NFC and Promo Merch

After 28 years helping clients build their brands, we know that promotional products work.

Or do we?

We know that people like receiving something thoughtful and useful.

But this efficacy evidence of promo merch is just anecdotal. 

What if we could determine concrete ROI numbers from a promotional product to support that anecdotal evidence?

What if a branded merch agency like ours could work with our marketing-clients to gather analytics about engagement, cost per impression, names of those that interacted with the promotion and even where in the country those folks were located?

Branded Merch Marketing vs. Digital marketing

IMHO, branded merchandise is already leaps and bounds ahead of digital marketing in terms of its memorability, impact and ability to last far longer and be used more regularly than any digital ad. 

Duh.

But now, with the ability to add an NFC chip into a huge variety of swag and thereby gain ROI trackability, branded merchandise now becomes the obvious choice for marketers.

What is NFC?

NFC stands for “Near Field Communication” and, as the name implies, it enables short-range communication between compatible devices.

Just like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, NFC works on the principle of sending information over radio waves. 

The best example of NFC “in action” is in use with contactless payment systems, like Apple or Google Pay; hold up your phone to an NFC receiving device (e.g., pay terminal) and voila!

So, what’s the promo merch tie in?

We can now embed NFC chips into a whole host of promotional products.

These chips can be programmed to direct recipients that put their phone up to the product to:

• a website landing page

• an invitation to engage with a brand’s social media

• a coupon for a product or service

• or any number of other creative ways to encourage brand engagement!

Creative case study 

For attendees that are unable to make it to your in-person or virtual event, you can add an NFC-enabled sticker to your follow-up mailer (with or without swag) for them to scan to see a recording of the event or highlight slides or even photographs!

To get your creative NFC juices flowing, check out the button below.