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1 ationalpremium.com

2 Want Better Branding? Customers Reveal Top 10 Promotional Products They Want and Use Most By: Kimberly Busboom and Morgan Wiseman, National Premium The number of marketing messages competing for your ideal customers eyes grows by the day. Businesses like yours want customers to remember their brand when it s time to make that next purchase. Promotional products can be a powerful tool to keep your brand in the forefront of your customers minds, if those products are chosen correctly. This paper provides valuable research showing which products customers favor so you can save time and money when choosing the right product for your customer.

3 Introduction Picking the perfect promotional item for your event can be a breeze, if you have the time to go through pages of catalogs or multiple searches online. You have an event coming up perhaps it s a tradeshow, golf outing, employee recognition, or sales achievement trip. You ve planned the event for weeks; maybe months. The date is fast approaching and you think to yourself, Oh no, I still need things to hand out at our event! Panic strikes. What should I order? What will work best? What will people like? Have no fear, we re here to help. In this whitepaper, you ll discover the top 10 promotional items as voted upon by recipients (you know, the people that will keep the item you are giving them). If you have time to invest into selecting just the right thing to drive traffic to your booth, generate buzz at your golf outing, or have employees truly feel appreciated or sales feel recognized and rewarded for their accomplishments, here is what you need to keep in mind: What are the demographics of your audience? (gender, age, etc) What is your intended outcome? (generate traffic, increase sales, etc) What worked or did not work in the past? What is your budget including shipping costs? Do certain regulations apply for product safety concerns? (ie Prop 65 in California 1 ) Once you establish answers to these questions, it s time to begin your search. Next, you ll want to consider the following: Is color selection important to match a theme or brand? Is the manufacturer a quality and safety certified source? What is my lead time to guarantee the items arrive on time? Do I have artwork I can use? What is the smallest imprint area I can use? 1 Proposition 65 requires businesses to notify Californians about significant amounts of chemicals in the products they purchase, in their homes or workplaces, or that are released into the environment.

4 National Premium can help you identify just the right item, within your budget, and we know and partner with certified suppliers to get your products delivered on time. What s even better is we ll make you look good by executing a successful promotion for your event so you ll be the talk of the town. Promotional products are the most cost effective way to promote your brand, generate awareness, and initiate recall. The challenge is there are hundreds of thousands of products to choose from. Using the right promotional product is critical to achieving success with its use in your promotion, event, or program. When used correctly, you will experience a return on investment that surpasses your wildest expectations. So, how do you know which one is best? We can tell you! Which promotional products do customers prefer? Here is the list of most-preferred promotional items as revealed by consumers (what consumers want often differs from what distributors sell).

5 1. Items they can consume (e.g., food gifts) It s not hard to believe food comes in as the top item that customers enjoy receiving. While this isn t necessarily an item they keep for a long time, people value it highly. Distribute a nice food basket to top customers during the holidays or to employees for outstanding performance. Send a gift basket to an entire department to recognize and thank all individuals as a whole. These baskets are also perfect promotional items to use for food or beverage distributors an easy way to give people a sample of what you offer!. 2. Items they can wear (e.g., T-shirts, caps, jackets) These items are useful and are perceived as a more expensive promotional product, so customers value it and hang on to it for a longer time. They show their appreciation of the gift by wearing it this also serves as a walking advertisement for the company who distributed it.

6 3. Items which help them communicate digitally (e.g., computer mouse pads, flash drives) People today cannot get the newest form of technology fast enough. Help them accessorize their new products through promotional items. There are so many creative ways to package a flash drive, whether it s disguised as a cork, a football, a Rubik s cube you name it, you can make it unique to any company you re handing them out to. 4. Items that can help collect or convey information (e.g., bags, notebooks, briefcases) Higher priced items, like bags and briefcases can be used repetitively. They are also big enough so your company logo can be seen easily by others. Be sure to select a quality bag, because it will impress the customer, make them proud to use it in public, and may also get the attention of bystanders. These types of items are also great for company sponsored health and wellness initiatives.

7 5. Items which facilitate written communication (e.g., pens, pencils, markers) Writing utensils are used on a daily basis, so receiving them as promotional items saves customers the trouble of buying their own, and they will constantly see your name! As you can see in the word cloud on the following page, respondents mentioned pens significantly more than any other low-value item as their favorite. Writing instruments are also one of the original forms of viral marketing. Where did the pens in your desk or home come from? Your message on a pen will travel further than you could ever imagine. Source: PPAI High End, Low End: Which Promotional Products Work Best? A Study of Consumer and Buyer Reactions

8 6. Items which entertain (e.g., books, puzzles, games) Everyone needs a break from work at some point. If you give your customers something which gives them a break at their desk for a few minutes or entertains them at home on the weekends, they will appreciate, keep, and use your gift. They can be even more effective than items used purely for work purposes, because the company name will be seen even when they aren t necessary thinking about work. You re now getting access into their mind the other 16 hours of their day. 7. Items enhancing their health and comfort (e.g., walking pedometers, first aid kits) Successful businesspeople, like your customers, secretly desire a healthier lifestyle. Even if the gift has little to do with what your company does as a business, these kinds of items show them you care about their well-being and not just about getting their orders.

9 8. Items they can carry and use throughout their day (e.g., pocket knives, wallets, money clips) Essential daily accessories like a wallet or money clip are very effective promotional products because the customer sees your company name throughout their day, plugging your brand deeper into their subconscious every day. For example, the pocket knife to the right has 12 functions, so your customer will likely use it often. 9. Items to increase their personal productivity and help schedule their day (e.g., calendars, desk planners, watches) Successful businesspeople have many demands on the hours of their day and they are painfully aware of this constant game of tug-of-war for their time. Help them achieve this mastery of their day and they ll remember you. Distribute products like planners and calendars, which help schedule tasks. These items are especially good to help your employees become more efficient and organized to get their work done, ultimately benefiting your company!

10 10. Items which help fix their problems (e.g., tool kits, eyeglass repair kits) What better way to have a customer remember you positively than to be the one who gave them that tool kit which fixed their glasses that broke 5 minutes before their big presentation? Repair items are useful, and you can make them small enough to be a keychain so they are convenient for use. These are great gifts to hand out to those handymen in your office or tool manufacturing clients.

11 Why buy promotional products and when should you use them? There are so many opportunities to give away promotional products to your customers. Thanking customers for their business, giveaways at tradeshows, raffle prizes, awards to special customers, and the list goes on and on. Promotional products help increase brand awareness for your company. Find a unique and useful item which leads to repeated exposure of your company name. The product produces a positive association with your company and raises the image of your brand. Make sure the product matches your objective and target audience you wish to reach. Promotional products also motivate or incentivize reaching target goals for your own employees. Present them with an award or personalized gift to recognize sales level achievement or landing a new account. Employees try harder if they know others recognize and show appreciation for their efforts. How Effective are Promotional Products? There are hundreds of thousands of promotional products out there to choose from, but very few are effective or valued. The key is to know which products fall into each category. The top attributes for products that recipients care about are usefulness, quality, and attractiveness. More than half of the recipients said they would keep a product even though it prominently displays the advertiser s name, logo, or message because it was useful. The next largest segment said the reason for keeping the promotional item or not depends on how useful or valued the item is to them. In a recent study, recipients of promotional products were surveyed and asked if receiving a promotional product made them feel more receptive to the company providing the items. 65% of those surveyed said they felt significantly more receptive to the company and its objective. That means it is extremely important you distribute the right product for your audience and objective. 65% of recipients could form a highly positive opinion about you based on the item they receive. Another astonishing statistic is 26% of recipients surveyed keep high value promotional products for 5 years or more, showing that usefulness and durability are important factors of the item.

12 Studies also prove that promotional products create a high recall rate of the company name. In a PPAI study, 76.1% of consumers surveyed could recall the name of the advertiser on a promotional product they received in the last 12 months. A main objective for companies is to have your name remembered in a positive light promotional products do just that with your customers. How to Dramatically Increase the Return on Investment on your Next Promotion, While Saving You Time and Money Is the fear of wasting money on an unsuccessful promotion holding you back? Or do you think your money could be better spent elsewhere? Let National Premium help. Our employees pride ourselves in delivering products on time, on target and on budget every time you work with us. Even within those top 10 items, there are so many choices that it can be overwhelming. The reason to use National Premium instead of doing it yourself is because we are the experts in promotional products. We can help you know exactly when to use promotional products from the top 10 list and when it might actually be better to use something else. We can help narrow the selection as we know what suppliers and manufacturers to go to in order to get the best quality item at the best price. We can also employ our global sources to take advantage of importing options to reduce cost even further. Ultimately, a list of products is just a list. We can show you when to use these products, which suppliers to use, and create an overall solution that exceeds your marketing objective. Picking an item from a top 10 list just because it s popular may not get the results the real success comes from developing a creative and comprehensive solution to achieve your objective, and that s where we can help. People whose responsibility it is to get these items typically have other more important things going on in their role and do not have the time to focus on what item would be best for their need. They tend to just pick something to have something, but that s not the most effective use of their dollar. We can help by putting that dollar to work for you by choosing the best solution and item for the job at hand and make you look great.

13 What to Do Next National Premium developed a 30 Minute Promotional Tune Up which we conduct over the telephone with you and your top staff members. Here is what we accomplish together in this fast-paced session: Review your current uses of promotional items and what has delivered the best results for you. Specific events, objective desired, and objective achieved will be discussed. Are you happy with the results? Discuss what type of products would work best for various scenarios and events. Advantages of each scenario will be reviewed and how they will achieve a return on your investment. Discussion of employee gifts and awards. Are you taking advantage of how powerful these programs can work as a productivity tool? The 30 Minute Promotional Tune-Up is conducted by the President of our company, Scott Schmidt, who has 20+ years of experience improving promotional campaign results for leading companies around the world. Please be assured this consultation will not be a thinly-disguised sales presentation; it consists of the best intelligence Mr. Scott Schmidt can supply in a thirty minute time span. This consult typically takes place within 1-2 weeks of your call, or can be scheduled earlier if you have a pressing deadline for your next promotional campaign. To secure a time for this consultation, please call Kim Busboom at or kim.busboom@nationalpremium.com and she will advise you regarding available time slots. She will also provide you with a pre-consultation questionnaire to prepare both you and us so you receive maximum benefit from the conversation.