Summertime Sizzles with Promotional Products

Outdoor activities and events are cool reasons for hot summer promotions.

The radio is cranking out fun-in-the-sun tunes and vacation plans are being finalized from coast to coast. Summer months represent promotional products sales opportunities like no other season as businesses take more of a light-hearted approach to customer and employee relations.

"Summer is a great time for companies to reward employees with picnics, getaways at amusement parks and team-building excursions away from the office," said Tim Bohmer, vice president of sales at Webb Company, Rosemount, Minn.

Such corporate activities mean lots of promotional goodies to hand out to hard-working employees. Colorful T-shirts, golf shirts and hats are very popular items that foster a sense of team unity. Uniforms for a company athletic team or league might also be on tap, Bohmer said. "Distributors should ask their contacts what activities the company participates in during the summer months," he suggested.

Bohmer said that distributors can offer team uniforms, picnic-related items (such as plastic dishes and tumblers, water bottles and barbecue accessories), and "to-go" kits—which might include a cooler packed with utensils, an FM radio, an umbrella and a fleece blanket—that would be a welcome companion to any summer event.

Noting an important trend, Bohmer said, "At the winter trade shows, I noticed that many distributors said that clients were opening their wallets for 2005, and promotional budgets are increasing as companies downsize. Companies are using promotional products as a form of motivation and recognition for their newly slimmed-down and often overworked staff."

Garden tool sets—four hand-tools with wood handles—and barbecue tool sets do well in summer, according to Marc Puglisi of Points of Light, Fairfield, N.J. The supplier, which also sells George Foreman grills, barware, Stanley tools and Mag-Lite flashlights, is currently offering a new gift tin with its Mag-Lites featuring a see-through window. "We sell Mag-Lites to everyone," Puglisi noted. "Poker sets are also hot right now, and in a price range—$6.00 to $25.00—to sell," he said. "But, poker's only strong in a few industries because some people may not want to be associated with gambling."