PPAI • JULY 2026 • 33 PPAI’s president and CEO. “It’s a signal that what we do is bigger than product. We are part of how brands connect, engage and build lasting relationships.” What makes up the branded merchandise ecosystem? Included in the study are: • Traditional promotional products • Decorated hard goods and soft goods • Apparel, workwear and related products • Licensed merchandise • Retail branded merchandise • Creator and customized merchandise • Print-on-demand and e-commerce channels • White-label and private-label branded goods • Event, campaign, gifting, recognition and activation-related merchandise “This is really the first study of its kind.” –Alice Gambarin, associate director at Oxford Economics Something BIG Is Coming | Must Read Defining ‘Branded Merchandise’ To establish boundaries for the study, PPAI and Oxford Economics worked with the following scope: Branded merchandise is defined as any physical item created, customized, sourced or distributed by a third party on behalf of a first-party brand (including organizations or individuals) to promote, represent or monetize the first party. In all cases, these products function as tangible expressions of a brand. This includes traditionally decorated promotional products (hard goods and soft goods, such as apparel, including workwear and non-licensed team/sports uniforms), as well as licensed goods both hard and soft, white-labeled items, creator-customized merchandise (such as through Etsy shops) and retail products bearing the selling brand’s name, logo or message (such as souvenir shops, college bookstores, golf pro shops, etc.). Items may be gifted or sold to a final user and may serve marketing, cultural or commercial objectives. • Products used by companies, organizations, schools, teams, creators, events and other brand owners to promote, represent or monetize a brand “What really unifies all of these different items is not how it is sold, but what its purpose is,” says Gambarin. A Value Chain Has More Points Than You Think There’s a key word that can’t be skipped over when considering the effort. It’s a global economic impact study. The supply chain that most PPAI members will recognize for the sake of business comes down to suppliers, distributors and clients. But the economic impact of the branded
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