Bacilio Mendez

The Green(er) and More Cost-Effective Press Kit
June 26, 2008

What was the hot “green,” trend at Basel this year? USB flash drive press kits. Here’s a quick run-down on why you should make the switch from the glossy folder and CD to the less flashy, flash drive alternative.

Pros

• Cut down on your fees for payment of graphic designers, printers, and paper suppliers.
• Once the drive is uploaded and emptied by clients (or editors), it is reusable, so if you don’t give them all away you can repurpose them for another project.
• A dramatic drop in your shipping costs to shows, as 500 flash drives weigh considerably less then 500 folders with paper releases, photos, and/or CDs.
• Everyone throws out all the paper and CDs in your press kit eventually—USB drives cut down on end-user waste, so you can report a drastic drop in your carbon footprint to consumers and the press.
• CDs never biodegrade and while the components of a USB flash drive can be harmful, any chain office supply stores that provide computer or cell phone recycling will also take old flash drives.
• No more rummaging around your booth for press kits in different languages, as you can fit up to 10 gigabytes of information on one USB drive as opposed to 700 megabytes on a CD. (Note that prices of drives vary based on amount of storage.)
• Many companies that supply USB drives in bulk allow for branding of the units. This is an opportunity for you get your brand on something that normally isn’t associated with luxury jewelry and will create more buzz when someone uses the drive after the show.
• You, and those you give flash drives to, can make tax deductible donations of the drives when you do ultimately want to get rid of them, not so with CD or paper press kits.

Cons

• People are more likely to lose the tiny drives than a folder.
• Not everyone may have a computer with them at the show, so they will have to wait for another time to view its contents (though the same can be said for CD press kits).
• You can’t track who is using your information or for what purpose, both with CD and USB drives.
• Both options pale in comparison to having your own dedicated press and trade websites (separate from your consumer facing site) that people can log on to anytime with your permission and tracking in place.

Posted by Bacilio Mendez on June 26, 2008 | Comments (0)