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Conference merch: tote-ally redundant or fit for purpose?

Tired of returning from a conference with tote bags overspilling with branded merchandise? Will Payne asks if it’s high time cruise lines scrapped these environmentally unfriendly freebies for good

There are three certainties in life: death, taxes, and leaving a travel industry event with a bag full of branded goodies. Don’t get us wrong – no one appreciates free swag more than journalists, but a desk can only hold so many notebooks, calendars, pens and novelty ducks.

However, there’s a more important issue at play here, and that’s the impact these gifted items have on the environment when they slide from the desk and into landfill.

In a bid to curb over-production, P&O Cruises made the bold move in October to scrap all promotional items it would usually hand out at trade conferences and instead donate £10,000 towards its £1 million fundraising target for Teenage Cancer Trust, which it hopes to hit by the end of the year.

“We are confident agents will support us in this decision,” says sales director Ruth Venn. “The best takeaways from conference season are the ideas shared, and the relationships built, and we encourage agents to talk to us more now than ever before.

“We are so proud to be coming into our tenth year of supporting the incredible work undertaken by Teenage Cancer Trust so there couldn’t be a better time for us to redirect funds.”

Events specialist Clare Forestier hit the nail on the head in a recent social media post which garnered thousands of interactions, where she urged companies to “make it count” if they’re planning on giving things away for free.

“Think about what your attendees would actually appreciate and use,” she wrote. “No one’s leaving your event raving about the free pen they picked up. It’s time to ditch the wasteful, meaningless giveaways and start thinking creatively about how to connect with your audience in ways that actually matter.”

P&O Cruises isn’t the only line scaling back production of promotional items. Vice president international sales for MSC Cruises and Explora Journeys Antonio Paradiso says both lines have purposefully scaled back its branded merchandise.

“We have always used very limited brand merchandise and are finding that we are ordering less and less,” he continues. “We bulk buy what we need six months in advance so that we cut down on delivery fuel and packaging. We also choose products that can be recycled, such as our business cards, which are printed on recycled paper instead of high gloss.”

MSC Group prefers to put its money behind a range of charitable initiatives through its charity arm the MSC Foundation. This includes the MSC Cup, a football tournament at Chelsea FC’s Stamford Bridge, with teams made up travel industry professionals. The event has raised more than £55,000 for the past two years running.

For Paradiso, the real value of agent engagement lies in ship visits, hosted training events, product webinars and ongoing communication. “We regularly offer trade incentives and competitions.

For example, our Big Cruise Giveaway offers a chance for top-performing agents to win a seven-night MSC cruise and last year more than 200 free cruises were awarded to agents who produced strong sales results,” he explains.

Alternative solutions to conference merchandise

For some cruise lines, branded merchandise has never played a major role in their conference marketing efforts. AmaWaterways director of sales UK and Europe Andrea Stafford said P&O Cruises’ decision to scrap conference merchandise was “interesting”.

“We’ve never been massive on conference merchandise. In my view, it’s more about engaging with agents to see if you can help them improve their business,” she says.

The line still offers a selection of merchandise, but Stafford says it must be “really considered” in what it provides, and all items are reviewed on a regular basis. “Some agents do like to work with brochures, leaflets and flyers as that works for their customer base, while others like to work in a more digital way. We like to give our agents a choice, I think that’s the most important thing.”

For Cunard, director of UK sales Thomas Mahoney says the line’s focus is geared towards offering its agent partners “quality and long-lasting” reusable items that “enhance their everyday lives”.

He explains: “We tend to giveaway luxury coffee cups and wash bags – branded items that travel agents tell us they are proud to use time and again. Cunard also engages with the trade via in-person meetings and immersive hosted experiences on board our ships that are proven to deepen product knowledge.”

“I wouldn’t expect that funds assigned to support brand promotion are the same as those allocated to charity donations.”

What about the agents who are on the receiving end of all these items handed out by cruise lines at industry events? “I’ve long believed branded merchandise and ‘freebies’ do little to influence sales,” says World Travel Holdings UK managing director Alison Earnshaw.

“I think there are countless ways cruise lines’ funds could be reallocated to better support the agent community. Obviously charitable contributions are critical and are absolutely the right thing to do, but I wouldn’t expect that funds assigned to support brand promotion are the same as those allocated to charity donations.”

Founder of The Cruise Room Robbie O’Grady, meanwhile, admits “everyone loves a freebie”, but raises concerns over how much merchandise is used by attendees once they leave a conference.

“Rather than gather dust we look to pass on the merchandise to our customers, and we personally will use items like branded pens rather than buy them in,” he says. “We gather up everything we get and then we’ll have a little blitz to give it all away to customers when they book.

“If they book a specific cruise line, we’ll give them a book and a pen or a little goodie bag, whatever it may be, from that line, if we have it. They absolutely love it because it’s a surprise-and-delight moment.”

Despite his concerns, O’Grady admits that merchandise is a tried and tested form of advertising and appreciates the need for cruise lines to cut through at trade shows where they’re battling with competitors for attention.

“There’s no doubt that things like books, pens, water bottles and drinking cups are useful, unlike multi colour highlighters and plastic key rings.”

“There’s no doubt that things like books, pens, water bottles and drinking cups are useful, unlike multi colour highlighters and plastic key rings. Perhaps rather than just mass produce a range of items; a focus on the product produced might be required.”

Travel Counsellor Sarah Bolton says the majority of cruise line merchandise is “useless” and either doesn’t get taken or goes straight in the bin. “I personally love a good brochure and anything useful such as pens and post it notes. I certainly don’t need any more reusable bags, drinks bottles, keyrings and anything that we already have,” she says.

“I’d much rather they had a few useful items, and then put the rest of the budget either to charity or some kind of bigger ‘prize’.”

Few other industries are under as much scrutiny as cruise when it comes to sustainability. And while initiatives such as shore power connectivity and liquefied natural gas are effectively in place to reduce the sector’s environmental footprint, it is also important to ensure the sector is working in a sustainable way at all touch points. Indeed, even a single-use plastic biro is more than a drop in the ocean.

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