When evaluating what may be the most effective product options for the next branded giveaway, it’s sometimes helpful to know what has been successful for other companies.  Fortunately, the ASI (Advertising Specialty Institute) study of the market share of each product category is available every year as a summary of what was sold the previous year.  Most of the results are not surprising (sale of electronic items grew by 13% over the past two years), and others are a happy surprises (sales of sporting goods and leisure products jumped by 58% in the past five years).

Below is a summary of what’s hot and what’s not by percentage of sales:

• Shirts:  19.7% (shirts accounted for approximately $4 billion of sales)
• Writing Instruments:  9.7% (grew from 8.1% of the market to 9.7%)
• Bags:  8.6%
• Drinkware:  8.5% ($1.74 billion worth of drinkware products in 2013)
• Other Wearables:  6.8%
• Caps/Headwear:  5.0%
• Desk/Office/Business Accessories:  5.0% (sales increased by 16% last year)
• Calendars:  3.4% (sales dropped by 21% over past 5 years
• USB drives:  3.4%
• Health and Safety Products:  3.2%
• Buttons/Badges/Ribbons/Stickers/Decals/Emblems/Transfers/Lanyards:  2.7%
• Housewares/Tools:  2.6%
• Electronics:  2.6% (sales from electronic items grew by 13% over the past two years)
• Recognition Awards/Trophies/Jewelry:  2.5%
• Computer-Related Products (except USB drives):  2.0%
• Sporting Goods/Leisure Products:  2.0% (sales in this category have jumped by 58% in the past five years)
• Automotive Accessories:  1.9%
• Magnets:  1.6% (magnets accounted for $330 million worth of sales)
• Books/Cards/Postcards/Stationery/Giftwrap:  1.6%
• Textiles:  1.6%
• Food Gifts:  1.5% (more than $300 million worth of edible promotional products were sold in 2013)
• Personal/Pocket-Purse Products:  0.9%
• Clocks/Watches:  0.7%
• Games/Toys/Playing Cards:  0.7%
• Gift Cards:  0.7%
• Other Products:  0.8%

Branded giveaways are a proven successful tool for increasing brand awareness.  Knowing how each category of promotional products is trending provides valuable insight into the consumer trends that every company should track.  Stay informed, and connect with your customer using products that hit the mark!