Promotional goods have always been a great way to spread awareness for a company, particularly where they have a recognizable logo or business name that people will associate with the company and their service from a site. Giving away a mug with a well-known company logo on it, for example, is an incredibly smart move as it means people will be reminded of that company every time they drink from the mug (and will hopefully also learn to associate that company with the pleasant experience of drinking tea (after all, there are few better experiences)). Furthermore, the items can be given as free gifts to act as incentives to buy (and to make a company look more generous) and will be used repeatedly in front of other people. It may even be passed on to new users so that over time the number of people it reaches simply snowballs.
One of the best types of branding, however, with even more use than branding gifts, is to brand stationary. This has many uses and advantages, of course being particularly cheap, to begin with, headed paper and printed pens are hardly expensive and can be produced quickly in bulk but also being highly practical. Do both these reasons mean that they make particularly good gifts that almost don’t have even be given as such? For example, if you do business with someone, or a client or customer comes in, and you use a pen to fill in a contractor to write down details, then you can simply say keep it which will seem generous Is it more normal and less expensive than giving a mug or mouse mat and will hardly cost you anything.
One company that really has the right idea on these lines is Barclays the bank. This bank realizes how often people use pens when filling in forms and cheques and going through with transactions and simply used that tot their advantage. In every building, there is a whole box of pens of course with the company name printed on them and each has the company on it. In England now almost every home has a good dozen Barclay’s pens, as do many offices and other venues. This way the name is brought to the attention of many visitors and customers of those people/offices and the bank itself appears generous, thoughtful and forward-thinking.
As they are so light these items of stationery can also be carried around and posted. Does this mean that every piece of a post can be headed with your company name and pens can even be sent in the post as little?
While you can’t guarantee that customers will always use your stationary once they own it, you can certainly ensure your staff does, and that they often get it out to use when they go on business trips and meetings. This again will spread the word but will also look good showing your business to be self-sufficient and that your staff is happy to use your own products. At the same time, it may also work to remind your employees as to the company they re working for and its values and so improve their work ethic and productivity maybe even instilling some professional pride.
