Why Promotional Products? They’re Tangible.

In a previous career I sold radio advertising.  It’s an understatement to say that particular medium has seen its better days, but there was a time that, when used properly, radio was a very effective marketing tool.  Yet, I still recall that the one objection that seemed to surface most often was that radio is abstract.  And it’s true. The spoken word is not tangible.  You say something but there’s nothing to see or touch.

On the other hand, a promotional product with a logo on it is absolutely tangible.  A physical object, carrying an advertising message won’t disappear the moment it's heard or seen.  It stays on a desk or in a car on or a wall.  And if the item is properly matched with its intended audience, there’s a real good chance that it stays with recipient for a good long time, creating continual ad impressions.  Talk about bang for the buck!

It also allows you to make the item the message so to speak - for added impact.  Example: an imprinted flashlight can ‘shine a light’ on your brand.

In fact, when you look at cost per ad impression, promotional products offer you some incredible value.  If you market to baseball fans, think about how often that $.60 magnetic schedule is going to get looked at between April and October.  Put your brand on a mug that people use and it could get viewed daily.  And studies show that upwards of 80% of people can tell you the company name on their favorite promo items.

Your message won’t be ‘once and done’ like with other mediums - not by a long shot.  When you are give a promotional product you’re delivering a tangible and functional item which, if selected properly, will keep your message in front of your intended audience long enough to make a difference!

Targeting with Promo Products

One of the key advantages of promotional products as an advertising medium is their ability to target an intended audience.  Whether that target is media buyers, mothers, engineers, college students, your employees- or whomever you’re trying to reach - there is a promotional product that will appeal to that group of people.  

One of the first questions I will ask clients when discussing a project is ‘who are you trying to reach’ with the item(s) that you’re looking to order?  Once I understand the target, I can then start thinking about which items might be able to gain their attention .

What’s really nice about promotional products is that there are so many different items  available at all kinds of price points.  The real key to making them work is marrying the intended audience with the marketing message and of course, the available budget.

So for example if your intended target is real estate agents, I’ll start to think about which types of products they might find useful at a time when they’ll be receptive to the intended message.  Agents typically spend lots of time in cars - so something that goes in the car when they’re driving to a property might be one way to go.  Or maybe they’ll be more likely to think about your product/service/message while they’re at a desk doing online research or calling on their phone.

The really cool thing about promotional products is there are items for each of these situations!

Then consider that those items will engage their recipients in a manner that’s unlike any other advertising medium.  Nothing targets an audience quite as effectively as promotional products!

Remembering when...with Promo Items

Recently, an industry colleague and Facebook friend of my mine named Mike Schenker put an innocent enough post on Facebook featuring a photo of promotional item from the old Concord Hotel in upstate New York.

The post sparked a flood of responses because of the memories it generated of a time long since past when the northeast’s biggest promotional products trade show took place at that once famous and pretty unique venue in the Catskill Mountains.

Personally it made me remember joining my Geiger colleagues at an event that required about 7 hours of travel by car each way, stops at one of New England’s best out of the way hotdog dives and a show venue that was cramped, had food I didn’t like, but also introduced me to a lot of people who to this day remain friends and really gave me an education as to what makes my industry really tick.

And what really did it was simply the photo that Mike posted of a travel sewing kit imprinted with the Concord's logo and phone number.

This little story illustrates one of the true - and under appreciated - strengths of promotional products as a marketing medium - the ability to create recall.

I hadn’t thought about the Concord or the show there for a long, long time, but that simple promo item brought it all back - for me and lots of others judging by the number of comments that followed Mike’s post.

Do you want an event to be truly memorable?  Give the attendees a promo item with the event’s name, location and even date.  20 years later, that inexpensive sewing kit from the Concord is still doing its job.

What promotional items have you held onto?