Fun Vs Functional Promotional Giveaways

New research has found almost 90% of British adults consider promotional merchandise to be an effective way to make a company more memorable.

In a poll conducted across the Total Merchandise Instagram account, 87% of the people asked admitted they were more likely to remember a brand if they received a promotional item printed with a company’s logo.

That’s an informed decision, by the way: over three-fifths of the people asked have received promotional merchandise, with the average keep-time of a promotional product sitting at around six months.

Of course, when it comes to choosing the perfect promotional product to tie-in with your latest marketing activity, you might find yourself torn between items that are either fun or functional. Of the people quizzed, 79% said a practical edge was the quality that was most likely to make them keep an item, with ‘fun’ products only receiving a fifth of the vote.

Says John Mackenzie, Head of Marketing at Total Merchandise: "This insight bears out our own experience of the most popular promotional products we supply. There’s always a place for the quirky items but the more practical merchandise has a longer shelf-life and arguably a better ROI as your brand and messaging is going to be seen for a lot longer. Fortunately, we supply both!”

Want to breach the gap between fun and functional? Pick promotional items that close the gap between the playful and the practical - and here are three of our favourite ways to do it!

Stress Smiley Phone Holders

Don’t let that goofy grin put you off: this is a promotional product with a difference. Printed with your artwork on the front of the phone holder, this also doubles up as both a stress ball and a phone holder, with the ergonomic design offering the perfect means to keep mobile phones perfectly positioned.

Value Piggy Bank

This classic piggy bank is perfect for adding some fun to financial campaigns, whether aimed at customers young or old. Printed with your logo and available in a whole rainbow of colours, it's a cute yet highly usable item that will encourage your customers to look after those all-important pennies.

Robbie Teddy Bear Keyring

Is he the cutest or...? This Robbie teddy bear keyring will allow your customers to add some 'aw' factor to their keys, whilst his cropped tee is the perfect place to print your company logo and artwork on to for guaranteed every-day awareness. He's bear-y sweet - and your customers will certainly agree!

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