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First Promotional Products Week to take place in September
Howard Lake | 19 August 2013 | News
The UK's first Promotional Products Week will take place this year from 16 to 20 September. Run by the British Promotional Merchandise Association (BPMA), the series of events is designed to raise the profile of the £765m industry of promotional merchandise.
Many charities, of course, use promotional items to raise awareness and funds. Items range from branded pens, mugs, calendars, USBs and sticky notes to confectionery, clothing, keyrings, and sports bottles.
The BPMA points out that promotional products can have a long lifetime, quoting research that found that 87% of recipients had kept a promotional item for longer than 12 months.
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Items bought most often by marketers are pens (35%), pads, notebooks, and sticky notes (13%), and canvas shopping or eco bags (10%).
Gordon Glenister, Director-General at the BPMA said: “Promotional merchandise is far more than just a freebie. Used correctly, it delivers powerful and positive advertising messages, as well as a thank you. In fact, our recent research showed that branded gifts can deliver a higher or equal return on investment than most forms of advertising."
Promotional Products Week includes the BPMA Design Awards Competition, which invites UK-based undergraduate design students to come up with inspiring, original new product ideas for promotional merchandise, and a dinner at the House of Commons, hosted by Brian Binley MP.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.