Real Promotions: Office Break Room Promotional Imprinted Mugs

I wandered over to the Break Room of our office complex. I wanted to see what kind of promotional cups that people kept and used. I found five.

One was from a local radio station, one from an electric supply company, a local college, a local branch of Kiwanis Club, and People's Bank. All five of their imprints were in mint condition. These mugs are used a lot, so it's a real life example of how long logoed mugs last. 

Although these logos were in excellent condition, they could've used the ad space more completely.

Lots of  points goes to the college for including their contact information--they were the only one out of the five. 

Now, there are two camps about including contact information. One side says just use the logo, it will keep your business at the top of the customer's mind, and they'll use the phone book or the Internet to find contact information. That makes some sense, but I am of a different mind. I believe that contact information, even if very small, makes more use of the ad space and makes customer communication more easy. In my opinion, the easier it is for a customer to make contact, the more customers will do so. 

I've used promotional products to quickly access a phone number. I did it with a dentist's refrigerator magnet and a sign maker's pen. Both included their phone number and both of them received my business. 

That being said, sometimes all a company wants is name recognition. I think of the pharmaceutical industry. Since prescriptions are delivered through doctors and pharmacies, name recognition of their drug is all a pharmaceutical company wants. But they are an exception to the general rule. Another exception is promotions for large chains. 

The bank mug that I'm looking at right now is for a large chain. They probably ordered a big mug order through corporate and distributed it to the branches. They exchanged customer contact for a cheaper price on the mugs, and I think that can be justified, but they should've included their website at the very least, to encourage online banking.

The radio station should have included their radio station number! The Electric supply company should have included their phone number to make reorders easier! The Kiwanis should have included their meeting time, which is the same year round (for example: Meet with us the fourth Tuesday of every month). This would be a good reminder for their members and would take their mug's advertising potential up a notch.

Mugs are a classic promotional product because they are long lasting, visible, inexpensive and useful. American Promotions carries promotional Bistro mugs here and Diner Mugs here. If you're thinking about a mug promotion, consider taking it up a notch by pairing it with imprinted packets of hot chocolate or coffee like this:

What mugs are in your break room? Your kitchen cupboard?