In today’s blog post I’ll talk about the top promotional product ideas and how important they are for your sales success. There don’t exist product categories that will work for every brand and every occasion.
I’ve therefore chosen examples that primarily work for the drinks industry because that’s the industry we here at PES have, since 1992, gained the most experience in. At the end of this blog post, I’ll give you a few tips on how to choose the right promotional products, and the options you have for sourcing them.
Promotional products are crucial to sales success because they are a physical extension of a brand, they facilitate customer loyalty, and improve brand recall.
Promotional products provide long-lasting brand visibility. Compared to digital ads, customers actively use and engage with a promotional product. Whilst others who are not using the item might still notice the product. This means your brand is getting reinforced. Over weeks, months, or even years.
A person who receives your promotional product is likely to remember your brand over other brands and feel a need for reciprocity. This is a deeply engrained part of human culture. It means the person is more inclined to trust and ultimately buy from your business.
Promotional products can serve as on pack gift items, significantly increasing the perceived value of your offer. “Buy X and get a free keyholder.” This directly increases sales.
Using promotional items as giveaways pre-purchase can serve as conversation starters which facilitates sales. Whilst being used as a post-purchase gift item, promotional products make customers feel appreciated. This in turn increases the probability of customers remembering the interaction, and in the future opting for a repeat purchase.
A quality promotional product will help your brand stand out. At event booths they can help attract traffic, thus facilitating customer engagement. Unique promotional products can create a buzz, encouraging people to show them to others and talk about them.
There doesn’t exist a specific list of promotional products that in general will be the best. It always depends on the specifics of a brand, its target audience and how they go about marketing.
As an example, here are eight product ideas that will work well for drinks brands
Bottle glorifiers are one of the first products drinks brands invest in, when it comes to being present at the Point of Sale, e.g. a bar or a supermarket. Depending on the brand and the budget, glorifiers will be made from either plastic, metal, wood or MDF.
Bottle glorifiers are one of the first products drinks brands invest in, when it comes to being present at the Point of Sale, e.g. a bar or a supermarket. Depending on the brand and the budget, glorifiers will be made from either plastic, metal, wood or MDF.
In bars bottle openers are an essential tool. If custom designed, they represent visually appealing items that draw consumer attention. Made from metal, they can reach a high level of durability.
Keyrings are a cost-effective promotional product that can serve as a gift or giveaway. Most keyrings are made from plastic or metal. The branding is done via print, laser engraving, stickers or a custom shape, e.g. a relief which comes from the custom mould.
Everybody likes to receive a medal. It symbolises exceptional achievement and serves as a physical reminder of all the effort exerted. Mostly round in shape, medals are made from metal and branded via a print, a label, laser and CNC engraving, and/or a custom shape.
Pins are communicating a brand via a logo, name or slogan. Mostly small in size, ca. 15 to 25mm, they are made from metal and fixed via a butterfly clutch, a pin or a magnet.
Every brand has certain elements that are linked to its industry. One could say these elements are part of its iconography. Within the whisky domain, three such items are a bottle, a barrel and a still. These are well known products that many consumers already expect to be part of a brand's communication. To support their visibility and storytelling efforts, organisations invest in product replicas. Often these are mini replicas.
An important distribution channel for drinks brands is the On Trade channel. Bars, cafes and restaurants will often use menu holders and coaster holders to communicate what they are offering. Menu holders are made from wood, MDF, plastic or metal. Coaster holders mostly from a sturdy cardboard material, metal, MDF, plastic or leather.
Menu and coaster holders occupy prime Point of Sale territory. Placed in the middle of tables, they are right in front of consumers who are about to make buying decisions.
Be it on a shelf in a supermarket, on a bartop or part of a promotional booth, product displays are used in many different channels. They are a vital Point of Sale material category which increases brand visibility.
Branded utensils are, in the context of drinks brands, bar tools or tableware that carry the logo, name or design of a company or brand. Items like spoons, shakers, jiggers and cheese boards.
These items are mostly being used in bars, during retail store tastings, at events and as Gifts With Purchase.
When it comes to choosing the right promotional product there are many things to consider. Most notably quality, timeline and budget.
The product needs to match your brand’s positioning. This in turn will influence what good material options are. Do you e.g. choose metal, wood, MDF or plastic? To a high degree quality is subjective. This means you need to look at this from your target audience’s perspective.
What promotional products would they appreciate? Which ones match their needs and desires best? Do the products offer a high functional and aesthetic value?
I remember a project during which we won a new client who managed a whisky brand. He trusted us with a purchase order to make custom bottle glorifiers, although our price was the highest amongst a few competitors.
What he liked best, though, was the quality of the prototype we delivered. I’ll never forget what his feedback was: “If the product doesn’t match at least 95% of my quality expectations, it will rather hurt than help us achieve our business goals.”
In today’s fast paced world, brands are constantly racing to outdo their competitors. Be the first to launch a specific campaign, one that is innovative and not a copy of something that has already been seen. Terms that are being used in this context are “speed to market” or “agility”.
All of our clients here at PES have clear deadlines in mind. When preparing a brief, it is helpful to define a timeline with several checkpoints:
By when do you need to receive quotes?
By what date would you want the concept, the prototype and the PP sample to have been approved?
By when do you need the goods to have been delivered to your warehouse or to the individual outlets?
The more detailed of a timeline you have prepared, the easier it will be to check if you are on track. Not just for you but all the project partners you work with.
How much time and money you can dedicate to a project, will directly impact what you get out of it. As I’m certain you’ve already experienced, it isn’t linear. A larger budget doesn’t necessarily equal bigger success.
The same way a football team with a relatively low budget, think e.g. Leicester here, can win the Premier league title, some suppliers will be able to create more value for you than others. When bringing a custom promotional product to life, many things can go wrong.
Clarity about your budget is valuable but the key is to manage the project, starting from the initial brief, the right way and using your resources in a cost-effective manner.
The vast majority of branded promotional products are standard items that are then customised via the application of a logo, visual and/or text. This could be done via many different technologies, e.g. print or laser engraving.
Which technology is the best choice will depend on your budget and the type of product you’re sourcing. Custom products can be bought from many different companies. Online. In physical retail stores. Via a vendor with a standard product catalogue that can personalize them.
Custom shaped items, in the UK they use the term bespoke, are a bit more challenging. Your product does not yet exist. There is no sample you can assess. To bring custom shaped promotional products to life, often requires a tooling phase which can take up a substantial portion of your budget.
There exist different organisations who can help with custom shaped items. The best fit will depend on your needs and preferences. Firstly, apart from the product itself, what type of additional services will you need? Concept development, prototyping, product testing, licensed merchandise, retail activations…? Secondly, I recommend assessing the ethos of a supplier, how they communicate and if their organisational culture fits how you like to do business. Thirdly, does the project scope and type of product fit what the supplier does well?
Your choice might be a large aggregator, a creative agency or a manufacturer like PES.
Promotional products are one out of many marketing options you can choose from. In order to get the best value for price you need to think about different aspects.
This means taking into consideration your brand characteristics, the people the products are for and how you will get these promotional products in front of them. Luckily there are many suppliers out there who can help you with this
Ivica Baraba - Sales & marketing management
"In PES I get to work on many custom branded merchandise projects. I’ve been doing this since 2004. It intrigues me to delve into brand worlds and determine what products can help a client achieve their business goals. It is an exceptionally creative and dynamic industry to be a part of.”
