Pocket Full of Promotionals
I can recall being quite young, more than 50 years ago, and going to the evening Home Show at the local community building in my hometown. All the city merchants would have booths and tables in one spot, sort of a one-stop shopping approach in the days before shopping malls everywhere. Obviously, a 5 year old wasn’t the target audience, but I loved going with my parents because while they talked to the other area merchants, I scored free swag at the tables.
Plastic 6-inch rulers with the bank’s name on it, pencils advertising the local lumber yard…that sort of thing. I still have a few from my family’s business in my home office; the small tape measure with the phrase “it’s a good rule to use” followed by the business name…or the 5 by 7 indoor thermometer set inside scene of a fellow fishing in a lake in the mountains with the business name in the corner—I always wondered about that, since it’s not a Midwest scene, and my family wasn’t into fishing or the outdoors.
I still have the habit of going to places like the Iowa Association of Business and Industry conference and picking up unique items. There’s a process, you know…you go first to the booth with free bags so you have something to carry your treasures in.
All manner of pens, mini-tool kits, phone sanitizers, key chains, note pads…I just like seeing the variety of what’s out there, and then I leave what I don’t want on a table in the back here at the studio and others pick up the shiny objects that interest them.
And apparently it works from a business standpoint. Industry data shows that 99 percent of people will go out of their way to get a promotional product…and 99 percent of people who receive promotional items will keep them. Nearly three-quarters, 74 percent, say promotional products make their experiences more memorable, and 80 percent have an immediate reaction when they receive a promo item from companies they’ve never heard of. And 79 percent say they pass along promotional products that are no longer valuable to them. 75 percent say the right product makes the difference…which may explain why I always run out of KXEL key chains when I do a speaking appearance.
So check out that junk drawer in your kitchen…you can probably still remember where you got each of those treasures.
