Companies of all sizes have ideas concerning their identity. Many companies spend large amounts of time and capital developing a brand or corporate image that suits their products and aspirations. This is a powerful part of a whole marketing strategy, targeted towards easy and instant recognition of their goods or services. Most marketing campaigns are aimed at raising brand awareness within the target market, working towards increasing customer loyalty as well as elicit new business.

Some of the most successful marketing campaigns have developed an instantly recognized brand or logo, which will be easily recalled by large numbers of the general public. These successful marketing campaigns are usually the result of a sustained and widespread exposure of the logo and marketing messages across a range of media. The more often they are seen with the right associations, the greater the recall. This builds a very strong brand image.

Strong brand images are built through a range of advertising and marketing methods designed to reach the identified target market for that particular business. These usually include printed and visual media of various kinds, and perhaps supported and reinforced by promotional merchandise.

The value added to a marketing campaign by carefully chosen promotional merchandise cannot be underestimated. Whereby a printed advertisement in a magazine or newspaper, or a radio or television advert may create a moment of engagement and recognition, the nature of any of these media is fleeting; there one minute and gone and perhaps forgotten the next. The benefits of using promotional gifts is that they can appeal to some or all the senses at once, and the more engaging a gift is, the more powerful it will be as part of your marketing strategy. A well-chosen and executed promotional gift will magnify and consolidate the impact of the message and branding images, both immediately and over time when the gift is used repeatedly and may become part of the recipients everyday life.

Choosing the right promotional goods is crucial. You need to portray the appropriate image for the brand you are supporting. This can be reflected in the perceived value of the promotional gift, or the relevance or aesthetic quality of the merchandise. It needs to be pertinent and useful while also characterizing the desired image and style.

Although proven to work well as a stand-alone advertising medium promotional gifts complement and actually increase the effectiveness of more traditional advertising media such as television and print. Central to your marketing strategy, promotional gifts can provide a cost-effective way to drive your business by enhancing customer awareness and influencing perception.

Many companies within the UK use Promotional Gifts as little incentives to customers of old and new. At exhibitions its common place to see many of the exhibitors giving out Promotional Gifts as part of the event. The idea of giving out Promotional Gifts is to provide customers with something that they can use that has your company logo upon it. A range of Promotional Gifts can be given out to clients it all depends on how effective you want them to be. Popular items of Promotional Gifts have been pens with messages printed upon them. Give your regular customers Promotional Gifts like printed pens and they’ll have an object they can use on a daily basis that has your name emblazoned upon it. Moreover, give Promotional Gifts to prospective new clients and they’ll be able to read your company brand inside their business premises.

Every time they use a pen that`s been given to them by you, your products will be floating through their minds and your company will be foremost in their thoughts. The pens that are given out at corporate events can vary from the cheapest of biros to the most expensive types of quills. Customers appreciate being looked after and they come to expect Promotional Gifts as part of the business process. Giving Promotional Gifts to them shows that they are valued and you want to continue doing business with them in the future. By providing them with Promotional Gifts such as printed pens you are giving them something useful whilst reminding them of who you are and what you do.

Promotional items don't have to be costly to be effective. A well chosen inexpensive gift could be distributed on a large scale by many various means, and prove to be a very cost-effective marketing tool. While using your chosen promotional items to consolidate your links with existing customers, they can also be incredibly helpful in encouraging business from new customers. Additionally, using branded items within your company offices and workplaces develops brand awareness and loyalty among your employees too.

As part of a whole marketing strategy, the use of well considered promotional gifts is extremely valuable to the success of the campaign as a whole. Often the branded merchandise will still be used and useful long after the main campaign push is over, and serve as an ongoing reminder of the brand. In this way your marketing budget keeps paying for itself over and over again. Let's face it, as things are in the marketplace at the moment, everyone's capital needs to work harder than ever. With promotional gifts you get more branding punch for your pound.