Promotional products by any other name are neither

We’ve seen this week that the purpose and value of promotional products is often misunderstood. Some of this is marketing’s fault for

• calling these items trash and trinkets or swag
• purchasing cheap products
• maintaining an assortment of items that have no rhyme or reason
• selecting an item that doesn’t fit the corporate image or marketing message

Believe me, this is not a comprehensive list. I’m sure you could add several bullets without hesitation. In fact, please do in the Comments section.

Internally, promotional products can engender camaraderie between marketing and sales in a multitude of ways:

• as awards bestowed upon salespersons for marketing funded and managed sales contests
• as a thank you for reporting back to marketing on the quality of leads
• as recognition for supporting a marketing campaign or product launch
• as appreciation for staffing a trade show exhibit

Marketing should keep a carefully thought out quantity of ad hoc - meaning the items aren’t necessarily tied to a campaign – promotional products in a locked supply closet for a number of reasons. On occasion, other departments such as HR, purchasing, supply chain and even Legal may have guests visiting and a company branded promotional product is a nice welcome and “we appreciate you” message.

Sales, however, must always get first dibs. A quality promotional product arms sales with an icebreaker for a new customer. It can thaw a frosty relationship with a long-time customer after a real or perceived slight. A nice “thank you” can ease the tension after a particularly contentious purchase contract negotiation, too.

In conclusion, always carefully consider the quality of an item before you decide to apply the company logo to it. If marketing, sales, customers, partners, distributors or even family or friends think of it as swag, a trinket, or an advertising specialty item, it’s not worthy of your good corporate name. The brand must be protected and its value should never be compromised or diminished by a promotional product.

What are your thoughts? Have I missed anything? Let me know in the Comments section.

Thank you for reading my blog.

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