With the economy still in recession and advertising and marketing budgets often the first casualties it was never going to be the easiest of years for the promotional industry. Several key sectors including the banking sector, a long standing stalwart of the promotional industry, either stopped or reduced significantly its promotional spend in 2009. Other sectors such as health and telecoms continued to spend but their overall activity was markedly down on previous years.
For many businesses the focus became one of survival and cost cutting. All unnecessary costs (perceived or real) were stopped, many staff lost their jobs and inevitably some businesses failed.
Against this backdrop where advertising and promotional spend was approved it had to deliver and getting value become a mantra for budget holders and buyers alike.
Branded memory sticks (also known as USB flash drives or pens) were just beginning to gain a real foothold in the promotions sector in 207/08. Costs were falling, delivery times were shortening, the quality of the product was improving year on year and the target audience “got it”. Branded memory sticks were popular. They were popular with companies looking for something innovative and useful to give that was within their budget and supported their brand and recipients of memory sticks loved them because they were (and still are) incredibly handy and useful bits of kit.
But as we entered 2009 it really did look as though it was not only going to be an “Annus Horribilis” for the promotions industry as a whole but it was also going to be the year in which the growth of branded memory sticks faltered.
Talk of the demise of the memory stick was overstated and premature because whilst its day will inevitably come in 2009 it showed steely resistance and demonstrated just why it is one of the most loved and best performing promotional products.
In a very short space of time the branded memory sticks has risen to become a firm favorite and whilst there have been many casualties in the sector the memory stick is not one of them. Why? Well, branded memory sticks deliver and they deliver on many key metrics. They are:
- Incredibly well received and popular as a gift or promotional item
- Excellent at carrying a logo or brand
- Small, portable, convenient to use
- Ideal for pre-loading data onto such as sales collateral, press releases, product guides, presentations and audio/media files
- Relatively inexpensive for what they deliver
They do face challenges in terms of price stability which is not helped by the strength of the $ (USD) against other local currencies in which they are purchased and their price is subject to sudden swings as major player like Apple swoop into the market and buy up millions of flash chip modules. This is unlikely to change in 2010 but as 2009 has shown the core benefits of the product make it a real winner and something that is going to be at the heart of the sales and promotions industry for a few more years!
If you are interested in buying branded memory sticks in 2010 then give us a ring at USB2U or if you prefer fill out our on-line enquiry form and we’ll get back to you with a personalized proposal.
Tags: Branded Memory, Branded Memory Stick, Branded Memory Sticks, Branded USB Memory, Branded USB Memory Sticks
This entry was posted on Sunday, January 3rd, 2010 at 3:26 pm and is filed under Branded Memory Sticks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
