According to Promotional Products Association corporations spend $17.5 billion a year on promotional products. As an avid conference goer I can appreciate an article that highlights how boring most promotional products are. Barak Kassar recently wrote Smart Schwag: Harnessing The Power Of Promotional Items, where he asks:
Why isn't there more smart schwag that induces a meaningful, lasting brand experience, that:
- is really useful,
- gives joy
- is surprising and unique
- fits into the day and life of the recipient,
- is affordable
- represents a brand's core?
He then points out some schwag which works wonders.
- The substantial bar of oatmeal soap the then-new Sundance Channel placed in hotel bathrooms at cable TV conferences about a decade ago.
- The single-channel Bloomberg-brand transistor radio tunable only to Bloomberg 1130 (WBBR-AM). Surprising. Original. Useful.
- The Crispin-Porter Flop-Flips ("'Why not make a sandal that goes flop-flip?' .... 'It can't be done,' they said. 'A sandal should go flip-flop not flop-flip.' ... After years of research and millions ... in development costs we've given the flip-flop a new sound. Introducing the Flop-Flip"). Useful (at least in Miami). Original. And highly representative of the brand.
What are the best promotional products you ever came across? I really have not come across too much that impressed me.
