Marketing is not a battle of products it is a battle of perception – a battle on

constantly changing grounds. The drastic reduction in efficiency of traditional

media, ignored for a long time, has now led to a massive structural change in

corporate communications. The rise of online- and direct marketing, of PR and

event-marketing are examples of the recent transformation in the business.

The fragmentation of target groups and media-inflation is putting heavy

pressure on traditional media. Advertisers are demanding more efficiency and

new, supplementary ways to get their message across.

The promotional product has benefited from this development. As a booster

for mailings, a personal present, a giveaway or as an incentive it is more alive

and loved than ever before. No other medium enjoys comparable acceptance,

sympathy and recall rates. Which is why German companies spend more than

three billion euros on promotional gifts in 2006 and the U.S. market has

grown to over 17 billion USD per year.

Promotional gifts, properly embedded in a corporate communication strategy,

can boost the effectiveness of every other element in the marketing-mix. This

is impressively demonstrated by the exponential increase in response rates

when used in mailings, and by latest studies* showing 72% unaided brand

recall with a promotional product compared to only 24% through print

advertising.

But, as Henry Ford lamented already in the 1920s, he knows half of his

advertising budget is wasted - except no-one can tell you which half.

Al Ries and Jack Trout remarked in the early 70s in their classic „Positioning“:

„In no other human activity as much money is wasted as in marketing.“

Considering the complexity of the mechanisms of human learning and

perception, using resources 100 % efficiently is certainly impossible. But

scientifically proven theories exist in the areas of traditional marketing, salespsychology

and below-the-line advertising methods that provide guidelines for

advertisers.

With promotional gifts, the situation is different. Although close to ten percent

of advertising budgets are spent on them and their efficiency is beginning to

be documented in recent scientific studies, the theoretical reasoning for their

use begins and ends more or less with their tax-deductible-status. But this

overlooks their uniquely multi-faceted, cross-media applicability.

In view of this, the motivation to considerations that follow was to give food

for thought on the success factors of promotional products and how to kiss

awake the innate potential of this “sleeping beauty” of corporate

communication.

To begin with, we need to ask what purpose promotional products serve as a

communication and promotion medium. Considering their many features and

functions in the marketing-mix, one can summarise as follows:

The promotional product is supposed to communicate a message

and/or an identity of a company or a brand; to anchor it sustainably

in the recipients’ conscious, and to invoke or confirm a positive

attitude towards its sender.

Promotional products can fulfil four functions:

Promote a brand

Promotional products can place a logo or a message in the target group’s

environment and communicate an identity. With a well chosen, intelligent

promotional product, the exposure time that can be achieved can be years.

Build a relationship

People never buy from companies, they buy from other people. A gift is

strong symbolic gesture to strengthen relationships between people.

Promotional gifts also strengthen relationships and thus foster a positive

attitude towards the giver.

Communicate

Promotional products can teach and communicate intangible or abstract

product qualities, serving as a three-dimensional metaphor. They can make

the intangible touchable and anchor images and messages in the recipients’

long term memory.

Convey an image

Promotional gifts can communicate corporate values and qualities, both

internally and externally. They can strengthen the corporate spirit and the

identification with a brand or the company.

This description is the starting point for finding out more about the reasons

for the effectiveness of promotional gifts.

The practical use of promotional gifts is still mainly happening in the area of

conveying a brand or building relationships where its effectiveness can be

understood intuitively.

This has been the main driver of growth in the industry. However, there is still

untapped potential in the areas of communication and image. Here, a

promotional gift is superior to many other media or can boost sustainability

and efficiency in a combined application.

To understand how a promotional product works as a communication tool, we

need to look at the basics of communication: A message is always transmitted

in symbolic form, as there is no direct access to the thoughts and feelings of

the recipient. Symbolic forms in interpersonal communication are for example

spoken or written words, gestures, colours and images.

Schulz von Thun, a communication psychologist at the university of

Hamburg, has summarised the four possible communicative dimensions of a

message in the model of a square, with the following four sides:

1. Factual Content

Most messages convey a factual content, which has to be put into words that

can be understood by the target audience. The factual content in promotional

products is the object itself plus any explicit information printed or engraved

like a logo, a slogan or a website address.

2. Relationship

Depending on how one addresses others, what object one presents them with

and how this is done, one also expresses what they think of them.

Correspondingly, the recipient might feel accepted, patronised or appreciated.

3. Self-Revelation

Every statement is also a revelation, an act of giving away something about

oneself. The message in the shape of a medium thus always offers an insight

into the personality and style of the party communicating.

4. Call to action

In communicating, one always wants to have an effect. This is true for

advertisements as well, which are intended to cause a positive behavioural

tendency in the recipient. This call to action should be clear but not too strong

or blunt, lest it cause a kind of reciprocal guilt which is counterproductive.

Nobody likes to feel guilty or wants to be ordered around.

Just the tip of the iceberg ...

Every message has explicit and implicit parts. Explicit means expressly

worded. Implicit means the message is conveyed without being expressed

directly.

Although it is commonly assumed that the explicit part of the message is the

one that matters most, this is by no means the case. Often, the main

message is being transmitted implicitly. The sentence the coffee pot is empty“,

when directed at ones secretary, contains the implicit call to action “make

some fresh coffee”, as well as making a statement about the style and

personality of the sender and the relationship to the recipient.

The implicit part of a message is of particular importance when it comes to

promotional gifts. Explicitly, it may just be the logo and slogan printed on the

product. Implicitly, the object gives away a number of additional statements.

A hypothetical example: A useful, high-value object with an innovative

function and bearing the logos, web-address and telephone number can

(not considering the circumstances under which it was presented) make the

following statements:

„We are innovative!“ implicit revelation

„We value quality!“ implicit revelation

„We are there for you!“ implicit revelation

„We value our relationship“ implicit statement about the

relationship

„We take you seriously!“ implicit statement about the

relationship

„We want to help you get your job done“ implicit revelation

„Call us!“ implicit call to action

„Visit our website!“ implicit call to action

„Choose us for your software support!“ implicit call to action

Also influencing the message are the implicit statements made by the shape,

colour and tactile qualities of the object.

The implicit part far outweighs the explicit part of the message, both in sheer

numbers as well as in meaning.

An implicit message gets through even if the communication is denied. In our

case, this may be because (again ignoring the circumstances of the

presentation) the article is not received. This may be because a customer

visiting, say, a trade show sees the gift being presented to another customer,

while he himself (intentionally) does not receive one. Even this conscious

refusal to communicate is a symbolic expression for the hidden message of

„I don’t want to contact you!“ (self-revelation), „You are not attractive as a

partner for us!“ (relationship), „Do not try to contact us!“ (call to action).

As the psychologist Paul Watzlawick said: You can’t not communicate.“

Cognitive dissonance:

There’s something not quite right here!

The challenge in interpersonal communications and in communication through

promotional gifts lies in “rounding out” the message square. This is because

the message only gets through as intended when it says the same thing on

every side. This occurs when all elements of a message supplement and

support - instead of contradict - each other. A message is well-rounded only if

all signals are going in the same direction. If not, they create a cognitive

dissonance, a gut feeling of something being not quite right.

An easily construed example for cognitive dissonance is a company presenting

itself with the slogan “Quality is our first concern“”, but printed on cheap tshirts.

But often the dissonance is more subtle, for example with a

promotional product that carries the same slogan as before, looks expensive

as though it was made of metal but when you touch it they reveals itself as

being made of cheap plastic materials. Or a company claiming to be

innovative and creative using a pen as promotional gift and moreover a pen of

the same type as their main competitor.

But cognitive dissonance can occur on all four sides of the message square,

i.e. on the relationship side, when the object suggests a familiarity that does

not exist (by giving an valuable object too early in the relationship).

The challenge in the use of promotional gifts lies in harmonising the factual

side with the subtle, but decisive messages emanating from the other three

sides of the square, and integrating all this into the overall strategy for

corporate communication.

The message arises in the recipient’s mind

To achieve this harmony, we have to get through the biggest barrier to

understanding our message: the inner ear of the recipient.

It is only when the symbols are decoded that the message takes shape in the

recipient’s mind. If they are decoded with an emphasis not intended by the

sender a misunderstanding is the result. It may well be that the recipient

construes meaning on a level where none was intended, with grave

consequences for the sender’s message.

This is particularly true on the level of cultural symbolism. A mailing including

a Swiss army pocket knife for example would lead to catastrophic

consequences in Arabic countries. The intended implicit statement of

versatility, precision and quality would be overshadowed by the cultural

symbolism of the knife, understood to mean the severing of ties. The sultans

in Arabic countries used to make gifts of ornamental daggers to followers

fallen from favour, implying a choice between ritual suicide and exile.

Another example would be presents of four parts, wrapped in white, both

which signify death in Japan. But even in our culture, misunderstandings can

arise depending on the educational level, interests and cultural background of

the target group.

Starting with the recipient

The more is known about one’s target group - which side of the square

resonates most strongly, what kind of object is emotionally and functionally

relevant - the better one is able to get through to it.

„The bait needs to suit the fish, not the fisherman“

This means that one’s own tastes do not matter in choosing a promotional

gift. Rather, one has to ask:

Does it , explicitly and implicitly send the intended message?

Is the object relevant to the target group?

Does it resonate emotionally with the recipient?

How sensitively everyone reacts to different messages communicated through

objects can be seen in the personal giving of gifts. Here too an object is

presented and becomes the bearer of multiple messages. The recipient

construes answers to the following questions:

What use is this present to me?

How much pleasure does it give me?

How am I valued?

What does the presenter think about me?

e How much care was taken in choosing the present?

What is the taste, style and wealth of the presenter?

To what degree do I have to reciprocate?

How much gratefulness do I need to express?

Only if all aspects of your statement satisfy the recipient, the present will be

perceived as pleasing.

The difficulty in finding the right present for some people - how many

misunderstandings have been caused by a poor choice in Christmas presents

underlines the challenge in finding a suitable promotional gift for one’s

message.

The presentation cannot be separated from the present itself, as the way of

presenting it communicates as much as the present itself.

- How is it wrapped?

- Does it arrive in the mail or is it presented in person?

- If it is presented in person, what words accompany the presentation?

- How does the message relate to the occasion?

A successful presentation can turn a poor present into a good one, and a

good present into great one, remembered by the recipient for years to come.

Mostly though, this aspect of making presents is overlooked or deemed

irrelevant. Because of this, an important aspect of the effectiveness of

This article was published on Saturday 01 December, 2012.