Promotional Products – Making the Right Choice
Three things you need to know before purchasing promotional products!
Promotional products are the medium with the greatest ability to provide someone with the incentive to take an action. 44% of consumers favor promotional products compared to 13% for Direct Mail, 16% for TV, 14% for Print and 13% for internet. Promotional products stimulate the 5 senses simultaneously. 55% of people keep promotional products for more than 1 year. Nearly 50% use them daily. 76% of people can recall the name advertised on the product. Below you will find important information when purchasing promotional products.
- Does your promotional products supplier only work with suppliers that provide products that have documents insuring that the products have been tested and are certified safe?
- Does your supplier have enough product liability insurance on the products they sell?
- When importing orders, does your supplier have the documented testing results produced by a trusted lab? Does their supplier meet manufacturing procedures that are socially, ethically and environmentally responsible?
How Did Product Safety Become Your Concern?
Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act – (CPSIA)
In 2008, Congress passed the CPSIA, which strengthened safety standards, especially for children’s products. Key components of the act include: Lower limits for lead and other toxic chemicals, testing for small parts and a permanent tracking system for children under the age of 12. Product safety is not limited to children’s products, all products must be compliant with other Federal and State regulations.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – Regulates food and health related products.
Prop 65 – California law requiring a warning statement on products containing certain chemicals.
Various State Regulations – Many states have regulations for the presence of certain chemicals in consumer products.
What is Product Compliance?
Product compliance is the peace of mind that the products you give your target audience conform to all environmental, social and product safety regulations and standards.
- Compliance with federal, state and global regulations is NOT optional. It is the Law.
- Non-compliant products can lead to fines, recalls and irreparable damage to your brand.
Who is Responsible?
Everyone in the product chain (From manufacturers, to distributors, to the companies that buy and distribute the product) is responsible for providing safe products that will not cause harm to the product recipient. Your promotional products distributor should be responsible for monitoring all state, local and federal product safety and social compliance laws.
Case Studies:
McDonald’s sold collectable Shrek glasses for $2.00 tied into the movie Shrek Forever After. They were forced to recall 12 million glasses. The glasses contained cadmium, a poisonous metal that can cause Kidney and Liver failure.
Reebok gave away a charm bracelet with the purchase of every pair of children’s shoes. Sadly, a child swallowed a part of the bracelet and later died of lead poisoning. Reebok settled with the family of the child for an undisclosed amount and had to recall 500,000 bracelets. According to US Health officials the bracelets were 99% lead.
The California State Health Department gave away promotional lunch boxes in a campaign to promote healthy eating. The lunch boxes were found to contain high levels of lead. This prompted an embarrassing recall of nearly 300,000 lunch boxes.
How do you protect yourself?
When selecting an ad specialty supplier, ask to see documents insuring that all of their suppliers’ products have been tested and are certified safe and make sure that both the ad specialty distributor and their suppliers have enough product liability insurance to protect you in case of an issue. When importing, make sure that your supplier has documented testing done by a trusted lab and that all manufacturing procedures are socially, ethically and environmentally responsible. Don’t risk your brand integrity for deal that could ultimately cost you your business.
Author:
Bob Sanford
Halo Branded Solutions
bob.sanford@halo.com
www.halo.com/bobsanford
Jeff Nicholson
November 28, 2014 at 2:44 pmGreat information. These are the things that many companies don’t think about but they should. As you pointed out they can be found at fault for distributing a dangerous item, even if they didn’t produce it.
Troy Cameron
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Troy Cameron
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