Testing the effectiveness of promotional products.

The Trade Show Bureau, Denver, asked Exhibit Surveys, Inc., Port St. Lucie, Florida, to measure the effectiveness of various ways of distributing promotional products. The resulting matrix-constructed study, co-sponsored by Promotional Products Association International, Irving, Texas, and the Specialty Advertising Association of Greater New York, examined the impact of promotional products used in three ways: as pre-show promotions, as at-show give-aways, and in post-show follow-ups.

The study sought to determine how well promotional products attract specifically invited prospects; how they increase the awareness and memorability of a company; and how they influence the preference to buy from the company. Using a six-part matrix, the survey evaluated the most effective combination of promotional products for a trade-show exhibitor.

The Hoechst Celanese Corporation authorized Exhibit Surveys to study the impact of a series of promotional products used to attract prospects to the Hoechst Celanese Exhibit at the 1991 National Plastics Exposition, held at Chicago's McCormick Place.

Test Matrix

Sample    Pre-show                At-show        Post-show

A         Magic 8 puzzle          coffee mug     flashlight with
                                                 thank-you note

B         coaster for mug         coffee mug     thank-you note

C         invitation for gift     coffee mug     thank-you note

D         Magic 8 puzzle          no gift        flashlight with
                                                 thank-you note

E         invitation only         no gift        thank-you note

F         no invitation           no gift        sent literature
          (visitor inquiries)

Approximately 5,000 pre-registered prospects were divided into test groups. Five groups were sent a pre-show mailing and a post-show thank-you note. Promotional products were included with three of the mailings and were given to three groups at the show. The imprinted advertising specialties included a coffee mug coaster, a coffee mug, a pen-sized personal flashlight, and a Magic 8 puzzle, which fit into Hoechst Celanese's 1991 "Solutions" theme.

How did it work?

The Hoechst Celanese study showed the following:

* An invitation with a gift can increase traffic as much as three times more than an invitation with no gift. A companion gift--the coffee mug coaster with a matching coffee mug available at the show--produced the highest response rate.

* Using promotional products can increase the memorability of the company's exhibit. Again, the companion gift produced the highest memorability scores. The companion gift also produced the strongest association of the promotional product with the company.

* Promotional products can produce good will that is 80 percent greater than the no-gift approach. The companion gift approach created the most good will in this study.

* Promotional products can increase awareness of a company. The three-gift approach--pre-show, at-show, and post-show--produced the greatest increase in awareness. The three-gift approach also produced a 70 percent increase in preference for a company compared with the no-gift approach.

* Promotional products do not lower the quality of the attendees attracted to an exhibit when the promotion is directed at a pre-selected target audience.

* Depending on budget limitations, the promotional product combinations with the most overall benefits are:

1. Triple gift (pre-show, at-show, post-show) 2. Companion gift (pre-show and at-show) 3. At-show gift

The strategy of a pre-show gift and post-show gift with no at-show gift obtained such poor overall results that it is not recommended. This unusual option was included to ensure the completeness of the study.