The Promo Playbook by Cubic Promote
Welcome to The Promo Playbook, your backstage pass to the world of promotional marketing. Brought to you by Cubic Promote (https://www.cubicpromote.com.au/) Australia’s award-winning supplier of branded merchandise, this podcast is your go-to guide for making marketing and promo products work harder for your business. In each episode, we unpack real campaigns, talk to industry insiders, and share practical strategies to help you boost brand visibility, engage customers, and stand out. From trade shows to onboarding kits, we cover it all — with no fluff, just real insights that convert.
The Promo Playbook by Cubic Promote
Logo Love & Light Sticks: What Actually Impresses Young Consumers
We talk with Edward, a 14-year-old from Sydney, to get authentic insights into what makes brands appealing to young Australian consumers and how promotional products influence their perceptions of companies.
• Nike, Adidas, McDonald's, IKEA, and Sony stand out to young Australians because of their distinctive logos and youth-targeted marketing
• For promotional items, the brand logo often matters more than the product itself to young consumers
• Official licensing and authenticity are important factors when evaluating branded merchandise
• Social media is the primary channel for brand discovery, but young people typically need active promotion from influencers to take notice
• Promotional products that enhance experiences (like concert light sticks that sync with music) create the most memorable brand connections
• Sustainability matters to young Australians who don't want to be associated with brands that harm animals or the environment
Please stay tuned for future episodes and connect with us through your social media channel of choice. All the necessary links to contact us are available at the bottom of this podcast.
Find out more and visit our website: https://www.cubicpromote.com.au/
Welcome to the latest episode of the Promo Playbook by Cubic Promote. Today's title is called Marketing to the Next Generation how to Appeal to Young Australian Adults. And to help me along with this topic, I have a special guest with me, edward. Edward, please introduce yourself.
Speaker 2:My name is Edward and I'm 14 years old, and I live in Australia, sydney, new South Wales.
Speaker 1:Brilliant and Edward tell us a bit about yourself. Were you born in Australia? How long have you been in Australia? Sydney, New South Wales. Brilliant and Edward, tell us a bit about yourself. Were you born in Australia? How long have you been in Australia?
Speaker 2:I was born in Australia and I've lived here throughout my whole life.
Speaker 1:Sounds like you're going to be the perfect person for me to talk to about how to market to young Australians like yourself. So, edward, I'd like to first of all share with you a question, a very simple question. If I was to ask you the top five brands any brands at all off the top of your head, what are the top five brands that you will mention that you feel are the?
Speaker 2:top five brands. Top five brands, I think Nike, adidas, mcdonald's, ikea and Sony.
Speaker 1:Okay, so clearly five very popular consumer brands. Some of those brands are clearly the type of products that you will consume on a day-to-day basis. So my next question is why do you think these brands stand out to you? Because it's interesting, you mentioned all five brands. All five brands have bigger brands competing for the same market. Mcdonald's has hungry, hungry jacks. Ikea would have, for example, freedom furniture. Nike adidas would have kuma as well as under armour. So you specifically mentioned those five brands. Why do those five brands stand out to you?
Speaker 2:these five, I think, to me stand out because of their logo and their marketing towards younger people.
Speaker 1:Okay, let's talk a bit more about marketing. With marketing, promotional products, promotional items, giveaways is a key and core part of marketing. How do you feel about companies big brand companies and smaller brand companies using giveaways to influence your opinion of their brand? How do you feel about receiving merchandise?
Speaker 2:I think companies having giveaways for free is a great idea. Some young people do not have any money to afford what they sell to us.
Speaker 1:And how would that influence your opinion of the brand these?
Speaker 2:will influence people to the brand so they're able to understand.
Speaker 1:The next question I've got for you, edward, is are there any types of promotional items or products that you find especially cool or interesting, and why do you find them cool or interesting?
Speaker 2:I think some promotional items are very cool and interesting due to their design and how they're able to display it. The Hot Wheels or Mini GT cars look very similar to the real life cars, such as the GT looks very similar to the die-cast one, which is very cool, I guess.
Speaker 1:Okay, and next question is when you see a product it could be a custom printed t-shirt, it could be a custom branded pen or anything in between. Perhaps it's a basketball or a football what matters more when you receive the product, is it the product itself or the branding of the product? Say, for example, the brand is a brand that resonates with you. Let's just take McDonald's, for example. If you received a McDonald's t-shirt, does the t-shirt mean more to you or the fact that it has the logo onto the t-shirt, and why does it matter To me?
Speaker 2:I think the product matters, but to most younger people it's more about the logo that matters to them. It's officially licensed by McDonald's itself. I think it's also very important that it has to be officially licensed, compared to a fake McDonald's t-shirt.
Speaker 1:How do you normally discover new branded products? Is it through social media, having products with a branded logo on the back of, perhaps, an influencer? Do young people take notice of these? Or are you smart and savvy enough to realize that's a product placement and that you psychologically switch off from seeing the brand or the logo inside a social media post?
Speaker 2:I am not smart and savvy, so I normally find these things off social media, as I am not smart and savvy.
Speaker 1:So, on social media, if it was an influencer and you saw the product in the background with a logo perhaps it's a startup company would you register and remember that brand and would you research into it?
Speaker 2:I'd probably research into it. I don't think other young people will research in it because it's just more of a me thing to have a look more into it, into the detail of it.
Speaker 1:So you believe that some young people will, after seeing the logo on perhaps the background of an influencer, do some research and some people will not. I always think no, they wouldn't. So you reckon generally they wouldn't.
Speaker 2:Yes, because there's more things in their mind than the background, unless they're displaying the item on purpose.
Speaker 1:So unless there's an influencer actively promoting that product, promoting a new service, promoting a new item, whatever it may be, then they would then begin to engage and find out more about what that product could do and how it could benefit their lives. Yeah, very interesting.
Speaker 2:Do you think that brands out there right now in Australia, do you think brands could do anything differently to appeal to people of your age? No, I think they're doing perfectly fine in promoting their company.
Speaker 1:Promotional items, and what are some specific examples that make you feel that way?
Speaker 2:promotional items, and what are some specific examples that make you feel that way? An example would be McDonald's deals, when they make things cheaper and more viable, costing it like $2 or $3 for a meal, which I think they've done very well to market it.
Speaker 1:When it comes to a product, for example Nike shoes. That might be an interesting example because Nike shoes, as well as other products that may appear to young people, tend to be quite expensive. So how would one go and cut through from a marketing perspective to a young person, like you Say, if you were starting a young consumer brand?
Speaker 2:I think they'll be able to cut through by increasing popularity and social media on their product popularity and social media on their product.
Speaker 1:Okay, so having more presence on social media channels will have more cut through the people of your age? Yes, so, assuming a company does that and they're able to have their brand with every single influencer on every single person that you follow on, say, instagram or any other social media channel, that's going to be great. You're going to remember the brand, but what would actually make you trust that brand?
Speaker 2:I wouldn't know if I would be able to trust the brand until I have reached their product, which I can then make a final conclusion.
Speaker 1:Okay so even if you see a brand constantly on social media, the fact that you have not engaged with it means that you're still very pessimistic and you won't necessarily trust the brand until you've actually used it.
Speaker 2:Used it. Or if they're talked about on social media about how well they are or how negative they are Right.
Speaker 1:Let's dial the conversation back to promotional merchandise, custom branded merchandise. So, edward, can you share with us some instances of merchandise that you've either received for free in the past, or perhaps that they were add-on purchases that you would have needed to make a purchase for? Perhaps you were at a concert. They had some concert merch for sale. Or perhaps you were at a fast food joint they had additional products for sale. Or perhaps you were at a fast food joint they had additional products for sale. Or perhaps you were at a convention maybe an anime convention where they were handing out lanyards and stickers at the door as a result of you purchasing a ticket to enter into the premise. Anything of that ilk. Can you share with us what you've received, what has been memorable in the past?
Speaker 2:I've gotten the adult concert. Wait, what's that called light stick during her concert? I thought that was a very cool emotional item as it lit it up and glowed in sync with the rest of the stage can you share with us elaborate a bit more about what exactly is this light stick?
Speaker 1:what does it do? Why was it? What made it so special for you?
Speaker 2:to me it was so. The light stick is a stick that lights up with in sync with the music and changes color using wi-fi or bluetooth sync together to create all cool flashing colors and lights from it.
Speaker 1:So from the sounds of it it appeared to you, because it enhanced your experience of the event.
Speaker 2:Yes, it enhances the experience a lot.
Speaker 1:Any product that enhances your experience for any situation. Would it be bold for me to say that those are the ones that add the majority of memorability for you?
Speaker 2:Yes, I think so, as it's more memorable because it has more funness to it.
Speaker 1:A lot of Australians out there, a lot of the companies. They value sustainability and ourselves as well. We are a certified carbon neutral company. For a young Australian like yourself, does sustainability make any difference to you? Do you care about sustainability and the fact that products may or may not be sustainable and kind to the environment?
Speaker 2:Yes, I care about sustainability, due to me not wanting to be associated with a product that has to harm animals or trees by doing so to reach the product.
Speaker 1:Okay, and do you feel that many of your friends will also feel the same way, or do you feel that this specifically might be a personal thing to you?
Speaker 2:I think my friends will feel the same, asding animals and trees aren't a good thing. Okay, fantastic.
Speaker 1:Well, edward, appreciate your time. Interesting to hear the insights of a young Australian when it comes to marketing communication and, specifically in our industry, collateral for promotional products, and how you react and engage with these type of marketing mediums. Well, thank you, edward, I appreciate your time and for those listening. I appreciate you taking the time out to listen to the perspective of a young Australian person speaking about marketing. Please stay tuned for future episodes and please connect with us through your social media channel of choice and we'll have all the links necessary for you to contact with us at the bottom of this podcast. Thank you so much. Thank you.
