Promotional Products a better Solution than Most Media
Promotional products hold their own against major advertising media within an across-the-board comparison study
Advertising legend Steuart Henderson Britt once said, “Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl at nighttime. You know what you are doing, but nobody does.” This is business 101. However, how an advertiser chooses to market his or her message is how strategy, innovation and an in-depth knowledge of the audience comes into play.
unique promotional items
So, which from the top advertising vehicles-TV, print, online or promotional products-is a front runner when it comes to overall effectiveness based on consumers?
A 2009 two-part study created by PPAI and fielded through independent research company MarketTools, Inc. evaluated a cross-section of the American consumer population regarding these top advertising mediums. (The first part of the study was reported in the January 2010 issue of PPB.)
Seeking to uncover which vehicle ranked highest when it comes to reach, recall and reaction in the consumer’s perspective, promotional products usually received top nods.
The Reach
Reach is a numbers game. The greater times an advertiser exposes a note to the masses, the greater chance consumers might find it, which boosts the propensity for a positive response. Or, so the theory goes.
Nearly 1 / 2 of the panel had received more than three promotional products within the last 12 months, while 56.20 % reported having seen 11 or more TV commercials, 50 % had seen three or even more print ads and 53.05 percent saw one online ad all within a two-week timeframe.
The Recall
Of greater importance than an advertiser’s reach is the recall. After all, widespread exposure is just effective if the audience connects and remembers the message. As such, participants were asked to identify the following with regards to the ads they’d seen:
1. Advertised company or brand
2. Advertised product/service/message
3. Type of promotional product received
Additionally, an assessment was conducted to see how many respondents could remember both advertiser/company and the product/service/message advertised and in the case of promotional products, the product received, as well.
Television Ads:
• Six from 10 respondents remembered both the company/brand and the product/service/message advertised in the first commercial.
• Over fifty percent (56 percent) recalled both company/brand and the product/service/message advertised in the second commercial.
Print Ads:
• Fifty-five percent of respondents remembered both the company/brand and the product/service/message advertised within the first print ad.
• More than half (51.2 percent) recalled both company/brand and the product/service/message advertised within the second print ad
Online Ads:
• Nearly 3 from 10 respondents remembered both company/brand and the product/service/message advertised within the first online ad.
• Two out of 10 recalled both the company/brand and the product/service/message advertised within the second online ad.
Promotional Products:
• Nearly 70 percent of respondents remembered the brand/company and product/service advertised, along with the type of promotional product for that first advertising message
• More than half recalled all three aspects for the second advertising message
Putting It All Together
In terms of maximizing one’s ROI, advertisers are primarily focused on consumers’ ability to recall the advertised company/brand, the advertised product/service/message, or, within an optimal setting, both. Below is a quick, side-by-side comparison of how the four advertising mediums performed when it comes to recalling key characteristics:
Reaction:
While an advertiser’s reach is essential and the recall even more so, it is the reaction of and action by the consumer after he or she has seen the message that translates straight into ROI. This section asked consumers which particular action he or she took after viewing and/or receiving (in the case of promotional products) the first and second ads.
REACTION TO FIRST AD
• Consumers designed a purchase after receiving a promotional product (20.9 percent) more often than after viewing a print ad (13.4 %), TV commercial (7.1 %) or online ad (4.6 %).
• More than half of promotional products recipients had a favorable impression from the advertiser, as opposed to 33.2 percent who’d seen a print ad, 27.7 percent who’d watched a TV commercial and 11.9 percent who’d seen an online ad.
• Nearly 60 % of consumers reported while using promotional product several times, while 7.6 percent let someone else make use of the item and 4.4 percent passed the product onto another person.
• 14.7 percent of participants reported contacting the promotional products advertiser-a reaction rate nearly 3 times greater than other media, which generated a 3-5 percent response.
• When respondents were asked if they’d not taken action having seen the ad, TV viewers topped their email list with nearly half (46.4%) saying they weren’t moved to action, followed closely by 41.1 % for print media and 33.2 percent to have an online ad. Only 23.1 percent of promotional products recipients reported not taking any action.
REACTION TO SECOND AD
• Like the reactions for ad one, consumers, once again, made a purchase in greater numbers after receiving a promotional product (18.1 percent) versus just 13.9 percent who did so having seen a print ad, 10.8 percent who’d watched a TV commercial and 3.5 percent who’d seen a web-based ad.
• 48.2 percent of promotional products recipients had a favorable impression from the advertiser, as opposed to just 28.6 % of those who’d seen a print ad, 24.Five percent who’d watched a TV commercial and 10 percent who’d seen an online ad.
• Over fifty percent (56.4 percent) of shoppers used their promotional product several times, while 8.6 percent also let someone else use the item and three.5 percent passed the product onto someone else.
• Nearly 20 % of participants reported contacting the promotional product advertiser-a reaction rate four to 10 times higher than other media, which generated a 2-5 percent response.
• When respondents were asked if they’d not taken action after seeing the ad, TV viewers, again, topped the list with 41.8 percent saying they weren’t gone to live in action, followed closely by 38.4 % for print media and 30.2 percent to have an online ad. Only 17.9 % of promotional products recipients reported not implementing any action.
The Annoyance Factor: Low For Promotional items
The mean score represents the annoyance factor for every medium. From an advertiser’s perspective, this information is critical as the key to success is to balance a media buy that reaches the target audience and generates a good reaction. However, if advertisers, whatever the CPM, invest their dollars inside a medium that actually turns consumers away, they may be doing more harm than good, not only to their bottom line, but for their brand, as well.
This table reveals the mean annoyance scores, as based on 1,005 participants, for those media included in this area of the study. The higher the mean score, the better the rating, meaning respondents found the medium to be less of an annoyance.
Summary
As Steuart Henderson Britt so imaginatively stated, advertising is crucial. However, of equal importance is the greater understanding of how consumers actually receive and perceive the vehicles that are to carry these advertising messages. Investing dollars without first doing the homework is still very much like winking at the girl-if the content doesn’t reach consumers, if they’re unable to recall it, if they’re not moved to action, if they become annoyed-the final result is still the same: everyone’s left in the dark.
Promotional Products
This in-depth study sheds light on four of the most widely used advertising mediums, providing advertisers with much-needed insight and information when it comes to spending dollars and, more to the point, getting them back.
As always, TV commercials proved to be one of the top contenders when it comes to successful advertising, as did print media in specific categories. However, it’s the medium with the smallest, yet probably the most profound foothold within the advertising arena that has shown the greatest gains: promotional products. An often overlooked, under-utilized medium, promotional products-according to consumers-prove once again that bigger is not always best when it comes to leaving an enduring impression.
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