Promotional Products Pack Political Punch

Sales of promotional products for political campaigns have remained steady over the years. It’s the ease with which customers can order them that has changed.
Oct 2, 2007

By Dawn McMullan

Yard signs. Bumper stickers. Buttons. This is what political campaigns looked like in the '90s, '80s and '70s, and probably farther back than most people can remember. And by and large, this is what political campaigns look like today, with a bit of added technology thrown into the mix.

One of the biggest changes in the industry, according to Steve Grubbs, founder of Davenport, Iowa-based VictoryStore.com, is that politicians and political supporters have gone from bumper stickers to bumper magnets. The transition from corrugated plastic signs instead of the old cardboard versions is a big change, too, he adds. Candidates also are enjoying the now affordable option of full-color signs (even with photos) instead of one- or two-color signs, which is to say that this isn’t a fast-moving niche of the promotional industry.

Grubbs served as an Iowa state representative from 1990 to 1996 and was chairman of the Iowa Republican party from 1997 to 1998. In 2000, he stepped away from politics and into political promotions. His clients have included Steve Forbes and former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson when they made presidential bids, as well as many congressional and gubernatorial candidates.

Low-tech Meets High-Tech
Some promotional product specialists see the same trend toward certain staples every candidate must have. “Most candidates have to have some pretty specific things because that’s just part of the process,” says Lee Eldridge, president of Lawrence, Kan.-based Absorbent, Ink. “You have to have yard signs. You have to have bumper stickers. You have to have buttons. Those things are the bread and butter of the industry.”

While candidates may not be ahead of the promotional creative curve, they are using technology to their advantage, slapping their Web site on every possible surface. “The ability to put their message online has changed how politicians convey information,” Eldridge says. “Their Web site and how they drive people to their message gives them such complete control over their message. They can change or update it any time. With the artwork we’re printing, the candidates are stressing their Web sites much more than they were three years ago.”

Another big change in political promotions is the online design technology available to candidates. “Most candidates work during the day and focus on their campaigns at night when print shops are closed,” Grubbs says. “If a campaign committee is meeting at 8 p.m., we wanted to create a way for them to go online and design T-shirts or bumper magnets and pay without ever having to talk to somebody.”


The Political Money Machine
Possibly the most notable change in this industry is one almost always associated with politics — money (See "Market Data: Political Promotions"). From 2002 to 2006, overall spending on political campaigns doubled to $3.1 billion, according to Stamford, Conn.-based research firm PQ Media. “It’s amazing just how much money those guys throw at advertising and promotion,” Eldridge says. “We’ve already gotten some orders, though not a ton yet, and we’re a year plus away from the [next presidential] election. It sure seems like it started early this year. The budgets are getting bigger and bigger as they collect more money, and money is a central part of how politics are run these days.”

Of course, the amount of money depends on the campaign, as does the organizational structure of the promotions. In a small campaign, the candidate is usually doing the buying. A campaign manager is generally in charge of a medium-sized campaign, while an organization director heads up the effort in a large campaign.

Absorbent, Ink. gets a lot of its business from advocacy groups rather than big-name campaigns. In the 2004 presidential campaign, an estimated $350 million was spent by advocacy groups, according to an article published in the New York Times (Oct. 20, 2004). “With advocacy groups, there are a lot less restrictions on how they spend money,” Eldridge says. “There’s much more of an immediate decision-making process.”

Barb Carroll, president of Ad Pros of Palm Beach, Palm Beach, Fla., says she sees politicians spending between $7,000 and $12,000 on some orders. In addition to the usual promotional items, she’s seen politicians buy pot holders (with a slogan such as “don’t get burned”), jar openers, candy, hand fans, magnets, flower seeds, litter bags, hats, door hangers and compressed sponges that are easy to mail. (While political promotions promise rich rewards, the payoff, according to Mark Venit, in his recent online Off the Cuff column "The Pitfalls of Political Payoffs," depends on your ability to collect up front. — Ed.)

“I’m not sure that they really change a lot,” Carroll says. “They vary a bit from product to product, but basically, they order the same products. In our industry, we do have innovative products, but I don’t know if the political campaigns tend to go that route.” Part of the reason is probably price, Carroll adds. These campaigns are ordering in high volume and want to keep the price low, which separates them from corporate clients.

In many ways, though, people promoting political products were ahead of the game years ago with the type of branding they did, Eldridge says. Now, other industries are catching up. “From a promotional standpoint, if you step away from the political arena, a lot of other industries are utilizing promotional products more as a piece of their overall marketing promotional idea,” Eldridge says.

 “In the past, maybe they were just using them for some type of event. But now they’re integrating them more into what the company’s overall philosophy is. The political community has been doing it this way forever. A central part of their promotion is seeing that brand over and over and over again.”

Dawn McMullan is an award-winning freelance writer based in Dallas. She has written for national, regional and local magazines, as well as provided commentary for Dallas newspapers and radio stations. She can be reached at dmcmullan@sbcglobal.net.

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