The Benefits of Christmas Promotional Items for Businesses
Promotional merchandise is used by many businesses and organisations, as a way to enhance brand awareness and promote particular products and services. Promotional items are generally used in combination with other forms of marketing, such as print advertising, broadcast advertising, Internet marketing, direct mail, and word of mouth campaigns. There are a variety of items that can be used in promotional merchandising campaigns, with some of the most popular including pens, T-shirts, bumper stickers, lanyards, key chains, coffee mugs, and calendars. However, over time, some new products have also entered the line up alongside these traditional items, with two examples being mouse pads and USB flash or thumb drives. Specialised items are also gifted during specific times of the year, such as Christmas promotional items (Werbeartikel Weihnachten) during the holiday period.

Christmas has long been associated with promotional merchandising, due to its association with the act of gifting. While promo items have always been given out throughout the year, there have always been certain times during the year where more businesses engaged in these types of campaigns. Up until the 1990s, the industry surrounding the manufacture and distribution of promotional items was most active during the Christmas period. While this has changed a little bit since the 1990s due to increased multiculturalism in many western countries, the Christmas period is still heavily associated with promotional merchandise campaigns. Christmas gifting provides businesses with a number of opportunities for promotion, and is a great way to set up a feeling of good will in the wider community.

There are many benefits associated with promotional merchandising, including increased brand awareness, enhanced employee relations, trade show traffic-building, enhanced public relations, new customer generation, dealer and distributor programs, new product introductions, employee service awards, not for profit programs, internal incentive programs, safety education, customer referrals, and marketing research. While brand awareness is by far the biggest reason that companies get involved in these types of campaigns, as you can see, there are also a number of other advantages to this style of promotion. Many of these benefits are enhanced even more during the Christmas period, when the act of gift giving is widely accepted and appreciated by the wider community.