There’s not one right answer – but we do know one thing for sure: promotional products still work. Brands that offer their consumers added value do differentiate themselves. Premiums and promotional offerings do drive purchase, trial and differentiation.

This tenet is at the heart of what we do at Logistix. We design, develop and manufacture innovative and effective differentiation for our clients.

So, on to the next round of questions: "How can I keep track of what the competition is up to?" "How do I measure my success?" "What's on trend?" "What’s the next big idea?"

Not so easy to answer. But Logistix has developed one tool to help: PromoSweep. Each month, you'll find Logistix shoppers combing the shelves of grocery and mass-market retailers around Southern California. Why? To gather critical information about which brands have promotions on-shelf and what promotions and promotional products they’re offering. All of this information is compiled monthly into PromoSweep.

"We look for every promotion we can find in-pack, on-pack or near-pack," said David Biesek, Logistix PromoSweep shopper. This is not a scientific endeavor. We approach this the same way the consumer does: we shop. The Logistix shoppers and Premiums & Promotions team publish the information internally as a reference document to the Business Development, Creative and Product Development teams. Products and packaging are also displayed and archived, so teams can see first-hand what's happening and have historical reference at hand.

"The information is extremely valuable for our internal teams," notes Nick Longo, VP of Creative for Logistix. "It gives us a reference library that helps us guide our clients on trends and keeps us on top of what the competition is up to."

So, how does this help our clients? Of course, it helps drive our internal process to be more ingenious; to help us give our clients more relevant, timely ideas. But more directly, on a quarterly basis, PromoSweep is summarized and distributed to clients. The quarterly publication includes marketplace highlights and data on a current hot topic.

Our clients rely on PromoSweep to provide them with vital marketplace information: What were their brands up against this quarter? What is the competition trending toward? They can refer to PromoSweep when they're evaluating the performance of their own on-shelf promotions for the quarter.

PromoSweep has become an essential tool both for the development of outbound marketing campaigns and to provide insight to Logistix' clients. You can subscribe to PromoSweep by contacting us at: promosweep@logistixus.com.