Promotional items: gifts that make you happy

In the past, giving customers a little something wasn’t difficult: Just set out a few large bowls filled with printed pens, colorful plastic shopping cart tokens, and practical nylon lanyards, and the delighted guests would come and help themselves. But those days are over—and for good reason. Issues such as climate change, the pandemic, and digitalization are changing the expectations consumers have of companies and brands—and, with them, the criteria for promotional items and small gifts. «Today, brands have to think very carefully about what they print their name on,» says Michael Mätzener. The managing director of die Werbeartikel and PromoFACTS—and organizer of the Swiss promotional products trade show marke[ding]—is, as he himself puts it, «in love» with promotional products.

No wonder, because this type of advertising works: According to a DIMA study commissioned by the Promoswiss association, more than 90 percent of the target audience uses promotional items for longer than a year, over 90 percent of the population comes into contact with promotional items, and around 70 percent of recipients remember the name of the advertising company. Michael Mätzener’s credo: «If you don’t keep up with the times, you’ll be left behind»—a motto that’s more relevant than ever when it comes to promotional gifts. After all, hardly any other medium is as capable of responding flexibly to the issues that concern society as promotional items—and thus of skillfully communicating to the outside world what a company stands for. Whether it’s USB drives, innovative cell phone gadgets, printed face masks, or home office supplies: promotional items have already reflected many trends. For companies, this is an excellent opportunity to give customers something they need right now—complete with a brand logo.

It must be sustainable

Promotional product catalogs offer an endless array of options: whether it’s tried-and-true «evergreens» like pens, Frisbees, and candy, or innovative new products like cooler bags with built-in grills and hygienic key chains made of antibacterial material that let you open doors without using your hands—what matters most today is that the products offer high practical value and are sustainable. Sustainability is the big trend in the promotional products industry. The industry has been talking about it for years—but the breakthrough is only happening now. After all, no company can afford to print its name on disposable plastic products from China anymore. «It has to be sustainable,» says Michael Mätzener categorically, emphasizing the «has to» very clearly. But it’s not just innovative promotional gifts like cork backpacks and beach towels made from ocean plastic, or durable products like Victorinox pocket knives, that score points for sustainability while also offering high practical value.

Even classic promotional items are now proving in exciting ways that they, too, can be innovative and sustainable. «The needs of customers and society are incorporated into these classic items to meet sustainable and ecological standards,» explains Sacha Goldstein, managing director of Gadget Factory in Zurich. Using modern materials and innovative product developments, suppliers are reimagining ballpoint pens and other items—and making them fit for the future: Ballpoint pens are now made from wheat straw or oyster shells; Frisbees with printed logos no longer have to be made of plastic but are now available in recycled polypropylene—a byproduct of face mask production—or even coffee grounds! Pencils can be planted after use and grow into fresh herbs; greeting cards that you plant in the ground after reading them turn into wildflowers; lanyards are made from biodegradable paper or cork; and fruit gummies are vegan and climate-neutral. «But in the promotional products industry, it’s not just about sustainable products,» says Sarah Beringer, CEO and owner of simcla AG. «The issue must be viewed holistically: recyclability, social aspects, sustainable branding, packaging options, and transportation routes all play a role,» says the expert. A study by the German Promotional Products Association (GWW) confirms that companies have clearly taken this on board: On average, they are willing to spend up to 10 percent more on sustainable promotional products.

It is important that promotional items align with the company and, above all, are highly relevant to the target audience.

A Boost for Every Advertising Campaign

But not every product is equally suitable for every purpose. «It’s important that promotional items align with the company and, above all, are highly relevant to the target audience,» explains Sarah Beringer. Whether a product is relevant or not also depends on how and where customers receive it as a gift. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many trade shows and events took place exclusively online—eliminating an important distribution channel for promotional items. «Over the past two years, there have been few to no real innovations because the industry, unfortunately, came to a near standstill. However, a lot has happened in the area of digitalization,» says Beringer. This was another area where the industry was able to demonstrate how agilely it responds to trends. For example, mugs with built-in NFC chips—which stored the program for a virtual event, for instance— drinking glasses that used RFID transponders to direct users to additional information via their smartphones, or QR codes on pens that linked to an event platform—successfully bridged the gap between home offices and digital events during lockdowns and maintained contact with the target audience.

«During the pandemic, the products were adapted very quickly to people’s needs and further developed accordingly,» says Michael Mätzener. This is a capability that many other advertising mediums simply cannot offer. One thing is clear, says the expert: «Promotional items always give any advertising campaign a boost, because they’re always a likable, attractive, eye-catching, useful—and often creative—form of advertising that supports the communication strategy.» Whether as a reimagined «evergreen» or as an innovative new product that has never existed before.