Promotional Products Week 2013 hailed a success

The first Promotional Products Week, which took place from 16-20 September 2013, has proved to be a nationwide success.

The Week kicked off with the Big Tweet, a rally call from the British Promotional Merchandise Association (BPMA) encouraging all Members and interested parties to tweet about the Week and engage with their customers.

The results of a consumer survey commissioned by the BPMA were also revealed, which gave interesting insight in to how promotional products are perceived and used. It showed that the UK is a nation of freebie hunters and that brands who use promotional products as part of the marketing mix will reap the benefits, with 3 in 10 consumers stating they have purposely changed their regular brand in order to receive a promotional product. The survey results proved excellent ammunition for Members to use during the Week and in their ongoing marketing materials to support their sales effort.

As part of a comprehensive PR campaign, the survey information was sent to an extensive range of media contacts and achieved coverage in a wide variety of media, including national newspapers. This added to the excellent coverage and support for the Week in the promotions trade media, as well as in a selection of marketing, vertical and business media.

BPMA members embraced the week and enthusiastically promoted it in their own regions and to their own customers, with the help of a PR pack created by Clareville in conjunction with the BPMA. This resulted in exposure on local radio stations, in big regional daily newspapers and in local weekly publications. Among many memorable outcomes was SC-M Creative Merchandise being interviewed by the Nottingham Evening Post and subsequently featuring extensively in the newspaper, Senator achieving exposure in its local newspaper, the Harlow Star, and Pro-Ad being featured in the Journal, a significant publication for the North East.

In all, over 120 Members got involved in some way with Allwag Promotions running a teddy campaign and The Sourcing Team dressing up in their corporate colour pink to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support at Monument and Bank underground stations.

Everything Environmental put together a special presentation pack, aided by Allwag Promotions, to showcase its Green & Good™ range, with Evan Lewis, founder and managing director, commenting: “Working closely with our key distributors meant that this special presentation pack got directly in the hands of end users, showing how promotional products and in particular “green and good” ones are so closely integrated into our daily lives, which is what the Week was all about.”

The team at Willsmer Wagg also carried out a raft of activity to promote the Week to its customers including competitions, special offers and blogs, while BTC Group were hard at work promoting the consumer survey findings via tweets and Facebook, as well as on their website. BTC Group also ran a Facebook competition for fans to receive Team BTC stickers with the #PPWeek hashtag on them for them to place in notable locations and then photograph and post on to the Facebook page, and they also created a board on the BTC Group Pinterest of #PPWeek activity. Jon Birrell, Senior Marketing Manager at BTC Group, said: “Promotional Products Week is a fantastic idea and a commendable effort by the BPMA and fellow industry peers. This is one event where we all pulled together for the greater good of our sector, collectively putting promotional merchandise firmly on the map. BTC Group look forward to supporting Promotional Products Week 2014.”

Impamark supported the Week by running a local networking event at its offices in conjunction with the local Chamber of Commerce. This was attended by over 50 local businesses and organisations. Impamark also ran special offers and giveaways and promoted the initiative throughout the week via social media, email and flyers. Nicky Crisp, Managing Director at Impamark said: “I believe Promotional Products Week has both raised the profile of the effectiveness of using personalised merchandise within the marketing mix and increased our profile as a distributor both locally and nationally.”

Reflecting on the Week, Andy Knight, Managing Director at CHX Products and BPMA regional ambassador for the South West, said: “It’s important that we all push forward the continued benefits and importance of promotional products and what they represent in the marketing mix.”

Further highlights of the week included activity by 28 design students from Brunel University, who were kitted out in branded t-shirts and hoodies and armed with a variety of promotional products. Steered by members of the BPMA, they met up with association heads around London including the Direct Marketing Association, the Institute of Promotional Marketing, the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and the Marketing Agencies Association. The students also visited top agencies including Wax Communications, Blue Chip Marketing, Arnold KLP, The Brand Marketing Team, The Promotions Factory and ADM Promotions, helping to raise further the profile of promotional merchandise and demonstrate why it should be used in integrated marketing campaigns. And the sampling did not stop there, with many products being distributed to travellers on the London Underground.

Viv Blumfield, Chair of the BPMA, commented: “The day was a great success and the students did an excellent job in showing key players in the industry just what promotional merchandise is and how it can play a positive and beneficial role in any integrated marketing campaign.”

James Long, design student at Brunel University, commented: “The day was really great and gave us an insight into how a promotional event works. We’ve been privileged to be part of a great campaign and it will definitely help us in our careers.“

The day culminated in a photo call at the House of Commons with Brian Binley MP, the representative within Parliament for the promotional merchandise industry, who said: “I am continually impressed with the efforts made by the BPMA in raising the profile of promotional products, particularly over the last few years in what has been a difficult economic environment.” Each student was given a certificate to mark their participation.

Brian Binley MP also hosted a dinner at the House of Commons, which was attended by Patrons of the BPMA.

Gordon Glenister, Director-General at the BPMA and organiser of the week continued: “Promotional products have been at the forefront of delivering incredible impact for brands over many decades, and are known to be one of the most cost effective and interesting ways for consumers to interact with a brand. With today’s present economic realities, brands are looking for fresh ways to relate to and communicate with their audience and Promotional Products Week has enabled us to show them how merchandise can help them do just that.”

Summing up the Week, Gordon Glenister, said: “We are delighted with the results of our first Promotional Products Week. We knew that this year we needed to start to put a mark on the British business landscape about promotional products and we have done just that. Plans for next year are already underway to develop this even further.”

Share this page