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JUNE 2016 •
PPB
• 59
PPAI 2016 BUYERS STUDY
T
HROUGH THE DECADES, PROMOTIONAL products
have been proven again and again as one of the most highly
effective advertising media for promoting a brand and influencing
behavior. Some of the most interesting data to support the claim
dates back to 1992—the result of an intercept study of air travel-
ers at New York’s LaGuardia airport, where travelers pulled out
logoed pens and key rings from their pockets and purses, and recalled stories
about how they obtained them. These were extraordinary findings that since
have been reconfirmed a number of times in similar studies—most recently with
a follow-up intercept airport study in 2012.
This year, PPAI set out to
study the market from a different
perspective: to measure the
medium’s effectiveness from the
point of view of decision makers
and influencers at ad agencies
and advertising companies them-
selves. A total of 400 individu-
als—from 154 agencies and 246
advertisers—participated in a 15-
minute online panel conducted
in early April by Relevant
Insights exclusively for PPAI.
While the findings spotlight
some good news in terms of
awareness, use and future expen-
ditures, these results also point
out a number of untapped
opportunities for distributors to
target, reach and educate their
prospects to increase sales and
reinforce the effectiveness of pro-
motional products.
Key Findings:
Awareness
And Budget
• Nearly nine in 10 buyers of
promotional products are
aware of the term
“Promotional Products.”
• At least four in 10 companies
have a promotional products
budget of $50,000 or more.
• For 72 percent of these compa-
nies, the promotional products
budget is less than 20 percent
of their total budget.
• Nearly half (46 percent) don’t
have a formal budget for pro-
motional products; they buy as
needed.
• Agencies are more likely to have
a promotional products budget
(44 percent) than advertisers
(31 percent). Still, the majority
of agencies (76 percent) devote
20 percent or less of their media
buy for clients to promotional
products.
Key Findings:
Promotional
Products Effectiveness
• About half of advertisers and
agencies measure the effective-
ness of their marketing cam-
paigns mainly through com-
parison of the number of
inquiries and leads before and
after a promotion, and by com-
paring year-over-year same-
store, same-market sales.
• Sixty-five percent of promo-
tional products buyers consider
this medium always or mostly
effective.
• Usefulness, ability to relate to
industry-specific themes and
uniqueness was most often
cited as the most suitable fea-
tures of promotional products.
• The ability to promote loyalty
(83 percent), to reach targets
efficiently (80 percent), and to
be audience friendly (78 per-
cent) was cited as the most
important features of promo-
tional products for buyers.
• Promotional products are also
considered to be the most effec-
tive medium in terms of being
audience friendly (74 percent),
promoting loyalty (64 percent)
and reaching target audiences
effectively (63 percent), but are
least effective at achieving the
best CPM (cost per thousand)
value (49 percent).
• Buyers cite promotional prod-
ucts as most often used in con-
junction with social media (72
percent), email marketing (60
percent), internet advertising
(58 percent) and in sales pro-
motions (54 percent).
• More than a third of buyers
consider promotional products
more effective than product
samples, social media and sales
promotions.
Key Findings:
Buying Behavior
• More buyers buy from distribu-
tors online (35 percent) than
offline (24 percent), but many
buy from both channels (41
percent).
• Sixty-five percent of those who
buy from distributors use two
to five distributors; only 14
percent give their business to a
single distributor.
• Fifty-one percent of buyers buy
only from domestic sources,
while three percent buy exclu-
sively from overseas.
• Sixty percent of buyers say dis-
tributors are more likely to add
value if they offer creative serv-
ices, and 56 percent indicate an
interest in direct mail services.
The interest in creative services
was higher among advertisers
(64 percent) vs. agencies (53
percent).
• Fifty-nine percent of buyers say
providing evidence of effective-
ness of the products or ideas
offered is very to extremely
important.
• Half of the buyers predict
their purchase of promotional
products will increase sub-
stantially in the next 12
months. Only three percent
are expecting to decrease their
buys.