Companies have been using branded promotional products for many years in an effort to increase brand exposure and ensure that they are not forgotten by major customers and suppliers. Having been in the promotional items industry for over a decade, we can safely say that the most popular promotional products are mugs and pens. Companies are very comfortable using them to promote their businesses and they meet two of the most important criteria for promotional products: utility and longevity. However, the promotional items industry has come a long way, and a little research and creativity can create a memorable corporate gift that will do much more for your brand exposure.
The characteristics of an effective brand promotional item
The best branded merchandise is useful, memorable, complements your brand, and is well-targeted for your ideal customer. All of these features are important; if something is useful it will stick around for a long period of time, memorability increases your brand impact and makes your message more likely to get across.
A promotional product that has been carefully selected to be in line with the company’s brand will also increase the power of the brand’s message and ensure that there is no “cognitive dissonance” as a psychologist would say. Cognitive dissonance is a low-level mental discomfort caused by an unfulfilled expectation or a contradiction to an established thought pattern. For example, if a company promotes its green credentials as a primary sales tool and then brands thousands of Styrofoam cups for display giveaways, that goes against the brand’s message and creates cognitive dissonance in people interested in the brand. business. Finally, if a promotional item has been well targeted to the recipient, the item is more likely to be useful, last longer, and also create a positive association with the company’s brand.
Our three favorite useful promotional items
With that critical feature of ‘utility’ in mind, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite useful promotional items to demonstrate just how much the industry has evolved beyond the simple mug and pen. (Of course, mugs and pens should never go out of style as they are so useful, but we’d love for you to try something new too!)
Brand SIM card backup device
This is our current favourite, this device saves contacts from the SIM card by simply plugging in the SIM card directly and saving the data to the device. If the mobile phone is lost or stolen, all contacts can be uploaded from the device to the new SIM card. With virtually everyone owning a mobile phone, and its pivotal role for many business people, this is guaranteed to be a useful and great value corporate gift that will have a good longevity. It will also have additional impact if your company’s brand has an image of planning ahead, safety, common sense, and related ideals; The fact that you have provided something in line with those ideals will reinforce your brand message in a very powerful way.
Branded Memory Stick
A product similar to the SIM card backup device and just as useful. USB sticks are used today in many business meetings. They provide a quick and easy way to exchange information, especially if you don’t have an Internet connection. As a promotional gift product, they can also be pre-programmed. So you could add a digital record, corporate video, etc. the moment it is plugged in for the first time.
brand pedometer
This item is something that many health-conscious people are buying for themselves anyway, so if you can give your customers a brand name pedometer for free, chances are they’ll keep it, reinforcing your brand recognition every time. let them use it Of course, if you know that your target customers are the last people in the world who care about personal health and fitness, then you should consider something else!
branded travel items
Are you targeting sales people and frequent business travelers? If so, there are three great promotional items that perfectly fill the need for utility: travel mugs for those long car rides between sales meetings, travel alarm clocks, and passport wallets with extra pockets for money and airline tickets. These items will be used over and over again, and if carefully marked, people will not only be happy to use them, but they will appreciate your company even more for such a useful gift.
Other useful promotional items
There are many, many promotional items available for business branding that are often overlooked. Why not consider a penknife, keychain flashlight (those simple plastic keychains pale in comparison to the latest name brand LED flashlight keychains!).
Branded merchandise for seasonal promotions
If you run a seasonal business, there may be a particular item that works best at a certain time of year based on your sales cycle. An example is a brand name ice scraper. While it won’t be used in the summer, it will be stored in the car and used a lot in the winter months; If winter and spring are key seasons for your sales cycle, that may work to your advantage. Ice scrapers are used in the morning before the trip to work. What better time to get your logo in front of a potential customer?
Creative uses of well-known promotional items
Memorability can be increased by linking the promotional item to a key aspect of your brand. A great example of this idea is the wide range of anti-stress toys available for the corporate brand. There are so many designs available now that a little time to explore the available ranges could result in something that will make your customers laugh and think of your business every time they see it. What if your dentists gave you a big tooth-shaped stress toy to hold when you have a treatment? If you take it with you, you can bet that every time you press it, you’ll think of the next service, and with the number right on the front, it’s so easy to find…
eco-promotional products
When selecting promotional items for your business, there’s absolutely no need to sacrifice your own ideals – you can find eco-friendly gifts and corporate gifts to match. You may also find that telling people that your gifts are eco-friendly will improve your brand perception, as they will see that you stand up for their ideals within the corporate arena, without compromising your effectiveness.
Our Favorite Green Promotional Items
Recycled paper pads are already very popular, but you can get many other promotional items that are made from a variety of recycled materials. One of our favorites is a simple rule; eminently useful, easy to mark and each takes 9.5 vending cups out of landfills.
Along the same lines are pencil sharpeners made from recycled cardboard (but it looks like they were made of wood!) and frisbees made from used CD covers, perfect for businesses that want to associate their brand with leisure and social activities.
The branded ice scraper we mentioned earlier can also be made from recycled materials, so your seasonal message can be eco-friendly, too. Paired with a name brand Frisbee, it would cover most weather eventualities without further harming the environment.
Quirky can be good!
We hope we’ve convinced you that there’s more to the world of promotional items than pens, mugs and golf umbrellas. If he’s inspired to go for something quirky to make sure his brand is truly memorable, we recommend the amazing Mr Grass Head; A small porcelain figurine that has real grass growing from the top of its head that can be combed out and then grown back! It’s such a quirky item that office staff love to have them on their windowsill in full view in their office. And with your company logo on the chest, it does the branding job very well, too.