Up-to-the-minute Notifications on the Internet

Promotional merchandise is used by many businesses around the world, as a way to create brand identity and engage customers in marketing and communication programs. There are a number of popular items that are commonly used in promotional campaigns, including pens, caps, T-shirts, mugs, bumper stickers, USB sticks, and posters.
The ideal promotional item has a lot of potential for brand communication, while still being inexpensive to produce and easy to distribute. While the purchase or manufacture of promotional goods can be expensive for many businesses, the benefits of branding, customer communication, and community marketing far outweigh the costs. Promotional merchandise is known by many names, including promotional items (Werbeträger) , promotional goods, advertising gifts, and swag.

While many people associate promotional merchandising campaigns with the modern age of marketing, this form of branding actually has a history that goes back much further than this. The first known use of promotional merchandise was in the election campaign of George Washington in 1789, where commemorative buttons were given away to voters. However, the use of promotional items did not become widespread until the late 19th century, where an industry developed around the production and branding of small items for promotional purposes. The first ever trade association within the industry was developed in 1904, when 12 individual manufacturers set up the Promotional Products Association International or PPAI, which now has more than 7,500 global members. The promotional merchandise industry has now developed itself all over the world, as businesses large and small learn of the many benefits of advertising gift campaigns.

Promotional items are now used on a global basis to create brand identity, set up customer loyalty, and manage corporate identity. Promotional items can be distributed in a number of ways, including direct mail, shopping centres, corporate events, and product launches. While brand awareness is the biggest advantage of promotional item giveaways, there are other advantages associated with the facilitation of employee relations, public relations, customer generation, new product introductions, not for profit programs, and marketing research. The ongoing benefits of promotional giveaways continue to be utilised by many businesses around the world.