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...sharing IDEAS - from the members of IdeaCafe!



What was the most interesting, enjoyable, or memorable way you have ever seen Promotional Merchandise being used?
Submited by
Arnaldo L.

The most interesting and enjoyable way I've seen promotional merchandise being used was plating cards that also doubled as gift cards for restaurants.  I believe that these cards could be tailored to a specific city, but mine were for NYC.  They were fun, informative, and even a little adventurous.

Submited by
Teresa M.

Most interesting:  Redbull sponsored the trip an d outifts to a group of paragliding adventurous thrill seekers to jump off of a high mountain cliff.  Most enjoyable:  Ford models give away t-shirts for their models to wear. Most memorable:  "Red dress" sponsored by Avon to supoort cancer. 

Submited by
Jonathan M.

The most interesting to me was a car wrap. I have seen so many companies use vehicles that are used daily to promote their business by wrapping the vehicle with banners and logos

Submited by
Samir S.

What was the most interesting, enjoyable, or memorable way you have ever seen Promotional Merchandise being used? Well i guess i would have to say, back about 3 year ago i was in lakeland florida at a show called bike fest.We got there and were walking towards the gates and there was a huge crowd of people gathering so ofcourse being the nosy person i am i had to find out what was going on there, so when i finally made my way in through a few dozen people, i saw the funniest thing i have seen to this day, a young man in his early twenties had a tattoo of google acrossed his forehead! To this day it is the funnniest thing i have seen, and i guess i can say every since then i have been useing google and it works great, Oh ya and by the way i found this website through googe!

Submited by
Caleb B.

I once was in a business meeting and asked for a business card at the end of it. The card was the size of a credit card, but it had 4 punch out guitar pics. It was definetly interesting, enjoyable, and memorable.

Submited by
Ri M.

Food!! Any form but mostly sweets always get my attention!! There is a Hospice Co. that always brings cookies to my clinic and you'll be sure I reccomend them all the time. There is an oxygen Co that provides lunch to our staff and we always reccomend them first!! Mama had it right...food is the way to your heart!

Submited by
Kelley C.

As a little surprise gift with purchase...and I didn't expect it.  A company I would purchase from regularly (online) would include a little something extra with order.  I especially liked the chocolate with their company information on the package.  It was like recieving a nice, unexpected gift from a friend.

Submited by
Travon H.

I would say through music because everybody loves music and when you use music what ever was bring promoted you will either have the tune or image in your head

Submited by
Annette L.

I don't know if this counts, but the company I used to work for sponsored the NJ Nets.  Seeing our company name on the score boards was very exciting!

Submited by
Mark F.

I was at an IT conference, listening to a speech on Information Security.  The keynote speaker handed out his business cards which was also a lock-picking kit.  

Submited by
Garrett S.

This company that is in pre-launch hosted a spa night in which they demonstrated their products to a group. I can honestly say it is the best skin product I've ever used, and it was an amazing and relaxing experience.

Submited by
Juliet S.

The most memorable promotional merchandise that I have ever seen was for Avodart which is a prostate medicine. How would I remember the name, spelling, and what is? Well my grandfather had an enlarged prostate and he needed to take this particular medicine to reduce the size of his prostate. So not only did the doctor prescribe this medicine but he also sent my grandfather home with a squeezable stress ball that was in the shape of a prostate and had the name Avodart on it. The whole family thought it was such a weird thing to have a squeezable prostate. It definitely was a conversation piece for a long time and we all remember it and the name of the medicine and it still randomly comes up at family functions. So from now on if I know anyone that has an enlarged prostate I’m going to tell them about Avodart.

Submited by
Memory M.

I was at the library one day and I saw a girl with the cutes usb drive. I had to ask her where she got it from. She said it was a promo gift from a band she liked. They were giving away their music on a usb drive that looked like a charm bracelet.

Submited by
Matt P.

I was tailgaiting at McCormick Place and a gentleman dressed as a detective came up to my group and asked in a stern tone...."What are you doing with those drinks?" We were shocked and set our drinks down. He continued to say "Because you're drinking the wrong thing. I'm with the party police!" and then preceded to hand us out flyers, hats, t-shirts, keychains, and other promotional items for the company he was promoting for. This is one promotional exploit I will never forget. 

Submited by
Meghan G.

We run a Summer Camp and After School Program that engages kids with an ongoing story line where they fight monsters with foam covered swords, solve mysteries and win treasure.  The best Promo Merchandise we have ever used were simple cut outs of swords from foam with our logo, website and tagline printed on them.  We gave these out at camp fairs, festivals and public demonstrations. We also attached a free pass to one of our weekly events to the foam sword.  These weren't cheap, but they did give us some excellent conversions.

Submited by
Angela W.

One of the most memorable promotional merchandise I remember was a wooden disc (like a large wooden coin) that was used as a business card. I still have it..... 20 years after I first got it. I thought it was a really unique and cool calling card! At the time, the only drawback was that it didn't fit in the Rolodex; but today, that would be irrelevant since it could be scanned into a business card program and enjoyed every time it was accessed!

Submited by
Julee T.

My mom and I were walking the floor a an education tradeshow exhibit hall. We came across a booth that was making "flip books" on the spot. So, my mom and I were filmed (videod) for 10 seconds doing something silly...and a few minutes later, we walked away with our video preserved in an animated flip book. Inside the flip book, the first few and last few pages included serveral business card-sized advertisments. We kept the books and showed all our family and friends...who also saw the advertisments inside. Fun and brilliant!!!

Submited by
Renee J.

At Gay Pride in New York, personal fans were distributed complete with batteries. When the fan blade spun, a digital message promoted a local coffee shop.  I never forgot it and today, I own a digitally programmable personal fan. Pride attendees used the fan to also program flirty and fun messages with each other, as well as to cool their nether regions, in the humidity of New York in June.

Submited by
Maria A.

The Stress Toy- When I went to a dentist as a child, the dentist would always gave me a toy shaped like a large tooth to hold when I had to do a treatment. When I was finished I felt better by holding this item. When I toke it away with me and I squeezed it I would always feel the tooth betting like my heart did, of being affaired of the dentist. The toy would always cause me to think of the next check up. So, this is why I feel the the most interesting, enjoyable and memorable was of this toy that my dentist gave to me long time ago because I was affair of what he might do to me as a child. This happen to me when I was beleive in 1974. 

Submited by
Fran Z.

I came across yoga mats with strap/holders (on a screenprinting company's website) that could be screenprinted with a company's logo. I thought that would be a great promotional product because although many may not do yoga, it is something with only good feelings attached to it. It would go well with my product line because my customers are massage therapists and my logo says "namaste" because it is truly an honor to do everything I do. 

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