Do promotional products make a lasting impression?

The promotional products industry has seen phenomenal growth in recent years. This is partly attributable to the ever increasing range of innovative products which complement the more traditional items, but also because of the growing recognition of the valuable role that promotional products play in the marketing mix.

Because most promotional products are useful and appreciated by the recipient, they are retained and used. The imprinted message therefore gains repeated exposure without any further cost to the advertiser.

Research* shows that 71%of an audience consisting primarily of business people said that they had received a promotional product in the previous 12 months. Of this group, 33.7% actually had the item with them. Furthermore, 76.1%of respondents could remember the advertiser’s nameon that product, whereas only 53.3%of the same group could recall the name of a single advertiser they had seen in a magazine or newspaper in the previous week.52%of those questioned reported that their impression was more favourable after receiving the promotional product and that they had gone on to do business with the advertiser.

Many people keep their promotional products for more than a year. In the same survey, when asked why they kept promotional products for so long, 75.4%of respondents said it was because they found the item useful, 20.2%thought it was attractive, 1%referred to it for information and 3.3%gave other reasons.