With every new year comes a chance to make some changes. Yes, those can be changes in your personal lives, but a New Year’s Resolution can apply to your business, too.
Distributors can use this fresh start to pay extra attention to what trends are appearing and growing in the promotional products industry. These can be new products introduced by suppliers, or new ways that existing products are manufactured. Maybe they’re design elements that become trendy as products evolve. After all, think about cars: Ford isn’t just making the same car over and over again. They take tech developments and aesthetic changes into consideration with each year’s new model.
That goes for the promo industry, too, as suppliers try to match what their customers want — products that excite them, make them feel like they’re making a difference, and (perhaps most importantly) that their end-users will want to keep, providing a lasting branding experience.
Sustainability
Being environmentally friendly isn’t a new trend. But, as manufacturers and consumers get better at incorporating eco-friendly practices into their lives, the products we buy and use become increasingly green.
Suppliers are looking to appeal to their end-users’ environmentalism, as well as make a difference on their own, with new products coming out that use more sustainable materials and processes.
Heidi Urban, director of sales and business development for Gordon Sinclair, New Hyde Park, New York, says that it’s her company’s mission to really move the needle when it comes to environmentalism, rather than simply talk the talk. She says that some suppliers might bill their products as eco-friendly, but really it’s an exaggeration of their sustainability impact.
“I find that in our industry a lot of companies … are greenwashing products,” Urban says. “They’ll be like, ‘Oh, well, I have a drinkware piece and it’s reusable, therefore it’s eco-friendly.’ At its main points, absolutely. Is that truly an eco-friendly product? Absolutely not. So, what we’re trying to do is truly put our money where our mouth is. So, not only are our drinkware pieces ‘eco-friendly,’ because they’re reusable, they’re now made of recycled materials.”
Jamie Jeter, head of sales for promotional products for Outdoor Cap Company, Bentonville, Arkansas, echoed the sentiment, saying that sustainability is one of the first things a customer might ask for in an apparel item or accessory.
At Outdoor Cap, Jeter is especially excited about the new OCflx series of cap, which includes what she says is the first sustainable stretch mesh back cap in the industry, with front and back panels made from recycled plastic bottles.
“This product stands out because of the combination of perfected stretch and sustainability at the right price,” Jeter says. “You can customize the decoration, but man or woman, day in the woods or night on the town, it is great for every head.”
Design Elements
Just like a new car gets some aesthetic tweaks over the years, so, too do things like water bottles. And there has been no greater driver of water bottle fashion than social media.
You might have noticed younger family members repeatedly changing their water bottle allegiances based on TikTok trends. One minute it’s Hydro Flask, the next it’s Stanley. While those brands are involved in the promotional products industry, sometimes premium brands carry premium prices. This is where some suppliers are creating similar products to cover the trend-seekers without breaking any budgets.
“TikTok is king right now, I’d say,” Urban says. “A lot of our customers, as we know, they have beer budgets but champagne tastes. So, we try to think of ourselves as that middle. We’re doing the best of what the retail brands are doing, but trying to make it more affordable and more economical, and also allowing better decoration techniques.”
At Gordon Sinclair, that includes their 40 oz. LeGrande Recycled Tumbler, which Urban says is sort of their version of the Stanley cup; and the 24 oz. Bux Recycled Tumbler, which is influenced by the ever-popular Starbucks cup. Keeping with their own ethos, the products are made with recycled and recyclable materials.
Aside from drinkware, fabric products like headwear and bags continue to evolve. Bags, especially, are continuing to grow in importance as legislation banning single-use plastic bags pops up, and younger consumers who don’t know a world without reusable tote bags age into influence.
Brian Padian, vice president of sales and marketing at High Caliber Line, Irwindale, California highlights his company’s HCL bag collection.
“High Caliber will be launching a complete line of over 50 bags [in 2024],” he says. “HCL will feature totes, cooler bags, lunch bags, as well as backpacks.”
Aside from that, Padian says that if a distributor saw success with something in 2023, it’s likely that demand will continue into 2024.
“The biggest trends in 2024 will continue to repeat from 2023,” he says. “We see our drinkware and bags continuing to increase market share. Our position in the market in these two categories will allow us to be considered at every distributor’s client presentation.”
One of those trends is multi-use. For years, the conversation of “trinkets and trash” has irritated the industry, and distributors and suppliers alike have continually looked for ways to create products and solutions that end-users value.
“One of our best-sellers is a bag that [is] a travel bag pack, but it’s also a cooler bag,” Urban says. “It has a bottle opener, it has three huge pockets, it even has an insert that you can remove. So, if you wanted to use it as a traditional backpack, you could.”
Cécile Kramer, director of marketing at Gordon Sinclair, added onto that, saying that multi-use is especially popular among younger end-users.
“The younger generation, I know they don’t store 20 bags or have room sometimes to have so many bags, so it’s better to get a good that is multi-use, instead of a cooler bag and a regular backpack and something else,” she says. “That’s really important for sure to target the younger generation.”
The younger generation is also “discovering” a lot of looks from the past. Retro styles from the ʾ90s and even the early 2000s (sorry, millennials) are considered vintage these days.
At Outdoor Cap Company, that means bright colors, certain design elements, and more.
“Perforation, full mesh caps, and laser-cut designs will add character to any shape,” Jeter says. “Nostalgia will make your favorite looks cool again.”
Life At Work, Life at Home
The other big change in our world these days is that many of us are working from home, as opposed to reporting to the office five days a week. Even if you’re in a hybrid situation where you do some days in an office and some days at home, your work-life balance has probably shifted. To that point, the products that help in your day-to-day life have changed, too.
“When I first started in our industry 22 years ago, everything was centered very much around the desk,” Urban says. “I think a lot of end-buyers have focused their purchases from just being off-centric to more lifestyle-centric. I think when we’re developing new products, we take that into consideration. It’s not just going to be around your work life. It’s going to be around your entire lifestyle.”
Resolve To Try Something New
It can be comforting to just go with the same styles you’ve relied on throughout your career. If it worked in the past, why wouldn’t it work now? But the way to grow your business is to try new things. This doesn’t mean fully reinventing your product offering, but try to say yes to something you might have originally balked at.
Otherwise, you might end up offering outdated styles.
“Customers are willing to take risks,” Jeter says. “What has been safe in the past is no longer cool. Do not be afraid to go with a bright color, a trendy new shape, or a rope. Customers want something that makes them feel good, and the old classic will no longer work.”
