Last week on this blog we shared some cost-effective branding ideas for small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) who want to improve their visibility and success in 2017. Earlier in January, we also talked about the importance of trade shows to businesses, non-profits and educational institutions of all sizes, and how these events can really help SMBs cultivate and connect with audiences.

At Idea Custom Solutions, we keep close tabs on marketing trends and help entrepreneurs leverage their brands. Working with promotional products distributors, we enable SMBs and other institutions to put their logos and branding assets to work in way that help them reach existing and new customers.

Right after the new year, the marketing blog Sage World put together a useful graphic that details its research on the most popular promotional product categories in 2016. Based research related to 71 million internet searches, Sage's post demonstrates that many of the most popular tools SMBs use are classic items that have been around almost as long as marketing and advertising.

That said, we have found that drinkware — one of our favorite promotional products categories — keeps providing businesses with reliable ways to stand out.

One thing that hasn't changed since the dawn of the business age is that no work day feels complete to most people without a beverage in hand. Likewise, drinkware is just as important to any desk or office as trusty company pens.

Researchers have reviewed what makes the ritual of beverages at work so enjoyable. Some cite the height of a drinkware item as a key factor, while other reports suggest the shape or other design elements of coffee mugs might actually affect perceptions of coffee's aroma, bitterness, intensity, temperature and even caffeine level.

Moreover, it's become obvious that, whether customers are sports fans, Star Wars or Ninja Turtles geeks, or individuals who look to the NASA or the science community for the best coffee mugs, there's something out there for them. Also, as the blog Mugshot Monday shows, professionals take their drinkware seriously and make it part of their personal statements.

No matter what the style, the Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) research has some statistics indicating that drinkware makes a excellent business statement too. A glimpse at the ASI’s most recent Impressions Study shows that 39% of consumers own and use promotional mugs, keeping these items at home as much as in the office. Even in warmer locales like Phoenix, Arizona, mugs are an essential part of life.

Promo marketing Magazine, which also delves deep into the promotional products industry, reports another interesting angle about the drinkware category. Specifically, promo marketing pointed out in a post last summer that drinkware is something that many professionals and business owners actually see more of than their families!

"Your bank teller has an acrylic tumbler at the terminal he sits at for eight hours a day, five days a week. Your insurance agent drinks an average of three cups of coffee a day from her favorite mug. The CEO of a brokerage house drives to work an average of 260 days a year with her trusted coffee tumbler," the magazine writes.

"Whether it’s used in the home, in transit or at the office . . . promotional drinkware is everywhere and has the ability to advertise your client’s brand in multiple settings, at all times and throughout all phases of the day."

Better yet, the publication also wrote that branded drinkware makes for a great exercise and gym accessory. But it also tends to find its way on campuses, as "2,700 universities and colleges in North America (and) more than 22.3 million students" constitute a huge market to target with branding.

The best marketers aren't afraid to tap into new trends as well as proven marketing tools that work. Whether your small business customers prefer to put their logo on classic ceramic mugs, or co-brand with the local sports team and create tumblers or Koozie beverage holders for their next drinkware giveaway, chances are that those promotional items will be used nearly every day.

Also, don't forget one other major reason promo products work. Companies that readily give out drinkware and other branded items to their employees, partners and suppliers turn these important people into brand ambassadors for their business.

Don’t forget, whether your customers want straightforward logos or creative layouts to support marketing campaigns on their drinkware, Idea Custom Solutions provides the best in vector artwork, custom creative and other graphic services to spotlight their brands. Take a look at some of our design work.