Corporate gifts hold onto the top spot

Corporate gifts, also known as business gifts, are still the number one use of promotional products, accounting for 18.6% of programme sales in 2006. The annual research study* by Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) compiles and ranks the most popular marketing programmes sold by US distributors by programme category. In second place were trade shows (11.4%), closely followed by brand awareness (8.9%), public relations (8.8%) and employee relations/events (8.5%). The remaining programme types in descending order were: dealer/distributor programmes, new customer account generation, not-for-profit programmes, employee service awards, new product service introduction, internal promotions, safety education incentives, customer referral and other.Corporate gifts – which are defined by PPAI as gifts to foster customer goodwill and retention – have held the coveted top spot for several years and show no sign of losing their dominance of the sector. In fact, their market share went up from 18.2% in 2005, whereas their nearest rivals – trade shows and brand awareness – both recorded small decreases versus the previous year.It is little wonder that corporate gifts remain so popular as a means of initiating or cementing business relationships. They are ideal for rewarding long term or major customers for their loyalty and business to date or for incentivising prospective customers.Although corporate gifts have a higher unit cost than most other kinds of promotional products, they are in fact one of the most cost effective and long lasting. Few other elements of marketing media enable companies or organisations to be so targeted in such a stylish manner.* Source: 2006 PPAI Product and Program Survey