The cat is out of the bag!  The Global Advertising Specialties Impressions Study conducted by ASI (Advertising Specialty Institute) concludes that bags generate the most impressions of any other branded product in the study.  That finding may beg the question – what are impressions?  In this study, the number of impressions a product derives is calculated by “… multiplying how long a recipient owns an item to how many people he comes in contact with each month while using it.”

Keeping this definition in mind, it should be no surprise that bags come out on top considering they are frequently used, particularly in public places, where they are seen by other people.  Next in popularity of impressions are caps – then writing instruments, outerwear and t-shirts.  The items that create the fewest impressions are those intended for personal use, like USB drives, health and safety items, and consumables.  These items are given to impress the recipient, and are selected with a different campaign goal in mind.

Finally, one of the most important questions corporate customers have about advertising specialities is how they stack up against other media in terms of cost effectiveness.  According to this study, promotional merchandise is less expensive per impression than almost any other type of advertising.  It beats out prime time television, national magazine and newspaper ads with a cost of 0.6 cents per impression vs 1.8 cents for TV and magazines, and 0.7 cents for newspapers.  With the ability to take a more focused approach to the recipient while giving even the smallest companies the ability to achieve the same ROI as major corporations, branded products have a unique and undeniable place in the advertising world.

It’s always beneficial to have tested data to help marketing teams decide how to best use their budgets in order to achieve the highest return on investment.  Now that you know the facts, the next meeting with your promotional products provider should be a lot more productive!