One thing the promo market can say for itself over the past six months: It’s been consistent.

The industry continues its modest pace of continued revenue growth, according to PPAI Research’s latest bi-monthly snapshot. In June and July, the industry grew by 1.75% over the same period in 2023.

  • That number closely resembles April and May’s numbers (1.7%), as well as February and March’s growth (1.5%).

Consistent and steady growth is certainly preferrable over erratic fluctuation, and the good news is the inflation rate has reached its lowest point since 2021. The bad news is that, even so, June and July’s 1.75% promo growth still lags behind the inflation rate, which sits at 2.9%.

“In a landscape of rising costs and regulatory shifts, success demands strategic agility, innovation and proactive compliance to turn challenges into growth opportunities,” says Alok Bhat, PPAI’s market economist and research lead.

The latest revenue data isn’t cultivated from the same methodology as the annual Distributor Sales Volume Estimate, which polls distributors of all sizes. Rather, the current assessment stems from the aggregated results of 2024 PPAI 100 suppliers responding to a flash survey.

This plays out in regard to order volume among distributors and suppliers.

  • 62.6% of PPAI 100 distributors reported an increase in orders (56.3% of distributors specifically claimed moderate growth) in June and July.
  • Nearly 70% of PPAI 100 suppliers saw order increases (69.9% of suppliers reported growth that would be considered moderate) in the same months.
  • 18.8% of distributors experienced a decline in orders (in addition to another 18.8% that reported flat orders) and 4.3% of suppliers saw order declines, but as has been the case for most of 2024, these impacts may be amplified by inflation.

Bhat states, “the impact of inflation and limited significant gains suggest a challenging environment for sustaining real growth.”

Supplier Reaction

Mike Irvine, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Crystal D, which PPAI 100 ranked as the No. 88 supplier – says that the industry growth number would be worth looking at with optimism if inflation and supply chain issues were more favorable.

“While the 1.75% revenue growth in June and July is a positive sign, we recognize that it falls short of outpacing inflation,” Irvine says. “It also doesn’t take into account the pricing increases from the past two years. This underscores the need for continued focus on efficiency and innovation by everyone.”

  • Many suppliers – especially small and mid-sized ones – focus on niche corners of the promo market, which could mean that larger scale surveys like these may not always reflect their experiences.
  • Crystal D, for example, focuses specifically on awards.

“Historically, in the awards niche, we do not experience the high-highs and the low-lows of the industry,” Irvine says. “The category still goes up and down, but not with the extremes of the industry.”

According to Irvine, the larger promo market is often going to reflect what you see when you open the Business section of a newspaper, which might not be the case for the awards market.

“The promotional products industry is a leading indicator of what is happening in our economy, and the awards category lags a little bit,” Irvine says. “Selling awards can be a huge advantage to a distributor looking to diversify and have stability in their revenue streams.”

Distributor Reaction

More than half (56.3%) of PPAI 100 distributors reported increased sales revenue, with 50% seeing moderate growth.

Blink Marketing – the No. 88 distributor in the PPAI 100 – falls into that category, reporting 54% growth in June and July compared to the same period in 2023.

Jenny McIntyre, chief revenue officer at Blink Marketing, attributes the growth to focused efforts on driving sales. “We implemented targeted marketing campaigns tailored to specific industry verticals and launched new service offerings that resonated well with our client portfolio,” McIntyre says.

“Additionally, our sales team’s dedication to reaching out to prospects and upselling to existing customers played a crucial role in achieving this growth. These strategic initiatives helped us significantly boost sales during what are historically our company’s slowest months of the year.”

  • More than three quarters (81.3%) of PPAI 100 distributors identified economic uncertainty as their biggest challenge, followed by lengthy sales cycles (62.5%).
  • One anonymous PPAI 100 distributor also cited “less client demand.”