The History of Promotional Gifts
It is funny how the growth of the promotional products industry matches that of mass manufacturing, industrial and technological revolutions. I comment on this because the first known promotional items were used in the US for the George Washington 1789 election. Apparently, commemorative buttons were all the rage back then. Later on promotional calendars and wooden rulers began to be used and the promotions industry really started to take root during the 19th Century. Our industry is now dominated by the internet and this is being used more and more as a way to present information and secure valuable sales leads. My only concern is that the quality of websites within our industry varies considerably and I find a number using ‘cloak and dagger’ methods to gain search traffic and hoodwink clients into thinking they are dealing with two or more separate organisations. All this is off course possible with database driven websites that can deliver content to any domain. However just because the technology exists do we have to abuse it? If we can be true to ourselves in how we promote our organisations, clients will benefit and standards in the gifts industry will only rise.
