The Kirby Company used promotional materials to assist its dealer system in illustrating the benefits of a new home-care system. Those who used the materials achieved a 50-percent higher closing rate than those who didn't

For the grand opening of a new branch, Commonwealth Federal Savings Bank used a wide selection of promotional products as gifts to walk-ins and as incentives for opening new accounts or making deposits to existing accounts. Deposit amounts exceeded the bank's original goal by a staggering 225 percent, and new accounts beat the goal by an equally impressive 209 percent.

Utilizing an incentive of two school-locker magnets, each featuring images of four top rock music artists, Warner Bros. Music, in a co-op with HMV Canada, a chain of record stores, achieved sales of 50,000 CDs or tapes of those artists in a one-month period.

At a Chick-fil-A fast-food restaurant, $181 worth of ad specialties led to a $1,249 increase in sales.

A desktop telephone message holder helped a Waco, Texas florist post an 11 percent jump in "goodwill standing."

How Promotional Products Can Be Used

Imprinted products are often used to motivate sales teams toward more sales, production workers toward greater efficiency, credit departments toward more collections, etc. But they can also be used as incentives to get store managers to give you better shelf space for your products, dealers to load up on your product so they actually have to push it, consumers to purchase more of your product, delinquent library-card holders to return books and so on.

Recognition/Service Awards

Employees, customers and vendors are recognized for years of service, performance, volume or frequency of business, etc.

Traffic Building

Be it retail, business-to-business, associations ... everyone has a need to draw customers. This may be to your store in general, for a specific promotion, to your tradeshow booth or to your special event.

Event Marketing

This might be a client golf outing, industry awards banquet, grand opening, building dedication, open house or anniversary, or you may be sponsoring or co-sponsoring a sporting event, concert, etc. Promotional products serve as thank-you gifts, media attention-getting devices and so on.

Safety Programs

Whether it's getting production workers to reduce their number of accidents, drivers to improve their on-the-road record or foremen to ensure that safety procedures are being followed, imprinted products promote the theme and message of safety programs, which can reduce insurance premiums.

Product Rollouts

Promotional products can be used to garner attention for your new products within the trade and to consumers, by helping to gain media exposure and/or providing replicas that your salesforce can use to demonstrate your new products.

Point-Of-Purchase

Promotional products can be used as advertising materials, used as displays or as parts of displays in retail stores to draw attention to your product.

Diect-Mail Marketing

Using promotional products with sales letters can decrease the cost of securing a sales appointment by 65 percent, according to a 1992 study by the Silver Marketing Group for the Promotional Products Association International. The same study found that the inclusion of a promotional product with a sales letter yielded nearly twice the response of a letter with only a business reply card, and offering an "expensive" clock increased the percent response four times.

Employee/Community/Customer Relations

From building goodwill in the community to calming the waters after a crisis, companies, municipalities and organizations have used promotional products to inform, educate, thank, remind and apologize.

Clubs/Fraternal Identification

People are usually proud of their affiliations and enjoy wearing, carrying and displaying products bearing their club or organization's logo, colors, slogan, etc.

Cause-Related Marketing

From the "fur is not a fabric" movement to promoting breast cancer awareness, cause-oriented groups, organizations and charities use promotional products to promote their messages, and many companies will support those causes or market their own products and services through them.

Brand Awareness

In an ever-cluttered marketplace with too many consumer choices, brand marketers are relying more and more on promotional products to garner brand loyalty.

Fund Raising

From libraries to charitable organizations, fund raising is often a huge undertaking that can last anywhere from a few months to an entire year or be ongoing, encompassing multiple requests for donations. Promotional products are sometimes used in those requests or used as incentives/rewards for donations, often on a scale.

Souvenirs/Remembrances

You might be commemorating your company's 100th anniversary by giving employees a gold-toned hammer-shaped keytag, representative of your company's number one product, or you might give community volunteers brass railroad spikes to thank them for their backbreaking work on refurbishing the town's railroad station. Souvenirs and remembrances are used to mark myriad occasions.