The Advertising Specialty Institute^® (ASI) of Trevose, PA, released its annual sales analysis for the promotional products industry, showing total distributor sales topped $21.5 billion for 2014, increasing revenues by 5.1% over 2013 and setting a new record for the second straight year.  
Further, ASI research shows distributor sales grew 5.9% in the fourth quarter of 2014, year over year, with sales of promotional products now increasing for 20 straight quarters. Fueled by sales of branded items like T-shirts, caps and pens that companies typically give away to promote their business, brand or event, the promotional products industry is growing at over twice the rate of the U.S. economy.

In addition, the Counselor^® Confidence Index – a tool that measures distributor health and optimism – improved slightly to 114 in the fourth quarter, tying an all-time high.

Leading research firm eMarketer estimates spending on paid media in the U.S. totaled nearly $180 billion in 2014. Media spend by category suggests total distributor sales of $21.5 billion puts promotional products fourth among all advertising media, behind TV ($68.5 billion), digital ($50.7 billion) and print ($31.7 billion), and ahead of radio ($15.2 billion).

“Everyone in our industry should be proud that demand for low-cost, high ROI ad specialties is once again at a record high,” said Timothy M. Andrews, president and chief executive officer of ASI, the largest media, marketing and education organization serving the promotional products industry, with a network of over 25,000 distributors and suppliers throughout North America. “And, by all indications, the promotional products industry is heading for another solid year in sales in 2015, continuing a years-long positive trend that’s seen entrepreneurs and small business owners making more money selling ad specialties than ever before.”

Overall for 2014, U.S. gross domestic product, the value of the production of goods and services, adjusted for price changes, rose 2.4%, the highest in four years, according to the Commerce Department. In addition, in 2014 consumer confidence hit its highest mark since the recession.

According to ASI reports, nearly two-thirds of distributors reported a sales increase in 2014 over 2013, with larger revenue distributors with more than $1 million in annual revenues posting higher percentage sales increases than smaller revenue distributors.  MORE INFO