One of the things that I especially love about being in the promotional products industry is seeing the creative ways that businesses use them. Here are a just few examples:

Example No. 1:  A very large industrial crane manufacturer was hosting a week long “crane expo” for its dealers and the dealers’ customers, featuring product demonstrations, training and educational seminars, etc. The company decided to give all of the attendees a spiral-bound journal so that they could jot down notes and ideas. They called in their local promotional products distributor and asked him for some creative ideas and, boy, did he deliver!

What made the journal a huge success was the cover. The company took an actual photograph from the cab of one of their cranes sitting atop a skyscraper. Using a process called lenticular printing (which is very, very cool!), the promotional products distributor was able to have the journal supplier create a 3-D image of the photo that made you feel like you were actually sitting in the cab of a crane. Naturally, the name of the crane manufacturer and the event also appeared prominently on the cover. The cover had such a great “wow” effect that the journals were saved and used by each dealer and attendee for a long, long time.

Example No. 2:  A pizza parlor used promotional wall calendars to offer a discount to their customers. The imprint on the bottom of the calendar included an offer for a $2.00 discount if the customer brought in the previous month’s calendar sheet when they picked up their order. By doing so, the pizza parlor not only promoted their name, they added value to the calendar itself.

Example No. 3:  Lastly, a restaurant printed their take-out menu on the back of a wall calendar – just the menu without prices. They then distributed the calendars to businesses in office complexes and industrial parks to give to their employees. That way, when employees started thinking about what they were going to order for lunch, the restaurant’s name, phone number and menu were within easy reach.  Clever!

The point that I’m trying to make is that with a little creative thinking, you can turn even the simplest promotional product into a powerful marketing tool. The three examples that we outlined above are perfect examples of how the combination of creative thinking and promotional products can become a successful marketing tool.