In 2026, we no longer live in a monoculture. With a few occasional exceptions, the days of everyone participating in the same media and entertainment experiences are a distant memory. It probably goes without saying that the most famous person in th...

PPAI has promoted market economist Alok Bhat to an elevated role of director of research and public affairs as it continues to invest in long-term member value and industry impact.Bhat, who joined the Association in 2023 as senior manager of res...

To remain in business during the pandemic, Sean Ono made the same decision that employers across the branded merchandise industry and beyond were forced to make:Jobs had to be cut.Thus, the CEO and co-owner of Eagle Promotions (PPAI 279...

While recently speaking with a respected voice in the branded merchandise industry, I explained how we launched the Sparkpolo Distributor Portal, a platform developed from the ground up to support our fully custom apparel process. I explained how it...

Last year, $174 billion was spent on branded merchandise in the United States, accounting for approximately 51% of global branded merchandise spending.That’s one of the main takeaways from the global economic impact study that PPAI commissioned ...

Although the strategic case for India in a global merchandise program is settled, the execution case isn’t, and it usually fails on details that were knowable in advance.Five of them matter more than the rest.1. The account is probably alrea...

What makes branded merchandise feel premium? Consumers point first to high-quality materials, usefulness and how a product feels and functions. In fact, 73% say high-quality materials signal a premium product, more than twice the share who cite a st...