promo giveaways better value than trad ads

Don’t advertise, give people things! That seems to be the take-out of this U.S survey that found that promotional give-aways beat out all forms of TV, radio and print advertising as the most cost-effective advertising medium.

Give-aways had “a very low cost-per-impression, high recall among those who receive ad specialty items, and increased intent among recipients to make purchases from the advertiser,” the survey’s researchers said.

Key findings:

* 84% of people remember the advertiser on a product they receive.
* 42% have a more favourable impression of an advertiser after receiving an advertising specialty.
* Nearly one quarter indicate they are more likely to do business with an advertiser on items they receive.
* Writing instruments are the most commonly-owned advertising specialty, with 54% of respondents owning them, followed by shirts, caps and bags.
* The majority (81%) of promotional products were kept because they were considered useful.

More information on the survey is here (which, by the way, was undertaken by people who do promotional give-aways for a living, but interesting results none-the-less!)