Last
updated September 20, 2007
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!
