Product category:
Premiums and incentives, merchandise
News Release from: Source-e
Edited by the Marketingservicestalk Editorial
Team on 22 May 2007
Promotional gifts boost brands and
profits
A national survey carried out by Source-e shows that promotional merchandise really works and provides an insight into the link between branding on promotional products and sales.
Source-e's national survey into promotional merchandise reveals what business people keep on their desk and why Nine out 10 respondents (92 per cent) believe that branded promotional merchandise increases a company's brand awareness
Over three-quarters (76 per cent) said that they could name a brand or company/organisation featured on promotional merchandise on their desk without looking.
Over half (52 per cent) purchased from the companies that were branded on a piece of promotional merchandise on their desk.
Some 82 per cent said they would keep an item they were given rather than give it away.
The survey provides an insight into the link between branding on promotional merchandise and sales.
It also identifies the best and the strangest pieces of promotional merchandise that people keep on their desk.
These are among the findings identified in a national survey carried out by Source-e in April 2007.
David Lebond, executive director for Source-e and Chairman of the British Promotional Merchandise Association (BPMA), commented: "The industry has always believed that there was a positive link between promotional merchandise, branding and sales - these results offer a very strong indication that the industry was right.
"The repeat exposure to a brand everyday of the week has a positive effect on how business people react to that brand.
"Advertising, direct marketing - any marketing medium - would be delighted to achieve such an impressive conversion rate from retained message to sales.
"It demonstrates why promotional merchandise should be an intrinsic element of marketing campaigns".
The key findings were broken down even further to provide a clear insight into the power and value of promotional merchandise and whether they generated sales for those companies/organisations giving away the items.
Over three-quarters (76 per cent) of respondents said they could name a brand or company/organisation featured on their desk without having to look for confirmation.
These results were broken down even further: more women (42 per cent) than men (30 per cent) are able to recall company names of promotional merchandise on their desks.
Nine out of 10 (92 per cent) respondents said that branded promotional merchandise increased a company's brand awareness: this result was coupled with over 80 per cent of those surveyed saying that they would keep the item; 14 per cent said they would pass it on to a colleague while 3 per cent said they would give to a family member.
Some 53 per cent of respondents said they had purchased something from the companies that had supplied them with a piece of promotional merchandise: when the results were split between men and women they came out quite evenly with 23 per cent of men and 27 per cent of women saying they had purchased something from the company that had supplied them initially with the promotional item.
The type of branded promotional merchandise respondents had on their desk varied widely and included pens (13 per cent), calendars (10 per cent), Post It notes (8 per cent), calculators (6 per cent) and diaries (6 per cent).
When asked why they would keep the item, over 89 per cent cited usefulness as the core reason for retaining promotional merchandise.
Memories came in second place and the value of the item was ranked third.
Some of the more bizarre and unusual promotional merchandise that people have on their desk included animals such as furry sheep, whales and plastic ducks, the Connect 4 game, as well as sweets and mints.
Beautifying products including lip balm and nail files have also been given away as promotional items and kept on people's desks.
It isn't just traditional items that grab attention and are kept but fun and unusual items are also just as appealing to business people.
Over 22 per cent said that if they could only keep one item that they had received then it would have to be a calendar, while 13 per cent of the vote went to pens and 10 per cent to calculators.
Branded desk diaries also ranked highly with 7 per cent of the total vote suggesting that, in the electronic age, people are still keeping traditional diaries to document their activities and movements.
The British Promotional Merchandise Association, the trade body of which Source-e is a member, will be using the What's On Your Desk survey as a key marketing resource to reinforce the power of promotional merchandise and the industry for all member companies.
The survey was carried out in April 2007.
The results are based on a 429 respondents, of which nearly two-thirds (62 per cent) would describe their job title as CEO/Chairman/MD/Manager.
Source-e is an online and printed catalogue sourcing company that will design, create and deliver promotional items to fit any brief or budget.
It is a member of the UK's leading buying group and fully supports ethical trading (including ETI and SA8000), and operates under a strict ethical policy and will only use factories and suppliers that respect social accountability.
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