Most promotional products don't care what the weather is doing.
A branded pen is still a pen in July or January. A mug doesn't suddenly become more useful because it's raining outside.
An umbrella is different.
As soon as the weather changes, promotional umbrellas go from being useful branded merchandise to something people actively need.
And that's exactly what makes autumn such a good time for businesses to start putting their brand above customers' heads.
Bad Weather Can Be Good for Your Brand
Nobody looks forward to standing outside in the rain.
But from a marketing perspective, there's an interesting consequence.
The worse the weather becomes, the more umbrellas appear.
Walk through a busy town centre on a wet October morning and they're everywhere. Railway stations, high streets, business districts and school gates suddenly become a sea of canopies.
Put your company logo on one of those umbrellas and your customer isn't simply carrying a promotional gift.
They're carrying your advertising.
Promotional Merchandise That Solves a Problem
The best promotional products have genuine usefulness.
Give somebody an item they don't need and there's always a danger it will be forgotten, thrown away or left at the back of a cupboard.
Give somebody a quality branded umbrella just before the autumn weather arrives and there's a much clearer reason to keep it nearby.
It might live in the boot of their car.
It could stay beside the office door.
A compact umbrella might remain permanently inside a work bag.
Then it starts raining.
Suddenly your promotional product has a job to do.
Think About the Advertising Space
Umbrellas also offer something many promotional products can't: size.
A large promotional golf umbrella provides an impressive area for branding.
You can keep things simple with a company logo on one or two panels, use alternating corporate colours or create something far more ambitious.
With full-canopy printing, the umbrella itself can effectively become the advertisement.
And because it's being carried above head height, there's a good chance other people will see it too.
Autumn Is Just the Beginning
Ordering branded umbrellas in autumn doesn't mean they'll only be useful for the next few months.
A good quality umbrella can potentially remain with a customer for years.
Autumn rain becomes winter rain.
Then come spring showers, summer downpours and another autumn.
Each time the umbrella is opened, the original promotional investment gets another outing.
That's a very different proposition from marketing material that gets used once and discarded.
Get Your Brand Ready for the Rain
At Promotional Umbrellas, we supply printed and branded umbrellas to businesses throughout the UK, from compact folding umbrellas and smart corporate walking umbrellas to large golf umbrellas and completely bespoke designs.
With the wetter months arriving, now is the ideal time to think about what your customers, employees and clients will be reaching for when the next downpour starts.
Because there's something unusual about promotional umbrellas:
The worse the weather gets, the more useful your marketing becomes.