In marketing its essential to keep up-to-date with all the latest techniques used to raise brand awareness and ultimately increase sales. Using promotional merchandise to support your marketing campaigns and events is an extremely effective way of getting your brand in front of a potential customer and with that in mind here are my predictions for the top 5 promotional gift trends for 2012.
1. Using QR codes on branded items is an extremely effective use of the print area providing the recipient with the maximum information on a product/service or company.
2. Promoting social media links via promotional merchandise allows a business to join up its offline and online marketing activities, encouraging your customers and prospects to engage with you online and driving traffic to your website. Traditional calls to action in other media are being replaced by social media calls to action, allowing the brand to interact regularly with their audience. This will certainly be the case for merchandise, which will also act as a reminder for the person to engage when they are ready to do so. According to a recent British Promotional Merchandising Association survey, over three quarters of recipients said they kept a promotional gift for longer than 12 months – thats effectively a 12 month reminder to connect with a company online!
3. There will be a greater personlisation of products this year, as a result of more accurate data capture and retention. For example notebooks, calendars and mugs lend themselves perfectly to this. However, digital printing techniques further increases the possibilites for personalisation across an even greater number of different product ranges.
4. Smart phone and tablet accessories will become increasingly popular this year with the continuing increase in sales of smart phones. According to figures published in the Guardian in July 2011, smart phone users in the UK will make up more than half of all mobile phone users in 2012. Items such as smart gloves, touch screen pens, cases and holders will help improve the user experience and provide a strong brand presence.
5. Augmented reality may seem a little unattainable presently for smaller brands as cost is a factor, however this will likely come down over time and the potential wow factor for the user is undeniable. With some potential self managed solutions, a “desktop” where products come to life with additional info and imagery using smart phone apps is an exciting prospect.
Developments in technology are certainly a common theme affecting trends in promotional mechandise and marketing techniques in general for 2012 and no doubt for years to come.
