Promotional Products a better Solution than Most Media



Promotional products hold their own against major advertising media in an across-the-board comparison study



Advertising legend Steuart Henderson Britt once said, “Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing, but nobody else does.” This is business 101. However, the way in which an advertiser chooses to promote his or her message is where strategy, innovation and an in-depth knowledge of the audience comes into play.

promotional products distributors

So, which of the top advertising vehicles-TV, print, online or promotional products-is a front runner when it comes to overall effectiveness according to consumers?



A 2009 two-part study designed by PPAI and fielded through independent research company MarketTools, Inc. evaluated a cross-section of the American consumer population regarding these top advertising mediums. (The first part of the study was reported in the January 2010 issue of PPB.)



Looking to uncover which vehicle ranked highest when it comes to reach, recall and reaction in the consumer’s perspective, promotional products usually received top nods.



The Reach

Reach is really a numbers game. The more times an advertiser exposes a note to the masses, the greater chance consumers might find it, which boosts the propensity for a positive response. Or, so the theory goes.



Nearly half of the panel had received a lot more than three promotional products in the last 12 months, while 56.20 percent reported having seen 11 or even more TV commercials, 50 percent had seen three or even more print ads and 53.05 percent had seen one online ad all within a two-week timeframe.



The Recall

Of greater importance than an advertiser’s reach is the recall. After all, widespread exposure is just effective if the audience connects and remembers the message. As such, participants were inspired to identify the following in relation to the ads they’d seen:



1. Advertised company or brand

2. Advertised product/service/message

3. Kind of promotional product received



Additionally, an evaluation was conducted to determine how many respondents could remember both advertiser/company and the product/service/message advertised and in the case of promotional items, the product received, too.



Television Ads:

• Six from 10 respondents remembered both company/brand and the product/service/message advertised in the first commercial.

• Over fifty percent (56 percent) recalled both company/brand and the product/service/message advertised within the second commercial.



Print Ads:

• Fifty-five percent of respondents remembered both the company/brand and the product/service/message advertised within the first print ad.

• Over fifty percent (51.2 percent) recalled both the company/brand and the product/service/message advertised within the second print ad



Online Ads:

• Nearly 3 out of 10 respondents remembered both the company/brand and the product/service/message advertised in the first online ad.

• Two out of 10 recalled both company/brand and the product/service/message advertised in the second online ad.

 

Promotional items:

• Nearly 70 percent of respondents remembered the brand/company and product/service advertised, as well as the type of promotional product for that first advertising message

• Over fifty percent recalled all three aspects for the second advertising message



Putting It All Together

In terms of maximizing one’s ROI, advertisers are primarily focused on consumers’ ability to recall the advertised company/brand, the advertised product/service/message, or, within an optimal setting, both. Below is a quick, side-by-side comparison of methods the four advertising mediums performed when it comes to recalling key characteristics:



Reaction:

While an advertiser’s reach is essential and the recall even more so, it is the reaction of and action through the consumer after she or he has seen the message that translates straight into ROI. This section asked consumers which particular action she or he took after viewing and/or receiving (when it comes to promotional products) the first and second ads.



A reaction to FIRST AD

• Consumers designed a purchase after getting a promotional product (20.9 percent) more often than after viewing a print ad (13.4 %), TV commercial (7.1 %) or online ad (4.6 percent).

• More than half of promotional products recipients had a favorable impression from the advertiser, as opposed to 33.2 percent who’d seen a print ad, 27.7 percent who’d watched a TV commercial and 11.9 % who’d seen an online ad.

• Nearly 60 percent of consumers reported using the promotional product several times, while 7.6 % let someone else use the item and 4.4 % passed the product onto another person.

• 14.7 percent of participants reported contacting the promotional items advertiser-a reaction rate nearly 3 times greater than other media, which generated a 3-5 percent response.

• When respondents were asked if they’d not taken action after seeing the ad, TV viewers topped their email list with nearly half (46.4%) saying they weren’t gone to live in action, followed closely by 41.1 percent for print media and 33.2 percent to have an online ad. Only 23.1 % of promotional products recipients reported not taking any action.



REACTION TO SECOND AD

• Similar to the reactions for ad one, consumers, once again, made a purchase in greater numbers after receiving a promotional product (18.1 %) versus just 13.9 % who did so having seen a print ad, 10.8 percent who’d watched a TV commercial and 3.5 percent who’d seen an online ad.

• 48.2 percent of promotional items recipients had a favorable impression of the advertiser, as opposed to just 28.6 % of those who’d seen a print ad, 24.5 percent who’d watched a TV commercial and 10 % who’d seen an online ad.

• Over fifty percent (56.4 percent) of shoppers used their promotional product many times, while 8.6 percent also let someone else use the item and 3.5 percent passed the product onto someone else.

• Nearly 20 percent of participants reported contacting the promotional product advertiser-a reaction rate four to 10 times higher than other media, which generated a 2-5 percent response.

• When respondents were asked if they’d not taken action having seen the ad, TV viewers, again, topped the list with 41.8 percent saying they weren’t moved to action, followed closely by 38.4 percent for print media and 30.2 percent to have an online ad. Only 17.9 % of promotional products recipients reported not implementing any action.



The Annoyance Factor: Low For Promotional Products

The mean score represents the annoyance factor for each medium. From an advertiser’s perspective, this information is critical as the key to success is to balance a media buy that will reach the target audience and generates a good reaction. However, if advertisers, regardless of the CPM, invest their dollars inside a medium that actually turns consumers away, they might be doing more harm than good, not only to their bottom line, but to their brand, as well.



This table reveals the mean annoyance scores, as based on 1,005 participants, for all media included in this portion of the study. The higher the mean score, the greater the rating, meaning respondents found the medium to be less of an annoyance.


Promotional Products

Summary

As Steuart Henderson Britt so imaginatively stated, advertising is crucial. However, of equal importance may be the greater understanding of how consumers actually receive and perceive the vehicles which are to carry these advertising messages. Investing dollars without first doing the homework is still very much like winking at the girl-if the message doesn’t reach consumers, if they’re unable to recall it, if they’re not moved to action, if they become annoyed-the end result is still the same: everyone’s left at nighttime.



This in-depth study sheds light on four of the very widely used advertising mediums, providing advertisers with much-needed insight and information when it comes to spending dollars and, more importantly, getting them back.



As always, TV commercials turned out to be one of the top contenders when it comes to successful advertising, as did print media in specific categories. However, it’s the medium with the smallest, yet probably the most profound foothold in the advertising arena which has shown the greatest gains: promotional products. An often overlooked, under-utilized medium, promotional products-according to consumers-prove once again that bigger isn't necessarily best when it comes to leaving a lasting impression.


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