Correct Price is important to the customer and so a supplier will try its best to meet this under the given circumstances.However suppliers have a bigger challenge to face in the current economic climate such as: manufacturing factories asking for deposits upfront and balance before the goods are shipped. This cannot be disputed as the overall manufacturing structure needs to meet its raw material, wages, and overall manufacturing costs. Competition for factories is very tough especially in China & India as they struggle to win business from clients. What makes things even tougher are the payment terms by buyers which have increased from 30 to 60 days and sometimes even 90 days. So in other words a supplier is actually funding the client business and wait to be paid until they sell goods. Brightways factory in India tries their very best to co-operate with customers as much as they can.

Businesses are going through challenging times and one needs to work together and not against one other. In order for suppliers to provide the best service at competitive prices it is important that clients extend their customer loyalty hands and do not play the roulette with another supplier to create price war and cause adversarial affect. This can be very damaging as the competitor will try and win the order even by playing a loss leader witch further spoils the market for that particular product thus causing the product doom because no company will be able to sell at a loss for longer period. Many a times an amateur buyer who has changed jobs or position would just like to “try out a new supplier” to prove oneself without much thought to the supplier history. This can be a very damaging exercise from the existing supplier perspective.

Suppliers who have their own factories create their paraphernalia according its product demand. A healthy pipe line of orders from its customer is important for its survival. This can only be possible if there is customer loyalty and efforts are put into solid business relationship building between supplier & customer. Brightways are successfully trying to achieve this with their current and new clients.

Submitted by Mukta Sareen

So what will be the hottest products in demand for this period?

I did my own research and was surprised to see that anything goes! It can be anything from personal accessories to household items. There is a vast array of goods being branded with London 2012 logo.  Of course Olympic licensed items will be big deal as well; however this will not be risk free proposition for those stocking them too.

It’s obvious to say that the best ideas will always remain to brand on the event related product. This would definitely be sports theme items. Footballs in all sizes will be an absolute favourite for Euro12 and for the Olympics we will see a sharp demand in sports items such as sports bands, sports balls, swimming goggles, water bottles, drawstring kit bags and supporters cheering items.

One major challenge will remain; to get the goods ordered in time from a reliable source that can meet the deadline and provide quality products. Brightways Sedex approved supply chains are inundated with enquiries and are trying hard to book the production slots for their clients. Requests are going out to all their clients to not place orders at the last minute and face disappointment. Last thing which anybody would want will be to miss out on an order!

Let’s all gear up and get set to maximise on Euro12 and once in a life time London 2012 opportunity. This is the time to reap client relationship and we must all look forward to a hearty meal of order pipeline.

No doubt 2012 will be an exciting year for the promotional industry. Euro 2012 kick starts in Warsaw in June and the London Olympics begin in July! Both events offer a great marketing opportunity for SME’s, corporate organisations and big brands alike. Event marketing and sports sponsorship have become more effective than TV advertising. This trend will prove lucrative for many UK and European promotional companies who manufacture unique and innovative products to fit the above sports events brand identity

All major sponsors are geared up with licensed products to promote their brand. Factories are heaving with demand for football related merchandise and any item that can represent the spirit of sports. Clients will be looking at elements of marketing mix to determine their spending strategy carefully.

A major contributing factor in spend for companies will be to see their national teams qualify for the event .Current economic climate has a huge impact on the decision making. Some companies in the past have had their profits wiped out due to poor sales of licensed products e.g. printed T shirts with event date which become unsellable after! Many buyers leave their orders till the last minute, leaving distributors and suppliers with a tough choice between accepting and rejecting an order in fear of not being able to meet the demand within the tight deadlines. The time frame of event related merchandise is very short, so if you are a clever buyer who is looking to source products from companies who can turn around products in a short lead time, Brightways is the company for you

On times like these Brightways are quick to understand and respond to the distributor’s dilemma and have a hand’s on approach in providing the best solution. Although they wish footballs grew on trees instead of apples at such times!