Most media are wearing out their welcome when it comes to pushing advertising messages to consumers. One market research firm estimated the average American is exposed to up to 5,000 marketing messages per day. Meanwhile, other studies show brand recognition developing as early as two years old.

People are tired of advertising, and now that the tools exist to avoid it, they seem to be doing so in record numbers, whether fast forwarding ads on their DVRs, blocking them on their web browsers, or migrating towards subscription rather than advertising supported media. They're also using the web to pull the information they want to know about a brand, such as user or editorial reviews, rather than simply listening to what the brand has to say about itself.

Still, there is one final area where marketing is welcomed with open arms: promotional products. Whether an inexpensive giveaway, or a brand-name corporate gift, everybody loves free stuff. It's perhaps the last sure-fire way to get a positive reaction from someone when you offer them a piece of advertising. Perhaps it's fitting that as consumers use technology to take more control over the advertising that reaches them, the lowest-tech method of all - stamping your message on a physical product - is actually gaining effectiveness.