BPMA Research


The British Promotional Merchandise Association have conducted research to show how promotional gifts increase awareness of businesses, shows the effectiveness of certain products against others and the longevity of such products.


Main Points

Some very interesting findings came out of this research, the most important of which are:

  • Printed mugs & promotional pens give a 300% (approx) better CPI than radio advertising and 800% (approx) than T.V.
  • 84% agree that promotional gifts increase awareness of the advertised business.
  • Mugs are generally kept longer than other promotional items, followed by branded USB drives and promotional pens.
  • The perfect promotional gift will be kept on average of 2.91 years.
  • 79% of recipients would be more likely to do business with a company after receiving a branded gift from them.
  • A branded umbrella is the most likely promotional item to be kept in a car.

Who took part in the research?

A U.K. wide study was conducted of a randomly selected set of 14,728 adults, who were screened on receiving promotional items either at work or home. Students and people under 21 were excluded.

Of the 517 responses received there were 254 female and 263 male respondents from across a range of sectors including manufacturing, retail, IT/communications, media, finance and education. Job titles included Chairman/M.D., manager, director, executive, P.A., administrator.

The online survey was commissioned by the BPMA and was carried out in the summer of 2011 by ActionPoint Marketing Solutions Ltd.


More Detail: Which is the most useful promotional product?

The highly popular USB stick came out on top, 21% of respondents agreed that it is the most useful promotional product.

All others were some distance behind but electrical items and writing instruments came in 2nd and 3rd, respectively, followed by mugs, household goods and stationery.

Most useful promotional product

More Detail: How do different promotional products stack up against other advertising media?

Promotional mugs and pens have an extremely competitive cost per impression, coming in at around 1p in comparison to radio advertising at 3p and T.V. at 8p.

Umbrellas and radio are at around the same level with calendars and USB sticks coming in more expensive at 4p and 5p respectively.

Promotional products v other advertising

More Detail: Which promotional gift is kept the longest?

Mugs come out on top here with 18% of all respondents stating that the promotional gift that they have kept the longest was/is a mug.

On average, the longest a respondent has kept a promotional item is 2.9 years, showing how your product is working for you long after it's been given.

Promotional product kept longest

More Detail: Products likely to be kept in cars

36% of respondents would keep a promotional umbrella they received in their car. This far outstrips all other products with headwear coming in at 13% and bags and household goods at 10%.

Promotional products for cars

Back to News