Facts on Figures ::: Industry Sales History.
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- The history of promotional product sales has been researched by PPAI for the USA as a whole. However, this source of information can be loosely related to the UK since British sales are estimated to be around 10 percent of that.
- The research time frame extends from 1974 to 2005.
- How the estimate of Distributor sales is Obtained...
More than 15,000 promotional products distributors are surveyed by researchers at Louisiana State University and Glenrich Business Studies. A point estimate (mean) is derived and multiplied by the number of small distributors (20,350). To prevent distortion, larger distributors are surveyed individually, and the sum of their sales is added to the sales volume of the smaller distributors to arrive at the sales estimate for the entire industry.
The Research...
Until 2001, Distributor sales from 1974 have always enjoyed a positive
growth on the previous year's figures. In some areas there has been a fluctuation
where percentage growth had dipped, before showing large increases again
(see Graph 1 below)..
Graph 1
These dips mainly occur in the late and mid Eighties, excluding 1987, and Early Nineties. These were times of economic depression.
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Table 1: Annual Estimate of Distributors Sales - 1974 to 2006 |
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| Year | Sales Volume | % Growth |
| 1974 | $ 841,090,990 | N/A |
| 1975 | $ 921,835,730 | 9.6% |
| 1976 | $ 1,085,922,500 | 17.8% |
| 1977 | $ 1,269,443,500 | 16.9% |
| 1978 | $ 1,525,871,200 | 20.0% |
| 1979 | $ 1,787,863,300 | 17.2% |
| 1980 | $ 1,991,679,800 | 11.4% |
| 1981 | $ 2,294,415,200 | 15.2% |
| 1982 | $ 2,411,430,400 | 5.1% |
| 1983 | $ 2,806,904,700 | 16.4% |
| 1984 | $ 2,947,249,971 | 5.0% |
| 1985 | $ 3,075,031,425 | 4.3% |
| 1986 | $ 3,818,000,000 | 24.2% |
| 1987 | $ 3,959,000,000 | 3.7% |
| 1988 | $ 4,161,000,000 | 5.1% |
| 1989 | $ 4,480,354,632 | 7.7% |
| 1990 | $ 5,012,299,487 | 11.9% |
| 1991 | $ 5,129,843,059 | 2.4% |
| 1992 | $ 5,220,251,205 | 1.8% |
| 1993 | $ 6,222,347,119 | 19.2% |
| 1994 | $ 7,008,438,092 | 12.6% |
| 1995 | $ 8,037,054,605 | 14.7% |
| 1996 | $ 9,490,373,011 | 18.1% |
| 1997 | $ 11,874,907,786 | 25.1% |
| 1998 | $ 13,178,000,000 | 18.1% |
| 1999 | $ 14,937,546,446 | 13.3% |
| 2000 | $ 17,854,482,234 | 19.5% |
| 2001 | $16,552,291,971 | -7.9% |
| 2003 | $16,340,000,000 | -1.3% |
| 2004 | $17,310,000,000 | 5.9% |
| 2005 | $18,010,000,000 | 4.0% |
| 2006 | $18,779,654,661 | 4.25% |
| 2007 | $19,600,000,000 | 5.4% |
As the 'Sales Volume' column shows (Table 1, above), the sales have risen year on year (again, until recently), with the greatest consistency of growth, above 12 percent, occurring from 1993 onwards.
The data suggests that while there are times of economic decline, the industry could still sustain business and find enough business to expand and increase sales.
This is testimony to the fact that whatever the economic climate, Promotional Product Distributors are able to help companies find ways of using their marketing resources and implement a promotional campaign despite difficult times. The impact of this is better illustrated when one takes a look at the estimated figures of distributor sales for the same period in Table I, in Graph II (below).
2007 was the best year for Distributors, with a great increase for small distributors and a slight decrease for large distributors. 2001, however, saw a decline for both groups with large companies seeing a greater a decline than small distributors. The last few years have seen an steady increase in growth again to new highs.
"In April ASI announced that the ad specialty industry recorded revenues of $19.6 billion in 2007, a 5.4% increase over the $18.6 billion in sales in 2006. In a year when political spending was unusually high for an odd-numbered year and when marketing dollars increasingly flowed away from traditional advertising (TV, radio, newspapers, magazines) and toward nontraditional media (event marketing, online, mobile, video, etc), ad specialty distributors capitalized on the climate."
- www.asicentral.com
(This annual estimate of distributor sales
is sponsored by Promotional Products Association International {PPAI}
and conducted by researchers at Louisiana State University and Glenrich Business
Studies.)
Graph II
Graph II does not appear to look like it has been affected by many economic slumps. The gradient is very much even from 1974 up to 2006 where the incline sharpens due to some of the highest percentage increases in the history of promotional products.
However is has not been all sweet and light. 2001's estimates have fallen,
but may be result of the general unease that had slipped in to the latter
part of the financial year within the business community after September
11th, coupled with the fact that as more firms seek online marketing tactics
(which cannot directly involve tangible goods) as a priority so not to fall
behind competitors, so budgets released to the Promotional Products industry
have become reduced.
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