As marketers continue their debate over the next great advertising medium, a new study released today by the Advertising Specialty Institute found it's not TV, print or radio that gets consumers' attention, but good old promotional swag.
This includes coffee mugs, pencils, retractable solar-powered flashlights or any other product bearing a company logo. Promotional products made up a $19.6 billion industry in 2007, per the ASI. Through surveys conducted both online and in-person in major cities, such as New York and Los Angeles, the institute also found that promotional products generate a cost-per-impression average of $0.004, compared to $.033 for national magazine ads or $0.019 for prime time TV ads.
The surveys asked 600 participants (who were mostly businesspeople over the age of 21) to recall promotional swag received over the last 12 months. Key findings include:
