Promo is built on the law of reciprocity, said industry vet Paul Kiewiet – executive director of the Michigan Promotional Professionals Association – in a keynote address at the Promotions East regional trade show.

Giving out a promotional item might subconsciously encourage someone to do something for you in return, but the power of the “gift economy” isn’t just visible when you’re giving out swag to potential customers, Kiewiet said – it’s also a key part of building meaningful industry connections.

“The gift economy is part of what’s in the DNA of a regional association,” Kiewiet shared.

With that, the trade show floor opened at Promotions East, produced by the Specialty Advertising Association of Greater New York (SAAGNY) and held from Sept. 24-26 at Harrah’s Resort and Casino in Atlantic City, NJ. More than 140 suppliers covered the space with tables and hot products, drawing over 1,000 attendees to the show floor. The event also included professional education sessions and small group supplier meetings for distributors before concluding with an opportunity for end-users to view the show on Thursday.

“The good thing about regional shows is that the distributors here are talking to their local rep,” said John Cudahy, executive director of SAAGNY. “It’s the person you need to know to get things done when you need things done – and I think with whatever regional, that’s the benefit.”

Here are a few key takeaways and trends from the Promotions East show floor.

Kitting & Packaging Designed To Resemble Retail

As retail brands continue to make their mark in the promo space, consumers increasingly want a promo experience that feels like a retail experience, said multi-line rep Steve Mitchell.

That’s why many of the products from Acehigh Tech Corp (asi/30537) – one of the lines Mitchell represents – come in sleek black packaging designed to mimic the feel of receiving product from top electronics brands. Even the way the box slowly slides open is the same, said Mitchell.

“The presentation is really important,” he said. “The concept of this is they want it to be like you’ve just gone into the Apple Store or Best Buy, and you’ve bought your brand-new piece of tech and you’re excited about it.”

Options on display included a versatile travel charger designed to include up to three devices at once, packaged in a carrying case and a smooth matte retail-esque box.

This traveling charger folds up flat to fit in the accompanying carrying case and can charge a phone and smartwatch, with room to spare.

Retail-oriented design extended outside of the tech space, too. In addition to its original lineup of custom-printed socks, supplier Sock101 (asi/88071) also offers branded sneakers, where clients can select colors, photos, patterns and patches.

Audrey Miesner, Sock101’s West Coast inside sales rep, said the brand has gotten increasingly custom with shoes as the line has developed, especially with packaging.

“Kitting projects have been really big for us,” Miesner said. “A lot of people have been trying to get away from such promo-y looking items and get more into the retail-looking side of things – something that looks very clean and classic.”

These shoes, designed for Northwest Missouri State University, were packaged in a custom-printed shoebox for delivery.

Sustainability, Sustainability, Sustainability

As the end of the year approaches, distributors are thinking about Q4 gifting, especially outerwear, said Ken Rode of Counselor Top 40 supplier Cutter & Buck (asi/47965). Thanks to a promotion that put some outerwear within a more accessible price range, Promotions East attendees were especially interested in the supplier’s puffer vests.

But also top of mind for corporate buyers is sustainability, Rode said. That’s why many of Cutter & Buck’s jackets and vests include an imprinted label on the inner lining that lays out the product’s features – including sustainability-focused ones.

“Right now, about 85% of our products are made from recycled materials,” he shared. “And that matters – for businesses that are public facing, sustainability is the real deal.”

Many large corporate clients are especially focused on working with sustainable brands and products.

Craig Glynn, account manager at Hexa Custom (asi/60557), agrees. Especially at shows that allow end-users to come in and view products directly, like Promotions East, sustainability is something that unites all segments of the promo process – supplier, distributor and end-buyer.

And that was evident across the show floor – Makenzie Stritzinger of Counselor Top 40 supplier Hit Promotional Products (asi/61125) said its collection of bamboo products was popular among show attendees, and Aslam Rahim of Gordon Sinclair (asi/57800) shared that the supplier is transitioning more and more drinkware products to recycled materials.

“It’s on the forefront of so many people’s minds,” said Glynn. “And they’re excited when they can work with a supplier that has the same values.”

Unique Decoration Ideas

Within top categories like apparel and drinkware, though, suppliers and decorators are introducing unique decoration techniques to stand out.

In addition to more recycled materials, Gordon Sinclair showed off unique decoration techniques that imprint a variety of drinkware and accessories with raised textured patterns. A popular category is its sports elevation line, which mimics the ball texture associated with various sports – including basketball, football, golf, soccer and baseball.

“We work with a lot of sports teams and people who have affiliations with them,” said Rahim. 

These bottles are textured to feel like the balls associated with popular sports, offering a unique take on drinkware decoration.

In apparel, Rich Sessa from apparel decorator All-County Apparel said he’s had an uptick in clients asking for patches.

“A lot of the apparel trends lately have been going back to vintage-looking stuff,” Sessa said. “Patches can look a little more custom when you’re creating apparel for your customers.”

Kat Villarreal, director of marketing at The Stitchory (asi/41574), has also noticed that style coming back. The supplier, which specializes in products for schools like sports uniforms, brought a variety of varsity jackets to Promotions East to capitalize on that interest moving into fall, and to show off a fully customizable vintage look.

This varsity jacket from The Stitchory (asi/41574) is fully customizable and also reversible, with a windbreaker-like material on the inside.

Having Fun With Promo

And the promo pros on the floor didn’t forget to bring the fun, with creative promo picks ranging from a custom floating plastic cooler from Sock101 to customizable coloring books from Coloring Book Solutions (asi/45815).

Mandy Chow, co-founder and chief operating officer at new supplier TheWayo (asi/95654), said that was one of its goals entering the promo space: making the process to access unique, fun promo items easier and more streamlined. She and her business partner, TheWayo CEO Julia Xu, filled their Promotions East booth with a variety of colorful and creative items, like custom-shaped throw pillows, pastel-patterned desk mats and a mini-karaoke machine.

This mini-karaoke machine comes with a mini-microphone and can take printing on both the speaker’s face and the top.

In front of a wall of plush toys that ranged from classic teddy bears to sequined pigs to Doritos chip bags, Giuseppe Curto of Curto Toy Mfg. Co. (asi/47897) shared that stuffed animals can provide a unique and memorable promo item, regardless of industry, because of custom shape capabilities.

Curto also said he’s a fan of Promotions East because of its size – it gives him a real opportunity to connect one-on-one with both familiar faces and new distributors on the show floor.

“[This show] is great because everybody’s happy to be here,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s just where we are on the coast, but everybody’s excited.”

Curto Toy Mfg. Co. (asi/47897) said it has made plushies in almost every conceivable shape.

And the promo didn’t stop on the show floor. Event organizers were also selling Promotions East swag to raise money for the SAAGNY Foundation, which provides college scholarships to children of promo industry employees.

“Eat, Sleep, Promo East, Repeat” tees were on sale at the event for $20, with all proceeds going toward the SAAGNY Foundation.

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