Executive gifts used to be a nice pen or a nice meal, today it's more common to give a Tag Heuer or Baume and Mercier Watch or Swarofski Crystal. If you think business is tough take a look at what's happening in the executive gift and promotional products market.

When people used to think promotional products for their business, they advertised on a pen or calendar and got a great return on their money in the 60's and 70's. With the 80's and the explosion of corporate wealth more was expected. Wall street bonuses were frequently dolling out BMW's, Porsche's, Ferrari's, Rolex's and other expensive gifts. Those in the promotional product industry jumped on this trend. They convinced high end luxury manufacturers and distributors that they were missing out on a huge growing market. With business deals today running in the hundreds of thousand and millions, and competition fierce, every body is looking for a way to differentiate themselves.

After returning from the largest promotional product show of the year, I noticed the number of retailers and manufacturers of high end luxury items who had booths, has exploded. Tag Heuer, Baume Mercier, Swarofski, Movado, Sharper Image, Coach, The Gap, Liz Claiborne, Nike, and Reebok were all there. Where once items had to be priced under $50.00, today many items are in the thousands of dollars. The trend is certainly to bigger and better.

The idea in promotional products is mimicking the trends in the printing industry. Rather than do mass mailings, spend a little on a per piece rate and get a small response rate, the smarter marketing people are doing direct marketing campaigns on a smaller scale but at a larger cost per item. Make a bigger splash and see your response rate sky rocket. This coupled with the specific correct target market generally leads to profitable campaigns. Promotional products thanking your best customers with memorable gifts leads to loyal long lasting customers. The next time there's a problem chances are it would be resolved without losing that customer. You have to invest in your customers so that they will continue to invest in you.