The world of marketing is always in flux. Using techniques that worked in the past may not work as well in the future.
In the early days of television, a brand would sponsor a show, and the brand would be mentioned directly on stage in every break.
As shows evolved, so did advertising. Commercials developed techniques to keep you engaged. When market researchers realized that people usually used these breaks as opportunities to grab a snack or a quick restroom break, they started producing them at much higher volumes than the show they existed in.
Market researchers also utilized focus groups and branding to connect advertisements to shows watched by their key demographics. Print ads did the same, focusing on the wife in women’s magazines, toys in comic books, et cetera.
As the internet came to be, and the way people consumed media changed, so did the way companies had to advertise to them. Commercials still exist, but they are much more interactive and engaging because it is too easy to avoid them otherwise.
Promotional products are evolving
At some point in the twentieth century, promotional products began to come to the forefront. Cigarette brands focused on this, offering catalogs for customers to order loyalty materials, all with the company’s branding front and center.
While cigarette companies were one of the most well known to utilize promotional products to advertise their brands, companies in every market sector used promotional materials throughout the twentieth century and twenty-first.
These promotional products appear at every level of daily life. Who hasn’t seen a beer brand on the side of a cooler, or a backpack with a charity’s logo, or used a pen with a bank or realtor’s information on it?
Promotional products are so ubiquitous that some companies don’t even have to give them away. Please think of how many shirts have fast food restaurant logos, soda brands, or beer companies on them that people pay for in retail stores!
While it would be nice for everyone if their company became such a juggernaut that people paid their own money to walk around with your brand on them, most companies are not quite there yet.
Even if your company is as famous as one of these icon brands that can sell their logo, there are always opportunities to thank customers for their loyalty or to introduce a new market segment.
Unfortunately, most people have a glut of cheap drawstring backpacks and flashlights that they have been given as promotional materials over the years. If you want to reach your market with your custom promotional products, you need to find an excellent product that people would buy themselves.
In the space of promotional products, a few old standbys have been producing such products for years. There is a reason that you can find playmate coolers from the seventies with every brand of cigarette, beer, and soda on them.
The downside to these old promotional product companies is that they tend to stick with what has always worked. This means that you are going to get mostly the same offerings that have been around for years.
If you want to make a dent in the marketplace, you will want to seek out a company that is a bit more cutting edge. Look for marketing groups that are utilizing new and exciting branding opportunities.
Besides looking for new things, look for companies offering high-quality offerings, things that feel more like items you might buy yourself, rather than a cheap throwaway promo item.
Finally, look for produced as ethically as possible, because your customers are much more likely and able to research such things now. Aside from the ethical reasons that should be obvious, uncertain sourcing is just bad business.
In summary, you should get all your custom promotional products from companies that offer high quality, exciting products that are sourced ethically and that your customers will want to use for as long as possible.
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