Hot on the heals of a regional ABC station chastising the government for buying promotional products is the new study from Impressions.  The two provide an amazing contrast with one side representing the buying of promotional products as a waste of taxpayer resources while the other clearly indicates it is one of the most effective mechanisms for touching consumers.

First let’s start with the bad news if you are in the business.   WCVB in Boston has been running an investigative piece highlighting the expenditures in Massachusetts.  The Team 5 report on trinkets goes on to list some of these purchases including almost $85,000 spent by the State Police.   Of that amount almost 15k was spent to recruit new troopers when they aren’t actively hiring.  Did the network give any idea to the fact that those purchases helped support local businesses or did they even bother to check to see where that money went?  That would be the real story or better yet how much was spent on TV advertising during the same period?

Ultimately spending $115,000 spent on mini-footballs will not sit well with most taxpayers.  It probably shouldn’t as these are just as likely to be chewed up by a dog as they are to help bring in new business.  But as they indicate in the story it has worked to increase membership in each program.  I guess the larger question is why didn’t they cover expenditures on all forms of advertising, media and print included. 

On the other hand we have the Impressions Study on Promotional Products which clearly demonstrates it is the most cost effective approach for reaching customers.  With many costs rising over the last two years the cost per impression for promotional products has stayed nearly the same at .005 cents.  When looking at other forms of advertising like TV or radio these items offer a far less expensive cost per impression.  Promotional items also last a lot longer than a 30 second commercial and are more durable than any type of magazine.  The study revealed that bags offer the most impressions with over a thousand per month as they are often used in travel. 

And it isn’t just here in the United States that promotional products are used.  In England roughly 65% of respondents were found to have kept a promotional pen in the last year.  Worldwide 85% of the people that received a gift could remember and identify the brand which is far higher than any other type of advertising.   Among the surprises, calendars have jumped back into the mainstream as some of the most kept items.

An interesting take on the story done by WCVB would not be the amounts spent but where they were spent.  Massachusetts has long been known as the State where you had to know someone to get business.  They missed the mark by not covering the bidding practices of these purchases as well as the margin made on them.  That probably would have been the real story, and would have shed some light on the real problems.