Most marketing gets a glance. An email gets opened, skimmed, and archived. A good branded tumbler gets a spot on someone's desk, in their cup holder, and on every video call for a year. The 2026 impression data shows just how much that adds up.
Here are the latest promotional products statistics: what a promotional product actually earns, which items earn the most, and how to measure branded merchandise like the marketing channel it is.
About 3,300 over its life, on average, according to ASI's Global Advertising Impressions Study (2026), a survey of about 5,000 consumers in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Europe. Every commute, meeting, workout and coffee run puts the logo in front of someone new.
And people remember who gave it to them. 85% remember the advertiser that gave them a promotional product, and 76% are more likely to do business with a brand that gives them one (ASI, 2026).
$0.006 per impression, on average (ASI, 2026). The better the item, the better the math. A $6 tote earns about 5,000 impressions, roughly a tenth of a cent each. A premium fleece earns about 9,000, at $0.004 or less.
Things people wear and carry travel the farthest. Here are lifetime impressions and cost per impression by category, from ASI's 2026 U.S. findings.
| Category | Lifetime impressions | Cost per impression |
|---|---|---|
| Fleece and jackets | 9,000 | 4/10 of a cent |
| Bags | 4,900 | 1/10 of a cent |
| Caps and hats | 4,000 | 1/3 of a cent |
| T-shirts | 3,500 | 1/3 of a cent |
| Polos | 2,900 | 7/10 of a cent |
| Umbrellas | 2,300 | 7/10 of a cent |
| Writing instruments | 1,900 | 1/10 of a cent |
| Power banks | 1,800 | 7/10 of a cent |
| Drinkware | 1,300 | 1 cent |
| Desk and office accessories | 1,200 | 1 cent |
| Housewares and tools | 1,200 | 1/3 of a cent |
| Blankets | 1,200 | Under 2 cents |
| Magnets | 750 | 1/10 of a cent |
| Buttons, lanyards, stickers | 600 | 1/4 of a cent |
| Calendars | 550 | 1 cent |
| Notebooks and notepads | 500 | Under 1 cent |
| USB drives | 400 | Under 2 cents |
Source: ASI Global Advertising Impressions Study, 2026, U.S. findings.
Pick for the moment, not just the math. Wearables and bags reach the most people. Drinkware and desk items reach fewer, but they stay in daily, personal use, which makes them strong thank-you, loyalty and employee recognition pieces.
To show what those numbers look like in real life, we made a short animated film. The Life of a Tumbler follows Tum, a branded tumbler, from a warehouse shelf to a five-year work anniversary gift, then through a year of commutes, workouts, video calls, coffee runs, and soccer games. Along the way, Tum earns about 1,300 impressions at roughly a penny each (ASI, 2026).
Watch The Life of a Tumbler. It takes under two minutes.
Yes. Most people keep them, and keeping them changes how they see the brand. According to PPAI's Product Power 2026 survey of more than 5,000 U.S. consumers:
U.S. promotional products sales reached a record $27.1 billion in 2025, but growth slowed to 1.3% as buyers traded volume for value (PPAI, 2025 U.S. Distributor Sales Volume Estimate, January 2026).
"Buyers are choosing better products, not just cheaper ones."
Alok Bhat, Market Economist, PPAI
The giveaway that ends up in a drawer costs more than its invoice says. Low durability, poor design and items with no connection to the person or the moment are what make merch forgettable.
Cost per unit rewards cheap. A better starting metric is cost per kept item: your total program cost divided by the number of items still in use at six months. It rewards quality, relevance and timing, the same things that drive impressions.
Merch also works harder when it isn't on its own. Tie it to a real customer or employee moment and connect it to your direct mail, email and SMS, and it becomes the moment the rest of your campaign builds around. We cover that in more detail in why branded merchandise belongs in your multichannel strategy and our guide to retention marketing channels.
About 3,300 over its lifetime, on average, according to the 2026 ASI Global Advertising Impressions Study. Items people wear and carry earn the most: fleece and jackets earn about 9,000 impressions, and bags earn about 4,900.
$0.006 per impression, on average (ASI, 2026). Bags work out to about 1/10 of a cent per impression, fleece and jackets to about 4/10 of a cent, and drinkware to about 1 cent.
Fleece and jackets, bags, caps and hats, and T-shirts earn the most lifetime impressions, because people wear and carry them in public (ASI, 2026).
Yes. 65% of consumers are very likely to keep a promotional product for six months or more, and 90% say branded merch improves how they see the brand (PPAI, Product Power 2026).
For most brands, yes, when the item is useful and tied to a real moment. 85% of people remember the advertiser that gave them a promotional product, and 76% are more likely to do business with that brand (ASI, 2026).
Start with cost per kept item: total program cost divided by the number of items still in use at six months. It rewards quality and relevance instead of the lowest unit price.
The Keepable Channel is our free playbook on running branded merchandise like a real channel. It covers which items earn the most impressions, the Moments Map of six customer moments where merch does what no email can, how to measure what you mail, and a ten-question scorecard to see how keepable your program is today.
Get the free playbook, or bring one program to a free creative ideation session with our Branded Merchandise team. We'll start with your audience and your goals, not the product.