Unusual Promotional Gifts: Useful Ideas Beyond Pens and Mugs

Pens, mugs, lanyards: the classics are quick to order and just as quick to forget. Anyone searching for unusual promotional gifts usually wants two things: something that makes people stop for a second, and something that doesn't vanish into a drawer afterwards. Here are ideas for corporate giveaways that stand out and are still useful, plus a few questions to separate the good ideas from the merely funny ones.

Unusual or useful? Ideally both

A promotional gift that is only clever earns a smile and then a storage problem. One that is only useful gets used, but nobody remembers who it came from. The best ideas combine the two: a small moment of surprise and a permanent place in everyday life. Three questions help.

• Where will it be in six months? If the honest answer is "in the loft", it's decoration, not a gift.
• Can you explain it in one sentence? A gift with a story gets retold, and your name with it.
• Does it suit everyone? With clients, partners and teams you know little about their tastes. Everyday items without strong scents, alcohol or sugar leave nobody out.

Useful promotional gifts: fresh ideas beyond pens and mugs

• Tools for small jobs: a solid multitool, a compact torch or a folding ruler in your brand colour for clients in the building trades.
• Something to use up: coffee from a local roaster, seed packets for the balcony or garden, a good spice blend. Consumables don't end up gathering dust.
• Desk helpers people actually need: a cable organiser, a phone stand, a proper notebook instead of yet another notepad.
• An experience for key clients: a cooking class, a city tour or tickets for a local event.
• Something used every day that comes with a story: a bar of soap that hangs on the wall by a bottle cap, for example.

The Soapi: an unusual promotional gift with your logo

The Soapi is a magnetic soap holder. You press a bottle cap halfway into a bar of soap, the soap hangs from a magnet on the wall and dries all the way round instead of going soft in a dish. The sink stays clean. That moment when someone hangs their soap on the wall for the first time is exactly the kind of surprise you want from a promotional gift.

Your logo goes where it's seen every day: on the bottle cap. We print bottle caps with your company logo from 500 caps. The number of Soapis is separate, so you don't need to take 500 Soapis. The leftover logo caps make a mini giveaway for trade fairs, mailings or the reception desk. How it all works is explained on our page for corporate gifts with your logo.

• Useful: stays in use in the bathroom or by the kitchen sink rather than sitting in a drawer.
• Suits everyone: everyone has a sink.
• Easy to post: a small parcel that travels well.
• Built to last: a 10-year durability guarantee. Made in Berlin, where the Soapi is injection-moulded.
• Material: The housing is injection-moulded from recycled plastic, around 90 % of which comes from discarded fishing nets and ropes.
• 10 colours: mixed or matched to your brand colour.

More than 250 retailers worldwide stock Soapi, and Soapi is listed in the PSI Product Finder.

Combine it: soap, key holder, a small set

A Soapi on its own is already a gift. Add a bar of soap and it's ready to use straight away. You can pair it with the soap from Marseille, for example, or soaps by Blaull, Grete Manufaktur and KLAR. For the hallway there's the magnetic key holder, which uses the same technology. Our stone soaps are only available in small numbers, so just mention them in your enquiry if you're interested.

Small quantities without a logo

Only need a handful of gifts, say for your most important clients? Then order straight from the shop, no enquiry needed. With Mix & Match you choose 5 products for €50, with free delivery within Germany. The Starter Kit at €14.95 contains a Soapi, a 100 g lavender soap handmade in Marseille and a cleaned bottle cap.

Where unusual promotional gifts go wrong

• A gag with no use: funny when unwrapped, annoying a week later.
• An oversized logo: a huge logo turns the gift into a billboard. Discreet branding is more likely to be used. More on that in our article on promotional gifts with a logo.
• Planning too late: for logo bottle caps, it's best to get in touch early so there's enough time for printing.

FAQ

What counts as a useful promotional gift?

Anything that earns a permanent spot in daily life: on the desk, in the bathroom, in the kitchen or on the key ring. The more often a gift is used, the more often people see your name.

What's the minimum for a logo?

We print bottle caps with your logo from 500 caps. You choose the number of Soapis freely. As a company, you buy from us at the retailer price: very good terms that normally only go to retailers who order from us regularly. Printing logo caps takes about two weeks from order to dispatch, often much less.

Where can I find more ideas?

For your stand, have a look at our trade fair giveaways; for personal presents, see original gifts with character. What else you can do with bottle caps is in bottle cap ideas.

In short

Unusual promotional gifts work when they surprise people and then get used. For small quantities, put together five items with Mix & Match. For your logo on the bottle cap, request a quote here.