Pinmart – Blog

This week I posted a question on Twitter asking which has more impact: business cards or lapel pins? The response was pretty evenly divided, with half of folks sticking with the tried and true business card and half considering the unique qualities of the lapel pins. It came down to a few important factors like brand awareness versus personal contact information, which is more important, which is worth the money, where you should splurge and where you should save. It was an overall very interesting debate stemming from a seemingly innocuous question.

One side was clearly concerned with making sure they were accessible to the people they approached. Business cards provide contact information in an easy to carry package, with phone numbers, email, and even mailing addresses right there for customers. They’re inexpensive and that means you can hand out a lot to a lot of people without feeling the need to be stingy. They’re tried and true.

But how many times have you lost a business card handed to you at a party or business lunch? How easy is it to forget a tiny piece of cardboard? And in the digital age, many clients now just upload information directly onto their phones, saving the need for business cards, sparing the environment and money. But you still want to exchange something, leave an impression with your potential clients. Which is where lapel pins make their case. They’re unique, can fully and succinctly represent your brand, and are less likely to get lost because of their purpose (pin it to your lapel and it goes where you go) and their higher perceived value. Clients who receive a pin feel like you went one step past the typical method.

At the end of the day though, with the combined tradition of a business card and the unique quality of the lapel pin, it’s a wonder more people don’t just pin lapel pins to their business cards and hand them out as pairs. Talk about having your cake and eating it too!

I was digging around the internet yesterday looking for interesting tidbits about lapel pins, and (surprisingly) came across something very interesting! Turns out there’s an online campaign going on right now, during the worst flu season in recent history, that aims to help reduce the number of people getting sick. How do they intend to do that? Well, they have created lapel pins depicting a firm handshake with the “no-smoking” red hash over it! They also have slogans like “No offence, it just makes sense!” around the outside.

This campaign encourages people to wear the pin as a way of stopping other people from shaking hands with them during the cold and flu season, thus reducing that person’s contact with possible germs. Regardless of how you feel about someone actually wearing one of these you have to admit it’s a clever campaign, and in a practical sense, can make a lot of sense. But when I put a vote to fans on our Facebook page I was surprised that nobody would agree to wear these lapel pins!

Responses ranged from believing that regardless of germs, a firm handshake is required in certain situations, to people who feel that a handshake or a hug are a given when meeting up with friends and family. Overall, everyone had some reason for wanting to keep up the personal contact, even at the risk of sickness! I was both surprised and pleased.

In a world that’s increasingly isolating, to know that most folks are still sold on a firm handshake is a good sign.

Every year a new percentage of women are made aware of this startling fact: heart disease kills more women every year than all forms of cancer combined. It’s a sometimes silent, potentially deadly, but predominantly preventable health issue. And every February the American Heart Association rolls out their awareness campaign to help raise awareness and funds to help women all across America understand the risks and teach them better habits.

And one of their most powerful, heart disease fighting tools? Red dress lapel pins! These 1″ pieces of jewelry account for thousands and thousands of donation dollars every year, and have become the brand logo for the whole campaign. They’re distinctly different from the red awareness ribbon, which has become more synonymous with AIDS and HIV awareness, and despite being, well, a red dress, they’re worn with equal pride by women and men alike.

It says something about the campaign, as well as about the seriousness of the disease, that red dress lapel pins are so universally recognized. And through the efforts of these pins, and the people who wear them, millions of dollars go into research for early detection and to help women who cannot help themselves get the medical attention they need.

Heart disease is not an old person problem. It’s not a male problem. It’s not an unhealthy lifestyle problem. Women in their 30′s who run marathons have suffered from heart disease the same way that someone twice their age does. It’s an equal opportunity disease. Luckily, the American Heart Association, and red dress lapel pins, are also equal opportunity crusaders against it. Happy (almost) February!