Counselor Unveils Top 25 Promo Business Hot Spots

Bridgeport/Stamford, CT, tops first-ever ranking of ad specialties sales markets

TREVOSE, PA – June 22, 2010 – ASI’s Counselor magazine today revealed its inaugural list of the 25 metro markets working the hardest to promote their communities and businesses via branded giveaways.

Bridgeport/Stamford ($316 million), Minneapolis/St. Paul ($484 million) and Miami/Ft. Lauderdale ($114 million) lead the exclusive list of markets where businesses are investing the most per capita in promotional products.

“The list unveiled some surprising hot spots,” said Counselor’s editor, Andy Cohen. “While New York City is the advertising capital of the world, businesses in lots of unexpected places like Little Rock and Jacksonville are spending a lot of time marketing themselves using promotional products.  In addition to providing a terrific snapshot of the ad specialties business, our list offers a real look at the economic health of cities across America.”

Counselor editors reviewed population and business growth numbers for each of more than 350 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in the U.S.  They then created a first-of-its kind Ad Specialties Vitality Index (ASV) to rank markets specifically on promotional products revenues generated in each market.  The ASV relates the percentage of ad specialties sales in a market to the percentage of U.S. population in the same market.

The top markets, their ASV index and annual industry sales in the Counselor list are:

1. Bridgeport/Stamford 213 $100 million   2. Minneapolis/St. Paul 185 $316 million 3. Miami/Ft. Lauderdale 167 $484 million 4. Jacksonville, FL 165 $114 million 5. Nashville, TN 164 $136 million 6. Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX 158 $532 million 7. Boston, MA 156 $373 million 8. Little Rock, AR 154 $55 million 9. Madison, WI 145 $43 million 10. Baltimore, MD 144 $202 million 11. Des Moines, IA 139 $41 million 12. Kansas City, MO 135 $146 million

13. Portland, OR 132 $154 million 14. Boise, ID 127 $40 million 15. Denver, CO 126 $168 million 16. Omaha, NE 123 $55 million 17. New York City 121 $1.2 billion 18. Charlotte, NC 120 $109 million 19. Columbia, SC 119 $46 million 20. Orlando, FL 116 $126 million 21. Oklahoma City, OK 115 $74 million 22. Tulsa, OK 113 $55 million 23. Raleigh, NC 111 $65 million 24. Charleston, SC 111 $38 million 25. Baton Rouge, LA 110 $45 million

For the complete story, as well as an expanded listing of the top 100 markets graded A-F, along with interactive video reports, go to www.counselormag.com.

In addition to gathering extensive statistical research, Counselor dispatched reporters to Bridgeport/Stamford, Dallas, Boise, Omaha, and Baton Rouge for firsthand accounts and video reports of thriving companies and the cities they call home.

Fast facts:  Boise increased its population 17% since 2003.  Omaha is home to five Fortune 500 companies.  And, Baton Rouge has only 6% unemployment.

Promotional products, also known as ad specialties, range from pens and ball caps to apparel and electronics.  The items are imprinted with logos or slogans to market a company, organization, product, service, achievement or event.  The award-winning Counselor magazine is the voice of the $16 billion promotional products industry.

About ASI
The Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) is the largest media and marketing organization serving the advertising specialty industry, with a membership of over 26,000 distributor firms (sellers) and supplier firms (manufacturers) of advertising specialties.  Supplier firms use ASI print and electronic resources to market products to over 22,000 ASI distributor firms.  Distributor firms use ASI print and electronic resources, which contain nearly every product in the industry from more than 3,500 reputable suppliers, to locate supplier firms and to market services to buyers.  ASI provides catalogs, information directories, newsletters, magazines, websites and databases, and offers e-commerce, marketing and selling tools.  Visit ASI online at dev-asicentral.com and on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, the CEO’s blog and the ASI Social Network.

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