• by Aaron Baar , April 27, 2017

If you want to get consumers to try out a product, it's a good idea to create an advertising campaign -- even if the product in question is promotional materials. 

The Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) has launched its first integrated national and local advertising campaign touting the benefits of promotional products. The “Get In Touch!” effort will cover digital, social, live event and broadcast media. 

“Promotional products take on so many forms -- apparel, office products, technology and beyond,” Paul Bellantone, PPAI's president and CEO, tells Marketing Daily. “Video is an impactful way to showcase the breadth and power of promotional products in action and how promotional products are used by millions of people every single day.”

The effort is targeted to reach ad agency media buyers and in-house marketers and advertisers at small and large businesses. The ad is intended to showcase promotional products’ ability to “get in touch” with audiences, by literally putting brands in the hands of consumers.

“Knowing that nearly eight in 10 people will look up a brand after receiving a promotional product, any business can benefit from adding promotional products to their marketing plan,” Bellantone says. “The ‘Get in Touch!^’ campaign is a consumer cry for advertisers to break through the everyday noise of traditional and digital advertising to get in touch with consumers in tangible, useful, creative and meaningful ways. In an ever-increasing digital world, we needed a message that focuses attention on the tangible ability of promotional products to touch not only the hands, but the hearts of consumers.”

The campaign launched this week during “Promotional Products Work! Week,” a weeklong event (started in 2013) designed to engage promotional products buyers through open houses and factory tours, presentations, community outreach and donations to local nonprofits. “‘Promotional Products Work! Week’ creates a deeper understanding of promotional products as an advertising medium among buyers while demonstrating the benefits of working with highly skilled promotional products professionals,” Bellantone says.

The campaign will be expanded into live events via partnerships with Advertising Week, the American Marketing Association and the Public Relations Society of America.