Does branded merchandise work? Recent consumer research commissioned by the British Promotional Merchandise Association suggests it can – particularly when merchandise is useful, relevant and made well enough for people to want to keep using it.
But that answer comes with an important qualification: Branded merchandise doesn’t create value simply because a logo is printed on an object.
The more useful question for marketers is what happens after a product reaches its recipient when the audience, objective, merchandise and moment align. BPMA’s research examined how different U.K. audiences – including office workers, students, sports and music fans – receive, use and respond to branded merchandise.
Taken together, the findings point to several ways branded merchandise can create value, along with an important condition marketers shouldn’t ignore: What you choose matters.
Brand Merchandise drives action
BPMA’s research suggests merchandise can prompt people to do more than notice a brand.
In BPMA’s research with 1,000 U.K. office and corporate workers, 75% said they had researched or engaged with a brand after receiving a promotional product.
The same study asked respondents which left a stronger impression: a physical branded product or a digital advert. Sixty-four percent chose the physical branded product, 14% chose the digital advert and 22% rated them equally.
That doesn’t mean marketers should choose merchandise instead of digital advertising. The channels do different jobs and can work together.
What the finding suggests is that a physical brand experience can create a different kind of interaction, one the recipient can continue to encounter after the initial exposure. A digital experience might lead someone to a physical one. Merchandise might lead someone back to a website, event or social interaction. The strategic opportunity isn’t choosing one over the other. It’s understanding what role each channel can play.
What this means for marketers
Think about branded merchandise as part of the broader marketing mix. Define the job it needs to do and how it can work alongside other channels rather than treating it as a standalone tactic.
BPMA surveyed branded merchandise recipients of all types to understand how they interact with branded items and the organizations who offered them.
55%
of consumers use a branded item daily or weekly
62%
say they feel valued when receiving merch
76%
Of students feel belonging through branded merchandise
53%
of sports fans kept an item for five years
57%
of employees say merch makes them feel more connected to their company
How Branded Goods Keep Working over time
One of merchandise’s distinctive characteristics is the possibility of continued use. When an item earns a place in someone’s routine, the brand experience can continue beyond the moment it was received.
BPMA’s workplace research found that 55% of respondents used employer-provided branded merchandise daily or weekly.
Its research among U.K. sports fans provides another perspective on longevity. Fifty-three percent of surveyed sports fans said they kept branded merchandise for five years or longer.
The reasons people gave for keeping merchandise are useful, too. BPMA’s sports research identified factors including emotional connection, quality and durability or timeless design.
Distribution is only the beginning of the potential value. An item used once and forgotten has a different marketing life from something that stays on a desk, travels to the gym, gets worn to an event or remains connected to a meaningful experience for years.
What this means for marketers
Don’t measure the opportunity only at distribution. Consider what will give the recipient a reason to continue using or keeping the merchandise afterward.
An emotional connection built over time
BPMA’s findings also suggest branded merchandise can carry meaning beyond visibility, particularly when it connects to appreciation, belonging or identity.
In its workplace study, 62% of respondents said thoughtful branded merchandise made them feel valued, and 57% said branded merchandise made them feel more connected to their employer.
BPMA’s student research points toward a similar role for merchandise. In the association’s research synthesis, 76% of surveyed students reported a sense of belonging through branded items.
It’s all about the message that is delivered when a thoughtful piece changes hands. A welcome item for a new employee, university apparel worn by a student and merchandise associated with a fan experience are doing different jobs. But in each case, merchandise can give physical form to a relationship or experience that matters to the recipient.
That suggests a more useful planning exercise than simply asking how many impressions an item might generate: What relationship or experience is this merchandise supposed to reinforce?
For some programs, the answer may be employee appreciation. For others, it may be community, affiliation, recognition or participation.
What this means for marketers
Work with an expert merch agency to define the relationship or experience the merchandise needs to reinforce before choosing the item. The object should support the meaning of the moment, not substitute for it.
FAQs
How long do people keep branded merchandise?
Retention varies by audience and item. In BPMA’s research among U.K. sports fans, 53% of respondents said they kept branded merchandise for five years or longer. Its workplace research also found frequent ongoing use of employer-provided merchandise.
Is branded merchandise more effective than digital advertising?
The channels should not be treated as direct substitutes. In BPMA’s workplace research, 64% of respondents said a physical branded product left a stronger impression than a digital advert, compared with 14% who selected digital and 22% who rated them equally. That finding reflects the surveyed audience and does not establish that merchandise will outperform digital advertising for every marketing objective.
What makes a branded item that people want to keep?
BPMA’s findings repeatedly point toward the importance of usefulness, relevance, design and quality. Effective programs start with the marketing objective and audience, then select merchandise suited to the moment and the role it needs to play.
merch shouldn’t be considered last, because merch lasts
Can merch move the needle on brand affinity among recipients? The evidence points toward a more useful answer than a blanket yes or no: Branded merchandise can work – and keep working – when it gives the audience a reason to value the interaction.
Across BPMA’s research with different audiences, several patterns recur. People continue using some merchandise, associate some items with connection and belonging, and respond differently depending on the usefulness, quality, design and relevance of what they receive.
Those are important findings, but they don’t mean every piece of branded merchandise will produce the same outcome.
For anyone building a brand, the research shifts the conversation away from “Does branded merchandise work?” and toward a better set of questions:
- What are we trying to accomplish?
- Who is the audience?
- What would be useful or meaningful to them?
- Why would they choose to use or keep this?
- How does the merchandise connect to the larger marketing experience?
- What result should we measure?
The product comes after those questions, not before them. Branded merchandise isn’t effective simply because it carries a logo. Its potential as a marketing channel comes from creating something tangible that an audience finds relevant enough to use, valuable enough to keep or meaningful enough to remember.
PUtting Evidence Into Practice
The research makes a case for branded merchandise, but it also raises the bar for marketers using it.
Start with the objective and audience. Choose for relevance and continued use. Consider quality, design and context. Think about what should happen after the merchandise enters someone’s hands. And determine what success should look like before the program begins.
That’s how branded merchandise moves from an item to a more intentional marketing channel.
