THEY ARE AMONG the only products we receive (sometimes at great expense) and immediately gush over them, embrace them and show them off to friends or even strangers. A year later, we decide the models we have are antiquated and toss them in the trash. Then, without blinking, we reach into our pockets for a couple hundred bucks to replace the outdated accessory with something faster, smarter, sexier and with more blinking bells and whistles, which we adore for about a year before repeating the cycle once again.
In the world of promotional products, this kind of fickle love/hate relationship makes the industry swoon. Jeff Thompson, vice president of sales, corporate markets for Victorinox Swiss Army, Monroe, Conn., explained, “Two years is like 20 in tech years. Things are advancing at an accelerat[ed] rate, so while most [high-tech] products you purchased two years ago will still work, new products will be more robust, allowing you to do more in less time.” Because the pace in this sector is so rapid, Thompson suggested distributors should update their product offering in this niche on an annual basis.
Kenneth Huang, president of KTI Promo, Houston, echoed the changing nature of the industry. “There is no magic bullet that applies to all marketing campaigns,” he said. “The technology space is fluid in nature. What is hot in January may be perceived differently later in the year.” Aside from selling the latest and greatest, staying on top of new technology can ensure annual reorders from early adopters and forward-thinking clients.
The little Giant
In 2010, distributors have access to a wealth of new and innovative product retail offerings, such as micro-projectors, E-book readers and travel mouses, just to name a few. But according to Patricia Vissers, CMO of Sourcery Solutions, New York, “There’s … [a] big disconnect between what is innovative and exciting coming to market, and what products or technologies have real potential in the promotional products industry. For a variety of reasons, frequently the most cutting-edge technologies are just too expensive for our market.”
There is, however, one product that continues to reign as king of the high-tech products in the promotional world. “Despite our ongoing efforts to introduce our distributors to the latest and greatest technology innovations, USB drives continue to be wildly popular,” Vissers explained.
Regardless of what could be seen as an oversaturation of the market, Thompson went on to describe why the USB continues to be such a sure sell to the industry. “The universal serial bus interface has become standard on millions of computers, both Mac and PC, manufactured over the last 10 years,” he said. “With flash memory coming in capacities as large as 64 GB now, it is simple, portable and powerful.”
Flash Forward
Vissers noted some additional impressive technological advancements for USBs in 2010. “The most exciting news to look forward to will be the emergence of USB 3.0 products,” she said. “These new devices will dazzle users with their transfer speeds. While transfer speed is only one part of the technology upgrade between USB 2.0 and USB 3.0, it will certainly be the most talked-about improvement. We can expect to see data transferred close to 10 times faster than with 2.0 devices.” To put this into perspective, according to Intel Corporation, inventor of USB technology, transferring a 27 GB high-definition film using USB 2.0 could take 15 minutes or longer. USB 3.0 drives can complete the transfer in 70 seconds.
So how is the 2010 market shaping up for this sector of the industry? “How the technology category will fair within the context of the larger promotional products market is an unknown. It will depend greatly on the performance of the general global economy and the ad market,” Vissers said. However, she is enthusiastic that the tech niche is one that will maintain its popularity. “Companies want to support this technology absorption to seem innovative and grab [the] repeat branding connected with daily usage of such devices.”
Huang, also enthusiastic, pointed out that products less than $10 will have bigger volume. “Items in many different price points [will] offset any losses,” he said. “People spend money on what they want in any economic time—if you’ve got a hot enough product and they want it, they will buy it.”
Thompson optimisitcally added, “Technology and innovation is hotter than ever. With the mega success of the movie Avatar, and its stunning use of new 3-D technology at IMAX, the public has voted that they are willing to pay for something that makes them go ‘Wow!'”
Distributors looking for innovative technology this year will want to get up to speed immediately and then keep researching on a continual basis. What is certain in this niche, more so than most in the industry, is that the hot product of today may very well be an ice cube tomorrow.
