Information about Promotional Item

Promotional items or promotional products refers to articles of merchandise that are used in marketing and communication programs. The items are usually imprinted or decorated with a company's name, logo or message, using techniques such as Embroidery, Silkscreen, or Embossing. Premiums, incentives, advertising specialties, business gifts, awards and commemoratives are also considered promotional products. Often distributed at trade shows, used in direct mail and as part of guerilla marketing campaigns, these items are also referred to by the slang terms "swag" and "tchotchke". (The latter is derived from a Yiddish word meaning "trinket".) These phrases grew from the random use of promotional products as give-aways and not as a part of an integrated marketing effort. Today, many more promotional products are distributed by businesses and organizations, sometimes with the assistance of a Promotional Consultant, to specific target markets to generate specific and measurable results.

Promotional items are also used in politics to promote candidates and causes. Promotional items are also used by schools and other organizations, often as a part of fund raising and awareness-raising campaigns. A prominent example was the livestrong wristband, used to promote cancer awareness and raise funds to support cancer survivorship programs and research.

Examples of promotional items include logo-branded t-shirts, caps, keychains, bumper stickers, pens, badges and many other useful items.

Promotional items are widely appreciated and often requested because they appeal to all ages and effect all five senses. The use of these items is gaining popularity because they are able to be targeted to specific markets.

Collection of certain types of promotional items is a popular hobby.

2006 US sales of promotional products totaled $18.6 billion dollars, up from $17.8 billion in 2005.[1] Much of the continuing growth is attributed to the ability of this promotion technique to involve and engage the recipient through usefulness and relevancy. The industry is growing at a faster rate than newspaper or radio advertising and is larger than internet advertising ($16.8 billion), cable television ($16.9 billion), Yellow Pages advertising ($14.4 billion) and outdoor advertising ($6.8 billion).

The largest product category for promotional items are wearables which include t-shirts, golf shirts, jackets, caps, hats, footwear and the like which make up more than 30% of the total. Other popular categories include writing instruments, calendars, desk and office accessories, bags, drinkware, recognition awards, leisure products, travel accessories, tools, stickers and decals, games and playing cards, automotive accessories, computer products, buttons, magnets, textiles, food gifts and time pieces.

Promotional items are used to activate several types of motivation, recognition and commemorative programs. Business gifts used to foster customer goodwill and retention are the most common program use at 18.5%. Other objectives that marketers use promotional items to facilitate include tradeshow traffic-building, brand awareness, public relations, employee relations and events, dealer and distributor programs, new customer generation, not-for-profit programs, employee service awards, new product introductions, internal incentive programs, safety education, customer referrals and marketing research.

The industry is made up of supplier companies who manufacture or import the products, inventory them and decorate them on demand. There are approximately 2,000 supplier companies and 18,000 distributors in the United States.[2] Distributors buy from the supplier companies and sell them to the marketers who are termed "end buyers." In 2006, online sales for distributors totaled $2.7 billion, a 25% increase over the previous year. The industry is made up of many small and entrepreneurial individuals and companies with 95% of distributor companies selling less than $2.5 million per year.

History: The first known promotional products in the United States are commemorative buttons dating back to the election of George Washington in 1789. During the early 1800s there were some advertising calendars, rulers and wooden specialties, but the industry didn't organize until later that century. A printer in Coshochton, Ohio, Jasper Meeks is considered by many to be the originator of the industry when he convinced a local shoe store to supply book bags imprinted with the store name to local schools. A competitor printer in the same town, Henry Beach, picked up on the idea and soon the two men were selling and printing bags for marbles, buggy whips, card cases, fans, calendars, cloth caps, aprons and even hats for horses.[3]

In 1904, twelve manufacturers of promotional items got together to found the first trade association for the budding industry. Over a century of change later, the Promotional Products Association International traces its roots to that beginning. Today the association supports more than 7,500 global members.

In the UK the industry is very similar. The most popular products are pens and pencils. There are many types of promotional giveaways including personalised water, aqua keyrings, as well as your traditional pads, pens, tax disc holders, car window stickers and so on. In the UK many large companies use promotional goods to advertise and promote their services. Promotional gifts and giveaways offer a unique advertising platform for a company to promote themselves on. Over the years the promotional industry in the UK has changed dramatically, with products now being available to dispatch in as little as 24 hours.

External links

• "Smart Schwag"
• Promotional Products Association International, the industry's non-profit association
• Australasian Promotional Products Association