Overview: 2018 Promotional Product Trends
While other years have been marked by large shifts in the industry, 2018 will be a year of alignment. Retail trends continue to permeate the promotional world as consumers are exposed to new and innovative products. Functionality is pairing with impeccable design to elevate the expectations of product recipients.
What does this mean for organizations looking to order promotional items in 2018? It means your selection is better than ever! From apparel to technology to drinkware and everything in between, promotional items have opened up to allow organizations more creative freedom than ever before. What an exciting time to be thinking about company branding!
In this series of recommendations, we will be sharing the retails trends in 2 separate posts. So stay tuned and without further ado, let’s dive into the trends.
Trend#1: Buying power is shifting
Traditional promotional items and business gifts are deemed less popular than unique, innovative, and useful products. Why does this trend exist? Part of it is because the key decision-makers at organizations are getting younger.
As organizations hire more millennials into their workforces, they’re providing buying power to a younger generation—one that is constantly surrounded by the influences I described above. This is leading to a shift in the types of promotional items organizations are purchasing.
This trend actually works both ways. For organizations that want to purchase wholesale items, millennial influencers have an increased impact on exactly what those items will be. For marketers who want to order effective promotional items in 2018 to reach key decision-makers, keep in mind that millennials have surpassed Gen Xers and Baby Boomers as the largest generation in the U.S. labor force. Select promotional items that will appeal to this generation that values creativity, uniqueness, and usefulness.
Some promotional and premium items includes Travel adapters, power banks and wireless mousepad.
Trend #2: Adding value is key to a promotional item’s success
With the rise of lifestyle trends like de-cluttering, downsizing, and minimalism, people are very reluctant to hold onto things that don’t add to their lives. More than ever, it’s important that the promotional items and gifts your organization gives out are useful, desirable, and high quality.
Here are a few ways you can give out promotional items with a higher perceived value in 2018:
- Always start by thinking about who your recipients will be and what they might need or want.
- Choose retail-inspired promotional items with impressive features.
- Focus on packaging and presentation to make each item feel more like a gift.
- Use multi-feature products or gift sets that serve more than one purpose.
- Put strategy into your design or imprint to make it look as nice as possible.
So, there you go! These are the latest trends that you need to look out for if you are looking for customised promotional gifts. Stay tuned for part 2 and subscribe to our newsletters for the latest gift ideas and special offers!
This article was first published by Cathy Houston.
Read more: https://www.godelta.com/blog/top-2018-promotional-product-trends