Promo’s place at the PRINTING United Expo is undeniable, and it’s growing each year. While some promotional products distributors, decorators or printers might not see how the two worlds are connected – or even how their own businesses venture across the aisle – the show floor is an excellent case study in how print and promotional products coexist and complement each other in a campaign.

Walking the show floor, it’s easy to see the role promotional products play alongside print and how traditional print products can boost the branded merchandise on display. Printers and decorators, too, were given the opportunity to learn more about this convergence of promo and print through education sessions that outlined the success of printers who expand their product offerings, or how adding promotional products can open up new avenues for business whenever print sales decrease.

There were also a fair few promotional products suppliers on the show floor highlighting their latest products and providing insight into which items are hot right now and how printers can get involved in distributing promotional products.

Turnkey Solutions

Some printers might think that promo seems a little too good to be true. Andrea Powers, a sales rep for Counselor Top 40 supplier SnugZ USA (asi/88060), was on hand to walk printers through the ins and outs of the promo world, and how suppliers can be valuable partners.

“Basically, we’re just trying to teach them about promo, what we can do, how we keep the stock in-house and that we imprint it for them,” she said. “We’re kind of trying to make their lives a little bit easier and expand the idea of promo. If people want pens, and they don’t do it, we can do it. We’re a turnkey vendor; we just make their lives more simple.”

Powers found that plenty of people she talked to were excited about the prospect of not having to decorate blanks or store them in their own facility where space could be scarce.

Natural Partnerships

For those print professionals having these conversations in supplier booths, what are the products they seem most excited about potentially including in their campaigns or adding to their business?

“A lot of people ask for lanyards, pens, the traditional promo items,” Powers said. “And a lot of our speakers they like as well.”

Items like lanyards and pens obviously lend themselves to most buyer verticals. In print, where education and finance are common customer bases, pens and lanyards are in high demand.

SnugZ USA (asi/88060) displayed lanyards to printers and decorators who want a natural accompaniment to print products.

Powers’ point about print pros being interested in speakers is interesting. While one might not think of it as an obvious choice for someone lumping promo in with print, consider the goal of creating a high perceived value and ultimately usable promo. Speakers are used for a long time and also have the same wide range of potential end-users.

Anthony Russello, account specialist for Counselor Top 40 supplier PCNA (asi/66887), had similar conversations at the expo. Printers wanted to learn more about the promo opportunity, and he explained how promotional products played a role in the greater branding experience.

“One of the biggest reasons why we see it as a value add is that they have these deep relationships with the print buyers already, but when they get these ad hoc requests for promo, they don’t know where to go,” he said.

Russello said that when he spoke with print pros on the show floor, he fielded plenty of questions and provided guidance about bags and drinkware items.

“Those are always going to be the most popular categories,” he said. “They’re always good for trade show giveaways and events, so they’re very popular. And the price points and minimum order quantities are pretty easy to get into.”

Counselor Top 40 supplier PCNA (asi/66887) found that many conversations revolved around drinkware and bags.

The statistics back that up. In a presentation that morning at the expo, Executive Vice President for ASI and ASI Show Matt Barnes shared figures from the most recent ASI State of the Industry report, which found that drinkware made up 10.4% of all promotional products sales. Bags were just behind that with 7.2%. Apparel, of course, fits in nicely at PRINTING United Expo, and is perhaps the most natural progression for a printer or decorator. ASI Research found that T-shirts specifically made up 16.1% of all promotional products sales in 2025.

Decoration Styles

Looking at drinkware, plenty of booths showcasing their printing and decorating abilities showcased printing directly to objects. These were often cylindrical pieces like water bottles or cups.

What stood out the most was that the items don’t necessarily need to be perfectly straight, as items like wine glasses or beer glasses with tapered designs were still imprinted with direct-to-object printing.

Curved drinkware items can be decorated with direct-to-object printing, as shown at the Mimaki (asi/16001) booth at PRINTING United Expo in Orlando.