Jeremy Chen
A strange thing happened in the past 12-20 months.
Contrary to expectations, such as a drop in demand and expected dramatic economic contraction, the world began to experience huge shortfalls throughout the supply chain. From microchips to timber and steel and everything in between caused huge delays and backlogs in ordering goods, compounded by pent up demand with parts of the world re-opening.
On face value this was a terrible perfect storm for the promotional products industry. With tightened spending and reduced events and demand it was a bit of a ‘double whammy’.
What this meant was if stock was ordered for the most part the delays could blow out to 6 months instead of the usual 1 month.
However after the initial ‘shock’ period we noticed a very strange yet positive trend:
All of our clients began getting extremely strategic about their marketing plans.
They began thinking 6-12 months in advance. As opposed to 1-3 months
Everyone started adopting a very progressive crystal ball-like forecasting viewpoint. We began asking more questions like “What do you anticipate your target market or audience needing a year from now?” rather than a snap and impulse purchase. What are the benefits of this you ask? Numerous. For one it means a lot more thought is put into how product based marketing complements digital marketing and activations and promotions. This in turn allows for more creative inputs from our team into the design, style and delivery process. A stark contrast to the days of yore when logos were just slapped on any item and given away!
Secondly with reset delivery date expectations, many clients began to get more ambitious with their thinking. The art of promotional product marketing has become more personal than ever, with custom WFH gift packs, personal care items including custom socks, drink bottles, custom jocks and even beach deck chairs! Have a look at our bespoke products section to find out how far we’ve come.
Thirdly, while we work with some of the coolest Australian and Global brands like Dulux, Coopers and Tiktok, our core business is still Australian SMEs. A bundling of shipments has allowed for these businesses to combine freight with larger companies and piggyback freight costs as well as MOQs to allow other companies to work on products that have previously only been possible to giants.
From our experience, promotional marketing is best done strategically, and at its worst when thrown together at the last minute in a rush in the last few days before an event or activation. Whilst one of our main core values is speed, and we can fulfil these still, we’ve seen that strategic planning trump’s last minute every time.
So at good things, we’re not stressing or trying to fix the global supply chain – we are working out how best to leverage it for better marketing outcomes for all our clients.
As they say, good things come to those who wait.
We couldn’t agree more.
