Shoestring Marketing Alf Nucifora is a marketing consultant in Atlanta. They appear every day on workplace desks as imprinted coffee mugs, pens, calculators, food gifts, tote bags, caps, key tags, calendars, mouse pads, phone cards and even refrigerator magnets. People may scoff, but the promotional products category is now big business.
Promotional products can deliver a message with creativity and impact.
They also carry the benefit of longevity. During a five-year period, ending in 1997, industry sales have increased 127 percent. Promotional products are those items decorated with a name, logo or other message and given as gifts or incentives to affect public, consumer or employee attitudes or behavior. They include advertising specialties, awards, commemoratives, incentives, premiums and business gifts. A study by Exhibit Surveys Inc. revealed that promotional product programs can provide exhibitors with a decided edge when vying for buyer attention at trade shows.