Not long now till April arrives and the April showers are upon us, but let’s face it we live in the UK, no matter what month or season it is, you can pretty much guarantee it will rain at some point. Which is why I was surprised when the statistics highlighted that the UK was actually below the world average on number of umbrellas owned per capita. I had almost expected in a country world renowned for its rain, that each person would be recorded owning in the region of 4-5 umbrellas!
Well we’re here to convince you that not only do you need an umbrella because on average 1,154mm of rain falls on the UK each year, but also because they provide a fantastic opportunity for advertising. In the last survey by the BPMA (British Promotional Merchandise Association) the most important quality a promotional gift must have is usefulness. It was very interesting to see that usefulness ranked above price, lead time, relevance, uniqueness etc.
From a business point of view, there aren’t many promotional products out there with as much branding surface area as an umbrella. One great feature the umbrella has is it is not just the branding you can adjust to your specification, there are several features that you can have bespoke to your branding, giving your promotional product a more executive feel. You can adjust the grip, the pole, the contrast colour and even have fully dye sublimated panels for an all over brand.
When it comes to design of your umbrella, although it may seem like a great idea, a bright umbrella that stands out in the crowd may not be for everyone, for example executives in financial organisations may prefer something a tad more subtle. With this in mind the biggest advice we can give in this manner is know your audience, this is where trend research really comes in handy. If you know your target audience, you can research their likes and dislikes, and then adjust your design to these specifications.