FAQ

To protect your wallet, your business and your message, make sure the promotional products company you are dealing with is an APPA member.

APPA Members are bound by our Code of Conduct and Constitution. They are respected professionals who work to provide the highest quality of products and the creativity to make all their clients promotional campaigns successful. APPA members are responsible for the creation of some of the best promotional campaigns and most innovative products supplied in the Australasian region.

Click here to find an APPA member.

Start by looking for a member close to your location by searching by city or postcode or search our Awards for Promotional Products Marketing Excellence to find industry leaders in creativity and supply. It's advised to meet with prospective promotional providers to understand their business and discuss your specific promotional requirements. You can also contact 1800 MY APPA (1800 69 2772) to discuss your requirements and be provided recommendations.

Most APPA members specialise in supplying a full range of promotional products and offer the best branding advice to enhance your logo or brand identity. But, you can also use the definitive product search engine in the industry (APPA Search). Search by product type, ideas, key words, colour and more. Once you have located products which inspire you, add them to our quote system and send them to members to receive pricing and delivery deadlines.

EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) in a vector format is considered the best choice of graphics format for high resolution printing of illustrations. This allows our members to produce your logo on a pen or a billboard without loosing clarify.

• How long have they been in the promotions industry?
• How long have they been APPA Members?
• What is their policy on return of products?
• What is their policy on timely delivery of goods?
• What is their policy on quantity-short product deliveries?
• Have they received any APPA awards for creativity?

• The audience and objectives of your promotion. (To reward consumers? Increase sales? Acknowledge external business partners or internal staff? To brand or increase attendance to an event?)
• The response you want from the recipients of these products.
• The information about your brand that you want to communicate.
• The information from the recipients you would find useful, if you were able to obtain it.
• Historically, some of the other promotions done by your company.
• What would you like the recipients to think about your company after the promotion is finished?

You should be wary of a promotional products company if they state or insinuate:

• That they will undercut any price.
• That promotional products are so cheap they cannot be guaranteed to work.
• That there is no reason for them to be an APPA member.
• That there is no reason to sign off on art work approvals

A product is just a product until it is linked with a promotion, it then becomes an advertisement. The most successful advertising campaigns are the result of a planned strategy and roll out. Throwing products at your target market without that planning is a waste your marketing dollars.

The product is only one component in the whole campaign. The creativity used to illicit a response is the key to increasing profits and promoting brands.

Local knowledge, experience and mistakes no company can afford:

APPA members understand cultural subtleties and differences that can be crucial in the success of a promotional campaign. APPA members are experienced in all aspects of sourcing, importing and manufacturing promotional products. They are educated and in touch with the styles, trends, potential pitfalls, safety and international labour standards and the newest products on the market.

The risks of getting products directly from overseas are many, and as many marketers have found out, can cost thousands of dollars in mistakes.

These potential pitfalls include:

• Sizing and quality inferiority
• Late deliveries
• Lack of duty, safety and custom requirements
• Payment in advance without delivery guarantees
• Cash flow challenges due to prepayment
• Human rights infringements