Green Swag

Every industry has their 15 minutes of fame, and I believe that the promotional products industry is about to have its Andy Warhol moment.

Promotional products are everywhere. Last year, North American businesses purchased 18 Billion dollars worth of advertising specialties. Everything from branded toasters that sit on kitchen counters to wacky magnets that cling to office filing cabinets. The street terms for these types of promotional products include swag, trinkets and trash, thingamabobs, and doodads. While most have a love affair with swag (it's typically given out free), I don't think that companies would believe they are doing the environment a favor when they buy promotional products.

Until now.

Over the past few months, our industry has joined the environmental crusade and once tired products are now enjoying a resurgence in popularity. Here are a few examples:

Yesterday's stainless steel tumbler is today's disposable coffee cup killer.

Yesterday's convention tote bag is today's must have fashion accessory at the grocery store checkout counter.

Yesterday's nylon lunch bag is today's styrofoam container killer.

Yesterday's ceramic mug is today's hottest desktop promotion.

Yesterday's notebook is today's 100% recycled cardboard journal.

Yesterday's plastic pen is today's biodegradable conference writing instrument.

Who ever said that swag could not save the earth?

We are asked all the time about the latest and greatest products in the swag business. People are typically expecting us to tell them about the toaster that can brand your logo into toast or the latest lava lamp. These are the trinkets and trash - the suspect items that simply end up in the land fill without serving any useful purpose.

Historically, there was no quicker way to bring a cocktail party conversation to a standstill if you mentioned the stainless steel mug or recycled journal as being the next best product based advertising medium. But this has changed in the last 9 months - companies today are demanding that their promotional marketing purchases now serve 2 purposes:

1. The product serves a useful purpose and will not be thrown out immediately.

2. By using the product, the consumer is reducing their environmental footprint.

As little as one year ago, a promotional product purchase was typically deemed a success if it met the first objective. Now marketers can now double their investment return if their promotional spend achieves the second, and arguably more important, objective.