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13/03/2006 5:44:56 p.m.
Pub: Australian Financial Review
Pubdate: Thursday 09th of March 2006
Edition: First
Copyright:
It's all in the name, quality and subtlety
Business Incentives
Chris Tolhurst
If you're going to offer a branded gift, make sure it's of lasting quality and isn't garish. You are what you give, says Chris Tolhurst.
Corporate gift giving is going upmarket, and it's in large part a result of the rise of business-to-business marketing.
Five or six years ago, inexpensive plastic rulers, erasers, pens and coffee mugs imprinted with a corporate name were the most popular gifts bought by Australian companies for their clients.
Now, according to a survey by the Australasian Promotional Products Association subtly branded polo shirts and other apparel items account for 60 per cent of all promotional products purchased in Australia and New Zealand.
APPA chief executive William Kestin says more corporate dollars are also being spent on expensive gift items, from MP3 players and computer memory sticks to designer-name golf wear and golfing accessories.
"The golf market is huge," Kestin says. "Lifestyle gifts have been the trend with gifts because decision-makers in business are inundated with mugs and other (cheaper) gifts."
He says corporate receivers of gifts are today "quite discerning" and the quality has to be high.
The APPA survey conducted last year by Sweeney Research, independently of the association, values Australia's promotional products sector at $1.56 billion, an increase in revenue of 35 per cent since 2002.
Kestin says the $1.56 billion valuation doesn't include any paper products except advertising calendars. He adds that the fast growth of the sector since 2002 suggests promotional products are winning marketing share from other forms of marketing, notably print and broadcast advertising.
Major players in promotional products agree.
The managing director of Sands Promotions, Howard Jones, tells his clients that advertisements are more ephemeral and can have less impact than promotional products.
"Advertisers these days are looking critically at where they spend and at the returns they get," Jones says.
"With promotional merchandise the cost per exposure diminishes over time.
"The better the quality of a promotional product, the longer it lasts and the more desirable it is to use, therefore the longer people will use that item and the cost per exposure diminishes over time."
Items like embroidered baseball caps, rulers and mugs are still a huge part of promotional product spending. But there is a trend towards companies putting their moniker on more exotic items - CD holders, modem cables, top-of-the-range fountain pens, travel tooth brushes and even packets of dental floss.
One trend in the sector is that companies appear to be consulting with promotional product firms earlier in their marketing cycles than they previously did.
Rather than simply "throwing" promotional merchandise at one-off sales campaigns, Kestin says more companies are consulting with promotional product firms on a long-term basis.
He says promotional product firms typically make their margins on the sale of products and, unlike advertising agencies, do charge for providing creative ideas.
"Most promotional product companies, especially if it is a big campaign, will supply the creative aspect of it at little or no cost to the client, so including them earlier in the marketing mix doesn't necessarily cost the client anything," Kestin says.
Jason Bradbury, managing director of the national promotions group Wompro, says the promotional product business in the United States is worth $US18.3 billion, according to a recent survey by a trade journal, and US trends indicate promotional items are taking market share from advertising.
According to Bradbury, the growth in business-to-business marketing is underpinning the shift to more expensive quality items.
"That is why there is a definite shift to better quality products," he says.
"People won't accept second-rate stuff; they won't accept split cow-hide from India: people want quality."
Wompro's major clients include Foster's and Ford Australia. Bradbury says the company is increasingly taking promotional items developed for the Australian market into overseas countries for these and other clients.
Jones agrees that apparel is the fastest-growing segment of the business, adding that clients are opting for subtle branding on the peak of the collar or on the cuff of a garment rather than heavier branding which often "turns off" the receiver of the gift.
"A promotional products company can recommend to clients when you can go big with the brand and when you have got to be more subtle," he says.
There is, of course, another reason why quality is on the agenda: the free T-shirt that falls apart at the first wash or the branded pen that does not work are very quickly counter-productive.
Explains Jones: "The quality of the gift - the style of it, the longevity of the product - is a direct reflection of the giver.
"If you give something that is cheap and nasty the reflection is that the giver is cheap and nasty as well."
31/08/2004 3:01:28 p.m.
Sands Promotions wins 3 Pyramid Awards at this year's Australasian Promotional Products Association Sapphire Show held at the Sydney Showgrounds August 12-14.
A Gold Pyramid for client Merrill Lynch and a Silver Pyramid each for Starlight Foundation and Mens Health magazine made this the most successful year to date for Sands Promotions. This brings our total haul to 8 awards since the inception of this competition in 1999.
28/05/2003 2:22:15 p.m.
Welcome to the Business Builders page at Sands Promotions. Here you will find examples of our latest client projects, useful hints and information about the best in Promotional Products, Business Gifts and Premiums from around the world.
We invite you to visit the site regularly and use it as a tool to help you plan effective and exciting promotions.
25/02/2003 5:51:08 p.m.
Latest research from APPA endorses the power of promotional merchandise. For full details go to the APPA site www.appa.com.au
7/02/2003 9:50:21 a.m.
Sands Promotions hope you had a good holiday season. We are looking forward to working with you in 2003.
Please check our Online catalogue for new products becoming available.
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