Gift giving is an old tradition, and along with evolution of consumer preferences, gifting has matured into a thriving business. However, as times change, gifts need to match the expectations of consumers, and accordingly, suppliers have to keep themselves updated about consumer preferences and introduce new products and services constantly.
Growth in the business of promotional printed products depends entirely on keeping your finger on the pulse of consumer trends, according to Sina Haghi, general manager of UAE-based Magic Trading Company (MTC), which has been in the promotional gifts printing and supply business for over 25 years.
“Traditionally, the gifting business used to be seasonal and we depended heavily on festivals for orders, but today promotional gifts and giveaways are part of any gathering or event, irrespective of whether it’s a product launch, trade show, or celebration, because of their brand recall value. Companies have realized the impact of promotional gifts on branding. In several cases, this form of advertising can be more effective than outdoor advertising. Consumers who see the name and contact details of a brand on an item they like to use or carry with them every day are more likely to have higher brand loyalty,” says Sina.
With regard to the promotional merchandise, Sina believes it is important to offer new, creative solutions for marketers to reach their consumers, rather than repeat the same campaign and merchandise offered by several other competitors in a market.
“It’s encouraging for us that the number of events of every kind is increasing the UAE. On the flip side, promotional merchandise bears the brunt of marketing budget cuts when there’s a downturn in the market. However, marketers and advertisers want what consumers want. Consider the impact of technology: as technology is increasingly becoming an integral part of our lives, people prefer tech gifts such as USB flash drives, power banks, speakers, and other IT devices and mobile accessories. We recommend gift items that are useful to consumers as well as serve as a powerful marketing platform,” explains Sina.
Sina points out that any printer today can enter the promotional merchandise business, because the cost of entry is low and the returns are high. According to him, it is easy to include promotional printing to a commercial printer’s portfolio, because it complements all the other printed marketing collateral.
“I’ve observed that promotional item printing is attractive to new entrepreneurs, who are not necessarily traditional printers, but looking to start small and grow steadily. Advertising agencies may choose to print their merchandise in-house, but they’d rather focus on their specialty and let us take care of the sourcing and printing of the items,” says Sina.
Magic Trading Company supplies machines and material for promotional merchandise printing as well as offers the printing service itself, establishing itself as a one-stop-shop for everything in promotional gifts and branding. The supply of promotional items makes up the largest share of MTC’s business; the company imports items, stocks them, and supplies them either as printed or non-printed merchandise.
“We may create competition for ourselves in the market, but if we don’t offer everything from machines to merchandise, somebody else will. I believe there’s enough work in the market for everybody to thrive.
Promotional merchandise supply remains our biggest business, and it drives repeat business. We have a large catalogue of promotional merchandise of all kinds sourced from all over the world. Because we stock items in the UAE, customers who wish to buy small and large quantities prefer to buy from us to save time and money instead of importing directly,” says Sina.
The promotional gift business can expand with the variety to items offered and the creativity in communicating a message using them to consumers, according to Sina. MTC is working on offering innovative packaging to add value to its range of merchandise.
“Often, the value of gift packaging often surpasses that of the gift itself. Packaging options, too, comes at different prices for various budgets. As long as we have unique, useful, and interesting products to impress consumers, we believe our business can keep growing. We enjoy tackling a different challenge every day when customers walk in with a request to print on a new item we haven’t done before,” says Sina.
