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That’s the secret behind a successful promotional product, according to Australian Promotional Product Association chief executive officer William Kestin. Mr Kestin says 71 per cent of business travellers surveyed at an international airport recently reported having received a promotional product in the past 12 months. But the fact that 33 per cent of this group actually had the item on them cements Mr Kestin’s theory.

“The item was promoting the giver’s logo repeatedly to the participant and their associates,” he said.
The survey showed 76 per cent of the respondents could recall the advertiser’s name on this product while in comparison, 80 per cent of participants answered yes to reading a newspaper or magazine that week but only 53.5 per cent of them could recall the name of a single advertiser.

These statistics clearly show promotional products are more than just a standard gift-giving exercise. Not only do they make recipients feel good, but promotional products keep the giver’s brand or company foremost in the receiver’s mind.

The Australasian Promotional Product Association is the only professional trade association specifically for the promotional products and promotional marketing industry in the Australasian region. APPA began in 1986 and includes Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Taiwan. Members now include more than 560 of the top promotional product companies in the region. APPA provides its members with education programs, association discounts, dispute resolution, annual tradeshows showcasing the latest innovations in promotions, industry acknowledgement through its annual Pyramid Awards, ethical and professional standards, and flow of information from international counterparts. APPA’s benefits to corporations and marketing professionals include national events, education programs and industry research. National events are held throughout Australia and New Zealand showcasing successful promotions and new products for corporate clients.

“These events can be specifically targeted for your corporation or be one of our larger events targeted at a cross-section of members from other marketing associations,” Mr Kestin said.

Education programs are organised and co-ordinated by APPA, providing speakers and short classes on the best use of promotional products, navigating the industry successfully, and present successful promotional product case studies. APPA is continuously spend time and money researching the promotional products industry. Some research results are available to non-members upon request.

APPA members get involved with marketing departments early in the process and offer what we call the “Product Perspective” to the marketing mix. If correctly utilised, this perspective can save companies thousands of dollars. The true power of promotional products is not the product. It’s the advertising and response elicited by the delivery of that product in a properly constructed campaign.
APPA members are on the cutting edge of the promotional industry and continuously outshine non-APPA members in the creation of some of the best promotional campaigns and most innovative products supplied in the Australasian region. If you are dealing with an APPA member, they have worked hard to become one and achieved a status within the industry that assures you, the client, of the highest quality of products and the creativity to make all your promotions successful.

Make sure your company has reached the benchmark of excellence in the supply of promotional products and become an APPA member! To verify if your promotional product provider is an APPA member log onto www.appa.com.au (then click on List of Members and search by state or region)

APPA Contact Information: www.appa.com.au PO Box 5161 Alphington VIC 3078 Secretariat Phone: 03-9499-5544 FAX: 03-9499-8851
Email: info@appa.com.au Project Manager Phone: 03-9314-8424
Fax: 03-9314-3042 Email: admin@appa.com.au
NZ Secretariat Phone: 0011-649-578-3094 Email: nzinfo@appa.net.nz
CEO Email: ceo@appa.com.au

Q: What is the size of the promotional product industry?

A: $1.56 billion in Australia (an increase of 35 per cent in the last three years) and $213 million in New Zealand (an increase of 30 per cent in the last three years).

Q: What are the major market segments using promotional products and why, when the marketing mix is represented in the media, many times I don’t see promotional products included as a category?

A: Most large corporations, direct marketing agencies, ad agencies, media and marketing companies all use promotional products. Many times when the marketing mix is being dissected, the category is left out of the statistics because each “established” marketing segment incorporates their use.

Q: What do you see as the reasons that the promotional product industry has experienced steady growth?

A: Many sociological and corporate trends have contributed to growing importance of the promotional product industry in the marketing mix. We have become a society where shopping for new, interesting and amusing products has integrated into our social lives. We like our gadgets and we shop for fun. Corporations, retailers and manufacturers want to add value to that experience. Also building a successful brand in any market is about coverage. Promotional products provide coverage for an extended period of time. Longer than your above-the-line media, for less money. The competition has grown fierce to win corporate loyalty and increase sales. Strategic marketers are finding by adding product-based incentive programs they are winning quicker brand loyalty and increasing sales almost immediately after a campaign’s launch. Corporately, as traditional advertising costs have inflated, marketing budgets have been tightened. It’s prompted many marketers to find creative ways to get the best value out of their marketing dollars. Well-devised promotional product campaigns provide maximum coverage and for a fraction of the cost to mount a standard above-the-line campaign.

Q: Can you give a broad promotional campaign category where this is especially effective for marketers?

A: Many, but for the sake of your question, I would say Gift With Purchase programs have steadily performed in increasing sales for retailers and brand managers. These programs in many cases become “self liquidating” (when increased sales results cover more than the promotional product’s cost and the campaigns implantation). The key is finding the companies who understand the technical side of building a successful promotional campaign and can recommend the right products.

Q: Promotional products for years seemed to be about caps, pens and mugs. So, what has changed? Are promotional products really seen as a part of today’s marketer strategies?

A: We have had to battle against the “hats and pens” mentality mostly because some marketers simply don’t utilise promotional products correctly. If you are simply throwing your money at promotional products without any thought to what response you want to illicit from your target market or how to track the results, you are wasting your money.