The Hotline Knowledge Centre Explained

The Hotline Knowledge Centre brings our buying guides, product ideas, FAQs, case studies and site news together in one place on hotline.co.uk. It's there to help you work out what to order from a range of over 2,000+ branded products, what it'll cost and how long it'll take, before you speak to anyone. Everything in it is free to read and you don't need an account.

Hotline Promotional Products has been supplying branded merchandise to UK organisations since 1989. In that time, we've answered thousands of questions about promotional products: which products work best for different campaigns, how much to budget, which branding method to choose, what artwork you need and how quickly everything can be delivered.

The Knowledge Centre is where we're putting that experience to work. We're taking the questions our customers ask us every day and turning the answers into useful guides, ideas and advice that you can access whenever you need them.

What's in the Knowledge Centre

Guides explain how promotional product buying works. Budgets and quantity breaks, minimum order quantities, lead times, branding methods and the artwork you need to send. Start here if you're ordering for the first time, or if you've inherited a merchandise budget from someone who has left.

Ideas are product suggestions grouped by occasion and audience, for when you know the event but haven't settled on the item.

FAQs are short answers to single questions. Minimum orders, VAT, setup charges, file formats, turnaround times.

Case studies are real orders we've delivered, covering what was ordered, why that choice was made, and how it went on the day.

News covers changes to our range and our website. New products, new categories, and the features we build to make ordering less work.

Who the Knowledge Centre is written for

It's written for the person who has been handed a merchandise budget and a deadline, which in our experience is rarely someone whose job title mentions merchandise. That might be a marketing manager with an exhibition stand booked, an HR team building an onboarding kit, an events team planning delegate bags, or someone ordering branded pens for a small business for the first time.

You don't need to know the terminology either. Where we use a term like MOQ or pad printing, we'll explain what it means in plain English.

We also want to be open about the things that actually affect what you can order. Minimum quantities, lead times, branding options, artwork requirements and costs can all influence which product is right for you. Our Knowledge Centre explains how these things work, while our product pages give you the latest information for the individual product you're considering.

Where to start if you're new to branded merchandise

Not sure where to begin? Start with the bit that's most important to you.

Want to see how your logo will look? Read how a Visual Proof™ works. They're free, created by our in-house design team and sent back within 20 minutes during working hours, with no obligation to order.

Not sure what to choose? Our guide to choosing promotional products for an event helps you find the right merchandise for your audience, event and goals.

Got a deadline to hit? Read our guide to guaranteed delivery dates. We show the quickest available delivery date on every product page, so you'll know when your order will arrive before you buy.

Need to know what's available? Our guide to checking stock levels explains how to see current stock before you order and how to set up a stock alert if the product you want isn't currently available.

Already know what you're looking for? Explore the Knowledge Centre for more guides, ideas, FAQs and the latest news, or head straight to our full range of promotional products.

What we're adding next

The Knowledge Centre will keep growing. We'll be adding new guides, ideas, FAQs and news regularly, based on the questions our customers ask, the things we know make buying promotional products easier, and what's changing across the industry.

And if there's something you'd like us to cover, let us know. Your question could become the next article we add to the Knowledge Centre.