One of the great things about promotional products is that they have staying power.

When you give them to a client, customer or prospect, they’re likely to hold onto the product, using it over and over again. And, every time they do, they’ll see your organization’s name and logo.

So, how long-lasting are promotional products? I spotted these promotional products in an antiques store. They appear to have outlasted the businesses that used them to advertise.

Do you recognize these promotional items?

If you guessed blotting paper, you’re right. Decades ago, companies would put their logo on booklets or pads of blotting paper and pass them out for use in offices or at home.

Of course, when the ballpoint pen came along, writing changed forever. The need for blotting paper disappeared.

Not all promotional products have suffered the same fate. In the antiques store, I also spotted one of the grand old stalwarts of the promotional products industry, the calendar.

As relevant today as 50 years ago, promotional calendars are extremely useful, highly visible promotional products. Wall calendars, desk calendars, and pocket calendars now come with monthly, weekly, and daily views. Even with digital solutions available, many people still prefer to write appointments on paper. They just don’t need to blot after doing so.

All of this begs the question, what modern promotional products do you think will stand the test of time and be around in another 50 years?

-Suzanne

Today’s post is actually by one of our associates, John Van Den Brandt. John asked if he could use my blog space to talk a bit about a project he’s pretty passionate about!

-klt

I’m John Van Den Brandt. By day, I’m a Senior National Account Manager at 4imprint. Any other time, I’m a wildlife photographer, spending long hours in the field waiting to capture that  one perfect,  heart-stopping moment of wildlife action.

When a typical employer learns of your passion for anything outside your job, the likely response is ‘Fine, just don’t let it interfere with your work’. But 4imprint is not a typical  employer. Here, the thinking was ‘How can we utilize John’s talent to the benefit of our  customers?’ That’s how the 4imprint Exclusive Wildlife Calendar was born. (Can you begin to  see why 4imprint just made the list of America’s Best Places to Work for the third straight  year?)

The calendar’s been a hit – in addition to the wildlife images, customers seem to like the brief “stories” that I write about how I captured each month’s image. In fact, at the beginning of each month I often receive e mails from customers throughout the country complimenting me on that month’s image, asking questions or encouraging my work. One customer said that we’ve saved him a lot of money on story books because his child will only go to sleep if he can first page through our calendar and name all the wildlife. He won’t accept any substitute!

I hope you won’t accept any substitute either. If you’re looking for a unique calendar that uses real wildlife images (not game farm models), a gift that will keep your logo front and center all year long, check out our wildlife calendar. The 2011 edition is our fifth and I believe our best ever.

Thanks to 4imprint for supporting my dream and thanks to you, our customers for making it come true.

Click here to view all the images in the 2011 calendar.