Warm weather can be a promotions paradise, whether marketing to consumers or for business to business. There are three elements which marketers need to feed into – namely holidays, sport events and leisure activities – in order to achieve effective take-up of a summer campaign.

Typical examples may be as part of an awareness promotion where a holiday may be the main prize, or a call centre goody bag, or a fan and water-spray product which employees (of the respective company being targeted) might be able to use on the bus or tube. Summer is all about events. Think Henley,Wimbledon, Ascot, the cricket, music festivals such as Isle of Wight, Glastonbury – the list goes on. Although big brands may seem to dominate such events there’s no harm in companies targeting these audiences with branded merchandise that the audience can take away with them and retain.

Employees working for companies being targeted will no doubt be going to an event with a summer theme/atmosphere and marketers can provide quality, branded, low cost merchandise which will be used with the positive association of the event, and retained long after.

By the same token, businesses might want to target decision makers of the respective company by offering luxury products such as branded picnic baskets, corkscrews, wines, cheese, biscuit and fruit hampers etc.

Climate change, although an unfortunate reality, is seeing to it that more Brits are spending more time on the beach and in the sun than ever before (although we haven’t seen the sun much so far this summer!). Britons are taking sun protection more seriously and this presents another promotional opportunity.We’re now seeing merchandise ranging from high protection factor lip balm attached to key rings, branded promotional hats, branded towels, flip flops, inflatable surfboards, sunglasses and of course umbrellas.

Drinks and ice cream goes without saying. Companies that produce these products (or those which want to use these products as part of promotions) use summer as a key opportunity to trial them because people are outdoors and around more than any other time of year.

Brand managers are thinking of sport or other events. Ideally you want something to latch onto which has visual identity and which allows you an opportunity to have presence. Businesses don’t always have to think of summer products, but could offer traditional tried and tested merchandise. Imagine the tag line: “How hot is your office this summer?” on a branded thermometer or a mouse mat with a beautiful summer landscape on it.

It doesn’t need to cost the earth to capture the spirit of summer and when it comes to choosing promotional products, companies need only ask themselves the question: “Is it high quality, relevant and will it be retained?”

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