Of all the freebies given away perhaps the most generally attractive and useful to everyone are promotional mugs and water bottles. These handy little items are useful to everyone and it is a rare person who does not appreciate receiving this kind of product. Whether you are giving way a coffee mug with your logo on it, or the latest design in water bottles with your company name, address and phone number on it, people are very likely to make use of it. When people make use of an item given to them, they remember where it came from. All in all these are some of the most generally useful promotional products to give out.

What to Include on Your Water Bottle or Mug
Given their general usefulness the only real thing to give thought to is what to put on a mug or water bottle. While it may seem simple to decide to throw on the company logo and call it good, there are several reasons this may not be the best idea. Sure everyone appreciates a coffee mug, but at the same time, people tend to use mugs with designs they like first. This means that if you want the person to use your mug, and thus think about your business or service, it should be something they are likely to use.

Instead of putting a logo on it, think instead of perhaps putting a nice picture on it, or a catchy phrase. Both of these are likely to tickle a customers fancy and increase the likelihood of the using the mug. Another idea is to give away the mug but suggest a purpose other than putting something to drink in it. Perhaps a message on the cup that encourages putting spare change in it (useful for investors and banking), or perhaps labeling it as a candy cup could be unique ways to spread the message of your business.

Thinking About Your Customers
Another idea for mugs is to order several different prints that are designed for different people. Give male customers a mug that says something about being a father or husband. Give women something that makes them think about shopping. Something to be careful of here is to make sure you are not going to offend someone. If you have a bunch of single men as customers the husband father motto won’t really fly well. In general try to avoid any kind of sexist or racist remarks. Again the idea is to stand out a bit so the person using the cup thinks of your business or service in a positive light, not angrily.

Water bottles and their associate products are also a unique way to get the word out. Almost everyone uses water bottles, and there are hundreds of creative ways to remind people of your business and service other than with a simple logo. If you are giving away water bottles during the summer, think of putting some kind of message on the bottle that makes people think of summer time. Something along the lines of “official drenching device” would have people using the water bottle to pour cool water over themselves. While during cooler months putting a message on that makes people think of warmer times might be nice. The sky is the limit for creativity and you should not stop yourself short.

Whether it is a mug with your logo or a water bottle with a self affirming message it is easy to see that these products can be some of the most affective products to give out in any promotional campaign. Their usefulness to people, and their ability to carry any message you want make them both functional and memorable.

However before you launch into the next great coffee cup give away, make sure you have given thought to everything you want to accomplish with these promotional products. After all, they don’t do any good if you don’t maximize their impact. True getting fancier lettering and stuff can be a bit more pricey than just slapping the logo on an item, but when you look at the potential return from being willing to do something that sticks out a bit more, it is sure to be something worth doing. Mugs and water bottles are great all by themselves, but sprucing them up a bit does not hurt anything at all.