The Mighty Pen: 7 Great Promotional Ideas for an Ordinary Item

How many pens do you have stuck in that coffee cup on your desk, or in your jacket pocket? This ubiquitous item is an often-overlooked marketing tool. Here are seven ways to transform a simple pen with your company information (name, address, web, phone and/or logo) into a hardworking brand builder.

Branded pens can create one of the top promotional products a company can offer using these simple tips.

1. The "Eat and Switch" - When you go to a restaurant and the waiter or waitress brings the check, it usually comes with a cheap ballpoint. Most wait staff need to supply their own pens, and appreciate a better one. Switch theirs for one of yours, and now it's in circulation. The higher quality the restaurant, the better the demographics of the next person to see and sign with it. Instant branding!
2. Bartender Bait - Simply leaving a pen on the bar is a convenience to the bartender. Whoever happens to use it will see your logo and associate it with a pleasant social setting.
3. Clean Getaway - Every time you're at the drycleaner, sign with a company pen and leave it behind. People are constantly driving off with theirs.
4. Show Offs - Trade shows are a perfect setting, because practically every booth is looking for your signature. Slip one of yours into circulation for other visitors to use.
5. Token Offer - Make sure you always have two in your jacket pocket. When you're networking and want to exchange business cards, think of a reason to write a note on your card and offer the pen too. Now you've personalized the meeting and given the prospect a gift.
6. Bank on it - Half the time, the ballpoint on a chain doesn't work. Leave one of yours behind instead. It could stay there all day, being used and seen by dozens of people before someone finally pockets it.
7. Service Please - At the service counter in the right retail setting. When the person ahead of you needs to sign, pleasantly offer yours and tell them to keep it. They'll likely feel grateful because they may feel a bit guilty if you've had to wait.

So there you have it – seven ideas to maximize the brand impact of one of the most everyday of items. Apply that kind of thinking to the little things can have a big impact on your bottom line!