People spend a lot of time in the kitchen, whether it’s cooking dinner for loved ones, making a quick snack or just enjoying a drink with friends. Using kitchen and household items as promotions adds a personal touch to advertising, and giving end-users items they will use again and again, making a lasting impression. Here are some helpful tips from around the industry on how to stir up sales with kitchen and household promotions.
Oli 16 oz. Tumbler from ADG Promotional Products
A business development manager, hired by the state, was brought in specifically to boost business in Minnesota. His strategy was to target grad students looking to start up their own companies. The goal was to encourage these young entrepreneurs to “keep it local” in Minnesota. His assigned budget was minimal, but he thought one of his best tactics was to provide a simple thank you gift between $3 to $5 each, to special volunteers helping with various projects. Together, they quickly communicated it was a great idea, not to mention more profitable, for the students to start and keep their new business in Minnesota.
Since the challenge was to provide an affordable, yet effective thank you gift, the business developer jumped on the opportunity to use the Oli 16 oz. Tumbler in his campaign. The imprint included the “keeping it local” slogan and the tumblers were purchased in a variety of colors to coordinate with the projects. All volunteers assisting to build and keep the new business in Minnesota received a tumbler as a thank you for their efforts.
Bamboo Spatula from Bay State Specialty Co.
The financial aid department of a university held a luncheon for potential students and their families. After a tour of the facility, the guests attended the lunch and received a spatula to take home with them. The bamboo spatula is naturally heat and bacteria resistant, and it comes from a renewable resource. It also has a convenient hanging hole for easy storage and is dishwasher safe.
Apron from Debco
Aprons are truly walking billboards. With huge imprint surfaces and a logo tailored to your event, aprons are fun and make for great promotions. One company had their staff all wear aprons at a trade show where they had a booth. The logo was, “Our customer care is making your request to order.” Some of the staff were dressed in chef outfits and the idea was to show potential clients how attuned they are to their needs. Practical applications for the apron includes, barbecues, restaurants, construction, grocers, street food vendors, cafeterias, food fairs, carnivals. Companies that might use an apron for their promotion are corporations for a company picnic, restaurants, home building companies, trades companies, food retailers, beverage companies, malls, fish/seafood markets.
Set of Four Measuring Cups from Hit Promotional Products
A Casino in the Milwaukee area wanted to spice up a “ normal giveaway“ into some kind of theme. They had come to the realization that they were spending hundreds of thousands on giveaways with no theme and were wondering if they had any impact at all on driving people to the casino. They chose a theme of “Now you’re Cooking with“ x “Casino” and decided to give away an item that would go along with the theme and, most importantly, have lasting power among the demographic of the casino—predominantly seniors. So they opted for the set of four measuring cups because everyone needs this type of product in their cabinets for cooking.
The main entrance of the casino was decked out in a kitchen atmosphere complete with cabinets, a fake stove and a refrigerator. They had casino workers using the measuring cups to make a cake, and they repeated this scene every 20 minutes for two hours, each time giving the recipients the measuring cups along with a piece of cake. People that go into a casino are usually not smiling (it’s been proven in market analysis) so this little skit and giveaway gave customers a chuckle and left them with something useful.
Cutlery Kits from VisionUSA
Campbell University School of Pharmacy handed out Cutlery Kits to all students in their program as part of an effort to reduce waste on campus. More and more universities are reviewing their consumption of disposables to not only reduce costs but to reduce excessive waste. The Cutlery Kit is the perfect fit for universities going green and is ideal for dining halls, dorms or travel. It features a hinged case and is attachable to a backpack, bag or tote. It includes all that one needs for a meal or snack; a knife, spoon and fork, all featuring a polymer grip. Say no to disposable — rinse and reuse. Disposable plastic cutlery is non-biodegradable and is widely used. Worldcentric.org estimates 40 billion disposable plastic utensils are used every year in just the United States. The majority of these are thrown out after just one use.
