Bring Your Brand To Life With Promotional Products

Whether you are an established business or a start-up, you will be either working on your brand or have a brand history. But what is a company brand? And how does it interact with promotional products?
Read on to find out more …
What Is A Company Brand Identity?
The first thing that comes to mind when thinking about a brand is the logo, the website, the strapline. However, a brand is so much more than these three things. It’s your colour scheme, your employees, your office building, your culture, products and services and of course the way you do business.
When all these components are considered and true brand identity is created, it has the power to change the way consumers see you as a business and deal with you as a person. A strong and effective brand identity will play a major part in winning business, at times eliminating the price factor altogether.
Reflect Your Brand With Promotional Products
One thing is for sure: people LOVE to receive promotional products. But how do you select the right one to reflect your brand?
Anyone can send out a branded ice-scraper in winter to their customers, but is it right for your brand, and will it give out the right message. When you give away a promotional item it serves as an extension to your business, reminding your customers and prospects what you are about. Luckily, the options are limitless and, when dealing with an experienced supplier, the whole process can bring excitement and a bucket full of ideas.
So, lets concentrate on three key factors when thinking about promotional products: Quality, Utility and Relevance.
– Quality: this is a major factor in reflecting your brand. Do you want to be remembered for a pen that the customer is still using the next time they see you, or for a pen that broke after a few clicks? We know what we would prefer! If you base your business brand on quality, then your branded products should reflect this too.
– Utility: how useful the promotional item is to your customer is a key driver of positive brand association. When thinking about your options, consider the purpose you want the items to have. Do you want to give away something your client can make use of outside of work; an eco-friendly sports bottle or a re-useable shopping bag. Or perhaps you want the item to remain in the office and be part of their daily working routines; a branded folder, pen, mouse mat or notepad?
– Relevance: this brings everything together. You have chosen a quality and useful product, but for who? Have you based the decision on your point of view or your average customer-base? This is very important and often overlooked. The items you decide to use as promotional merchandise need to appeal to your customers in order to create the brand loyalty and desired impression.
Get Creative!
Promotional items need to catch your eye, and ideally be desirable products that people want to receive. Just placing your logo on a mug or pen isn’t really going to catch people’s attention. Why not get creative with the colours and patterns you use, and create a merchandise range that will be sought after and well used.
Take this mood board for example …
These branding guidelines showcase different ideas on how to make use of the components and colours within a logo, bringing a simple notepad or bag to life with interesting patterns used throughout the company range. This creates a whole new concept of ‘branded’ merchandise and moves you away from the standard ‘corporate’ feel that many promotional items carry.
The design ideas for branded merchandise can be truly endless, and, if you get it right, make a real positive impact to your company awareness and sales efforts.
With 10 years’ experience in the promotional merchandise industry, the Love to Brand team is a trusted supplier for any size business. Our team spend the time getting to know your business, your customers, your budget and understand your end-goal. We then provide you with ideas backed by reasoning and purpose. A dedicated account-manager will be at hand throughout the process, keeping you updated on production and delivery schedule and become your point of contact for future requirements.
Make sure to contact us on 01200 450 005 or via email sales@love.tobrand.co.uk. Sign-up to our email newsletters here to receive regular inspirations and follow us on Twitter @Lovetobrand for all the latest news and product offerings.