The Power of Promotional
Products:
Advertising Specialties
Impressions Study
Moderator: Natalie Townes, ASI Professional Development
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Panelists for
“Prove to Your Clients That Promotional Products Work”
Michael Crawford, Principal,
Crawford Creative Group, a multiservice agency, which includes
promotional products as its core
media. Michael also teaches visual
communications, marketing, sales
and advertising design at local
colleges and high schools. Michael
is also an award-winning graphic
designer and consultant and
frequent speaker at ASI Shows.
Jo-an Lantz, Geiger’s Executive
Vice President& Board Member
Jo-an is a former ASI International
Person of the Year (2004), and a
member of ASI Power 50. She
represents Geiger in WAGE (World
Advertising Gift Exchange), an
organization with 26 members from
25 different countries. Jo-an has
served a variety of different industry
groups and associations.
Lisa Leitch, Sales Trainer Teneo
Results As a former national
advertising manager, Lisa Leitch
understands the client and buyer's
perspective. As a multi-million dollar
salesperson & VP of sales for one of
the largest Canadian promotional
distributors, she uses her experience
to help distributors accelerate sales
performance and differentiate
themselves as promotional experts.
Melinda Ligos, ASI Magazine’s
Editor-in-Chief Before joining
ASI, Melinda spent more than 13
years at Nielsen Media in New
York, overseeing a group of
business-focused magazines that
included Sales & Marketing
Management magazine. Under her
leadership, ASI magazines have
been honored with two Neal
Awards from American Business
Media and six FOLIO awards. 2
A Groundbreaking Research Study
From ASI
We’ll Reveal. . .
• Statistics showing how advertising
specialties influence end-users’ buying
decisions
• Powerful numbers that illustrate the staying
power and number of impressions of popular
advertising specialties
• The Cost Per Impression of advertising
specialties compared with other popular
advertising media
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Survey Methodology
• A team of interviewers surveyed
businesspeople in four metro areas: New
York, Chicago, Los Angeles & Philadelphia
• An online survey to additional end-users
augmented the in-person survey
• 618 completed surveys in all
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You Will Leave With. . .
• Solid ammunition to overcome 12 common end-buyer
objections
• Your own personal copy of the study which can be
downloaded at www.asicentral.com/study
• Techniques for using this valuable research to
– Reach new customers
– Increase sales with existing customers
– Firmly position promotional products as the most cost
effective advertising medium in the minds of your
clients
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Objection 1
“Why should I put my logo on a pen or
keychain? Nobody remembers the name of
the company that advertises on those
tchotchkhes.”
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Solution 1—End-Users Remember the
Brands on the Items They’ve Received
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Objection 2
“Is someone really going to change their
opinion of me just because I sent them a
pen? I doubt it.”
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Solution 2—42% of end-users have a
MORE favorable impression of an
advertiser after receiving the item
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Objection 3
“Sure, my client is going to love to take the
free stuff I give him. But that won’t make
him any more likely to do business with
me.”
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Solution 3—Nearly 25% of end-users are
MORE LIKELY to do business with the
advertiser on the items they receive
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Objection 4
“Say I use a promotional product in a direct
mail campaign. What assurances do I have
that I’ll ever hear from the prospect again?”
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Solution 4—Most end-users have done
business with the advertiser AFTER
RECEIVING the item
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Objection 5
“I bet nobody really holds onto a promotional
pen. They probably go right in the trash.”
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Solution 5—Writing Instruments Are The
Most-Recalled Promotional Item
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Objection 6
“Other than maybe a T-shirt, my guess is that
clients aren’t going to keep anything I give
them.”
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Solution 6—The Typical Promotional
Product is Kept for 7 Months
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Objection 7
“Unless a promotional product is super highend, which I can’t afford, or really attractive,
nobody’s going to want to keep it.”
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Solution 7—End-users keep items
that are USEFUL
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Objection 8
“Why should I waste my money on a tote bag?
It probably only gets used one or twice at
most – maybe some guy will grab it to wipe
off his windshield or something.”
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Solution 8—Bags are the most
frequently used apparel item
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Objection 9
“I need an advertising mechanism that will be
in front of my prospects every day – that’s
why I advertise in my local newspaper. Your
products won’t do that for me.”
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Solution 9—Many Advertising Specialties
Are Used Every Day
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Objection 10
“I need to invest my money in media that
delivers real impressions. 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?”
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Solution 10—Promotional Products Deliver
Significant Numbers of Impressions
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Objection 11
“Money is tight right now. I’d love to buy
something from you but I just can’t afford
promotional products.”
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Solution 11-The Cost-Per-Impression
of Advertising Specialties is a Fraction
of a Cent
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Objection 12
“I’d rather put my marketing dollars into
television ads. They’re much more costeffective because they have a wider reach.”
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Solution 12—Advertising Specialties
Deliver a Better CPI Than Virtually Any
Other Media
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Cheat Sheet
(Give This To Your Reps!)
• 84% of end-users can name the advertisers
on the items they receive
• 62% have done business with the advertiser
AFTER receiving the item
• End-users keep products for 7 months
• The average cost-per-impression of a
promotional product = $0.004
• The CPI for advertising specialties beats all
forms of media (except billboards)
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Educating the
Industry and End-Buyers
• You’ll find coverage of the study results in all
7 ASI magazines and on ASI Radio
• Results are available on
www.asicentral.com/research
• ASI will conduct a Public Relations campaign
in general business media
• Educational seminars at 2009 ASI Shows
• Presentation for end-buyers for distributors
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Thanks for attending!
• Send your questions to asieducation@asicentral.com.
• Thanks to our esteemed panel…
Michael, Jo-an, Lisa and Melinda
• Invite your salespeople to listen to this webinar at
www.ASICentral.com/webinars beginning next week
• Join us Tuesday, Dec. 9 at 2 pm Eastern for
“Become a Master at Selling Apparel Programs”
where you’ll get a sneak peek at the hottest
wearables and fashion trends for 2009 as well as tips
for selling the latest looks and hot new imprinting
techniques.
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