The Promotional Products Association International recently conducted a study about end-user (target audience, product recipients, etc.) attitudes toward promotional products. They surveyed just over 1000 consumers who could recall receiving a promotional product in the past 24 months.

One of the most interesting results was that 83% of respondents “like receiving a promotional product with an advertising message.” Besides the Super Bowl, is there another type of advertising that consumers want to see?

Advertisers are constantly fighting to gain the attention of their targeted audiences. Yet those audiences fight to block those messages with TiVo, spam buttons, and satellite radio. Why? Many forms of advertising media - television, radio, internet, and print – are, by nature, invasive. They interrupt our TV shows, make us turn the page to finish reading an article, and pop up all over our computer screen.

Promotional products stand out because they invite consumers to engage in an advertising message rather than interrupt with one. The act of giving something to someone breaks down the “I don’t want to be sold to” wall and invites the audience to engage in the brand, essentially opting-in to your message. It creates a personal connection between your target audience and your brand.

In fact, you could argue that with promotional products, consumers choose to have you advertise to them. They audience choose to hang your calendar on their wall, drink their morning coffee in your mug, or keep your pen on their desk. These items are placed in highly visible locations creating hundreds of impressions with the recipient and others who see it.

Another reason that consumers are more open to this form of advertising is that they receive an immediate and tangible benefit for paying attention to your brand or message – the product. According to the same study, the top reason, by a wide margin, that consumers keep promotional products is that they find the item useful. This is key for advertisers because the longer a person keeps a promotional item, the longer that they are exposed to the advertising message.

Because of their inviting and personal nature, promotional products offer advertisers an effective alternative to traditional advertising mediums. Consumers choose to be advertised to instead of changing the channel. Both the advertiser and audience realize value in promotional advertising.