Promo 101: What Are Suppliers & Distributors?

Welcome to the wonderful world of promotional products. We’re so happy you want to be a part of this robust $26.1 billion-and-growing industry. As with any specialized industry, there’s plenty of lingo to master as you’re getting started. But I promise you that it’s much simpler than you think — and, as a printer, you probably already know more than you realize about promo.

What’s a promotional product?

First off, let’s define a promotional product — sometimes referred to as swag, branded merch or other similar terms. A promo product is something branded with a logo, mascot, slogan, company information or other graphic and often given away with no implied action or reaction intended from the end-user.

Done well, it’s a form of advertising that helps spread goodwill and awareness for the company giving away the item in question. In fact, promotional products are consumers’ favorite form of advertising, ranking above radio, television, print and online, according to the 2023 ASI Ad Impressions Study.

Adjacent to promos in their purest form are things like premiums (think awards for years of service or meeting sales goals), souvenirs at giftshops (after all, they’re promoting the destination the way a business is promoting itself), gifts with purchase, and on-pack or in-pack items (like branded whiskey glasses included with a bottle of Jameson’s).

In addition to more traditional giveaways, beloved brands have taken to selling seasonal or themed merch through limited-edition online drops. Remember the DunKings merch that sold out in 20 minutes after last year’s Super Bowl commercial? Or fast food chains selling “sauce packet” blankets and chicken nugget-shaped pillows? That’s all part of promo, too.

Did you know? ESP and ESP+, the product sourcing tools from the Advertising Specialty Institute, include more than 1.2 million promotional products from thousands of suppliers.

Click to enlarge. | Credit: ASI

What’s a promotional product supplier?

Let’s dig into the players in the industry. Suppliers in the promo industry are the companies that manufacture or import the products. They’re often the ones that will decorate said items with logos and other graphics, but some suppliers — particularly in apparel — are simply wholesalers of blank goods.

The vast majority of promotional products come from overseas, though there are a limited number of suppliers that manufacture some or all of their lines in the United States. In fact, 88% of promo products are imported from China, according to the 2024 State of the Industry report from ASI Research. Other popular countries for promo imports include Vietnam, Mexico, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, and Indonesia. (The heavy reliance on China means issues like import tariffs are of high interest to industry execs.)

Suppliers sell their products through a vast network of distributors — which in turn sell those branded goods to end-buyers. While it’s not technically illegal for suppliers to sell to the end-buyer, it’s generally frowned upon, and the majority of industry suppliers don’t “sell direct.”

Click to enlarge. | Credit: ASI

What’s a promotional products distributor?

A distributor is an independent reseller of suppliers’ product lines; in a way, you can think of them as the “suppliers’ salesforce.” Most modern distributors are much more than so-called commodity sellers, merely offering pens, mugs and other products at low price points; instead, they pride themselves on relationship-building and consultative sales tactics. It’s all about learning the unique needs and pain points of a particular end-buyer (whether a school, a bank, a construction company or some other business) and suggesting the right products and approach to solve it.

Want some inspiration? Check out the winners of the 2024 Counselor Promo Campaign Awards and the 2024 Salespeople of the Year to get insight into promo done well.

This infographic shows the typical supply chain journey of a promotional product. It illustrates how suppliers and distributors work together throughout the process. Click to enlarge. | Credit: ASI

Of course, distributors often do much more than simply sell products. Many offer a menu of services that include artwork and creative services, event planning, web and company store creation and management, program development, and more.

Suppliers and distributors work in tandem to get end-buyers the products they need. End-buyers, in turn, give said items to end-users, who keep and use that logoed merch for months — or even years — creating thousands upon thousands of brand impressions along the way.