How Promotional Products Drive Emotional Connections with Sales & Brands

Written by Brian Elskus, Promotional Products CSR at Fineline

If you are reading this blog, chances are that you have quite a few promotional products on or around your desk.  You may be drinking from your favorite coffee mug or moving your mouse on top of a branded mouse pad.  Slide open your desk, any pens with company logos on them?  The more you look around, you’ll see what I’m talking about.  But what is it about these items that causes us to hold onto them?  The answer:  Emotional Connections.

One emotional connection we make, specifically with promotional products, is the perceived value they carry.

Some promotional products as simple as a water bottle or T-shirt can stay with a customer for a lifetime.  Why is this?  Well, people appreciate practical items.  According to the Global Advertising Specialties Impressions Study, “Consumers want products that are, first and foremost, useful to them, especially when it comes to the more practical items such as writing instruments and USB drives.”  One question Fineline always asks our customers is: “Do you think someone would walk straight to the trash and pitch this, or hold onto it?”  Obviously, the goal is for the individual to hold onto it!  Therefore, it can be worth the extra time & money simply to make sure your item stays with them.

Another emotional connection we make with promotional products is with the Brand.

For instance, think of one of your favorite shirts.  Maybe you keep it around because it has a little polo horsie, or maybe it’s just comfortable.  Companies spend millions of dollars each year just to make sure their brand can be seen everywhere.  They do this to build brand awareness & brand loyalty.   A basic t-shirt is effective for this because it is free mobile advertising and it’s also something that someone builds an emotional connection to.  A Happy Customer = A Loyal Customer (I Love my Nike shirt; I love Nike).

Finally, promotional product recipients hold onto an item because it is useful.

A great example of this is bags. People always need to carry things, so they tend to hold onto bags because they will use them again. This is good because the longer they hold onto this item, the more people it can potentially come in contact with. According to the Global Advertising Specialties Impressions Study:

“In the U.S., bags continue to generate the most impressions (5,772) of any item measured in the study. This is because bags are used often in public places where they can be seen by many people.”  (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).

So the next time you are looking to order a promotional product for your next campaign or trade show, ask yourself: “What kind of emotional connections could someone have with this item?”

_{“Research & infographics provided by the Advertising Specialty Institute, ©2016, All Rights Reserved.”}

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