Promotional product sales witness a recovery, inching up by 3.2% in the year 2003

Promotional product sales witness a recovery, inching up by 3.2% in the year 2003

In the dynamic world of advertising, the Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) plays a significant role as the largest media organization serving the promotional products industry. Founded in 1950, ASI employs a staff of 500 and boasts a total membership of 20,000 distributors and suppliers.

Each year, ASI conducts a census of its nearly 18,000 distributor members to derive its annual sales estimate. The data collected includes each member's total promotional products sales, which are items distributed free as part of B2B or consumer advertising promotions, or to motivate or recognise achievement of corporate or personal milestones or goals.

ASI's comprehensive sales report is considered the most authoritative in the promotional products industry because about 85% of industry distributors are members of ASI. The report reveals that in 2003, promotional products industry sales rose 3.2% to $16.1 billion, marking a full rebound to their 2000 level.

The total sales in recent years are: 2003: $16.1 B, 2002: $15.6 B, 2001: $16.5 B, 2000: $16.0 B, 1999: $14.9 B. This shows that the industry is now more than $1 billion above 1999 levels.

ASI compiles sales information annually from its members who sell promotional products that are used as part of the buyers' overall marketing mix. Distributors use ASI's print and electronic resources to locate supplier products and to promote their services to buyers of promotional products. Suppliers, too, use these resources to promote their products to more than 17,000 ASI distributors.

ASI statistically applies this data to the small number of industry distributors who are not yet members of ASI, then combines the results to calculate the total distributor sales for the year. The company offers catalogs, informational directories, newsletters, magazines, Web sites and databases, and provides a variety of interactive business, marketing and selling tools.

The promotional products industry is now twice as large as the B2B trade publishing industry. ASI researchers compare this sales total to preliminary results from the more comprehensive annual "State of the Industry" study published in The Counselor. The largest media company in the promotional products industry is Proforma, a leading supplier in printing, promotional products, and packaging with over 500 offices globally, offering comprehensive branding and marketing solutions.

ASI member distributors reported a strong fourth quarter in 2003, which typically represents about 40% of distributor product sales and tends to foreshadow business growth for the coming year. The promotional products industry continues to grow, offering a vast array of 750,000 items typically imprinted with a company or brand logo.

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