TREVOSE, PA – July 25, 2013 – Counselor^® magazine’s annual “State of the Industry” report predicts record-breaking 2013 distributor sales for the ad specialty industry along with continued recovery from the U.S. economic recession.

Each year, the Advertising Specialty Institute^® (ASI) surveys distributors and suppliers for the special Counselor “State of the Industry” issue, available in print and online each July. The 2013 report, considered the most important and influential in the promotional products industry, analyzes key sales, marketing and operational metrics used every day by industry practitioners.

Counselor‘s analysis of 2012 findings shows distributors increased sales, profits, order sizes, number of orders, marketing efforts and customer retention rates. Click here to read the report.

According to ASI research, the health/medical/hospital market remained the single biggest market at 13.8% of industry sales, an increase of 2.0 percentage points over 2011. The education/schools/universities market ranked second, again accounting for over 11% of total ad specialty revenues. Manufacturing (8.1%) and construction (5.8%) both rose, which likely reflects growing economic activity.

“As ASI’s research proves, the impressive return on investment (ROI) and high rate of advertiser recall for ad specialties are better than nearly any other medium in the world, which is why even the biggest companies continue to spend their money on promotional products,” said Timothy M. Andrews, president and chief executive officer of ASI. “And as Counselor’s comprehensive ‘State of the Industry’ report clearly shows, there are numerous opportunities for growth in the $19.4 billion promotional products industry, which is growing at an even stronger pace than the U.S. economy.”

The 152-page issue also offers winning tips and tactics and 10 growth strategies along with profiles of the 2013 Counselor Award winners – including Person of the Year David Nicholson – and the exclusive revenue ranking of the Top 40 distributor and supplier companies.

Highlights from the 2013 Counselor “State of the Industry” issue include:

• Top 3 Products: Shirts, bags and writing instruments, per percentage of total 2012 industry revenue. T-shirts alone represent $2.7 billion of the $19.4 billion in total distributor revenues.
• Bags Down: For the third year, bags declined in their share of sales, down to 8.7% of the market.
• Vote for Profits: 2012’s elections helped increase sales of buttons, badges and bumper stickers by 48% over 2011.
• Green is (Not So) Good: While nearly three-quarters (72.6%) of all distributors indicated sales of eco-friendly items were the same as in 2011, 7.2% more reported a decline than an increase.
• Electronics Up: As a group, USB drives and other electronic/tech products now represent about 10% of the overall market.

Custom watch sales were up 8% over the previous year.  Higher priced executive style watches showed the largest increase while low cost digital watches had the greatest decline.  National brands such as Seiko, Bulova and Citizen remained the most sold.