Promo items in the Torino Olympics

The Olympic Stores in Torino are carrying great promo items for athletes and spectators alike, ranging from indoor items such as mouse pads and balls, to outdoor wear such as backpacks, caps, shirts, and of course, the all-time favorite drinkware.


(Photo from The Online Olympic Store)

Many companies are jumping in on the Olympic promo item bandwagon, such as Budweiser, now taking over sales outlets with its Olympic logo-ed promotional items. It’s not surprising why. The promotional products industry is finally taking the marketing center stage. US marketers alone are spending almost three times as much in promotional products – about $17 billion a year, in fact. Why? Because it works.

A recent survey shows that some 76 percent of consumers remember the brand name of a company that gave them a promotional item in the past year – that’s 23 percent higher than consumers remember a TV or print ad from the past month, and a whopping 49 percent higher than the percentage of consumers who recall online ads.

A thermos really goes a longer way than a TV ad. When someone who goes to an office uses it to carry his coffee everyday, for example, the logo is repeatedly seen by all of his co-workers, clients, and even by people on the streets he walks in and the passengers in the train or the bus he rides. Now that is constant exposure for as low as $9.

-Jen