Top 10 Wacky Ways to Promote a Business in 2010

TREVOSE, Pa., May 11 /PRNewswire/ -- For an innovative-but-effective way to build business buzz, forget traditional, ho-hum advertising.  Instead, try logoed dog bones.  Or recycled billboard bags. Or T-shirts that provide "instant abs."

Today, the Advertising Specialty Institute released its first-ever top 10 list of wacky ways businesses are promoting themselves via creative giveaways.  The list features imaginative products with proven staying power, like the roll-up shoes that walked the Oscars' red carpet and futuristic USB drives gifted to American Idol sponsors.

The $16 billion ad specialty industry is fueled by branded freebies (how many do you have?) and hundreds of thousands of American-made promotional T-shirts – there are enough produced annually to clothe everyone in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Now, businesses are going way beyond the best-selling logoed pen, with unique products that help launch catchy ad campaigns that capture consumers and deliver a positive return on investment:

The Top 10 Wackiest Ways to Promote a Business in 2010

1. Cell Phone Watch – Make like James Bond and dial and receive calls from your wristwatch.

2. Shower Shock – The world's first caffeinated soap offers the ultimate clean buzz.

3. Celebarktion Gourmet Pet Treats – Pet lovers go bow-wow for large imprintable dog bones.

4. Flower Ballz – Hand-rolled by people with developmental disabilities, they burst into bloom.

5. Metal Man USB Drive – Shiny, happy USB execs with removable head/flash drive.

6. Recycled Billboard Bag – Vinyl messenger bag is custom-made from your old billboards.

7. Footzyrolls – A hot gift for high-heeled women, these roll-up shoes fit in the smallest clutch.

8. EZ Freeze – This cereal-on-the-go bowl lets breakfast lovers enjoy it anywhere, anytime.

9. Cruzin Cooler – Ride to the tailgating party on an electric cooler big enough for a case on ice.  

10. Degree Tee Shirt – Aspiring Arnolds get a boost from heat-activated "instant abs" T-shirt.

For photos of all products and purchasing information, click here.  Or go to www.asicentral.com/nypress.

"In today's keenly competitive market, businesses need useful products with a clever cutting edge to get their message out in the most cost-efficient way available," said Timothy M. Andrews, president and chief executive officer of ASI.  "To that end, the ad specialty industry – which dates to George Washington's first presidential campaign – constantly reinvents itself with inventive products like the ones highlighted on our top 10 list."

According to an ASI survey, 84% of people remember the advertiser on a product they receive and one in four said they are more likely to do business with that company.  Further, the average cost-per-impression of an ad specialty item is $0.004, making it less expensive per impression than nearly any other advertising media.

Promotional products, or advertising specialties, are items imprinted with logos or slogans to market a company, organization, product, service, achievement or event.  Companies often purchase them as gifts to employees or clients at holidays and for occasions year-round, and marketers often include them in their campaigns to dramatically increase response rates.  

About ASI

The Advertising Specialty Institute is the largest media and marketing organization serving the advertising specialty industry, with a membership of over 26,000 distributor firms (sellers) and supplier firms (manufacturers) of advertising specialties.  Supplier firms use ASI print and electronic resources to market products to over 22,000 ASI distributor firms.  Distributor firms use ASI print and electronic resources, which contain nearly every product in the industry from more than 3,500 reputable suppliers, to locate supplier firms and to market services to buyers.  ASI provides catalogs, information directories, newsletters, magazines, websites and databases, and offers e-commerce, marketing and selling tools.  Visit ASI online at asicentral.com and on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, the CEO's blog and the ASI Social Network.

SOURCE Advertising Specialty Institute