Introduction
For many years businesses and event organisers have worked hard to communicate messages about their organisation through the use of many different channels of communication.
The use of promotional items has been just one of the marketing elements utilised by businesses and event organisers. Branding of the promotional items with a printed message targeted to their visitors is recognised as a simple and easy method of ensuring that a message remains in front of their target audience for an appropriate length of time. Messages can be timely to a particular sales campaign to ensure that whatever the occasion, the target audience are left with a reminder of the message and will be able to recall the occasion at a future time. Businesses in particular have always felt that a reminder of their company name on a promotional item left in front of a potential customer will be of benefit in the end. Promotional items are a great accessory to support any sales campaign.
In recent years the number of businesses offering promotional items and printed promotional goods has grown dramatically. Today, there is a vast range of promotional items and printed promotional goods now available. Promotional items used to consist of simple products such as pens, badges and balloons, but in more recent times the range has evolved enormously. Specialist promotional marketing companies now offer marketing products ranging from the traditional pens and pencils, to eco friendly promotional items made from recycled or biodegradable materials, to a range of organic clothing and accessories.
History of Promotional Marketing Products
Promotional items used to be associated with commemorative occasions such as Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation in 1953. I recall that my mother had collected commemorative items such as cups, saucers, spoons and plates to commemorate the occasion.
The earliest use of promotional items as commemorative products is thought to be the 1789 US election of George Washington. The occasion was recognised with the production and issue of commemorative buttons. In the early 1800s an American printer took an idea to a local shoe retailer suggesting that the store should print its name on book bags and supply them to local school children. The idea was a great success and soon bags were being printed and sold for all sorts of products. The use of printed promotional bags is a great way to advertise your company’s name.
In the UK two trade associations represent the manufacture and distribution of marketing and promotional products industry. In 1958, the Promotional Merchandise Trade Association (Promota) was formed and in 1965 the British Promotional Merchandise Association (BPMA) was founded. The manufacture and distribution of marketing and promotional products is a growing business sector.
Marketing companies will provide printed promotional products for point of sale advertising.
The Growth of the Promotional Products Industry
In the 1970s and 80s, the main season to distribute promotional products was at Christmas. The promotional items usually consisted of calendars, often printed with the company name on, or bottles of drink. The items were often given as a gesture of thanks for a customers business throughout the year. I remember my father coming home from work just before Christmas in the 70s with bottles of drink which customers had given him. In recent times, the range of promotional goods has grown, with the idea of offering different marketing products throughout the year. Companies could see an opportunity to use promotional marketing goods more widely throughout the year. With the increasing number of different cultures in the UK the seasonality effect also began to lessen in importance. Some companies now hand out branded advent calendars at Christmas.
My first recollection of promotional marketing items was a collection of musicians and then football players. The well known UK jam manufacturer James Robertson used a golliwog named Golly on its labeling and by collecting tokens, you could then send off to collect the promotional item on offer at that time. Robertson’s had used the golly as a mascot since 1910 and in the 1920s produced promotional pin badges using the Golliwog doll. The Golly promotional items existed until the 1980s when a political debate ensued and claimed that the company’s’ products were seen as offensive in a multi cultural environment. The promotional idea was scrapped in 2001.
Companies realised that promotional products could play an important part in raising awareness of their event which led to many companies becoming more creative with the use of promotional items. Depending upon the business sector marketing campaigns are now developed throughout the year and the choice of promotional merchandise now available means that promotional products can be customised to support any event at any time of the year.
As a marketing manager of a leading business in the UK, I used to receive promotional merchandise catalogues, which contained more pages than a telephone directory. It would be crammed full of an extensive range of promotional products available in the market. As recently as 2007, suppliers of promotional merchandise were themselves becoming more creative in their own marketing techniques, by targeting specific companies with tailored promotional merchandise offerings rather than a full range catalogue. With many companies wishing to be seen as ‘doing its bit’ for the environment, manufacturers of promotional marketing items need to remain creative in sourcing new ideas for promotional products.
Many businesses prefer to offer promotional items which will not be damaging to the environment when discarded and have been manufactured from recycled, reused or biodegradable materials. Almost every distributor now has a website showcasing its range of promotional items. It is however, very difficult to showcase every item as the ranges are now so vast. A businesses or organisations printed promotional requirement can be very complex, so it is difficult to order on line. The most effective marketing products are those that people will use time and time again.
The Growing Uses of Marketing Promotional Products
The promotional merchandise industry in the UK and Ireland is big business with a market size in excess £900bn. Businesses and organisations recognise that the benefits of providing marketing promotional products all year round, can add value to any event by utilising the vast range of promotional marketing products to communicate a message.
The market has grown considerably since the days of a business showing its appreciation to its clients at Christmas, for business placed throughout the year. Many large organisations now hold stocks of promotional items themselves as an instant giveaway item. As a Marketing Manager employed by a large UK business, we held stocks of several carefully selected promotional giveaway items. The items would be made available for the sales teams to give to customers, to hand out to school children on educational visits and as a giveaway at exhibitions and conferences. Each of the promotional items reflected the values of our business and being a waste management company, the selection of promotional products chosen were of an environmental nature. The range included pens, pencils and rulers made from recycled plastic drinking cups, branded notepads made from recycled paper and biodegradable carrier bags. In our business we chose to use recycled promotional items as the environmental message is very important to us. They are not as expensive as you might think.
In any industry, companies who participate in industry events will always handout a selection of branded promotional items. The intention is to make their business brand stand out from its competitors. The type of promotional product selected will largely depend on your particular industry sector. For example, IT companies are likely to choose mouse mats, memory sticks and other IT related promotional products to hand out to customers and potential customers. I attended an exhibition last week and noticed that fewer companies were actually handing out giveaways. I spoke with a few companies, who told me that they had decided against freely handing out promotional items, due to the current economic climate. There is a great selection of low cost cheap promotional items to choose from.
The increase in the use of marketing promotional products can be seen at sporting events and concerts. Many of these events are sponsored by large organisations who support their sponsorship initiative through the supply of promotional merchandise. Sponsors will hand out items such as cheap promotional pens, branded with their company logo to visitors. Guests who have been fortunate enough to be invited in to the sponsors area may receive high quality promotional products such as caps or t-shirts. In sponsoring these types of events where there is guaranteed to be a large footfall of visitors, it offers the sponsor an opportunity to use marketing promotional products to try and increase the reach of its services to new potential customers.
As a sales incentive, why not award high quality printed pens to reward the top performers.
In recent years there has been an increase in the selection of environmentally friendly promotional products. This has evolved from the increase in the volume of materials now being recycled. Manufacturers of promotional merchandise have recognised the importance of businesses being seen as taking the environmental message seriously. For example, it’s no good the major retail supermarkets saying that they are cutting down on the use of packaging on their products, if they continue to issue customers with the old fashioned non-degradable plastic carrier bags. You will have seen that the big supermarkets now provide customers with branded biodegradable carrier bags and encourage customers to reuse bags from previous visits by offering discounts for doing so.
The range of materials now used to manufacture eco-friendly promotional products has increased considerably. The key recycled materials used in the manufacture of promotional goods include, plastics and plastic cups, tyres, leather, textiles, metal, wood and car parts. There is now a huge selection of promotional goods to choose from which have been made from recycled materials. The larger suppliers of promotional products have also perfected techniques to provide good quality printing onto these products, so organisations need not worry about the reproduction of their logo. High quality branded promotional items will leave a good impression about your business.
Conclusion
The industry for marketing promotional products has changed dramatically over the last 30 – 40 years. There are a number of key reasons for its growth.
We live in a world where, there is fierce competition amongst organisationsto be noticed above your competitors. The clamour amongst mobile telephone companies to offer the best tariff is a prime example of a really competitive market place. We are also in a world where the environment is high on many people’s agenda. There is a real desire to safeguard our environment for the future, by doing all we can to reduce packaging, divert waste from landfill to recycling and reuse more of what we would normally throw away. This focus has benefited the promotional merchandise market. The industry has had to become more innovative in the range of goods it can now offer. The creation of a new range of environmentally friendly promotional goods | items | products }made from recycled material has had a significant impact upon the growth of the industry.
Businesses will continue to use promotional goods as a marketing tool to reach their desired target audience. Branding of companies promotional items with a printed message targeted to their employees is recognised as a simple and easy method of ensuring that a message remains in front of their target audience for an appropriate length of time. Businesses will always feel that a little reminder of their company name on a promotional item left in front of a customer will be of benefit in the end. Great promotional products will leave a lasting impression.
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