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What a Year This Has Been
What a Strange World We’re In
Why It’s Almost Mandated Above
 Who else could have ever envisioned the combined human and economic disasters that befell our world, our nation, our industry and each of us as individuals – since you reviewed The Counselor’s last edition of the State of the Industry report, something less than a year ago this month?
Truth be known, this edition and this editorial aren’t about the causes of the life and death happenings and dilemmas we’ve all endured in the past year. They happened. That’s all. We’ll spend significant parts of our waking hours for the rest of our lives, trying to return to a new kind of normalcy while we look into the deepest corners of our hearts and our lives for clues to causes, and even the slightest insights for ways to physically, mentally and psychologically prevent reoccurrences and solve the hate puzzles and perverted minds that allow such things to occur.
The rest of this State of the Industry report has to do with the progress, setbacks, trends and concepts – some indirectly linked to the recent past – that our editors, with the help of more than 1,000 industry practitioners, have seen surfacing in the past twelve months.
I’m happy to say the promotional products industry is on the move. Not without detours and hurdles that confront all businesses today. And not at the double-digit growth pace to which we had grown so accustomed before. But our industry, even if scarred, is healthy and is prepared to be at the head of the first wave of economic recovery we all await. Not because I said so or because you’d like us to be there. We’re near the head of the class because we’re part of
the sales promotion and direct-marketing media, the fastest growing and most widely sought forms of measurable marketing in America. We’re up front because we’re an industry loaded with entrepreneurial instinct, imagination, positive
attitude and work ethic that just refuses to lay down and roll over. And we’re
destined to grow again because the success and romance of our industry is
attracting, in addition to our own veterans of financial warfare, some of the great minds in the business world whose companies and whose personal careers are crossing over, into the promotional products profession each day.
The details? Read on.
We hope you enjoy and have frequent reference to this special bonus thirteenth issue you receive free with your annual Counselor subscription.
My special thanks to Tonia Cook Kimbrough, who has helped manage this year’s study. The research and summaries were overseen by Dr. Marjorie Cooper (Baylor University), a long time educator and friend of the promotional products industry. Our Editor-in-Chief, Dick Kern, was ably assisted by The Counselor’s Executive Editor, Arn Bernstein, who has been significantly involved with the study (the Top 40 ranking, in particular) almost since its inception.
Thanks for being a Counselor reader. And for helping us to help you
weather the storm. I’d love to get your feedback on the data, the conclusions
and how they affect your promotional products business. E-mail me at
mspike@asicentral.com or fax me at (215) 942-8733.
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