The jury of the Promotional Gift Award 2023 got together on December 8 and 9, 2022 to choose their favourites from among this year’s 103 entries. The competition organised by the Cologne-based publishing company, WA Media, was staged for the 20th time already this year.
The jury members Michael Scherer, Martin Zettl, Michael Mätzener and Michael Witzorrek (f.t.l.) presenting award-winning products of the Promotional Gift Award 2023.
84 companies, including both promotional products suppliers and distributors as well as advertising agencies and promoting companies from twelve European countries had submitted their products. A list of the 35 award winners in the seven categories Give-aways, Communicative Products, Premium Products, Custom-made Designs, Best Practice, Merchandising and Customising Technologies can be found here together with the winners of the first ever public voting.
With a critical eye and cumulative expertise, the four promotional products professionals from the jury examined a wide range of products from drinking bottles, mugs and glasses, kitchen appliances and writing instruments, to games, sweets and plants, through to items of clothing, decorative items and much more. In addition to new interpretations of familiar products, many innovations were appraised by the jury members too. Trends that became evident from this year’s competition entries are the interlinkage between the analogue and digital worlds, gamification and the upcycling of materials that would otherwise be discarded. Alongside serious and in some cases controversial discussions about the judging criteria: the product idea, design quality, implementation, sustainability and communicative potential, the jury also had a huge amount of fun. Since all of the products had to be examined, evaluated and sometimes touched, sniffed and tested.
Mätzener was delighted with the high quality of the entries and made special reference to the many good campaign concepts. Scherer noted that custom-made designs are booming and emphasised the innovative power of the promotional products industry in spite of the difficult times we are experiencing. Zettl also underlined the uncompromising realisation of custom-made designs as an expression of the industry’s creativity. He stated that this demonstrates that promotional products can arouse positive emotions. Finally, Witzorrek not only praised the spectrum of products, but also referred to the increasing trend towards opting for Europe as the production location. In many cases, the production is being relocated from the Far East back to local regions due to reasons of sustainability and supply chain problems.
To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the award, a Public Prize was conferred for the first time. It was possible to place votes via the HAPTICA®//ONLINE platform. The award-winning products will be presented in an exhibition during the HAPTICA® live ‘23 on March 15, 2023 at the World Conference Center Bonn.
Photos: Beke Milas, Jasmin Oberdorfer, © WA Media
