There are many reasons why promotional products are effective for raising brand awareness. Businesses both large and small can use them in conjunction with other types of marketing to increase a company’s profile in the minds of consumers. Promotional products can also form the bulk of an advertising campaign. Regardless of how much weight they have in a company’s marketing strategy, promotional products generate success thanks to their unassuming and subtle nature.
According to the American Kidney Fund, the number one reason it uses promotional products to raise awareness for its cause is that these items are unobtrusive. As a major force in the fight against kidney disease, the American Kidney Fund has found success in the past giving out promotional bags and branded first aid kits. The organization’s judgment that unobtrusive marketing is effective for non-profit groups shows how effective these items can be for both charities and private companies. Here are some of the best promotional products that operate with subtlety and taste.
Promotional pens
The ultimate in unobtrusive branding, pens are an excellent way to surreptitiously bring a business’s name to mind. Most pens that are lying around the house or office bear the name of a company or group, and each of those names is likely to be easily recognized by the pen’s owner.
Keyrings
People will always need keyrings, whether to organize keys they use everyday or to clear up the clutter of spare, unused keys. Promotional keyrings are easy to collect, and like promotional pens, they tend to subconsciously communicate their message in an understated manner.
Notebooks
Promotional notebooks represent a subtle form of marketing. A notebook cover is not what a person is usually looking at when he uses a notebook. To the owner, it is only a collection of bound pages. However, by including a brand name on the cover of a promotional notebook, consumers are quickly and subtly reminded of an organization on their way toward using the paper within.
Wall calendars
Everyone needs a calendar, and getting one for free can bring a bit of relief to the busy consumer. Promotional wall calendars include natural and patriotic themes on each page and remind consumers unobtrusively of their benefactor company. The small logo on the cover may be missed by the conscious mind as it skims the calendar’s contents, but the subconscious mind sees and notes it with every flip of the page.