Bars do it, restaurants do it, and large corporations do it. So what is it they're doing? Well, they're giving out corporate matches to advertise their business. This is one of the oldest ways in which businesses have been marketing themselves. A customer walks in, makes a purchase, and the person processing the sale slips in a box or a book of corporate matches. Maybe a company has a meeting, brings out a book of corporate matches and says, “Here is our information.” Instead of a business card, the businessman slipped in matches instead.



Why matches?

Matches are something that everyone can use and a person doesn't necessarily have to be a smoker. A person just has to be…well…a person. That's because fire plays an important role in our lives. We light candles, we burn trash, we even use it to keep warm. We can't live without it. Can you imagine a time in which man did not use fire? It is true that there was a time, but it is said that man did not exist without fire for very long. It would have been impossible because of some of the coldest climates around the world have been inhabited by people for millions of years. Man had to keep warm with it and had to cook with it. Fortunately, the ability to make fire became easier with the invention of the match.

From there, companies started using corporate matches to market their businesses. Back in the 1900s, corporate matches were huge in marketing because of the fact that a lot of people were smokers. This was before the time when the dangers of smoking were revealed to the public. Just as recent as 40 to 50 years ago, smoking was something that was very cool, so corporate matches very much had their place in the marketing world.

Although smoking is on the decline, the demand for corporate matches as a marketing tool is as strong as ever. This is because of the candle craze of the 1990s. No, this isn't referring to the candles you must light when the power goes out. This is referring to the days in which scented candles became the way to make your home and your office smell wonderful. To light them, you have to have matches. You also have to have matches to light emergency candles, so when you give corporate matches to your customers they're going to be so thankful when they have matches in an emergency situation because of your kindness.

In marketing

So make sure you have your logo and/or business name and contact information on your corporate matches. Every single time they search for and find their beloved matchbook or box of matches, they will be exposed to your logo. With that exposure, you are increasing your changes of acquiring a new client or maintaining an existing one. This makes for a great return on investment because you know that the earnings from one person will more than exceed the cost of the corporate matches.