Last updated September 20, 2007

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Promotional Products
A Marketing Strategy That Produces

Most everyone is familiar with promotional product advertising; it is probable that most people own a pen with a company logo on it or a T-shirt from a special event sporting the event logo and/or at least one business logo. Perhaps right now you are sipping your coffee from a cup with a logo! Did you look?

According to the Promotional Products Association International (PPAI), promotional products include “useful or decorative articles of merchandise that are used in marketing and communication programs.” The items are usually imprinted with a company’s logo or message. Premiums, incentives, advertising, specialties, business gifts, awards and commemoratives are also considered promotional products.

Put quite simply, promotional product advertising allows companies to promote their business, services, products and/or brand to their target market. Promotional products have become an integral tactic of many successful marketing programs. In fact, promotional product sales have grown to nearly $18.8 billion in 2006. Steve Slagle, CAE, PPAI president and CEO states, “When used as a key element in the marketing mix, promotional products effectively cut through advertising clutter to create a more positive outlook toward the ad and the brand.”

Promotional products can make such positive impact on a marketing mix because they can engage the senses—the sight of a logo on a coffee cup as well as the feel of the coffee cup. They can also offer solutions to everyday needs, like a promotional pen used to write. And they can provide extended exposure for a brand, such as a hat worn by a customer while jogging, perhaps worn and therefore seen daily. All of these are worthwhile benefits, and all help to create an effective strategy to increase brand exposure.

A study conducted by LJ Market Research for PPAI revealed that respondents’ ability to recall a company’s name on promotional product they had received in the past 12 months was higher (76%) compared to the name of a company from an advertisement they had read in a print publication that week (53.5%). Yes, promotional products can pack a great marketing punch, but it is important that every promotional product is properly researched, planned and produced. Promotional advertising must be incorporated with the company’s target market as well as ultimate goals in mind; they need to be aligned within the organization’s marketing mix in order to reap the greatest return on investment.

Interested in learning more about creating an effective promotional product program for your business? Contact MCS!