The promotional products sector is shining the spotlight on promotional merchandise’s ability to make people feel valued, with the theme of ‘Thank You!’ for this year’s Promotional Products Week (PPW) which runs from 2-6 October.
A recent survey conducted by the industry’s governing body, the BPMA (British Promotional Merchandise Association), highlighted the fact that almost 80% of people receiving a branded gift feel ‘appreciated’, making merchandise the most powerful advertising medium for saying thank you.
In a crowded communication marketplace, marketers, event organisers, PAs, HR managers and others are increasingly using promotional products to not only raise awareness of their brands but to thank their customers, staff and clients. This year’s PPW campaign is asking people to reflect this trend by saying ‘Thank You’ and sharing pictures of their cool promotional products on social media with the handle #ThankYouPPW.
The PPW campaign, now in its fourth year, is designed to raise the profile and use of branded promotion
al products. This year’s PPW is also raising funds for the Alzheimer’s Society through a range of activities by BPMA members.
Gordon Glenister, director general of the BPMA, said: “I am delighted to be launching our campaign again, to remind buyers of how important promotional products are in the marketing mix. I am also very pleased to be supporting the fight against Alzheimer’s, a dreadful condition for millions of people.”
The BPMA is asking its members, promotional buyers, and anybody who wants to support PPW to upload their videos or photos showing a branded product, tagged with #ThankYouPPW, and to donate to the Alzheimer’s Society.
BPMA members will be arranging and running their own campaigns and events on the back of the Thank You campaign. In addition, the BPMA is running a unique event at the Conrad Hotel in London on 4 October. The Night of Luxury Brands aims to inspire buyers with a range of high-end merchandise options to incentivise and reward in style.
The UK promotional products market is worth close to £1bn. BPMA research, conducted this year, found that 92% of those polled have at least one branded product on their desk right now, and nearly half of those asked have more than four promotional products. The research quizzed more than 200 buyers of promotional products attending Marketing Week Live and B2B Marketing Expo events.
When it comes to the most popular desktop items, reliable favourites dominate the top five, which are pens, notebooks, mugs, mousemats and coasters. Asked about the most effective promotional product, respondents named pens and USB sticks as the top two.
Buyers see usefulness as the number one reason for a successful promotional product. The number one use is for trade show giveaways, accounting for 67% of the total polled. A further 52% name customer recognition as the key use for products, and 37% use them for sales incentives.
When recipients were asked for their priorities when buying promotional products, product usefulness led the way followed by price and relevance to a campaign.
Promotional Products Week is organised by the BPMA (The British Promotional Merchandise Association), the governing body for the industry. It runs between 2-6 October, 2017. For more information on how to get involved, visit their website.
