A Brief History Of Promotional Merchandise In The UK

Many businesses believe that the use of promotional products is a new invention, as businesses are still gradually being persuaded to invest in promotional items.

Very few people realise that products were first used for promotional purposes a long while ago, during the presidential election of George Washington in 1789. Whilst promotional products may have been used prior to this, this was the first recorded usage. Even so, it was a number of centuries until the promotional product industry really started to take off, especially in the UK and Ireland.

During the late 1950s, promotional merchandise started to be used more and more in corporate marketing. Before this period, companies may have used it to give one-off gifts to customers, but nothing was even given in bulk and it was certainly not used as part of a larger marketing campaign. There was also no recognised promotional merchandise industry. After this period, organisations started to use promotional products more and more and the industry really started to take off in the 1970s.

It was during the 1970s that companies really started to understand the benefits promotional products gave to a brand. Companies were encouraged to promote their brand identity and did so through the use of promotional products. Originally promotional items were limited, businesses were often given the option of using promotional pens or a promotional mug, there was never any really in between items.

The use of promotional products was slow and steady leading up to the 1990s, with only bigger businesses really using them as a means of advertising. However, the 1990s was when the industry really started to take off. This was when the 'peak' season really started. The season featured around Christmas and the giving of gifts.

Corporate companies started to become more inventive with their marketing strategies, using the products to support the promotion of events or products. Promotional merchandise companies started to distribute catalogues and many businesses would purchase their products from these catalogues. However, as times have changed and technology has developed, companies have started to purchase their products from the Internet rather than from catalogues, making it easier and faster for companies to make orders.

As the industry develops even further, companies are now starting to use promotional merchandise as a form of business card. This is under the impression that people are more likely to keep a promotional product than a business card.

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