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How Promotional Products Were Used In The US Election

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God bless America!

The world breathed a sigh of relief that it was over, and, depending on their view of things, Americans ran up the Stars & Stripes or contemplated therapy, or in some cases no doubt extra therapy!

As with Brexit we’re all gonna have to wait and see how the Trump presidency will pan out but what we can do is take a look at the impact of promotional products on the campaign.

And they were used in a big way! It’s estimated that the Trump camp spent around $15.3 million on promotional merchandise – ‘more than [Trump] spent on direct mail, polling, field and data statistics, and payroll,’ according to Promo Marketing Magazine.

It would probably be easier to list what promotional products weren’t used in the campaign. But favourites included: Promotional badges, car stickers, window stickers, key-rings, Trump socks, a Trump party cup, tie pins, cuff links, flags and yard signs.

Surely one of the must haves was the Trump talking pen, just in case you weren’t able to tune in to a rally and needed a boost! Also – and what’ll probably be remembered longest – the red ‘Make America Great Again’ cap that Trump donned at rallies and on the road.

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Other runners had stuff too – the Berine Sanders (who stood as Democratic nominee) ‘Feel the Bern’ mug.

Hillary Clinton’s ‘Everyday Pantsuit Tee’ and the ‘“Yaaas, Hillary” T-shirt’!

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But nothing on the scale of Trump. And just look what happened! So can we say Trump’s success was, to some degree, down to promotional merchandise? Yes, we think we can – and by quite a lot of a degree in fact.

Counselor Magazine (www.counselor-digital.com), which kept its ear to the ground throughout the election, opinioned: ‘After the results were in and Donald Trump was named President-elect of the United States, it became clear to us here at Counselor that promotional products propelled him to the White House. Our reporting over the past year showed how he outspent each of his opponents in the primary and general election on promotional items, and his use of them was rampant.’

One of Counselor’s editors, Andy Cohen said: ‘Never have we seen an election result so clearly determined by the use of promo products. Let’s put politics aside here – it has nothing to do with this. Hats and bumper stickers and yard signs and pens and mugs and T-shirts are what led a political outsider to take the country by storm.’

So if it worked for Trump… Why not give your campaign the boost it needs and contact Arcadia for some great Promotional Merchandise ideas!

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Having worked in Promotional Merchandise for the last 25 years I have been exposed to all aspects of the industry. Starting out as an account manager working with some of the worlds leading brands, I have learnt to understand the needs of a client, manufacturing processes, and what it takes to deliver a successful promotional campaign that is on brand, on time and within a given budget.