Promotional merchandise
Encyclopedia
Promotional merchandise, promotional items, promotional products, promotional gifts, or advertising gifts, sometimes nicknamed swag or schwag, are articles of merchandise (often branded with a logo
) used in marketing and communication programs. They are given away to promote a company, corporate image
, brand
, or event. These items are usually imprinted with a company's name, logo or slogan
, and given away at trade shows, conferences, and as part of guerrilla marketing
campaigns.
are commemorative buttons
dating back to the election of George Washington
in 1789. During the early 19th century, there were some advertising calendars, ruler
s, and wooden specialties, but there wasn’t an organized industry for the creation and distribution of promotional items until later in the 19th century.
Jasper Meeks, a printer in Coshocton, Ohio
, is considered by many to be the originator of the industry when he convinced a local shoe store to supply book bags imprinted with the store name to local schools. Henry Beach, another Coshochton printer and a competitor of Meeks, picked up on the idea, and soon the two men were selling and printing bags for marbles
, buggy whips, card cases, fans
, calendars, cloth caps, apron
s, and even hats for horses.
In 1904, 12 manufacturers of promotional items got together to found the first trade association
for the industry. That organization is now known as the Promotional Products Association International or PPAI, which currently has more than 7,500 global members. PPAI represents the promotional products industry of more than 22,000 distributors and approximately 4,800 manufacturers.
The UK & Ireland promotional merchandise industry formally emerged as corporate marketing
became more sophisticated during the late 1950s. Before this companies may have provided occasional gift
s, but there was no recognised promotional merchandise industry. The real explosion in the growth of the promotional merchandise industry took place in the 1970s. At this time an ever increasing number of corporate companies recognised the benefits gained from promoting their corporate identity
, brand or product, with the use of gifts featuring their own logo. In the early years the range of products available were limited; however, in the early 1980s demand grew from distributors for a generic promotional product catalogue
they could brand as their own and then leave with their corporate customers.
In later years these catalogues could be over-branded to reflect a distributor’s corporate image and distributors could then give them to their end user
customers as their own. In the early years promotional merchandise catalogues were very much sales tools and customers would buy the products offered on the pages.
In the 1990s new catalogue services emerged for distributors from various sources. In the nineties there was also the creation of ‘Catalogue Groups’ who offered a unique catalogue to a limited geographical group of promotional merchandise distributor companies. Membership of a Catalogue Group could also offer improved buying terms, a network of fellow distributor companies, & provide other support services.
Up until the 1990s the industry had a peak season in which the majority of promotional products were sold. The season featured around Christmas
& the giving of gifts. This changed significantly in the early 1990s as Christmas gifts became less appropriate in a multicultural
Britain. Corporate companies were also becoming more inventive in their marketing and were now using promotional merchandise throughout the year to support the promotion of brands, products & events. In the early 21st century the role of a promotional merchandise catalogue started to change, as it could no longer fully represent the vast range of products in the market place
. By 2007 catalogues were being mailed to targeted customers lists, rather than the blanket postal mailings that had taken place before. The catalogue had now become seen more as a ‘business card
’ demonstrating the concept of what a company did, rather than a critical sales tool. In 2009 published results from research involving a representative group of distributor companies, which indicated the usage of hard copy
catalogues was expected to fall up to 25% in 2010.
Distributor companies are experts in sourcing creative promotional products. Traditionally, to ensure that they had an effective manufacturer network, they kept themselves aware of the trade product ranges available by attending exhibitions across the world & from mailings received from manufacturers themselves. In 2004 the way the trade sourced promotional products began to change with the launch an online trade sourcing service which united distributors with manufacturers worldwide. This service is purely for vetted trade promotional merchandise distributor companies & is not available to corporate end user companies.
By 2008 almost every distributor had a website demonstrating a range of available promotional products. Very few offer the ability to order products online mainly due to the complexities surrounding the processes to brand the promotional products required.
Distributors have the ability to source & supply tens of thousands of products from across the globe. Even with the advent and growth of the Internet this supply chain
has not changed, for a few reasons:
Promotional products by definition are custom printed with a logo, company name or message usually in specific PMS colors. Distributors help end-users gather artwork in the correct format and in some cases, distributors might create artwork for end-users. Distributors then interface with manufacturers, printers or suppliers, forwarding artwork in the correct format and correct size for the job. Since good distributors are well aware of several manufacturers' capabilities, they can save an end-user time and money searching for a printer or manufacturer who can produce and ship the end-user's products on time, on specification and in the required quantities.
Almost anything can be branded with a company’s name or logo and used for promotion. Common items include t-shirt
s, caps, keychains, posters, bumper sticker
s, pen
s, mugs, or mouse pads. The largest product category for promotional products is wearable items, which make up more than 30% of the total.
Most promotional items are relatively small and inexpensive, but can range to higher-end items; for example celebrities
at film festival
s and award shows are often given expensive promotional items such as expensive perfume
s, leather
goods, and electronics items. Companies that provide expensive gifts for celebrity attendees often ask that the celebrities allow a photo to be taken of them with the gift item
, which can be used by the company for promotional purposes. Other companies provide luxury gifts such as handbags or scarves to celebrity attendees in the hopes that the celebrities will wear these items in public, thus garnering publicity
for the company's brand name and product.
Brand awareness is the most common use for promotional items. Other objectives that marketers use promotional items to facilitate include employee relations and events, tradeshow traffic-building, public relations, new customer generation, dealer and distributor programs, new product introductions, employee service awards, not-for-profit programs, internal incentive programs, safety education, customer referrals, and marketing research.
Promotional items are also used in politics
to promote candidates and causes. Promotional items as a tool for non-commercial organizations, such as school
s and charities
are often used as a part of fund raising and awareness-raising campaigns. A prominent example was the livestrong wristband
, used to promote cancer
awareness and raise funds to support cancer survivorship programs and research.
Collecting
certain types of promotional items is also a popular hobby
. In particular, branded antique point of sale items that convey a sense of nostalgia are popular with collectors and are a substantial component to the antique industry.
In 2009 the promotional merchandise industry is an established specialist sector of the promotions industry. Other sectors include incentive and motivation programmes, long services awards, on pack promotions, below the line
promotions, and premiums.
The giving of corporate gifts vary across international border
s and cultures, with the type of product given often varying from country to country.
Promotional merchandise is rarely bought directly by corporate companies from the actual manufacturers of the promotional products. A manufacturers expertise lies in the physical production of the products, but getting a product in front of potential customers is a completely different skill set and a complex process. Within the UK & Ireland promotional merchandise industry a comprehensive network of promotional merchandise distributor companies exist. A promotional merchandise distributor is defined as a company who "has a dedicated focus to the sale of promotional merchandise to end users". (An 'end user' is a corporate company or organisation that purchases promotional merchandise for their own use.) These distributor companies have the expertise to not only take the product to market, but are also to provide the expert support required. The unique aspect of promotional merchandise is that on most occasions the product is printed with the logo, or brand, of a corporate organisation. The actual manufacturers rarely have the set up to actually print the item. Promotional merchandise distributor companies are expert in artwork and printing processes. In addition to this the promotional merchandise distributors also provide full support in processing orders, artwork, proofing, progress chasing & delivery of promotional products from multiple manufacturing sources.
In the United States, PPAI (the Promotional Products Association International) is the not for profit association, offering the industry's largest tradeshow (The PPAI Expo), as well as training, online member resources, and legal advocacy. Another organization, The Advertising Specialty Institute, promotes itself as the largest media and marketing organization serving the advertising specialty industry.
's Counselor Magazine Awards, 2010's top 40 promotional product distributors are as follows:
, plastic
items, USB memory sticks, mug
s, leather
items, polyurethane conference folders, and umbrella
s. The July research from a representation industry focus group also found that the current fastest growing product was hand sanitiser, which at the time coincided with the outbreak & growth of swine flu
in the UK.
Logo
A logo is a graphic mark or emblem commonly used by commercial enterprises, organizations and even individuals to aid and promote instant public recognition...
) used in marketing and communication programs. They are given away to promote a company, corporate image
Corporate image
A corporate image refers to how a corporation is perceived. It is a generally accepted image of what a company stands for. Marketing experts who use public relations and other forms of promotion to suggest a mental picture to the public...
, brand
Brand
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...
, or event. These items are usually imprinted with a company's name, logo or slogan
Slogan
A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a political, commercial, religious and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose. The word slogan is derived from slogorn which was an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic sluagh-ghairm . Slogans vary from the written and the...
, and given away at trade shows, conferences, and as part of guerrilla marketing
Guerrilla marketing
Guerrilla warfare is about waging small intermittent attacks on different territories of the opponent with the aim of harassing and demoralising the opponent and eventually securing permanent footholds....
campaigns.
History
The first known promotional products in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
are commemorative buttons
Campaign button
A campaign button is used in the United States during an election as political advertising for a candidate or political party, or to proclaim the issues that are part of the political platform. Political buttons date as far back as President George Washington. They have taken many forms as the...
dating back to the election of George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
in 1789. During the early 19th century, there were some advertising calendars, ruler
Ruler
A ruler, sometimes called a rule or line gauge, is an instrument used in geometry, technical drawing, printing and engineering/building to measure distances and/or to rule straight lines...
s, and wooden specialties, but there wasn’t an organized industry for the creation and distribution of promotional items until later in the 19th century.
Jasper Meeks, a printer in Coshocton, Ohio
Coshocton, Ohio
Coshocton is a city in and the county seat of Coshocton County, Ohio, United States. The population of the city was 11,682 at the 2000 census. The Walhonding River and the Tuscarawas River meet in Coshocton to form the Muskingum River....
, is considered by many to be the originator of the industry when he convinced a local shoe store to supply book bags imprinted with the store name to local schools. Henry Beach, another Coshochton printer and a competitor of Meeks, picked up on the idea, and soon the two men were selling and printing bags for marbles
Marbles
A marble is a small spherical toy usually made from glass, clay, steel, or agate. These balls vary in size. Most commonly, they are about ½ inch in diameter, but they may range from less than ¼ inch to over 3 inches , while some art glass marbles fordisplay purposes are over 12 inches ...
, buggy whips, card cases, fans
Fan (implement)
A hand-held fan is an implement used to induce an airflow for the purpose of cooling or refreshing oneself. Any broad, flat surface waved back-and-forth will create a small airflow and therefore can be considered a rudimentary fan...
, calendars, cloth caps, apron
Apron
An apron is an outer protective garment that covers primarily the front of the body. It may be worn for hygienic reasons as well as in order to protect clothes from wear and tear. The apron is commonly part of the uniform of several work categories, including waitresses, nurses, and domestic...
s, and even hats for horses.
In 1904, 12 manufacturers of promotional items got together to found the first trade association
Trade association
A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association or sector association, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry...
for the industry. That organization is now known as the Promotional Products Association International or PPAI, which currently has more than 7,500 global members. PPAI represents the promotional products industry of more than 22,000 distributors and approximately 4,800 manufacturers.
The UK & Ireland promotional merchandise industry formally emerged as corporate marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
became more sophisticated during the late 1950s. Before this companies may have provided occasional gift
Gift
A gift or a present is the transfer of something without the expectation of receiving something in return. Although gift-giving might involve an expectation of reciprocity, a gift is meant to be free. In many human societies, the act of mutually exchanging money, goods, etc. may contribute to...
s, but there was no recognised promotional merchandise industry. The real explosion in the growth of the promotional merchandise industry took place in the 1970s. At this time an ever increasing number of corporate companies recognised the benefits gained from promoting their corporate identity
Corporate identity
In Corporate Communications, a corporate identity is the "persona" of a corporation which is designed to accord with and facilitate the attainment of business objectives...
, brand or product, with the use of gifts featuring their own logo. In the early years the range of products available were limited; however, in the early 1980s demand grew from distributors for a generic promotional product catalogue
Trade literature
Trade literature is a general term including catalogues. Definitions of the term "trade catalog" vary, but in general, trade catalogs are printed materials published by manufacturing, wholesaling, or retailing firms...
they could brand as their own and then leave with their corporate customers.
In later years these catalogues could be over-branded to reflect a distributor’s corporate image and distributors could then give them to their end user
End-user
Economics and commerce define an end user as the person who uses a product. The end user or consumer may differ from the person who purchases the product...
customers as their own. In the early years promotional merchandise catalogues were very much sales tools and customers would buy the products offered on the pages.
In the 1990s new catalogue services emerged for distributors from various sources. In the nineties there was also the creation of ‘Catalogue Groups’ who offered a unique catalogue to a limited geographical group of promotional merchandise distributor companies. Membership of a Catalogue Group could also offer improved buying terms, a network of fellow distributor companies, & provide other support services.
Up until the 1990s the industry had a peak season in which the majority of promotional products were sold. The season featured around Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
& the giving of gifts. This changed significantly in the early 1990s as Christmas gifts became less appropriate in a multicultural
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
Britain. Corporate companies were also becoming more inventive in their marketing and were now using promotional merchandise throughout the year to support the promotion of brands, products & events. In the early 21st century the role of a promotional merchandise catalogue started to change, as it could no longer fully represent the vast range of products in the market place
Marketplace
A marketplace is the space, actual, virtual or metaphorical, in which a market operates. The term is also used in a trademark law context to denote the actual consumer environment, ie. the 'real world' in which products and services are provided and consumed.-Marketplaces and street markets:A...
. By 2007 catalogues were being mailed to targeted customers lists, rather than the blanket postal mailings that had taken place before. The catalogue had now become seen more as a ‘business card
Business card
Business cards are cards bearing business information about a company or individual. They are shared during formal introductions as a convenience and a memory aid. A business card typically includes the giver's name, company affiliation and contact information such as street addresses, telephone...
’ demonstrating the concept of what a company did, rather than a critical sales tool. In 2009 published results from research involving a representative group of distributor companies, which indicated the usage of hard copy
Hard copy
In information handling, a hard copy is a permanent reproduction, or copy, in the form of a physical object, of any media suitable for direct use by a person , of displayed or transmitted data...
catalogues was expected to fall up to 25% in 2010.
Distributor companies are experts in sourcing creative promotional products. Traditionally, to ensure that they had an effective manufacturer network, they kept themselves aware of the trade product ranges available by attending exhibitions across the world & from mailings received from manufacturers themselves. In 2004 the way the trade sourced promotional products began to change with the launch an online trade sourcing service which united distributors with manufacturers worldwide. This service is purely for vetted trade promotional merchandise distributor companies & is not available to corporate end user companies.
By 2008 almost every distributor had a website demonstrating a range of available promotional products. Very few offer the ability to order products online mainly due to the complexities surrounding the processes to brand the promotional products required.
Sourcing
Promotional merchandise is, in the main, purchased by corporate companies in the UK & Ireland through promotional merchandise distributor companies. In the United States, these distributors are called "Promotional Consultants" or "promotional product distributors."Distributors have the ability to source & supply tens of thousands of products from across the globe. Even with the advent and growth of the Internet this supply chain
Supply chain
A supply chain is a system of organizations, people, technology, activities, information and resources involved in moving a product or service from supplier to customer. Supply chain activities transform natural resources, raw materials and components into a finished product that is delivered to...
has not changed, for a few reasons:
Promotional products by definition are custom printed with a logo, company name or message usually in specific PMS colors. Distributors help end-users gather artwork in the correct format and in some cases, distributors might create artwork for end-users. Distributors then interface with manufacturers, printers or suppliers, forwarding artwork in the correct format and correct size for the job. Since good distributors are well aware of several manufacturers' capabilities, they can save an end-user time and money searching for a printer or manufacturer who can produce and ship the end-user's products on time, on specification and in the required quantities.
Products and uses
Promotional merchandise is used globally to promote brands, products, and corporate identity. They are also used as giveaways at events, such as exhibitions and product launches.Almost anything can be branded with a company’s name or logo and used for promotion. Common items include t-shirt
T-shirt
A T-shirt is a style of shirt. A T-shirt is buttonless and collarless, with short sleeves and frequently a round neck line....
s, caps, keychains, posters, bumper sticker
Bumper sticker
A bumper sticker is an adhesive label or sticker with a message, intended to be attached to the bumper of an automobile and to be read by the occupants of other vehicles - although they are often stuck onto other objects...
s, pen
Pen
A pen is a device used to apply ink to a surface, usually paper, for writing or drawing. Historically, reed pens, quill pens, and dip pens were used, with a nib of some sort to be dipped in the ink. Ruling pens allow precise adjustment of line width, and still find a few specialized uses, but...
s, mugs, or mouse pads. The largest product category for promotional products is wearable items, which make up more than 30% of the total.
Most promotional items are relatively small and inexpensive, but can range to higher-end items; for example celebrities
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
at film festival
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
s and award shows are often given expensive promotional items such as expensive perfume
Perfume
Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils and/or aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents used to give the human body, animals, objects, and living spaces "a pleasant scent"...
s, leather
Leather
Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...
goods, and electronics items. Companies that provide expensive gifts for celebrity attendees often ask that the celebrities allow a photo to be taken of them with the gift item
Testimonial
In promotion and of advertising, a testimonial or show consists of a written or spoken statement, sometimes from a person figure, sometimes from a private citizen, extolling the virtue of some product. The term "testimonial" most commonly applies to the sales-pitches attributed to ordinary...
, which can be used by the company for promotional purposes. Other companies provide luxury gifts such as handbags or scarves to celebrity attendees in the hopes that the celebrities will wear these items in public, thus garnering publicity
Publicity
Publicity is the deliberate attempt to manage the public's perception of a subject. The subjects of publicity include people , goods and services, organizations of all kinds, and works of art or entertainment.From a marketing perspective, publicity is one component of promotion which is one...
for the company's brand name and product.
Brand awareness is the most common use for promotional items. Other objectives that marketers use promotional items to facilitate include employee relations and events, tradeshow traffic-building, public relations, new customer generation, dealer and distributor programs, new product introductions, employee service awards, not-for-profit programs, internal incentive programs, safety education, customer referrals, and marketing research.
Promotional items are also used in politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
to promote candidates and causes. Promotional items as a tool for non-commercial organizations, such as school
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
s and charities
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
are often used as a part of fund raising and awareness-raising campaigns. A prominent example was the livestrong wristband
Livestrong wristband
The LIVESTRONG Bracelet is a blue silicone gel bracelet launched in May 2004 as a fund-raising item for the Lance Armstrong Foundation, founded by cyclist and pnumonia survivor Lance Armstrong. The bracelet itself was developed by Nike and their ad agency Wieden+Kennedy.-Purpose:The bracelet is...
, used to promote cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
awareness and raise funds to support cancer survivorship programs and research.
Collecting
Collecting
The hobby of collecting includes seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever items are of interest to the individual collector. Some collectors are generalists, accumulating merchandise, or stamps from all countries of the world...
certain types of promotional items is also a popular hobby
Hobby
A hobby is a regular activity or interest that is undertaken for pleasure, typically done during one's leisure time.- Etymology :A hobby horse is a wooden or wickerwork toy made to be ridden just like a real horse...
. In particular, branded antique point of sale items that convey a sense of nostalgia are popular with collectors and are a substantial component to the antique industry.
In 2009 the promotional merchandise industry is an established specialist sector of the promotions industry. Other sectors include incentive and motivation programmes, long services awards, on pack promotions, below the line
Below the line (advertising)
Above the line , below the line , and through the Line , in organizational business and marketing communications, are different ways companies try and sell their products....
promotions, and premiums.
The giving of corporate gifts vary across international border
Border
Borders define geographic boundaries of political entities or legal jurisdictions, such as governments, sovereign states, federated states and other subnational entities. Some borders—such as a state's internal administrative borders, or inter-state borders within the Schengen Area—are open and...
s and cultures, with the type of product given often varying from country to country.
Promotional merchandise is rarely bought directly by corporate companies from the actual manufacturers of the promotional products. A manufacturers expertise lies in the physical production of the products, but getting a product in front of potential customers is a completely different skill set and a complex process. Within the UK & Ireland promotional merchandise industry a comprehensive network of promotional merchandise distributor companies exist. A promotional merchandise distributor is defined as a company who "has a dedicated focus to the sale of promotional merchandise to end users". (An 'end user' is a corporate company or organisation that purchases promotional merchandise for their own use.) These distributor companies have the expertise to not only take the product to market, but are also to provide the expert support required. The unique aspect of promotional merchandise is that on most occasions the product is printed with the logo, or brand, of a corporate organisation. The actual manufacturers rarely have the set up to actually print the item. Promotional merchandise distributor companies are expert in artwork and printing processes. In addition to this the promotional merchandise distributors also provide full support in processing orders, artwork, proofing, progress chasing & delivery of promotional products from multiple manufacturing sources.
Trade associations
In the UK, the industry has two main trade bodies, Promota (Promotional Merchandise Trade Association) founded in 1958, and the BPMA http//www.bpma.co.uk BPMA (British Promotional Merchandise Association) established in 1965. These trade associations represent the industry and provide services to both manufacturers & distributors of promotional merchandise.In the United States, PPAI (the Promotional Products Association International) is the not for profit association, offering the industry's largest tradeshow (The PPAI Expo), as well as training, online member resources, and legal advocacy. Another organization, The Advertising Specialty Institute, promotes itself as the largest media and marketing organization serving the advertising specialty industry.
Top companies in the United States
According to the Advertising Specialty InstituteAdvertising Specialty Institute
The is the largest for profit organization serving the advertising specialty industry . Members of ASI include both manufacturers and suppliers of promotional merchandise as well as promotional product distributors...
's Counselor Magazine Awards, 2010's top 40 promotional product distributors are as follows:
| 2010 Rank | Distributors | 2010 North American Sales |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Staples Promotional Products | $360.8 million (E) |
| 2 | Proforma | $234 million |
| 3 | Group II Communications/IMS | $207 million |
| 4 | BDA | $198.7 million |
| 5 | 4 Imprint | $165.4 million |
| 6 | Halo/Lee Wayne | $139.3 million (E) |
| 7 | Cintas | $134.4 million |
| 8 | Geiger Geiger (Corporation) Geiger is a 5th generation advertising specialties company with more than 500 employees and more than 550 sales representatives. It is the industry's largest family-owned and family-managed distributorship and is based in Lewiston, Maine.... |
$134.3 million |
| 9 | National Pen Corp. | $130 million |
| 10 | Branders.com Branders.com Branders.com, Inc. is an American multinational Internet company that manages Branders.com, an online promotional products distributor. The company is based in San Mateo, California with a regional operating headquarters in Ortigas Center, Pasig City, Philippines... |
$120 million (E) |
| 11 | American Solutions for Business | $96.5 million |
| 12 | Adventures in Advertising | $92 million |
| 13 | WorkFlowOne | $82.8 million |
| 14 | Tic Toc | $82 million (E) |
| 15 | Summit Marketing Group | $81.95 million |
| 16 | Banyan Incentives | $80.5 million |
| 17 | InnerWorkings | $76.5 million |
| 18 | Kaeser & Blair | $75.2 million |
| 19 | EmbroidMe | $71 million |
| 20 | Myron | $65.3 million (E) |
| 21 | Accolade Reaction Promotion Group | $65 million |
| 22 | MTM Recognition/Mid West Trophy | $63.2 million (E) |
| 23 | Brown & Bigelow | $57.5 million |
| 24 | Jack Nadel International | $56.4 million |
| 25 | The Vernon Company | $55 million |
| 26 | Artcraft Promotional Concepts | $51 million |
| 27 | Evigna | $50.7 million (E) |
| 28 | iPROMOTEu | $47.8 million |
| 29 | Newton Manufacturing | $45.9 million |
| 30 | G & G Outfitters | $45.5 million |
| 31 | GMPC LLC | $40.5 million (E) |
| 32 | Norscot Group | $32.4 million (E) |
| 33 | Boundless Network | $32 million |
| 34 | GatewayCDI | $31.2 million |
| 35 | Positive Promotions | $30.8 million (E) |
| 36 | Caliendo Savio Enterprises - CSE | $30.3 million |
| 37 | Axis Promotions | $26.3 million |
| 38 | Genumark Promotional Merchandise | $26 million |
| 39 | eCompanyStore | $25.7 million |
| 40 | PersonalisedWorld | $23.3 million |
UK market statistics
According to research completed and published in 2008 the UK and Ireland promotional merchandise industry had an overall value of £850m. By mid 2009 the market had decreased to £712m as the UK’s worst ever recession took grip. In July 2009 published research demonstrated that the top 10 promotional merchandise products were promotional pens, bags, clothingClothing
Clothing refers to any covering for the human body that is worn. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of nearly all human societies...
, plastic
Plastic
A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...
items, USB memory sticks, mug
Mug
A mug is a sturdily built type of cup often used for drinking hot beverages, such as coffee, tea, or hot chocolate. Mugs, by definition, have handles and often hold a larger amount of fluid than other types of cup. Usually a mug holds approximately 12 fluid ounces of liquid; double a tea cup...
s, leather
Leather
Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...
items, polyurethane conference folders, and umbrella
Umbrella
An umbrella or parasol is a canopy designed to protect against rain or sunlight. The term parasol usually refers to an item designed to protect from the sun; umbrella refers to a device more suited to protect from rain...
s. The July research from a representation industry focus group also found that the current fastest growing product was hand sanitiser, which at the time coincided with the outbreak & growth of swine flu
Swine flu
Swine influenza, also called pig influenza, swine flu, hog flu and pig flu, is an infection by any one of several types of swine influenza virus. Swine influenza virus or S-OIV is any strain of the influenza family of viruses that is endemic in pigs...
in the UK.
External links
- British Promotional Merchandise Association (BPMA) - a UK trade organization.
- Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) - a US trade organization.