The Promotional Idea Showcase - Summer 2000 - Updated Quarterly

How Buyers Use Promotional Products And What They Think of Them

By Richard Kern We recently asked 100 corporate users of promotional products who they buy from, what they look for in a counselor, what kinds of programs they use and where ad specialties rank compared to other media. Here’s what they said.

How effective are promotional products? In a perfect world – one where the cost of advertising is based on the number of targeted impressions it generates – logoed merchandise is revered as the most effective medium and everything is priced accordingly: A prime-time TV spot costs 20 bucks and a coffee mug goes for $50,000. But as some of the following survey results point out, the world of advertising is still an imperfect place in some respects. Despite the fact that a TV ad or radio spot may only reach half the audience that’s tuned into a specific program (the rest are channel surfing, changing stations or in the kitchen grabbing a beer), companies continue to pay huge sums to the networks and the agencies that create their commercials. And promotional products? The watch that’s looked at 20 or 30 times a day; the logoed baseball cap that’s worn religiously every weekend for three years; the laser-etched keytag that’s been in your pocket, your car’s ignition and your front door lock every day for a decade – what’s that exposure worth to an advertiser? From our (somewhat biased) perspective, not nearly as much as it should be. You know that. But you’d be surprised how many corporate execs think otherwise. Luckily, that’s where good, solid numbers can make a difference. Data can help educate and inform upper management about the effectiveness of promotional products vs. other ad media. It can also help you benchmark your own use of ad specialties and logoed merchandise. How do you stack up compared to your colleagues? To find out, we surveyed 100 buyers from major U.S. corporations – people just like you – asking about ad budgets, product sourcing, even what they look for in a counselor. And we also asked them about the effectivness of promotional products. Here’s what they said: