Is your company missing out?

1. 18 stories brand innovation
t 630.544.5000 • f 630.544.5227 • tf 877.888.6151
Know the facts before spending
your maketing dollars!
18 stories is dedicated to building connections between the
brands we serve and their customers. Our focus is on protecting your
image and enhancing the experience customers have with your brand,
through the strategic selection and development of branded products.
Branded merchandise and apparel offer a unique opportunity to take
your brand into the automobiles, homes, offices, stadiums and commerce
centers of your customers. These tangible marketers allow your customers
to touch, feel and interact with your brand in a way that no other advertising
or marketing medium allows. These personal interactions, when crafted to
enhance your brand and emphasize competitive advantage, create bonds
and relationships with your brand that go beyond the everyday transaction.
18 stories is your marketing partner– Focused on
creating beneficial connections, while protecting and enhancing the
brand image you’ve worked so hard to create.
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2. 18 stories brand innovation
t 630.544.5000 • f 630.544.5227 • tf 877.888.6151
Know the facts before spending
your maketing dollars!
You may Be thinking: cost-Per
Cost-Per impression of Promo Products
quot;Money is tight right now. I’d love
to buy something from you, but I just Glassware/
Caps Bags Writing Calendars
can’t afford promotional products.quot; Instruments Ceramics
$0.002 $0.002 $0.003
$0.002 $0.004
The Real Story
The cost-per impression of an ad Shirts Other Recognition
Desk/Office/ Other
specialty is a fraction of a cent. Bags, Awards
Business Wearables
$0.005 $0.005
caps, T-shirts and calendars are Accessories $0.016 $0.021
practically free. Check out the chart to $0.007
see the average cost-per impression of a
variety of different promotional products. Average: $.0004
You may Be thinking:
cost-Per impression of other media
quot;I’d rather put my marketing dollars
into TV ads. They’re much more National Magazine*
cost effective because they have a
$0.033
wider reach.quot;
Sports Radio*
The Real Story
$0.005
Prime Time TV*
Advertising specialties are less Newspaper ad
$0.019
expensive per impression than (1/2 page BW)**
almost any other media. In fact, Syndicated TV* $0.019
promotional products are among the $0.006
most cost-effective tools available to Billboard
marketers. For example, advertising in Cable TV* (city/national)**
a national magazine yields an average $0.007 $0.003
cost-per impression of $.033. The
*Source: 2008 The Nielsen Company
average cost-per impression of an **Source: Los AngelesMobileBillboards.com
ad specialty is $.004.
sUrVeY metHoDoLoGY
was conducted among recipients of advertising
★ In June and July of 2008, a team of interviewers specialties to augment the non-wearables sample from
surveyed 465 consumers in New York, Chicago, Los the in-person interviews. Results have been combined in
Angeles and Philadelphia on behalf of ASI regarding the report where appropriate. There were 213 completed
promotional products they had received. Web-based interviews, for a total of 678 completed
surveys for this study. Respondents were asked if they
The purpose of the interviews was to understand how
had received any promotional products in the last 12
advertising specialties influence end users' purchasing
months. Most respondents were business/professional
decisions; determine the number of impressions of
people (84%) and all were age 21 or older.
popular advertising specialties; and analyze the
cost-per impression of advertising specialties Cost-per impression data of ad specialties was then
compared with other popular advertising media. compared to cost-per impression statistics for other
types of advertising media.
Further, during October 2008, an online panel survey
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3. 18 stories brand innovation
t 630.544.5000 • f 630.544.5227 • tf 877.888.6151
Know the facts before spending
your maketing dollars!
You may Be thinking: The Real Story
A whopping 84% of those surveyed remembered the advertiser of a
“Why should I put my logo on a pen
specialty item they had received. Of those who received wearables
or keychain? Nobody remembers the
(jackets, pants, scarves), a full 94% remembered the advertising
name of the company that advertises
logo and company. It’s that rate of recall that is vital when
on those things anyway.””
considering where to spend your marketing dollars.
You may Be thinking:
consumers items
Where Consumers Keep Items
“Is someone really going to change
their opinion of me just because I
sent them a pen? I doubt it.” 100 Promo products have staying power because recipients All Promo Products
tend to hang onto them in highly visible places. Here’s
The Real Story where each type of item is typically kept by end-users.
Shirts
90
Survey results show 42% of end buyers 83%
Caps
had a more favorable impression of 80 77%
an advertiser after receiving an item. Bags
Among those who received bags, 53%
70 Calendars
had a more favorable impression of
the advertiser.
60 57% 55%
56%
You may Be thinking: 50
42%
“Sure, my client is going to love to
40
take the free stuff I give him. But
that won’t make him any more
likely to do business with me.” 30
28%
24%
The Real Story 20
12% 15%
Nearly 1/4 of end-users are more likely
9%
to do business with the advertiser on 10 6%
10%
4%
7% 5%
the items they receive. If an advertiser 2%
1%
6%
provides jewelry or calendars, the number 1%
0
increases to 38% and 36% respectively. Home Car Office Person
You may Be thinking: The Real Story
The vast majority of end-users have done business with the advertiser
“Say I use a promotional product
after receiving an item. Among those who received recognition items like a
in a direct-mail campaign. How
client thank you or awards, more than 75% of end-users have done busi-
do I know I’ll ever hear from the
ness with the advertiser.
prospect again?”
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4. 18 stories brand innovation
t 630.544.5000 • f 630.544.5227 • tf 877.888.6151
Know the facts before spending
your maketing dollars!
You may Be thinking: The Real Story
End-users tend to keep items that are useful. Of those
“Unless a promotional product is super high-end,
surveyed, more than 70% felt that bags, pens,
which I can’t afford, or really attractive, nobody’s
T-shirts, desk accessories, glassware, caps and
going to want to keep it.”
calendars are useful items.
You may Be thinking: The Real Story
Bags are actually the most frequently-used apparel
“Why should I waste my money on a tote bag?
item. Bags are used more than nine times per
It probably only gets used once or twice at most.
month. By comparison, caps are used six times per
Maybe some guy will grab it to wipe off his wind-
month and T-shirts are used four times per month.
shield or something.”
You may Be thinking: Number of impressions per month
1200
“I need a way to advertise so I can 1,038
be in front of my prospects every 1000
day. That’s why I advertise in my
local newspaper. Your products
won’t do that for me.”
800
The Real Story
Many ad specialties are often in 600
front of prospects. For example,
20% of those surveyed used
476
pens more than five times 365
400 363
per day. 294
251
227 221
192
200
You may Be thinking: 64
“I need to invest my money in media 0
that delivers real impressions. Writing Desk Glassware Calendars
Bags Caps Shirts Awards Other Other
Instruments Access. Ceramics Wearables
Now if you could show me how
many impressions I’d get from a
promotional product, I might consider
buying one. But you can’t do that, can you?”
The Real Story
Bags, caps, T-shirts and pens deliver significant impressions per month. On average, bags achieve the best
results, at more than 1,000 impressions per month. Caps have an average of 476 impressions per month,
while shirts, writing instruments and office accessories each have about 300 impressions per month. Above are
the per-month impressions for a variety of ad specialty items.
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