A Brief History Of Promotional Products
The very first promotional product was the commemorative buttons used at the inauguration of George Washington in 1789. That's over
220 years ago. When the promotional products industry began to take off in the 1800's, then, as today, most advertising items were
practical everyday items like bags, aprons, horse blankets, wooden rulers, paper fans and calendars. You don't see a lot of horse
blankets these days but we have knapsacks, shopping bags and t-shirts.
Back in the days before radio and T.V. your logo and company
info could travel long and far and word of mouth was an important factor in spreading your message. Through the 1900's into the 30's
and 40's more and more promotional products began to appear as printing technology advanced and printers were able to print on a larger variety
of surfaces.
After the Second World War and the worlds economies began to take off promotional products became more popular than
ever. Back then a lot of promotional products
were made of metal, wood, leather and glass like rulers, trays, key fobs, tools and
thermometors but as new flexible plastics were being developed a whole new world in promotional advertising began to emerge.
Popular
in the 60's and 70's were radios, salt and pepper shakers and toys shaped like products such as the Hamburger Helper Hand, Mr. Peanut
and the Pillsbury Dough Boy. And some of those things are collectors items today worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
These
days though nothing is safe. Your logo can be put on pretty much anything. But it just goes to show the importance of keeping your
brand out there whether your a huge corporation or a local fish and chip shop. Advertising pays.
The promotional products industry is fast growing with sales of more than $16 billion in the USA alone.
2005 Promotional Product
Sales.
Wearables 29.9% / Writing Instruments 10.5% / Desk Items 7.7% / Calendars 6.9% / Glassware 5.5% / Bags 5.4% Recognition
5.0% / Sporting 4.2% / Buttons 3.5% / Auto 2.9% / Computer 2.8% / Textiles 2.6% / Games 2.5% Electronic 2.1%
Reasons for
using promotional products
Corporate gifts 17.9% / Employee Relations 10.1% / Tradeshows 9.1% / Brand Awareness 9.0% / Employee
Service Awards 7.5% / Public Relations 7.5% / Dealer, Distributor Programs 7.5% / New Account Generation 6.6% / Marketing 1.3%
Benefits Of Promotional Products.
Affordable and don't need to be supported by other advertising.
Because of repeated use they
generate repeated impressions for one price.
Help drive traffic to a website for more information.
Promotional products are durable
and reuseable so they are not thrown out.
Appeal to customers as a way to get something for nothing eventually driving business back
to the company.
People like functional promotional products and are happy to accept them.
40% of people can remember the name of an
advertiser as long as six months after recieving an advertising item and 31% still use the product one year later.
Reinforce your brand
identity in the eyes of your customer.
Promote goodwill.
Build customer loyalty.
Incentives for employee's and customers.
Building store
and trade show traffic.
I hope you enjoyed the history and info lesson and especially the pictures. Those old promotional products from the past may not look
so cool and snazzy today but back in the day they were the cats meow.
Jaymie at 416-579-5988
Designed & Hosted By Image Magnetics, Toronto, Canada
Jimmy Carter Peanut Radio
Rubber Change Purse 1960's
Sewing Thimbles 50's & 60's
Your Logo On Anything