Take a look around, and there is no doubt that technology has permeated all aspects of daily life – including the automotive industry. Promotional products suppliers are well aware of this, and have responded in kind with charging devices, cords, earbuds, and mobile device holders – as well as standbys like air fresheners and keychains.
According to Grethe Adams of Southern Plus, people are spending more and more time in their cars due to increased traffic congestion making the work commute longer, busy family schedules with after-school practices and games, trips to the gym, etc. “Promotional products that will help make time in the car more enjoyable, safer, or more productive are winners,” she comments. She adds that coolers to keep drinks or snacks cold, blanket/pillow combos, beverage bottles or mugs, first aid or repair kits, and trunk organizers are also popular automotive products.
Evans Manufacturing has seen an increase in popularity with charging devices, cords, and phone holders. Jason Schmidt notes that utilizing mobile tech in vehicles has increased due to laws mandating hands-free operation for mobile devices. “There is the voracious appetite of users for power, navigation, and interconnectivity between the onboard electronics and mobile devices,” he asserts.
The technology trend is also hot at Beacon Promotions. According to Gwen Brey, techie items that people can use to recharge while they are in their car are still very popular. “With so many people relying on their phones for everything they do – driving directions, communicating with work or the family, grocery lists/coupons, etc. – they can’t afford to have a phone with a low battery or dead.”
In addition to mobile technology products, the core categories of bags, drinkware, and stationery are trends in the automotive promo products category, Brian O’Gara reports. “It is clear that the automotive industry is doing well and budgets have opened up for promotional products,” he states.
At EMT, paper air fresheners are the most trending item, per Steve Weinstein. “This follows retail trends as custom shaped air fresheners can be found on the shelves at many urban clothing stores,” he says. “Seemingly just as important as the air fresheners themselves is the packaging, optional coupon for tracking, and custom header cards. Clients are getting very creative with this additional imprint space.”
Key chains are also well-liked automotive items, Weinstein continues. “They are always popular, however we've been seeing an increase in custom shapes, sizes, and colors, as well as a large demand for multi-function keychains with tools that aid in emergency situations,” he comments. “Demand for multi-functional items is strong across the board.”
To that end, Weinstein says challenge coins are a surprising item that is trending. “We produce a lot of them for trucking companies for driver safety,” he explains. “When they reach a milestone with no accidents they receive a coin. Belt buckles are also seeing a resurgence in the automotive safety market.”
Demand has been high for automotive products, reports Adams of Southern Plus. “With fuel prices low, interest rates low, and the economy continuing to gain strength, demand for new vehicles is growing,” she states. “Also, the automotive aftermarket is very robust with increased demand for services and parts to support an increasing average age of vehicles. This aftermarket is a great segment to focus on.”
In agreement is Polyconcept North American’s O’Gara. “Automotive company stores are getting remerchandised at least two times a year and the requests for larger drop ship orders is increasing significantly from several years ago,” he notes.
New wireless Bluetooth ear buds and HD action cameras are strong sellers for Polyconcept North America. “Many automotive clients are using the HD cameras (think GoPro) on test drives, client experience events and product testing drives to document the ride for their customers and/or executives,” O’Gara says. Beacon Promotions continues to see its USB car chargers and ice scrapers/snow brushes move very well, Brey maintains. Schmidt at Evans Manufacturing says the company’s dually car charger and hands-off vent holder are top-selling items in the automotive promotional products market segment. Southern Plus has a new auto-open/auto-close umbrella that is perfect for the automotive market, Adams notes. “The handle looks similar to a classic sport car gear shift and features a glossy black and grey pattern for a truly premium look and feel,” she elaborates.
Adams at Southern Plus has a number of helpful suggestions for distributors when they are selling automotive promotional products to clients. “They should advise their clients to provide a gift with the first scheduled service at the dealership,” she states. “Encourage ongoing business with the customer after the vehicle is bought. Keep in touch with the customer so you are top on mind when next vehicle purchase comes up, or to provide opportunities for trade-ins.”
Secondly, Adams recommends that distributors tell their clients to align the promotional product with the lifestyle of the brand. “Building brand awareness and loyalty is becoming a challenge with the Millennials whose focus is more on features and benefits than identifying with a particular brand.” She cites the following examples. With a four-wheel drive: a folding chair/camping chair; mini-van/SUV: picnic blanket or cooler bag; luxury sedan/SUV: high-end auto-open umbrella or premium chair; and electric/hybrid cars: eco-friendly jute tote bag.
The fact that people spend so much time in their automobiles is a great selling factor, Brey of Beacon Promotions points out. “About 90 percent of Americans owns a car,” she says. “It’s a great location for an advertiser – giving a great return on investment. Many people spend a lot of time in their vehicle commuting to work or on family outings. Everyone wants comfort and convenience while in their vehicles.”
Selling promotional automotive products is a matter of distributors familiarizing themselves with the technology before they recommend specific items to their clients, O’Gara of Polyconcept North America maintains. “If you do not know how an HD camera or virtual reality headset works, you will not be able to properly position it with your clients,” he details. “On PCNA.com we feature numerous product videos that will make it easy for you. Order samples and watch the videos. After a few minutes, you will be the expert that your client is depending on. Technology is rapidly changing and that frightens most distributors that we work with. I see that as a huge opportunity in a growing category. If you are not showing these new items to your client, someone else is.”
Case Study
Brian O’Gara, Polyconcept North America
Earlier this year one of the car manufacturers was looking for giveaways for a training class for their technicians. The training session was very important and was being conducted across the country to about 5,000 technicians. The objective was to provide them with a gift for attending the class and also remind them about the key points they were going to learn from the time spent in the class. The budget was in the $10 range per student. Since a story needed to be told we worked with the distributor on a custom journal concept from JournalBooks. It’s hard to take notes without a pen and paper, so this was the perfect start to this gift. To get the training message across long after the students left the classroom, multiple tip-in pages were created in the front of each journal—so important material would always be available with each use of the journal. In the past, the information used in the tip-in pages was distributed loose, and we all know where most of that ends up a few days after we leave a training session. Since this information was now part of the giveaway, it met all of the objectives; and the end user was able to pull from their print budget and allocate more money to the promo budget to afford a nicer giveaway than in the past. A decorated pen was inserted before leaving the factory so all the end user had to do was open the box and distribute the journals to the students.