subject: Developing a Branding Product: Promotional Tote Bags [print this page] Developing a Branding Product: Promotional Tote Bags
Advertising and a website have only gotten your company so far in terms of sales. While addressing the online aspect of customers is certainly necessary, the "real" world should never be left behind. The strategies for finding customers or sales in the "real" world, however, is changing, and as the average person is more likely to do an online search for a product or service instead of opening the telephone book, finding these individuals is a far more difficult task than it was 10 years ago. If you need to develop a branding strategy for finding customers, what should you do?
While print advertising has proven to be less effective, promotional products are still going strong for branding. A promotional product, if you are unfamiliar, displays your company's or organization's logo in a visible spot and is passed out to customers or employees. Over time, the visibility and pervasiveness of your brand's logo can result in more sales. Not all promotional products are equal, however, and some items are more effective than others.
As a general rule, promotional products need to be useful to the average person. A novelty item is quickly cast aside. Promotional tote bags, mugs, and pens, as a result, are some of the more popular items used for branding. Out of these, promotional tote bags have a clear advantage: greater surface area. A large surface is the perfect place for displaying a full-color logo or company name.
In other instances, however, promotional tote bags may be an item easily associated with your brand or organization. Supermarkets and libraries, for example, often have their own promotional tote bags for the convenience of the customer. With a logo printed on one side, these promotional tote bags are sold for a small fee and allow customers to go green in carrying books or groceries.
Promotional tote bags give you more freedom for designing a logo and using color. Nevertheless, if you have an already-established brand, be mindful of your logo. Consumers, generally, are fickle and a minor change to a logo can result in reduced sales. Similarly, going with different colors may be just as detrimental. Sticking with what you have already established and applying it to another medium tote bags, in this case is more reliable. If you are an up-and-coming company, on the other hand, tote bags give you more freedom for branding, and crafting a unique and memorable logo is possible.
