Picture yourself and your friends at a street parade on a beautiful, sunny day in downtown Perth. The crowd’s spirits are high, the marchers are cheerful, and everything seems just right. As you snap photos of one of the colourful paraders, plink! Something skims the top of your head and lands at your feet. You look down and see a ball point pen with “XYZ Company” imprinted upon it. It was gleefully ‘gifted’ to you by one of the members of XYZ Company marching in the parade.

Surprise – in more ways than one, you’ve been hit with the impact of a promotional product.

Over present in our advertisement dominated culture, promotional products can be found everywhere, hawking anything or anyone. Move into a new home, and you might receive one (or more) refrigerator magnets from a local pizza company or florist as a welcome gift. Nab that pen (accidentally!) from your doctor’s office, and you might notice his or her name and practise printed on. And keychains – who in their lifetime hasn’t received a key chain advertising their local auto repair shop, estate agent, or burger joint?

Simply put, promotional products – or ‘promos’ for short – are imprinted with a company, individual, church or school’s logo, name or message. Typically, they are pieces of merchandise that are useful, often used in promotional or marketing campaigns.

Think back to the 1950s, when Dwight Eisenhower was running for President of the United States. His campaign distributed the widely popular “I Like Ike” pinback badge, proudly worn by his constituents.

In the 1970s, the big yellow smiley face was everywhere, from bumper stickers, pins, and imprinted on tens of thousands of Americans’ tee-shirts. No one really knows who invented the smiley face, but the impact of its image lends itself well to a place in pop culture.

Now, imagine your name, logo or brand on a promotional product – imagine the impact you could make, much like Ike or the smiley!

In the business world, imprinted items given as incentive for an honour or goal are known as premiums. These can be anything from business gifts, awards, or commemorative items. Office workers love receiving useful items such as desk clocks, mousepads, fountain pens, or even glass paperweights announcing their milestone or achievement for their company. (Talk about a way to feel appreciated!)

Whether you have a cause or a company, promotional products are effective at getting your ‘word’ out en masse without you having to do a lot of the heavy lifting. Promo products speak volumes about who you are and what you do - while you can sit back and relax. It’s an effective and essentially inexpensive way to get your brand out into the open.

Would you like referrals from satisfied clients? Promotional products can do that for you. Louisiana State University conducted a survey indicating a request for referrals coupled with the offer of a promotional product drew nearly 500% more referrals than a referral letter alone!

According to the PPAI (Promotional Products Association International), 58% of those surveyed keep a promotional product anywhere from one to four years. Even if the promotional item is used only once per week, that works out to a minimum of 52 impressions annually, with the possibility of 208 or more during a five year time period.

And people love gee-gaws, especially when they’re given away. The kids at the seaside playing with a beach ball, Grandma with her rubber jar opener (very useful for arthritis), to that colourful plastic calculator on your boss’s desk – there’s no denying that folks love stuff, even branded with a company name. PPAI reported that almost 91% of those surveyed claimed they currently own a promotional product given to them in the last 24 months.

Imagine this: In 2011, approximately $18 billion dollars was spent on promotional items, testament to their sphere of usefulness. Of all the categories, apparel topped the list as the most popular (who among us doesn’t have a giveaway t-shirt in their collection?). In 2011, the PPAI reported that other highly sought promos were headwear, aprons, pens, calendars, glass and china drinkware, tote bags, shopping bags, calculators, pen sets, stuffed animals, towels, flags, pennants, and blankets; and recognition awards such as trophies, plaques, watches and clocks.

The mission of JP Promotions, based in Perth, is “to be passionate about our brand, products and people, thereby delivering fantastic outcomes. JP Promotions offer quality branding throughout Western Australia and nation wide. They promise to supply high quality products and services at competitive prices. Email them at sales@jppromotions.com.au or ask for Jarrod Wojtowicz by calling +61 8 9248 6300.