| The Far East has long been
a valuable source of cheap promotional items and,
as economic conditions in Europe become harsher, this
situation is unlikely to change.
In these environmentally friendly times, the sourcing
of masses of cheap goods from the Far East has fallen
under the spotlight. Among many of the products being
sourced mainly from China would be merchandise destined
as incentive products. For those in the sourcing business,
and their clients, the choice has to be made. If it’s
cheap it has to be China. For products to be sourced
locally, entire programmes have to be rethought.
Libby Christie, head of operations at incentives
specialist Unmissable, says: “Companies must
be seen to be proactively more socially and environmentally
aware, and this is now filtering down into promotional
and incentive campaigns .
“There is now an increasing pressure on agencies
to adopt a Supplier Code of Conduct to help combat
poor working conditions, low wages and child labour.
“There is also growing pressure on companies
to be aware of their carbon footprint and the impact
their operation has on the environment, for example,
shipping in goods from all around the world. And UK
consumer trends show that they are increasingly seeking
quality over quantity.
“These factors are having an impact on the
sourcing of mass, cheap promotional items. Running
a promotional campaign that gives away huge quantities
of cheap promotional items only works for certain
brands. These campaigns serve a purpose, but they
usually lack creativity and standout.
“As stricter budgets come into play, agencies
need to be clever when planning a promotional campaign.
Often less is more – cut down on quantity but
increase quality of goods on offer.”
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