Almost 80% of people receiving a branded gift feel ‘appreciated’, according to new research published by the promotional product industry’s trade body, the BPMA (British Promotional Merchandise Association) to coincide with this year’s Promotional Products Week (PPW) which runs until October 6th.
This year’s PPW campaign is asking people to reflect their liking of promotional gifts by saying ‘Thank You’ and sharing pictures of their favourite 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 promotional 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 October 4th. 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.
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. For more information, visit www.promotionalproductsweek.co.uk
