Tag Archives for impressions

How Brands Make A Good Impression

blk bag

Ultimately, the goal of all marketers and advertisers is to improve brand visibility.  The newest Advertising Specialties Industry Impressions Study provides statistical evidence of the power of promotional products in improving the number of impressions a brand captures.

The number of impressions a product makes is derived from multiplying how long a recipient has the product to how many people they come in contact with each month while using it.  In the U.S., bags generate the most impressions (5,772) of any item measured in the study.  This makes sense, since bags are most often used in public places.  But what about all those caps, pens and t-shirts that your company gives as a way to increase brand exposure?  See below for some insight.

  • Caps:  3,136 impressions
  • Writing Instruments:  2,805 impressions
  • Outerwear:  2,650 impressions
  • Shirts:  2,450 impressions

Of course, number of  impressions is important, but every corporate marketer wants to know which items are most likely to drive new business.  According to the Survey, nearly 4 in 10 consumers who received a product from an advertiser they had not done business with said they were more likely to do business with them in the future.  The rundown on which products had the most positive effect on new business is listed below.

  • Outerwear:  53%
  • Health/Safety:  51%
  • Desk/Office Accessories:  44%
  • Bags:  40%
  • Calendars:  39%
  • Shirts:  37%
  • Drinkware:  36%
  • USB Drives:  33%
  • Caps/Headwear:  32%
  • Writing Instruments:  29%

Increasing the number of brand impressions and selecting a promotional product that helps to drive new business are only two of the many things to consider when purchasing the next branded giveaway.  In my next post I’ll shed some light on which items sway opinions, which are likely to be passed along and how long those products are kept by the recipient.  After all the evidence is presented, it will be hard to deny the power of promotional products!

Global Study On Effectiveness Of Promo Products – Part III

Cats_Out_of_BagThe 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!