We’ve all seen them: trade show hustlers, squirreling up and down aisles, determined to collect every koosie, coaster and whistle-light keychain—most of which end up in the hotel trash bin anyway because (really!) who has enough suitcase space to cart all those stress balls home?
It’s maddening, particularly for vendors, who have paid good money for these products, but who haven’t bothered to figure out what their actual customers might want or—more importantly—keep. Which is precisely why the promotional products industry is asking itself the same question that meeting professionals face: Just what is our strategic value here, anyway?
So, as the promotional products business leverages itself as a strategic business imperative, leaders say you should be taking trade show trinkets just a little more seriously. After all, this isn’t your mother’s tchotchke anymore.
What Strategy?
Promotional products should help companies reach their business objectives, says Steve Slagle, CEO of Promotional Products Association International, who encourages his members to approach clients with a keen knowledge of their marketing needs.
In decades past, product vendors dropped off catalogues and left future clients with the task of struggling through thousands of product lines. Now, sellers have positioned themselves as marketing experts, discussing business goals as a starting point and then conducting research to show clients how one of several products can meet business advertising goals.
Customer Experience
Meanwhile, individual businesses are customizing product and experience like never before, says Kathleen Watts, founder and president of The Brandmarket Inc. She says that promotional product vendors are looking to tailor the customer experience just as they tailor the products they sell.
"In the past, the industry was cookie-cutter," Watts says. "But now, companies are working harder for less profit. We need to understand branding and added value and how we can mold products for each customer—and understand what we do better than the next guy."
With an eye on budget, clients have realized that while candy may be delicious, it won’t last, so it is only promotionally favorable in the moment. Likewise, they understand that the promotional products they give to customers must reflect brand values. Slagle says vendors must understand these paradigm shifts. Business leaders are market-smart and need to be treated as such.
"What we need to recognize is that we’re a full-fledged part of the advertising community," he says. "We’ve changed from a commodity-based industry to a solutions-based industry. The ideal is to touch all five senses as well as the mind and the heart."
Going Green
That goal can often be reached with cause-based promotional products, such as the yellow silicon wristbands that cyclist Lace Armstrong sells as part of his LIVESTRONG campaign against cancer. The industry is focusing on ways it can contribute to sustainable and green business. A green products pavilion at Slagle’s annual trade show has seen unheralded success.
"A growing number of our products proclaim the values of an eco-friendly world, recycled and biodegradable materials, anything that fits the sustainability model," he says. "There’s growing interest by businesses that want to contribute to a better world and make that part of their brands."
However the industry realigns to meet green product standards and sustainable business practices, clients must purchase the items to make eco-ventures profitable. And Watts says her Fortune 500 clients aren’t biting. She says companies are still more interested in increased profits than sustainable practices, and she’s not sure when that trend will change.
Eye On the Times
To keep up with client needs, Watts researches international fashion and retail trends, because the next-best-thing could come from…well…anywhere.
"You have to stay on the forward-thinking track," she says. "Trend spotting in clothing and accessories, looking at what’s happening in Japan, Africa and Europe. Clients appreciate when they see you on top of things. It keeps you fresh and relevant. And we see what we can adapt to fit client needs and what we can brand."
That said, Watts sees a lot of new products that are adaptations of old ones. There are totes that morph into shipping bags and flip-flops that leave trails of company logos in the sand. Food and flower products such as coffee, chocolate and nuts, fruit and even eggs remain popular, but now feature laser-imprints of company logos.
Innovations like these will shape the future of promotional products, an industry ultimately defined by an individual’s two-second decision to trash something or save it.One+
