Anyone engaged in promotional products, either a user or producer, will depend massively on statistics. You need to know whether your promotional umbrella gives more views per pound than a ring binder. Statistics are also invaluable in your everyday life.

Anyone trying to sell promotional umbrellas must have a certain bitterness that they were not around in the days of Henry VIII. The opportunities were tremendous. It was unfortunate that there were three Catherines and two Annes, giving the peasants the opportunity to recycle, but there were two marriages in one year and five in a decade. It was an entrepreneur’s dream.

There is a lot one can learn from one’s own mistakes. It is an eternal truth that it is a lot less painful if one learns from the mistakes of others. A simple slip of the tongue can prove very embarrassing as well as start an international movement and provide opportunities for promotional products.

The unluckiest play in the West End could be Umbrellas of Cherbourg which is now playing at the Gielgud. It is based on the identically named, and critically acclaimed, 1964 film which gave Catherine Deneuve an early outing.

Ask any group the purpose of advertising and it is probable that the phrase ‘to sell more’ will be used frequently. Some would disagree, pointing out that, for instance, a promotional umbrella merely displays a corporate logo and perhaps a bit of colour. There is normally no mention of a product yet it is advertising.

It is all too easy to look at promotional pens as the bottom of the pile, the promotional product to opt for when the budget is all but exhausted. And to an extent this is perfectly understandable. Printed pens are the class leader when it comes to views per pound. But this undersells this most flexible of items.

Effective use of a promotional umbrella is all about getting it noticed by the right people when they are at their most receptive. Those attending trade or retail fairs are out to buy and are an obvious target. Such places are custom made for corporate umbrellas. But that should not blind you to the other places where there are those just wanting to buy.