Technology, brand names in high demand

“It used to be at all kinds of shows you would see yardsticks all the time,” said Brian Wilmsmeyer of Elite Promotions Inc. “You hardly ever see anybody giving out yardsticks anymore.”

These days, as costs for electronic gadgets fall, customized flash drives and other technological gizmos are in high demand for companies who want to boost name recognition and market share.

“They’ve got actual writing pens with a USB port at the top,” Wilmsmeyer said. “I think of it as kind of a James-Bondish thing. They are hiding some things to make it a little bit more useful or handy for people.”

Wayne Wilson of Promoter Advertising Products said flash drives could say a lot more than a notepad with a company logo on it.

“What’s great about it is that a salesperson, if they give it to their sales team, can put their entire catalog or proposal on one of those little things and take and give it to their client or use it in a presentation,” Wilson said. “The problem is that the cost of memory in those things is up and down like cotton. Generally, it’s around $25.”

There are less expensive options, however, with several items that complement computers, iPods or cell phones – and all can be customized with a company name.

“The iSticky pad, you can put anything on them and they won’t slide around,” said Jarrad Giddens, special account executive with Yates Promotions. “I’m a hunter, and I’ve gone driving across a field chasing a covey of quail at about 30 miles per hour. My (iPhone) just stayed on that thing.”

Prime real estate

Businesspeople’s desktops are hot property in the promotions business, Wilmsmeyer said, and that’s where he wants his products to end up, regardless of whether they’re technology-related.

“I want to steal real estate on your desk. While you are making phone calls all day and talking to people you see Elite Promotions, Elite Promotions, Elite Promotions all over your desk,” Wilmsmeyer said.

“This year we’re going to do some nice padfolios … zipper-type folios with a pad of paper in them, something people are going to hang on to,” he added.

Brenda Jackson, owner of Trader Jacks, said digital picture frames allow you to capture that valuable desktop real estate – as well as the attention of several people.

“That’s a fabulous gift,” Jackson said. “People are enamored by them. They are always proud to show off pictures of their family or vacation, and there is your logo, right on the piece.”

Staying power

Quality is a key factor in determining which promotional items will be kept – and used – or discarded at the end of a trade show.

“I can sell you a $1 white mug or a $7 stainless mug with wood trim. (People) are going to keep (the more expensive mug) and use it,” Wilson said.

“Buy something nicer. It will go so much further,” he added.

According to Vicki Simpson at Bigfish Screenprinting, the same holds true for clothing: Quality counts.

“If you give someone something with cheesy art, it will end up in a drawer somewhere,” Simpson said. “Give someone … cool art to wear, they will wear it.”

Smaller items and food are less expensive, generally, and while those can generate attention on the trade-show floor, long-term attention requires something more memorable.

Jackson recommends a tiered gifting system.

“You’ll have your inexpensive giveaway, and then you’ll have a higher-valued item,” Jackson said.

“If someone actually books an appointment with you or spends some time learning about your products or services, then that’s when you reach under the table and pull out your (more expensive) gift.”

Wilmsmeyer is familiar with that technique.

“At the chamber show every year, we do buy something smaller, something to hand out to all of the people,” Wilmsmeyer said. “Then we do something nicer, in smaller numbers, something to hand out to about 25 or 30 people – our key prospects or valued customers.”

One method for conveying quality isto give a brand-name item, customized with your company name, to potential and existing clients or customers, a practice that’s on the rise in the promotions field.

“I had a client I had been doing highlighters and ink pens for,” Giddens said. “The next year they did Zippo flashlights and barbecue sets. That was two years ago and people are still asking about them. … It seems like there is a lot better response for the higher-end stuff.”

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