If you are sitting in your office reading this then probably scattered around you (or neatly arranged for the more organised) are some pens, perhaps a block of notepaper or even a mug with a logo on it.  Probably it is the logo of the company you work for.  Previously I have never given much thought to who put that there.  Sure I knew promotional product branding was an industry, and an important one at that (I have previously worked for O2, where everything was fastidiously 'on brand'), but I was in for a bit of a surprise when I travelled with my boss to the pretty little town of Saarbrücken, capital of the Saarland, to visit the company which produced the Bilfinger Berger branded products.

After being treated to a lunch by the company (I was able to discern that Bilfinger Berger was a valuable customer to them) we were shown into their office.  One would easily be forgiven for mistaking it as a shop.  Shelves lined the walls, rotating glass cabinets offered their wares and spotlights illuminated the 'star products'.  On display was everything the company would brand for you.  Having only really seen pens, stationary and the odd mug before some of the stuff they were offering was nuts.  (Literally - they were able to engrave corporate logos onto hazelnuts to give as Christmas gifts).  From cheap and cheerful Bic pens to expensive ceramic knives imported from Japan and complex Swiss Army keys (!) which seemed to fold out into various unthafhomable dimensions and perform various unfathomable tasks (I can't say  have ever been in an emergency which required a fish descaler and a telescopic pointer at the same time, perhaps an impromptu powerpoint presentation in a Tokyo fishmarket...).

Several hours later and following a personal tour of the 'shop' by the company owner I must say I was enlightened to a side of marketing which I had not previously considered.  The owner assured us that his purchasers attended the foremost promo-items conferences (one wonders what the free-giveaways at THAT conference would be like) in order to ensure that they offered the best, most creative and most ingenious items before they came to market.  Browsing come catalogues from rival companies I discovered promises of Sony Bravia HDTVs emblazoned with IKEA, iPods dripping in Swarovski stones spelling out corporate names and Gingerbread houses shaped like the Frankfurt Commerzbank skyscraper (!).

It seemed they were willing and able to brand anything you could fit under their printers.  Needless to say I have managed to acquire a cheeky item for myself - an umberella which only reveals the company logo when it gets wet.

The point is I have been exposed, as it were, to areas of marketing which I had not considered or learnt much about through the course of my studies and it is only driving my interest in continuing my studies in thie field.  In such respects I would say my internship is going rather well indeed.