A recent discussion with a client about the direction of the promotional marketing and promotional products industry got me thinking about likely trends in our space. We usually post about the current rumblings of the promo world but today I’m going to change the tune a little and post my top trend prediction for promotional marketing. A big call I know! but hey, it’s the blogosphere afterall.

I think there will always be a market for t-shirts and caps, but my guess is RFID technology will play more and more of a role, perhaps even embedded into the promotional t-shirts and caps. Some may cry ‘Annoying’, others even scream ‘Shallow’ but I think the surge in this type of technology will come. Just like most consumer products, promotional products will become smarter.

Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFID) is a technology that uses an antenna, transceiver and transponder in conjunction with the radio frequency part of the electromagnetic spectrum to identify objects, animals or people. RFIDs are similar to barcodes except that scanning can take place remotely or covertly. The primary use at the moment for RFIDs is logistics — finding things and tracking things — but they can also be used to trigger actions — anything from unlocking a door to triggering a message from a doll about the cricket.

This is all possible now but I’m eager to see the day when delivering the promotional marketing message and the act of purchasing the goods or services are integrated into a seamless cycle. RFID readers will be able to scan a customer’s bags as she leaves the bottle shop after work on Friday evening and the money required to complete her purchase is automatically taken from a suitably enabled mobile phone or a micro-chip embedded in the keyring sent to her from bottle shop in the first place.

I’m mindful to the fact that RFID technology can offer so much more than delivering promotions, especially in the fields of healthcare and transportation but a little retail empathy really can’t hurt anyone.