Promotional swag is so ubiquitous that many rarely look beyond the latest hot trinket to see the near $26 billion market that fuels it. The Promotional Product industry is a quite mature marketplace that, for over 100 years, has created, as well as stimulated a great many cultural trends. Experiencing extraordinary growth over the past 20 years, the promotional products industry outpaced overall economic and advertising spending growth. The industry has recorded sales growth in 18 of the past 20 years. The general advertising industry, “experienced record years in the mid first decade of the new millennium” before post 2007 recession hiccups, where a 15-20% decline was noted for most media with mild recovery thru mid-teens. Promotional Products suffered some of the same decline in 2008 & 2009 – but its recovery is traditionally much faster than most media or reseller channels, and our history bodes well for continuing the latest 10 year-over-year increases. Resiliency of the channel is partially attributed to Peripheral Market Distribution Channels adding the media as a secondary revenue stream, and the proliferation of synergistic promotional product use in conjunction with new media and advertising streams. The Promotional Product Network is a very viable and strong marketplace. Its ‘closed’ nature and mature systems of marketing and commerce allow very few barriers to entry or expansion, and a distinct advantage with leveraged marketing.

Just as the marketplace provides a valuable history of quickly rebounding, its unique but rather fractious structure allows incredible opportunities for all participants. So whether you’re an industry giant, a savvy marketer or a new inventor, this market is always your next venue for many extraordinary successes.