Should there be any reservations about the topic, the promotional products business is a thriving one. This assertion would be hard to dispute, given the impressive numbers the industry reported for 2006. According to an annual survey conducted for Promotional Products Association International (PPAI), total promotional product sales revenue in 2006 amounted to $18.8 billion, up 4.25 percent from 2005. This figure translates to an increase of $766 million in sales from the previous year. That’s a lot of promotional products!
To put $18.8 billion into perspective, Promotional Marketing’s Top 50 Distributors brought in a total of $2.35 billion in promotional product sales in 2006. By themselves, the Top 10 reported $1.56 billion in promotional product sales in 2006, more than 60 percent of the total promotional product sales for the Top 50 distributors for the year.
Life at the top is good. No. 1-ranked Corporate Express Promotional Marketing attributes “speed, quality and innovation” to its successful run over the last year. And, according to just about all those that placed in the coveted Top 10 category, a keen focus on customer service and technology is a proven formula for success.
In an effort to recognize diverse levels of distributor sales, for the first time ever, Promotional Marketing’s Top Distributors’ list highlights promotional product sales at Gold, Silver and Bronze levels. Gold ranges from $6 million to $3.2 million; Silver ranges from $3.09 million to $1.3 million; and Bronze ranges from $1.2 million to $1 million.
In the end, all of our distributors are winners in their own right, as they continue to service an industry that outpaces popular forms of advertising, including Internet, cable, outdoor and yellow pages. Long live promotional products!
By Cynthia T. Graham
