeutic Recreation Week - July 8- 14th
• Parents' Day - July-22th
  
  August
• National Immunization Awareness Month
• Children's Eye Health and Safety Month
• National Women's Month
• National Beach Month
• National Parks Month
• Cataract Awareness Month
• Get Ready for Kindergarten Month
• National Inventors Month
• Neurosurgery Outreach Month
• Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness Month
• World Breast Feeding Week - August 1-7th
• National Night Out - August 7th
• Thanks For All The Gifts Week - August 12-8th
• National Aviation Week - August 13-18th
• Little League Baseball World Series August 17- 26th
• Be Kind to Humankind Week - August 25-31th
  
  September
• National Preparedness Month
• Baby Safety Month
• National Food Safety Education Month
• Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month
• 5-A-Day Month
• National Childhood Injury Prevention Week - September 1-7
• Labor Day - September 3
• International Literacy Day - September 8
• Healthcare Environmental Services Week- September 9-15
• Hispanic Heritage Month - September 15-October 15
• National Rehabilitation Awareness Week - September 15-October 15
• Prostate Cancer Awareness Week - September 16-22
• Rosh Hashanah - September 13
• Yom Kippur - September 22
• National Adult Immunization Awareness Week - September 23-29
• Women's Health and Fitness Day - September 26
• Family Health and Fitness Day - September 29
• World Heart Day - September 30

Challenge: How to build a sense of community and shared spirit among geographically dispersed groups

Leaders of distance education programs will tell you that online learners are more likely to complete their programs-and to become active alumni-when they feel as much a part of the college community as do their on-campus peers. And that's precisely why Norwich University, an established campus with a growing distance education program, turned to ePromos for branded, promotional gifts.

Solution: Deliver high quality, branded merchandise through a quarterly gift program

It takes more than one gift to build any sense of lasting community, which is why we designed for Norwich a program that delivers quarterly gifts imprinted with the Norwich name and logo to all its distance learners. And these aren't any old gifts-each quarter, Norwich's distance students receive a distinctive yet useful item with a high perceived value, such as a travel mug, sweatshirt or backpack-the kinds of gifts that make students feel proud to belong to the Norwich family.

Result: Popular gift program opens the door for a new online marketplace for university-branded merchandise

Today's distance learners at Norwich University are more likely to complete their programs, and to be more active as alumni as well. Administrative Director Kris Rowley tells us that the vast majority of surveyed distance education graduates want to contribute time and money to their alma mater. And even better, the gifts program led students to request more and more branded merchandise, which in turn led Norwich to engage our assistance in developing an online store that offers all logoed items to all students. Students and graduates proudly promote the Norwich name; Norwich earns additional revenue-another win-win made possible by ePromos!