Promotional goods are used all over the world in marketing campaigns, as a way to promote certain brands and products to the wider community. In order to be used as promotional items, individual goods need to satisfy a few different criteria. While there are examples of some promotional merchandise which lies outside of this criteria, the vast majority of promo gifts are small, inexpensive to produce, and easy to distribute. In addition to this, the most successful items will also be used for a long period of time and not thrown away as soon as they are gifted. Promotional merchandise is used to promote products, brands, and corporate identity, with a wide range of products being given away at corporate events, via direct mail, and through trade shows and other corporate events. There are a number of products that could be described as the ideal promotional item, including many traditional products such as pens and caps and many new items such as USB Stick (vim flash) modems and mouse pads.

While there are some examples of expensive and large items given away by designer brands, the majority of promotional merchandise is cheap and small. In recent years, USB thumb drives have come down a lot in price, making them ideal for use in some promotional gifting campaigns. While the production and distribution of a USB stick is still more expensive than items like pens and key chains, they also have more potential to be used time and time again and raise the awareness of a particular brand of product. Most people who receive a USB thumb drive would consider it to be a useful gift, with many choosing to use the item in their regular daily routine. With the addition of a simple logo or message printed onto the device, a USB thumb drive can make the ideal promotional give away.

Other than USB sticks, mouse pads, and some other inexpensive USB computer accessories, most of the items that are given away in promotional campaigns are quite traditional in nature. The promotional merchandise industry has a long history in western society, with examples of product give aways going back to the election of George Washington in 1789. Since this time, a large range of items have been gifted in various marketing campaigns, with the most common items being pens, T shirts, hats, bumper stickers, calendars, posters, key chains, and coffee mugs.