The One Date You Need To Know - When Ordering "Made in China" All marketing programs have a cycle. Dates and time lines that need to be adhered to in order to make sure that the overall plan is a success. It is all about developing a program that communicates the brand messaging and develops a strong call to action. For many of my clients, this means developing a custom marketing piece that is unique to them and speaks directly to their brand and messaging. Custom usually equates to overseas and in today's market, that still mostly means Made in China. As I tell my clients over and over again, if you want quality, but you want it at a lower price point, time lines need to be extended. That means being able to look 90-150 days into the future depending on the project. Now comes the tricky part. . . Chinese New Year. For those people who live on a Lunar Calendar, it comes at the same time every year. However, to those of us in North America, we need to be cognisant that the date moves and that production SHUTS DOWN for upwards of 3 weeks per year. This is something that people out West do not seem to grasp. People travel like it's American Thanksgiving, but stay for a longer period of time. It can take them upwards of 5 days to get home and 5-7 days to get back, if they do come back. Projects that