Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

Yes, we do have empirical proof that using promotional products does work. Businesses that properly integrate a promotional product into their marketing repertoire do seem to fetch increases in brand awareness, sales, and customer satisfaction.

Proponents of promotional products (many of them members of that industry) have no shortage of enthusiasm for these items, sometimes nicknamed schwag. I’m talking about little widgets bearing a company’s name: key chains, bath mats, coffee mugs, gloves, hats, flash drives, golf tees: you get the idea.

The draw of these is your brand immersing itself into the lives of potential customers, existing customers, and the families and friends of these folks. Your brand is riding a bullet train into the subconscious minds of thousands. Further, these items make your brand look assertive, hungry, willing to give out free stuff. The impression of brands that dole out schwag have been measured to be high....

This particular sea creature was used to promote the water- and shock-resistant camera because octopuses are among the most intelligent denizens of the deep. (Besides, clams can't take direction, and lobsters are too darn tasty.)

A special rig helped Rambo push a shutter button to capture images of visitors outside her tank at Kelly Tarlton's Sea Life Aquarium in New Zealand. Rambo's trainer, Mark Vette, says it took her just three attempts to understand the process, though at times she behaved like an eight-armed diva, smashing several cameras to bits during a two-month training process. (Elsewhere, this little dude mastered octo-selfies in no time!)...