We know about the power of promotional products. ASI even has research that proves their cost-effectiveness. Not everyone, however, feels that way. “There’s this perception that promo products are disposable, that they’re schlocky, that it’s kind of almost the black sheep, if you will, of the of the advertising world,” says ASI Media Digital News Director Christopher Ruvo.

It’s a real issue. So what can be done to improve promo’s “brandfill” reputation? In the first article in our special series released this week, 5 Ideas to Improve Promo, Ruvo interviewed a dozen leading distributor executives to get their ideas about how the promo industry can be viewed more favorably.

But the distributors aren’t the only ones with good ideas to improve the promo industry’s reputation. In this Promo Insiders episode, the ASI Media crew (Ruvo, Editor-in-Chief C.J. Mittica and Executive Editors Theresa Hegel and Sara Lavenduski) join up to offer their solutions. They also discuss the anti-swag movement and run through the most popular industry terms – “promotional products,” “logoed items,” “swag,” “branded merchandise” and more – and decide which are helping the promo industry, and which are doing it real harm.