SAAC and State of the Industry
Thursday August 13, 2009 | Filed under:
I participated in an industry event recently - the 2009 SAAC Show in Long Beach, California.
The Specialty Advertising Association of California invited me to discuss the state of the industry before the APS Group (Advertising Products Suppliers).
I shared results of our second quarter sales survey, conducted by ASI's Larry Basinait, who takes the pulse of the industry through numerous research studies and surveys. I thought you might be interested since, not surprisingly, it shows ad specialty sales are off about 14%.
The report broke down the forecast for the second half of the year by company size and it discovered something worth noting: the bigger the distributor, the more pessimistic. Of those reporting sales of less than $250,000, 26% expect sales to be higher, and 47% expect sales to be lower. Of those earning $1 million and up, 19% anticipate higher sales while 50% percent expect lower.
As far as trends, the study showed that buyers want more services, like fulfillment. They also want more access to marketing program information, such as educational videos and materials beyond a product leave-behind. They want ideas on how to use promotional products, how to track ROI and how to educate their bosses, peers and colleagues.
I also shared with the group recent improvements ASI has made to education - in direct response to what members are requesting. In sum, we took a great education program and made it even better, by merging it with our editorial team. You can see many of the new offerings by clicking here, including free access to the brand-new, 10-CD Distributor Success System.
Tell me what you think about the current state of the industry by posting a comment now or emailing me here.