Tips on Promotional Item marketing

Some thoughts we have on marketing with custom branded merchandise & promotional giveaways as well as some observations we have noticed that we like to share with everyone.

Corporate gifting and promotional products are effective marketing tools to re-enforce an image or to create a new perception amongst your constituents.

Used effectively promotional merchandise is a cost effective way for companies to achieve their goals, whether it be to boost sales, increase brand awareness or to convey a message. If you are a multi-national company or a small local business the basics to a successful promotion campaign is the same. Here are ideas which we believe will help your marketing dollar go further.

Be Clear in What to Achieve

• Attract more interest into your exhibition?
• Increase client loyalty?
• Re-enforce a brand image?
• Capture brand new customers?

Have a Simple Message

What message do you want the recipient to takeaway? A simple message will be understood and remembered. A mixed message will not. Sounds simple but is the most difficult part to get right.

Develop a Theme!

Stick to it! The selected items must reflect this theme. Otherwise constituents will see a mixed message.

Choose the Right Promotional Item

The item must support the theme. Thought give to aesthetics, metaphors, season and company culture is critical. Why? well it goes back to sending out a clear message. An item which is functional and looks and feel terrific will be valued by a client. The perceived quality is the trick here to drive home your brand and your marketing message.

Planning Your Distribution

Identify your audience. With the promotional objective in mind plan towards how and when to distribute. A qualified promotional marketing distributor would be able to assist.

Other Thoughts On Marketing with Promotional Products

In tougher economic conditions there are both good things and bad things to consider when contemplating using promotional merchandise marketing.

Firstly The Good Things

As budgets for marketing or promotion of products and services get tighter by clients we have found that Aussie businesses are finding more creative ways to make their budget stretch further. Marketing by companies are using customised merchandise as an important part of their promotional strategy because merchandise emblazoned with a logo retains the marketing message much longer than other mediums of advertising. From a cost perspective using customised products is much cheaper and more effective.

Now The Bad Things

If a business in unaware of the effectiveness of having merchandise customised with a logo or message then a lot of the budget may be spent on other mediums which are only short term marketing methods by their nature (eg. radio, TV, print)

There are also a lot more companies which now claim to sell promotional products however many are fly by the night companies so the chances of dealing with an unethical company is high. Pitfalls include:

• Faulty Products. We hear horror stories from chatting with clients every week (especially promotional flashdrives
• Dangerous Products. Confectionary which come from overseas, thermal mugs which use toxic plastics, stress ball colouring which is toxic, promotional USB's which heat up to a dangerous level the list goes on and on
• The supplier which is not contactable once money has been paid. Internet sites which have a mobile number only and / or have no business street addresses are especially ones to stay away from.

Some Trends we have noticed over the Past 6 Months

A huge increase in enquiries for personalized merchandise which are made from recycled or sustainable materials. In fact even merchandise which has an eco environmental educational component to them have also been very popular.;

Another observation we have noticed is that clients tend to know what they are looking for and are very particular with A) the type of product and B) branding of the product. For product choices there is an increased emphasis on high perceived value product.

Who are Promotional Products for?

We have taken quite a bit of time and care to selecting products to stock which are relevant to Australian Industries. We cater to your business needs only. We have taken care to go through the official Australia ANZSIC list where we tailor our product mix for Promotional Products including industries such as:

A: Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing

B: Mining

C: Manufacturing

D: Electricity, Gas and Water Supply

E: Construction

F: Wholesale Trade

G: Retail Trade

H: Accommodation, Cafes and Restaurants

I: Transport and Storage

J: Communication Services

K: Finance and Insurance

L: Property and Business Services

M: Government Administration and Defence

N: Education

O: Health and Community Services

P: Cultural and Recreational Services

Q: Personal and Other Services

951 Personal and Household Goods Hiring
952 Other Personal Services
961 Religious Organisations
962 Interest Groups
963 Public Order and Safety Services
970 Private Households Employing Staff