Business-savvy data, historic information and more about promo item marketing
Promotional products can be linked back to the start of our nation, and as an industry over the decades it developed into a marketing tour de force. Today, it is a $24 billion-plus industry. Here’s a primer on what you probably did not know about promo items.
What you now see given away at ballgames, or the stress balls handed over at conferences, or perhaps a prize offered in a contest, had its beginnings with simple buttons and printed burlap bags. Amazing is too simple a word to describe the industry’s progression over the years.
Promotional Products through History
George Washington by Tim Madle from the Noun Project
Promoting the Father of Our Nation
In America, none other than George Washington is believed to be among the very first to use imprinted promotional products, in 1789 for his campaign for the presidency. The item was a commemorative button.
It was a savvy move, though probably unnecessary -- Washington was elected our first President by claiming 85.2% of the popular vote, and 100% of electoral votes. (Imagine that today!).
Still, the presidential buttons were quite popular, and piqued the creativity of marketers who started producing other promotional products including almanacs, calendars, and rulers.
Father of Promotional Products
That slow development of promotional products continued for about a century after Washington’s first term, until the late 19th century. Around then, a newspaper owner named Jasper Meek started a practice that ultimately got him named as the “father of promotional products.”
Back then, newspapers made money mainly based on selling copies of editions. (Think the old days of kids yelling “Get your news!” on city street corners to sell papers). Because competition was fierce, if there was hardly any news to report, fewer people would care to pay for a newspaper, so lesser amounts of editions were printed. This meant lulls in action for printing presses, which were not cheap to purchase.
Photo by Trần Long from Pexels
Meek came up with the concept of using his press to print advertising messages on burlap bags. The first batch featured a local shoe store, which distributed them to schoolchildren to carry books and other items, in the process having his store (and brand) hand-delivered to buying parents at home.
The students also carried the bags all over their hometown while walking to and from school, further advertising the shoe sales in sort-of mini-billboards.
Meek furthered the concept by then printing promotional horse covers, which would be like those huge ads on public buses today. Imagine horses all over a city covered with logos and messages!
It, too, was hugely successful, and soon thereafter Meek started Tuscarora Advertising Company, his own promotional products operation that proved very successful. Other newspapers followed suit and also expanded use of their printing presses.
And the race was on, as they say.
Promotional Products as an Organized Industry
By the early 20th century, a group of promotional products manufacturing representatives created an industry trade association to provide guidance on matters like pricing and business strategies, and offer assistance with new ideas and communications about needs for promotional products marketers.
Eventually they adopted bylaws as a formal trade organization, and produced standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the industry. The organization began as the Advertising Manufacturer's Association, but later became today’s Promotional Products Association International (PPAI), which remains the leading professional association for the industry.
From the PPAI’s inception to today, the promotional products industry blossomed into the multi- billion-dollars-plus industry it is now. All kinds of new promotional items surfaced over the years, from imprinted bottle openers to stress balls (once polyurethane was introduced, in the 1930s), sporting event giveaways, and much more.
In 1914, there was the first promotional products-focused trade show, with 32 exhibitors. Fast-food restaurants blossomed after the 1950s, and eventually they started giving away branded toys with kids’ meals.
Sports teams constantly give away team logo-branded items like towels or even “rally monkeys” (made famous by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in 2002). Logo’d tee shirts, rubber bracelets, you name it. The sky was the limit in terms of creatively conveying business messages to the public.
Promo Products Data for Business
Those involved with the promo items business are keenly aware of studies, statistics and data backing up their strong belief in the power of what they make available to businesses. The numbers can be eye-opening for the uninitiated … even fascinating for everyone who has been given a free promotional product.
And who hasn't. Consider the following, culled from studies, report or compilations within the promotional products industry in recent years:
- Among 10 people, 8 will say they like getting promotional products. (As well, 7 in 10 persons wish they got promo items more often!).
- Nearly 9 out of 10 people can remember companies that provided branded promo products.
- About 85% of people who receive promotional items end up doing business with the advertiser that provided the promo item.
- Promo items are passed along by about 79% of people when they no longer feel a need for them or desire to keep them. This means the items get recycled -- in the form of being re-gifted, sold, or donated -- which Earth Day enthusiasts can appreciate!
Promo Items at Home
- An estimated 31% of consumers own a bag made into a promotional item. (For Baby Boomers, it’s 84% who own a promotional bag).
- In our kitchens, about 91% of adults have a promotional product there. Got logo’d coffee mug?
- More than 20% of consumers own over 10 promo writing instruments. That’s a lot of pens and pencils!
Promotional Products to Support Online Ad Campaigns
- Over 60% of people who get promo products will turn to the internet to research the brands later. Search engines and social media platforms are wonderful marketing platforms, where anyone can find your business with a few keyboard strokes.
- That said, social media ad effectiveness can be boosted up to 44% if a promotional product is added to the campaign.
- About 80% of people react positively when they get promotional items from companies they were unaware of. (Think eye-catching logos, and the “gee-whiz” curiosity factor, which also can drive product recipients to search boxes).
Reputation Management
- Nowadays, about 72% of consumers link the quality of a promotional product to the reputation of the company branded onto the items.
- Finally, and perhaps this is the most important data point, an estimated 80% of people remember the messaging of a brand upon receiving a promotional product from that company.
Business people love data, and the numbers above don’t lie: promotional products are effective, in a number of business marketing ways. Not only for business, but promo items can also help with employee morale, to convey key messages for public information campaigns by government and nonprofit agencies, and much more.
The sky’s the limit, indeed.
Final Thoughts about the History and Benefits of Promotional Products
Images or messages repeated consistently over time is especially important now more than ever. Let’s explain with this brief history lesson on the attention spans of Americans:
- Each contest of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, for the 1860 presidential election, lasted about 3 hours a pop, and the series lasted several days. Thousands of people were willing to stand in place just to listen. Therefore, one could guess that Americans’ attention span then could be measured in hours.
- Radio, and later television reduced our attention span to about 22 minutes -- or the length of typical 30-minute television shows (minus the commercials).
- The internet boom of the 1990s cut that to about 1 minute.
- Search engines, dawning of the Information Age, and social media reduced our average attention span to about 7 seconds.
The above information is not scientific, just culled from what we can glean about the impacts of electronic media in our society. Americans are just bombarded now with images and messages, and it’s amazing that the human brain can digest and process it all.
Promotional products simply provide an easy and fast way to nudge people where to where they might want to go. They just need a little guidance, is all, and branding plays a big role in business marketing today. Today, that first impression is more valuable than it’s ever been in the marketplace.
You literally have seconds to capture consumers’ attention; you better spend that time very wisely!
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If you’ve reached this far, friends, you now possess more knowledge about promotional products than a great majority of folks out there. Help us spread the word, and share this article with colleagues, associates, potential clients or customers, prospects, or just plain friends!
As the old television catch phrase goes, “the more you know …” In this case meaning, the more you know about promo products and benefits, the better you’ll be prepared to use that information to your advantage in promoting a business. Whether that business is yours, or someone else’s.
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