Ali Rizvi and the team of tech experts he leads at Toronto-based Promotional Drives (asi/54536) might have cracked the code to providing quantifiable ROI on branded products.

Extensive market research put Rizvi and co. on the path to developing a solution that addresses one of the most common questions promo pros hear: “How do I know if this stuff works?” The tech centers on a smart chip that will be embedded in Promotional Drives’ flagship products – branded USBs – to track various metrics. The chip will send info back to a database/cloud where authorized parties, like end-buyers, can review it.

Initially, the smart USBs will be geared toward data tracking at trade shows and conferences. Metrics will include: the percentage of USB drives given out at an event that are plugged into a computer or tapped on a mobile phone; a pie chart showing which files from the USB were downloaded the most; a pie chart demonstrating which files were viewed most; and a heat map displaying which countries recipients belong to.

Recognizing privacy concerns could arise, Rizvi says: “There’s no linking of the tracked information to a person. We can never say, ‘John, who received our USB drive with preloaded content, viewed file one but not files two and three.’ All metrics tracked are consolidated across all recipients.”

Rizvi says the possibilities are endless; many more metrics can be analyzed. What’s more, the technology could eventually be applied to brandable products beyond USBs. That has the potential to revolutionize Promotional Drives’ business, as the firm could one day consider building out the technology for use in other suppliers’ wares.

Who knows, the smart chip could even help engender a revolution in ROI tracking throughout the promo industry. As it stands, Rizvi and his team have been beta-testing the chip. They’re planning a rollout of their USBs for the early third quarter of 2019.

The Accidental Entrepreneur
The smart chip is the latest innovative development in Rizvi’s career in promotional products, which began somewhat by accident. Holding a PhD in mechanical engineering, Rizvi intended to be an academic. But as a graduate student, his more entrepreneurially minded friends’ talk of tech startup successes filled him with a thrilling sense of the possible.

It wasn’t long before he and friend Hammad Naseem turned one of their digital-age business ideas into a viable venture. The pair conceived the concept of making business cards with built-in USB drives for fellow students to load with resume information they could give to recruiters. Soon, the broader application of the technology became clear, and Promotional Drives was born.

“It turned out the product was really attractive to businesses because the large surface area allowed the cards to be personalized in an appealing way, and the USB memory provided a venue to present recipients with the product catalog of the business,” Rizvi says.

Incorporated in 2012, Promotional Drives has grown from an approximately $10,000-a-year company into one that’s around $5 million – a transformation Rizvi has been instrumental in engineering. Promotional Drives ranked eighth on Counselor’s 2018 list of fastest-growing suppliers. The firm has garnered other sales acceleration awards too, including clocking in at 91 on Growth 500 – a prestigious ranking of Canada’s 500 fastest-growing companies.

“All of our successes result from the incredible contributions of our superstar team,” says Rizvi. “We’re excited about the future.”