Promotional Items

Almost anything can be branded with a company’s name or logo and used for promotional purposes.   Common items include   promotional pens caps, keychains, printed lighters  , mugs or mouse pads. The largest product category for promotional products is wearable items,such as  promotional clothing  which make up more than 30%   of the total.^[st promotional items are relatively small and inexpensive, but can range to higher-end items; for example  at and award shows are often given expensive promotional items such as expensive goods, and electronics items. Companies that provide expensive gifts for celebrity attendees often ask that the celebrities allow a  which can be used by the company for promotional purposes. Other companies provide luxury gifts such as  luggage,handbags or scarves to celebrity attendees in the hopes that the celebrities will wear these items in public, thus garnering for the company’s brand name and product.

Business gifts used to foster customer goodwill and retention are the most common use for promotional items at 18.5%. Other objectives that marketers use promotional items to facilitate include tradeshow traffic-building, brand awareness, public relations, employee relations and events, dealer and distributor programs, new customer generation, not-for-profit programs, employee service awards, new product introductions, internal incentive programs, safety education, customer referrals and marketing research.^{[citation needed]}

Promotional items are also used in politics to promote candidates and causes. Promotional items as a tool for non-commercial organizations, such as schools and charities are often used as a part of fund raising and awareness-raising campaigns. A prominent example was the livestrong wristband, used to promote cancer awareness and raise funds to support cancer survivorship programs and research.

Collecting certain types of promotional items is also a popular hobby.

[edit] History in the US

The first known promotional products in the United States are commemorative buttons dating back to the election of George Washington in 1789. During the early 1800s there were some advertising calendars, rulers and wooden specialties, but there wasn’t an organized industry for the creation and distribution of promotional items until later in the 19th century.

Jasper Meeks, a printer in Coshocton, Ohio, is considered by many to be the originator of the industry when he convinced a local shoe store to supply book bags imprinted with the store name to local schools. Henry Beach, another Coshochton printer and a competitor of Meeks picked up on the idea and soon the two men were selling and printing bags for marbles, buggy whips, card cases, fans, calendars, cloth caps, aprons and even hats for horses.^[2]

In 1904, twelve manufacturers of promotional items got together to found the first trade association for the industry. That organization is now known as Promotional Products Association International, which currently has more than 7,500 global members.

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