BLOCKED: Physical marketing, building not blocking

Twenty years ago, the world was a far simpler place for brand advertisers: broadcast was king, and online was an emerging fad. Since the turn of the century, there has been an explosion in the availability of data. From CRM systems to big data, companies have become increasingly data-driven. Mobile advertising is the fastest growing medium, although broadcast still holds the greatest market share in ad spend.

This is largely due to mobile’s integration of data and marketing strategy. Seismic shifts in technology during the past decade have created a cookie-crumb trail following consumers as they navigate their path to purchase. They are on tablets while watching television. They use smartphones to price compare while they shop. Crumbs are dropped at every stop. This produces a granular, nearly infinite record of what consumers see and do, which in turn enables marketers to gain access to an unprecedented level of precision—a strategy many have turned to. 

We live in a data-rich world, but it’s not necessarily information-rich. Customer demographics and buying patterns tell us the ‘what,’ but not the ‘why.’ To get ahead, marketers must dig deeper to capture a clearer understanding of consumers, their needs, and desires.

More than ever, consumers today are driven to avoid ads. A reported 91 percent of consumers believe ads are "more intrusive today compared to two or three years ago, and 87 percent agree there are more ads in general. They are making decisions in everyday life that revolve around whether they will be interrupted by unwanted distractions, such as paying for ad-free services.

In fact, according to a recent study, 42 percent of consumers said they were “planning to pay for new solutions to remove ad interruptions” within the next year. And the desire to see fewer ads is motivating these purchases.

In 2017, PaigeFair reported that mobile ad-blocking software has grown to an estimated 380 million users and 236 million active desktop devices, indicating “interruption” as the leading reason for consumer use. PaigeFair also reported a staggering 74 percent of consumers will abandon websites that require them to disable their ad-blocker software.

An evolving challenge for marketers is overcoming ad-blocking in order to successfully connect with the target audience. Yet ad-blocking behaviors are symptoms rooted in a larger problem: consumers no longer enjoy their advertising experiences. 

Despite this growing pattern of ad avoidance that we see among consumers today, 83 percent agree that not all ads are bad but “they want to filter out the really obnoxious ones,” as one report stated. They want messages to catch their eye and clearly deliver a message that they can relate to and makes them think.

Promotional products provide brands with a reliable path to reaching the target consumer group by positioning their message as it will be best received.

In fact, according to PPAI research, promotional products are the most welcomed form of advertising by all generations and considered most effective in providing a rationale to respond.

Promotional products not only allow brand messages to effectively reach their intended audience, but they also spread the word to anyone who sees the product displayed, used, or shared. Promotional products are used daily, and 83 percent of consumers use them more than once a day. 

The longer a promotional product is kept, the longer a brand’s message is communicated. And if a recipient does not want or need the promotional product, eight in 10 pass it along (nearly seven in 10 give it to someone they know, and one in three will donate it) ultimately furthering the brand’s reach.

Because of their extended shelf life and their ability to be used in everyday activities, promotional products allow consumers an opportunity to absorb the content at the pace and time they choose. This presents a greater opportunity for brands to engage with consumers without forcing unsolicited advertising.

The race to win the consumer path to purchase is contingent on consumers being able to actually remember the brand at the point of purchase. If they can’t recall a brand, they are less likely to buy the brand. Ensuring recall relies on building consumer memory, which can be carried out by brand exposure (through advertising) or brand experience (through using the brand’s products or services).

Promotional products have an upper hand on other forms of advertising because they are the only medium that offers an additional opportunity to heighten consumer memory. By replacing everyday items they are already using with branded promotional products, advertising assumes a more functional role in consumers’ everyday lives. This heightens both brand exposure and brand experience, allowing a greater memory recall.

The PPAI study shows nine in 10 consumers recall the branding on promotional products they have received—and it’s 67 percent higher than broadcast advertising and 78 percent higher than online, print, and mobile advertising. It’s clear that promotional products pave the way for brands on the consumer path to purchase.

To remain competitive, advertising must relate to the target audience and provide a purpose. This allows a greater opportunity to facilitate engagement and build consumer trust, leading to purchase. Promotional products engage and influence consumers—83 percent of who say they would be more likely to do business with brands advertised on promotional products—and help brands offer experiences that bring people’s passions to life. Consumers not only welcome these experiences from brands, they expect them.

If you ask an advertising professional what the key to success is, you might get a version of the answer once given by Ogilvy & Mather’s chief creative officer, Stephen Vogel: “Nothing is more efficient than creative advertising. Creative advertising is more memorable, longer-lasting, works with less media spending, and builds a fan community… faster.” 

Building relationships and offering creative solutions are what the promotional products industry is built on. 

How many brand names are in your line of sight right now, and are used by you on a daily basis? This is how your brand could and should be consumed by your customers, forming part of their daily life, building familiarity and trust, forming an emotional engagement, which keeps your brand at the front of their mind, especially whilst considering making a purchase.

Source - 'Tipping the Scale" PPAI Exclusive Research