Coffee mugs have been used as promotional products for many years, but this does not mean that their effectiveness has been reduced. People still love to receive stylish, functional mugs as long as they are not heavily adorned with company logos. This means that you need to strike a balance between giving people what they want and promoting your brand. If you make your logo too big people will ignore your mug when they are looking for something to put their coffee in. They will eventually come to think of your brand as “the mug I never use", and this is not the type of association you want.

When you are using promotional products like coffee mugs, there are a lot of things to consider, and the first is style. Coffee mugs go in and out of fashion – or more correctly, the designs of coffee mugs do. Try to keep your coffee mugs as neutral as possible because if you go for wacky designs and your mugs survive for more than 2 or 3 years they will start to look very old fashioned, perhaps even kitsch. When in doubt, go for white or black mugs. White is simpler and usually less expensive to make, but black looks more professional and look better for longer.

The trouble often comes in deciding where to put your logo on promotional products like mugs. The first guess is on the side – and why not on both sides while we’re at it? – but this is often a huge mistake. Apart from the fact that it sets the mug apart as a promotional mug, logos printed on mugs tend to fade after a few runs in the dishwasher, and you never want your logo to look tired and worn out. If possible, go for an embossed logo as this gives a far more potent impression of quality.

A good place to put your logo in promotional coffee mugs is on the inside, just below the coffee line on the right side of the handle. Then every time a person takes a sip out of one of your promotional products they will see your logo at the bottom of their vision. This kind of repetitive showing of a logo or company name is known to have significant subliminal effects on people. It is very easy to ignore what is on the outside of the coffee mug when you are drinking from it, but not what is on the inside. Another option is to place your logo on the bottom of the cup, but this is not always the best idea as most people do not finish their coffee and the printing is likely to be scratched by tea spoons.

If you are using coffee mugs as promotional products, go for a set rather than just one individual item. Try to flood people’s cabinets with your coffee mugs, so that every time they drink coffee they are drinking out of your mugs. Constant brand exposure is, after all, the reason you opted to use mugs as promotional products in the first place.