2013 - The future is bright for promotional merchandise

The demand for promotional products should improve in 2013, as 2012 was, despite the anticipated boost from the Olympics and Diamond Jubilee, a tough year.

That is the overall view of the Galpeg Associates, the new group of highly experienced individuals working closely with and supported by Galpeg, one of the UK’s longest established distributors of branded and non-branded promotional items.

Paul Green, Managing Director of Galpeg observes: "I imagine that all distributors worked much harder in 2012 to maintain their customer relationships. The smaller distributors may have found 2012 more challenging than their larger counterparts. Also, with cash flow being a bigger problem, it is likely that smaller distributors will have experienced greater financial difficulties."

While 2012 was, by almost all accounts, a year when demand was, at best ‘steady’, the Galpeg Associates who work with clients right across the UK predict a brighter future for 2013 with sales improving with many innovative products exciting users and offering strong branding opportunities.

Associate Danny Heenan of Ashro Promotions strongly believes: “There will be plenty of business opportunities out there. It’s up to the individual to create the sales whilst building and maintaining relationships.”

The Galpeg Associates believe this will be a stronger year for promotional merchandise sales despite no major ‘events’ taking place apart from the birth of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s first child.

According to Associate Wesley Dabbs of Aurora Promotional Merchandise, the main impact that the Royal events and the Olympics last year had was that “a lot of buyers took time out of work to attend or watch them at home! If buyers aren’t at their desks they can’t buy! For the birth of the Royal baby the nation will continue with their normal working lives. The country will not come to a halt for two weeks.”

Danny Heenan adds that Jubilee and Olympics at least helped by bringing some ’positivity’ and confidence to the year, in which Richard Andrew of Promotional Works thinks the market will move from ‘growing a little’ to ‘growing well’.

Buyers’ demands, according to Danny Heenan and Gerry Bolt of Ashro Promotions, have focussed more on price as the recession has gone on, although excellent fast customer service and product quality are very important.

So what will be the interesting new products in 2013? While Gerry Bolt highlights the magnetic calendar, Paul Green suggests: “Electronic gadgets and accessories and USBs including the innovative Tornado”, then adds that “Traditional products that offer improved ways of branding, especially four colour process with picture quality reproduction, are also sure to be popular.”

Associate Richard Andrews also echoed Paul’s sentiments saying that electronic based gadgets would continue to prove popular: “I’m looking forward to the silicon iPhone amplifier. With its large selection of bright colours, easily branded, and relatively low cost, this is a fantastic promotional item.”

Paul Green concluded by advising: “As an industry we need to continue promoting the benefits of using promotional merchandise to organisations and take a much larger slice of their 2013 marketing budget.”

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