Promotional products a growing industry

A recent report from Northern Nevada Business Weekly finds that in spite of a weak economy, sales of promotional products are strong.

One owner of a promotional product distributor based in Reno, Nevada claims that aggressive marketing has enabled his company to persist through the recession and even gain in market share. "We practice what we preach," he told NNBW, "consistent marketing."

Though his company's marketing approach may not have changed, its sales trends have. High-end promotional products have become less popular, giving way to classics like promotional pens and mugs, a trend he attributes to increasingly popular "grassroots" marketing strategies.

Another owner of a vendor of promotional products, reported to NNBW that 2009 sales were up from last year. She attests that her company has substantial reason to believe in the effectiveness of promotional products - they use them extensively for the company itself.

The Advertising Specialty Institute's most recent data shows that while the promotional industry has gone through difficulty like any other in the last couple years, trends might be poised to reverse - a 17 percent decrease in sales during the first quarter of 2009 decreased by nearly half to a 10 percent decrease last quarter.