Bpma’s Predictions for 2011 for the Promotional Industry
Continuing on our theme of asking industry insiders to give us their predictions for the promotional merchandise industry for 2011, this is Gordon Glenister’s take on the subject. Gordon is Director General of the bpma (british promotional merchandise association), one of the UK’s leading industry bodies dedicated to promoting best practice around the sourcing, manufacturing and distribution of promotional products.
Gordon says, “The UK economy is likely to be more challenging in 2011 as inflationary pressures, job losses and VAT rises take a hold. Marketers will need to see their budgets work even harder than before.
“Promotional Merchandise still offers brand owners excellent value for money as a marketing communication tool. The bpma will focus more of its attention on driving up standards through its charter status and buyer awareness campaigns. Our involvement at Technology for Marketing and Marketing Week Live, two impressive end user shows focused on the marketer, are testament to this.
“Products likely to do well are low priced items, electronic gadgetry, innovative items and hand sanitizers (flu outbreak), but we should not lose sight of the stable products that still do consistently well.”