Collateral Damage

I love the article and the information is great: However, I have one question. Where does it address collateral pieces — i.e., promotional products — the pieces that float on a desk or on imprinted computer cases, imprinted crackberry holders, pens, mints, the hold it, see it, play with it, remind me message carrier?

Obviously, I love the collateral field and I am a huge online researcher, buyer and shopper.

I think you need the promotional product collateral piece to help build that brand equity so that when we are actually unplugged, we still have a reminder to tell us to log back on to *.com.

I specialize in driving traffic to the site and from the site to the shopping cart.

Tina Brown
Sales Associate and Event Planner
Pura Vida Promotions, Inc.

Editor-at-Large Brian Quinton responds:

I agree that we may see more marketers returning to promotional products as a tried-and-true formula — and I write from an office awash in Rubik’s Cubes, logo’ed lava lamps and branded hockey pucks.

But I think products suffer from the same lack of measurable ROI as old-media advertising: It’s easy enough to count how many pens/phone cases/daybooks you’ve distributed, but it’s hard to judge how much that tide of products influenced a buying decision, enhanced brand association or even lifted awareness.

Because of that metrical lack, I’d guess that for every brand that opts to double up on the promo premiums this year, another will decide that the money is better spent in building a useful widget or launching a coupon program.