TRENDS REPORT
Are promotional products the gifts that keep on giving in SA? The global promotional products industry is doing well, despite an unstable international economic climate, and is said to be growing at pace according to Econo Times, with other industry experts seeing this upward trend continuing until at least 2024.
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he reasons for this are varied, growth, however, extend to South Africa, but most likely lie in the fact where according to Statistics South Africa, that marketing, specifically in a we have just narrowly dodged a recession? competitive economy, is a key business priority and branded promotional SA resellers weigh in products are a simple, cost effective Rainer Schulz of Thistle Promotions way to keep brands top of mind,” believes that, without supporting said Nick Sarnadas, event director at research on the South African promo Specialised Exhibitions Montgomery. product market, it is difficult to “Through promotional products, make a definitive statement on how advertising and marketing messaging the sector has fared recently. life cycles can be greatly extended “Over the past year, we’ve seen to long after initial exposure, Mr contrasting variances in the South African Sarnadas continued. promotional goods sector – some “Statistics vary per country companies have drastically cut but, on average, around spend, forgoing marketing 80 per cent of recipients investment in lieu of of recipients will remember channelling funds into will remember the the advertiser staff retention, while advertiser after receiving a after receiving a others have started promotional gift item promotional gift item spending on promotional and approximately goods for the very first 45 per cent of those time in an attempt to will keep the product keeping the product grow brand awareness and for at least 12 for at least 12 months.” market share by channelling months. Does this positive market funds into new areas,” he said.
80% 45%
28 Business Events Africa November 2019
This sentiment is corroborated by another local promotional products reseller, namely David Kraukamp of Promo One, who explains that it has been a fairly tough year for the market, much like most other sectors in South Africa currently. “Unfortunately, many businesses are redirecting marketing spend, as it’s often the easiest place to cut budget,” Mr Kraukamp said. “However, there is clearly still value in corporate gifts and promo items, particularly as we head into the festive season, as companies in general do still want to provide some sort of item to their customers, even if it is at a lower price point.” Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) released 2018 global industry research which shows interesting results, adds Sarnadas, especially when it comes to the five Rs of promotional products, namely, reach, reaction, recall, resonance and repeated exposure: • Reach: 89 per cent of consumers have received a promotional product in the last six months. www.businesseventsafrica.com
