Promotional Marketing Trends For 2018

Daring Colors And Textures For 2018

As our team returns from their discovery mission at the PPAI Expo 2018 in Las Vegas, North America’s largest international promotional products tradeshow, they are bringing with them excitement more than ever! Continued retail inspiration, new materials, BOLD textures, patterns and colors are evident everywhere.

TROPICAL PATTERNS, MARBLE and METALLIC TEXTURES are continuing to have a strong moment this year.

Sustainable Products Are As Important As Ever

Sustainable products matter because people care about the environment and they think that companies should too.

CORK has been increasingly popular in the design world and this has definitely spilled into the world of promotional products. Durable, eco-friendly, it adds an organic texture to items making them instantly on-trend!

BAMBOO, much like cork, is another texture that helps to escape the noise and take cues from nature.

Both of these materials bring in organic modernism to our living spaces and workspaces, and are not anymore purely about sustainability but also about the increased trend of connected, minimalist lifestyle.

Wireless Tech

TECH… is growing in strength and with it, we see an expanding amount of the type of products available in this category. Power banks, Bluetooth speakers, wireless chargers will continue to lead this category in 2018. Extremely popular are also sound, such as Earbuds, and smartphone accessories, such as the Infinite Phone Ring shown below.

But also worth mentioning is HOW some tech products are being used by companies. With some of the items’ higher price point, they become a great choice as a substitute for an employee award. See, featured below: Sonosphear Bluetooth Speaker

Use tech to position your company as one which cares about their employee’s WELLNESS. Choose products such as fitness trackers in your employee rewards and corporate gifts strategy, to help the recipients on their wellness journey.

Dual-Functionality Wins

With so many products out there in constant competition for your attention, the question is, “which one do you remember?” And for businesses, this question becomes “which of these products will yield the most desirable result at a reasonable price tag?”

Actually, the answer can be quite simple - select products with DUAL (OR MULTIPLE) FUNCTIONALITIES! The main reason? It’s because they target and satisfy multiple needs in one item. They are unique in nature, stand out from their ordinary counterparts, and are more likely to be used a variety of settings.

There are 2 types of dual-functionality promotional products in the market:

DUAL FUNCTION BY PRODUCT CONSTRUCTION. This is a much more standard approach, selecting products which already have dual functionalities. For example, products like this Pen and Stylus, 18-in-1 Credit Card Sized Tool, Backpack Duffel Bag, or Spinner with a Charging Cable.

DUAL FUNCTION BY ARTWORK INTEGRATION. This method requires a bit more creativity. ( But don’t worry! We’ve got you covered here! ) It takes advantage of the available imprint area of an item or decoration method and then, by adding a specific design, it gains a secondary function for the product, hence improving its odds to be reached for! Check out our very own mousepads + calendars and not-your-standard sticky notes + ruler + work week planner, which can also be an effective page flag!

About Your Audience

If your brand is B2B, remember, that more and more millennials are entering the decision making roles within organizations in 2018. And if your brand is B2C, understand that millennials are the largest generation right now. They have already surpassed Gen Xers and Baby Boomers. It will be worth understanding this generation’s motivations and values - read CREATIVE - UNIQUE - FUNCTIONAL - and influencing this segment early-on can greatly benefit your bottom line.