28-06-2011 Promotional Products: Effective and sustainable

As part of its economical responsibility EPPA recognises the need to professionalise the industry on a European level. EPPA sees as its responsibility to fight prejudice on promotional products and provide clarity about promotional products being effective business builders and deserve a fair share in the marketing mix of any company. Moreover, we need to be transparent about our efforts to make our business sustainable and transparent. Our customers not only have to be customers because they understand the success of our products, they also have to be able to do business with reliable partners. Partners that can ensure that all laws and regulations have been followed and that social and environmental rules and policies are respected. This requires a cross European approach.

Sustainable development  for EPPA will be materialized in a certifiable code of conduct.

EPPA works on the development of the European standard for social and environmental responsibility in our industry, framed in a so called ‘code of conduct’. EPPA invited a workteam of cross European members, both suppliers as well as distributors, to develop the criteria and ways of working. Shortly we will give you more information on the workteam and its progress. The team will ensure that the result will be practical to implement with reasonable financial or administrative implications. We do know however that social and environmental responsible behaviour requires touch thinking and sometime re evaluation the way you do business and does not come for free. Compliance with the code of conduct means certification of a company and its processes. It is a guarantee that a company is doing everything possible to ensure adherence to the code.

The promotional products industry, due to its nature of small and medium sized companies and long and wide supply chains, with many product categories, gives specific challenges. Certification of companies requires risk management in the supply chain, and means extra attention to develop a model that is workable yet still credible.

The campaign for promoting the industry will reconfirm our role in the advertising market

EPPA knows from research that promotional products have an effective and efficient role in the marketing mix. Promotional products are used to create awareness but also highly used for persuasion or to thank loyal customers and as such form a targeted approach to build business. But we know that the image of our industry is ‘saddled with a serious stubborn image problem’* and the use of promotional products is limited by prejudice. This is the background to start a pan European campaign, using proprietary media. At this very moment the first advertisements are being created. We will disclose the creative platform in the next newsletter. This campaign will strengthen your voice at the customer table and will convince and reconfirm the power of promotional products, clarifying that they are an essential part of any communication mix. The ads will be made available for all players in the industry for a small fee to be used as often possible. Because a strong message needs repetition to become memorable. All companies in the industry, including you!, can contribute to building the industry and growing your own business. Because that is why EPPA wants this going.

*Quote from Nancy K. Austin, A passion for excellence.

How do we define sustainable development?

Sustainable development in de ISO 26000 definition is described as: development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

NOTE   Sustainable development is about integrating the goals of a high quality of life, health and prosperity with social justice and maintaining the earth's capacity to support life in all its diversity. These social, economic and environmental goals are interdependent and mutually reinforcing. Sustainable development can be treated as a way of expressing the broader expectations of society as a whole. 

Social and environmental responsibility, why is it important for us?

Nowadays doing business means doing business social responsible. An organization's performance in relation to the society in which it operates and to its impact on the environment has become a critical part of measuring its overall performance and its ability to continue operating effectively. This is, in part, a reflection of the growing recognition of the need to ensure healthy ecosystems, social equity and good organizational governance. In the long run, all organizations' activities depend on the health of the world's ecosystems. Organizations are subject to greater scrutiny by their various stakeholders. The perception and reality of an organization's performance on social responsibility can influence, among other things:

• its competitive advantage
• its reputation
• its ability to attract and retain workers or members, customers, clients or users
• the maintenance of employees' morale, commitment and productivity
• the view of investors, owners, donors, sponsors and the financial community; and
• its relationship with companies, governments, the media, suppliers, peers, customers and the community in which it operates.