The communication means we all have today require not only transparency, but also the transmission of our expertise. News, innovations, trends, here is an example. 

In a world that is increasingly oriented towards the "all-digital" and where hyper advertising is a reality, succeeding in making one's brand stand out from the crowd is more than ever a challenge for companies. 

In addition to the traditional media, which used to be a guarantee of quality, digital advertising is now omnipresent, intrusive and badly perceived by consumers who have become suspicious. Under these conditions, the physical contact between the advertising item and the consumer would make this relationship almost seductive. 

The ASI (Advertising Specialty Institute) conducted a study in 2016 on 100,000 consumers in the United States and several European countries to Analyse the impact of advertising on promotional products/textiles on the consumer. We present you a summary of these results.

The interest of the promotional object

Unlike other media, investing in the promotional product is only worthwhile if you offer the right product to the right target, and that they keep it! The whole challenge is therefore to identify the product that will appeal to your target. 

The ASI Analyses here the level of importance of the arguments that push a consumer to keep a promotional product. With more than 70% in all the geographical areas studied, the usefulness of the product clearly appears as the main argument for satisfaction. Next comes the visual beauty of the object, the pleasure of owning it and, finally, the fact that it is a point of reference.

Further on, let's analyse the products by category in the USA. Usefulness is unquestionably the number one argument for convincing a consumer to keep a product, especially writing tools (93%), USB keys (91%), calendars (88%) and mobile chargers (87%). On the other hand, when analysing the criteria of "beauty" and "pleasure of owning the object", textile product categories come out on top with jackets (54% and 49% respectively for these criteria), hats and caps (42% and 36%) and t-shirts (37% and 33%).

For how long ?

With an average of 8 months of use, the promotional item is the marketing tool with the longest lifespan. The umbrella has the record with 14 months. 

With what visibility?

The most visible promotional media product is the one that is displayed to the greatest number of people. If we compare the results from Paris and London, the sweater gets first place in terms of visibility, closely followed by the bag. It is interesting to note that in these big cities, a single copy of one of these products is usually seen between 1,200 and 5,100 times! 

An effective medium?

We mentioned at the beginning of this article the general lack of consumer interest in advertising in traditional media. As it is only printed (on screen or in a newspaper) in front of a consumer at a "T" moment, it is obvious that it will rarely be "useful" or "beautiful" to him. He will see it and then forget it in the vast majority of cases. It is at this moment that the physical link between the promotional item and the consumer offers him a force of persuasion. Not surprisingly, for people under 55, the promotional product is the preferred advertising medium for all age groups. Similarly, for the same number of impressions, it is also the most popular medium. Finally, it is also one of the cheapest media in terms of cost per print, on a par with digital and radio advertising. 

To conclude

Offering a promotional product creates a real physical link between a brand and the consumer. A social contract that no other media can offer. Whether it is approached economically, strategically or aesthetically, the promotional object is a strong player on the marketing chessboard. And yet, promotional advertising is still one of the least mastered communication tools in marketing and represents only 5% of the communication expenses of French companies (France Pub 2017 survey). It is therefore the duty of professionals in the sector to be more than merchants. Transmitting, advising and supporting companies is now part of the job. Our job.

Source :

https://www.e-marketing.fr/Thematique/etudes-1092/Breves/objet-publicitaire-2020-focus-outil-tres-prise-professionnels-communicati-343340.htm

https://media.asicentral.com/resources/impressions-study-2016.pdf