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Why Promotional Products?

Branded Swag is the Only Advertising Medium that Engages All 5 Senses!

Promotional Products 5 Senses

Looking for ways to gain a competitive edge in your industry? If you're using promotional products (AKA Swag, ad specialties, branded merch, etc.) to compliment your other forms of advertising such as television, internet, mobile and print ads, you already have an edge over your competitors who don't use imprinted promotional products. And if you haven't yet explored the unique possibilities available with promotional advertising, here's why you should: Promotional products have the unique ability to appeal to all five senses!

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​Sure, you can see and hear ordinary TV and online ads, but can you feel them? Can you smell them? Or can you taste them? If so, you have an amazing gift. If not, you're just like the rest of us who experience the "in one ear, out the other" phenomenon when we see or hear a typical advertisement. It's time to experience the EXTRA-ordinary with promotional products. Read on to learn five ways you can appeal to your audience in ways that, when combined,  just aren't attainable with other advertising media.

Promotional Products Stimulate 5 Senses

Engage 5 Senses with Branded Swag!

Sense #1: Sight

This is the sense we use most frequently. In fact, we use it all day every day, every second that we're awake. This is why we don't pay much attention to most TV commercials, magazine advertisements, and online ads... they're just another thing we see throughout the course of the day and they're more like a thorn in the side than anything else. When scrolling through an online news article and an ad pops up, most people don't look at the ad- they look for the little "X" and click on it before ever reading the ad. If you really want someone to remember your logo or your advertising message, why not do it with a medium like promotional products that can better engage your audience? Give people something interesting or stimulating, like a custom printed Rubik's Cube or Light-Up Logo Wireless Charger. Your target audience is getting your message, but they're being engaged in such a way that they'll actually REMEMBER it later!

Sense #3: Taste

This is one of the senses that you just can't appeal to with any other form of advertising besides promotional products. Most people don't think of using food for advertising, but it's actually a very effective method of getting your message to your target audience. Edible promotional products from Maple Ridge Farms (a Red Canoe Promotions supplier voted consistently as the top food gift company in the industry) are utilized by over 75% of the Fortune 100 because of their effectiveness in creating a memorable experience for the end user. When a potential customer enjoys a chocolate with your custom molded logo, you're creating a memorable experience you're simply not going to get with traditional advertising.

Scent #5: Touch

Promotional products are tangible. You can hold them in your hands. You can feel them and use them. Yet again, here is an example of an experience you can only create by using promotional advertising. When someone writes with a pen imprinted with your logo, or grips their mobile phone using a branded PopSocket®, they are performing a useful task. It's yet another feature that separates promotional products and branded swag from the rest of the pack.

Sense #2: Sound

Most advertising that utilizes this sense goes "in one ear, out the other." This is why radio advertising or music streaming service ads, while usually costly, are largely ineffective. Most of us put on our headphones to enjoy music or our favorite podcast or radio show, not to hear commercials and ads. Advertising this way is not usually cost-effective, because many people change the station (or channel, or fast-forward the DVR) as soon as an advertisement comes on. And even if they can't skip the ad, they're usually not paying attention. Imprinted earbuds and branded speakers are great examples of promotional products that engage the sense of sound, while at the same time creating an enjoyable experience for the end user. Again, you're getting your message out there, but you're doing it in a way that's more memorable to your target audience than, say, a radio commercial. And you're doing it over and over at no additional cost.

Sense #4: Smell

After recently browsing through a magazine someone left on the table, I estimated that about 75% of the pages were advertisements. That was a few days ago, and I can recall the name of the advertiser in only a couple of those ads. One is because it was a brand that I'm familiar with, and the other was a fragrance ad. It had the flap you can lift up to smell the fragrance. Of all the five senses, smell is the one that creates the most powerful and lasting impression on the brain. This is a proven fact based on numerous in-depth and well known scientific studies. A particular scent can trigger memories from decades ago. With the exception of fragrance ads, promotional advertising is the only medium that can truly appeal to the sense of smell. And that is a huge advantage, given the overwhelming evidence that scent is the most powerful memory trigger. So the next time a prospective client enjoys the aroma of their fresh morning coffee seeping out of a mug with your logo on it, or the relaxing scent given off by a custom imprinted candle or branded essential oils, you can rest assured you're making a powerful impression.

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