Inc. recently released the latest installment of its Inc. 5000, the always highly anticipated list of America’s fastest-growing companies. SwanLeap, a company that provides software for the logistics industry, topped the list with an eye-popping 75,661 percent three-year growth, but that’s not why we’re here. We’re here to talk about the promo connections.
Turns out, we don’t have to look far. Just behind SwanLeap, at No. 2 overall, was PopSockets, maker of the eponymous smartphone accessories that have exploded in popularity over the last year or so. The company posted three-year growth of 71,424 percent and revenues of $168.8 million, astronomical numbers that back the trend we’ve seen promo.
iClick, the supplier based in Seattle, underwent massive growth last year, largely due to its exclusive rights to sell PopSockets in the promotional channel. The supplier grew its sales by 275 percent over 2016, posting 2017 revenues of $53.3 million and jumping 29 spots on our 2018 Top 50 Suppliers rankings.
Those iClick numbers clearly show how huge PopSockets are in promo, but the Inc. 5000 numbers are even more telling. This is a product with broad appeal both inside and outside the promo industry. And while the growth numbers are staggering, the raw dollar figures are even more telling. PopSockets’ $168.8 million in sales was good for 176th out of the 5,000 companies on the list. Considering the items retail for about $10 to $15, that’s a lot of product flying off shelves—something in the neighborhood of 13 million units sold, by our rough estimations.
PopSockets aside, several other promo and print companies made the Inc. 5000. The list is sortable by industry, which helped in our search, but promo companies were split seemingly at random between the Advertising & Marketing category and the Business Products & Services category, and it wasn’t always obvious which of those several hundred companies were in promo. Also, combing through 5,000 total entries is tough.
So, it’s possible we missed a few, but we did our best. Here are the ones we found, with ranking and percent growth:
- 92. Impact Mailers (3,765 percent)
- 282. Merchology (1,730 percent)
- 448. Proforma IdeaPress (1,136 percent)
- 458. Signs.com (1,112 percent)
- 626. Proforma Springboard Promotions (800 percent)
- 696. The Branding Agency powered by Proforma (717 percent)
- 941. Fresh Thread (525 percent)
- 1225. twelve NYC (395 percent)
- 1237. MCS Marketing powered by Proforma (392 percent)
- 1275. Origaudio (379 percent)
- 1379. FlexPrint Managed Print Solutions (343 percent)
- 1551. Proforma Durkee (303 percent)
- 1656. Right Way Signs (278 percent)
- 1661. SoBe Promos (277 percent)
- 1711. Proforma Irvine Group (267 percent)
- 1769. Proforma Angelini + Diamond Solutions (257 percent)
- 1785. LogoGram (253 percent)
- 1997. Threadbird (224 percent)
- 2016. OmniPrint International (221 percent)
- 2033. Proforma 3rd Degree Marketing (220 percent)
- 2235. Brandito (197 percent)
- 2277. The/Studio (193 percent)
- 2602. Proforma BrandCentric Solutions (164 percent)
- 2800. MRL Promotions (147 percent)
- 2808. BrandNex.com (147 percent)
- 2850. Specialist ID (144 percent)
- 3101. The Idea Box – Powered by Proforma (128 percent)
- 3152. Carisma Large Format Printing (125 percent)
- 3327. StickerGiant.com (117 percent)
- 3522. Primoprint (107 percent)
- 4387. HDS Marketing (76 percent) (No. 50 on PM 2018 Top 50 Distributors)
- 4435. Creative Approach (74 percent)
- 4719. Proforma Graphic Services (66 percent)
Some notes:
• HDS Marketing placed No. 50 on our 2018 Top 50 Distributors list with $23.9 million in promotional products sales and $30.2 million in total sales. Based in Pittsburgh, the company employs 85 people across five locations. It also placed No. 50 on our 2017 list.
• Twelve Proforma franchises made the 2018 Inc. 5000.
• Some of these companies may not operate under the traditional supplier-distributor model, but since it was difficult to tell in some cases, we included any companies that appeared to deal in promotional or printed products.
• We also included OmniPrint International, which does not sell promotional items but does sell direct-to-garment digital printers.
Let us know if there’s anyone we missed!
