BPMA June:Layout 1 19/05/2009 12:27 Page 57
BPMA
really is just a directory of products. promotional product.”
“The future is about being a promotional gift Warming to his theme, Gordon recalls his seminar
consultant, or a promotional gift adviser – not a at this year’s Printwear & Promotion exhibition.
catalogue salesman.” “One of the things I mentioned was the
And, according to Gordon, there is too much importance and the value of the message which is
reliance on low order values. “Anyone can give you very, very understated in my opinion,” he says.
an order, but have you financially checked and “For me, a printed mug is not a printed mug. It’s
referenced them? That’s something that as an 1,500 impacts over the course of the year because
association we hold dear. And we say to the end that’s the average number of times we drink
user community, buy from an accredited user. It coffee.
means something,” he says. “A diary is not just a diary. It’s 2.5 impacts a day
“Research is valuable because it makes us over 12 months. Eventually, that is the return on
understand not so much the size of the cake now, the investment. If you look at the amount of times
but where it is going to go,” Gordon believes. you use your keyring, you use it on average four
The recession is having an impact on the sector, he times a day. That’s how many times the message is
maintains. “It doesn’t really matter how big the getting into the individual’s brain.”
organisation. Some of the bigger members are Another hugely successful example is the Oyster
being impacted. Marketing is invariably the first card, he adds. “Ten million people a day use the
budget to be cut. Underground, so the impact of that is
“Marketeers have to show a return on their phenomenal.”
investment,” he adds. “They have to justify their Gordon says it makes sense to discuss with
spend. One of the challenges that our industry has customers what they are doing for the next 12
always had is that if I am spending £5,000 on months, in terms of exhibitions or product Gordon has also put together a bpma sourcing
promotional merchandise is it working? launches. template for end users. “I want them to
“Even at an exhibition “Then you can actually understand what questions they should be asking
or show, where suggest various products before they pick up the phone. Things like when do
someone is giving that fit into that over the you need the product for? What’s the reason for
away pens and
mousemats, how do
they know that they
are responsible for
“
We need to
course of the year, as using the product? What’s the target audience?
opposed to just being When they phone our members they are then in a
educate the buyers in
very reactive, and I use better position to get what they want, and not
the word reactive leave everything to the last minute. We need to
that customer or
growth? Sometimes
how to buy promotional
underlined. That’s what educate the buyers in how to buy promotional
we are known as – a merchandise and clothing.”
that can be a bit of a
problem.”
merchandise and
reactive industry – and Research into the promotional goods sector is
we get the business sadly lacking in the UK. “We need to get a stake
Interestingly, in the
last recession,
clothing.
we’ve been given, not in the ground as to where we are at now,” says
promotional marketing
did better than other
sectors, according to
”
the business we want.” Gordon. ”The best vehicle for markets is the one in
Gordon was a founder America,” he adds. “They have pumped a huge
member of the amount of money into research and they have
Marketing Association been able to measure things like cost per
Gordon. “And that’s really because although Alliance - made up of seven other trade bodies - impression.”
marketing budgets get cut, clearly they cannot be to create a very strong brand identity. That kind of information is gold dust, Gordon
cut altogether.” ”We can use our relationships with those trade believes. “That actually tells the marketeer where
While the automotive and financial sectors are bodies to influence shared opportunities,” says he is going to get the most bung for his buck, and
struggling, it’s imperative that people still test Gordon who also wants to protect the interests of actually it’s in this sector.”
drive cars, he adds. British suppliers over emerging markets such as Future trends can be tricky to predict, but eco has
“And if they (the banks and car dealers) can’t India and Eastern Europe. seen a massive rise in the last 12 months –
engage with people and say we’ll give you a Gordon has also forged a relationship with the although the rate of growth has slowed. Badge
bottle opener, keyring, penknife, if you test drive a Chartered Institute of Marketing and says his next suppliers are doing well, although Gordon is
car with us, or if you’re a student and they don’t challenge is to ensure that young marketeers disappointed that the pin badge license for the
offer the freebies to entice them to take out the know and understand the value of promotional 2012 London Olympics has gone to China.
student loans, they are going to suffer. That’s the merchandise. “I still think that digital merchandise has got a
bottom line.” “At 26, I was looking after a £22m customer and long way to go. I don’t mean just USB sticks –
But what is the value of a promotional gift? a £1m promotional budget and no one from our although USB sticks have gone very well – also
“One of the things I often say to people is that it’s industry knew who I was, knew I existed, or ever things like digital photo frames. Things that are
engaging; you can touch it, you can feel it. You bothered to contact me and yet I had such associated around the PC or the mobile phone.
can’t do that in the same way with an advert or a massive buying power,” says Gordon. “This Anything that is aligned to what the consumer
TV commercial. emphasises my point about understanding job trends are is going to work,” he suggests.
“I think we forget that we are not in the titles and then finding that there are as many
promotional products industry. We are in the opportunities for merchandise in the trading Contact the bpma on 0207 689 555, email
message industry which happens to be a channel as there are in the marketing channel.” enquiries@bpma.co.uk; website: www.bpma.co.uk
www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk june 2009 | 57 |
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