PRESIDENTS DON’T GET ELECTED without the promotional products industry. Since the nation’s first president, George Washington, promoted his campaign through commemorative buttons, promo has been a vital and unmistakable part of every election cycle. About 1 in 10 Americans display a yard sign of their preferred candidate as an election approaches. Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, PPAI Research took a detailed look at the effect of promotional products and how they are used in campaigns through two different perspectives. • The first of these perspectives aims to determine the way various political campaigns use promotional products, as well as their preferences within the market. This survey took insights from approximately 250 campaign workers. • Secondly, this study also takes a look at the influence of promo in shaping voter perception via survey responses from a diverse range of more than 1,000 voters. “Political campaigns are pivotal in shaping the demand within the promotional products industry, significantly influencing trends and purchasing behaviors across PPAI member suppliers and distributors,” says Alok Bhat, PPAI’s market economist and senior manager of research. The majority of voters (53.3%) in the study indicated that promotional products positively or very positively influence their view of a candidate. These insights come bolstered by a moment when the nation is feverishly being recruited to the polls by both parties. After more than six months of an election year that seemed to be droning on with two candidates who had already sold their fair share of campaign merch over the past four to eight years, election-related promo products got a shot in the arm when President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race, paving the way for Vice President Kamala Harris to launch her campaign. • A flurry of campaign donations for Harris helped fund promo merch to help announce the new candidate to the nation, which led to a surge in demand for Harris/Walz hats made by Newark-based supplier Unionwear, including a viral camouflage hat. • Once the Harris/Walz ticket became official, Gill Studios – the No. 26 supplier in the PPAI 100 – saw a healthy demand for election merch, according to Cindy Scardino, the company’s marketing project manager. “Gill has received a significant number of orders for either Harris or Harris/Walz, with the bulk of the unionmade orders being ever-popular signs and bumper stickers, followed by a variety of stickers, both stock and custom,” Scardino told PPAI Media one week into the Harris/Walz campaign. Must Read | October Surprise Alok Bhat October Surprise What do campaign end buyers and voters think of promotional products? With a presidential election around the corner, PPAI Research took a deep dive into the preferences of campaigns and voters for both parties. By Jonny Auping 24 • OCTOBER 2024 • PPAI
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