Can Pens with Logos Really Help a Brand?

I watched an old episode of Friends the other day, the one where Ross and Chandler decide to try and take revenge on a hotel that won’t give them a refund when Monica can’t make the trip. From the apples on the front desk through to the remote control batteries and light bulbs, they filled their cases (only for Ross’s to break as they left).

Whilst I’ve never been tempted to take things one shouldn’t from hotels, I will admit that I see the things that are consumables as part of the deal.

Quite why I feel the need to sweep up all those little bottles and mini-soaps I’m not quite sure: I always prefer the products I’ve bought when I’m at home and I always forget to take them when I travel. But then the places I visit usually have them, so I didn’t really need to take them in the first place!

Pens and pencils in hotel meeting rooms are something of a grey area – it’s OK to take those isn’t it? But is it OK to take the one that the person who was sitting next to you left behind? I’m not sure, but I do.

For the bigger chains the cost to provide some of these items must be reasonably high. And the number of adverts in marketing magazines for firms wanting to put your company’s name on pens, notepads, mugs, desk tidies and the like, suggests there are plenty of other firms desperately hoping to get their names on the desks of prospective clients.

And this isn’t a new thing either. I remember my grandfather having pencils, pens and even a tape measure (which I still have) for Mirabel – a fabric brand his company sold.

But does all of this branded paraphernalia really make any difference? Is it just something certain companies have always done? Amongst the many unquantifiable aspects of marketing is it money down the drain?

Turn the page to find out what a recent study discovered... >>>

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