YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – There’s little question that the digital revolution has changed how companies operate in the promotional products industry. Some companies embrace the latest technology and equipment, while others prefer to use the tried-and-true methods of the promotional products industry.
The Business Journal reached out to three local promotional products companies – Sherman Creative in Boardman, DayStar Marketing in New Castle, Pa., and Color 3 Embroidery Inc. in Warren – to take a deeper look into the industry.
Traci Miller, president of Color 3 Embroidery, says the shift to a more digital world has expanded capabilities.”If anything, it has given us an opportunity to do more for our clients,” she says.
Katie DeToro, DayStar Marketing, is one of those who believes that there’s still a place for old-fashioned techniques, like screen printing.
“The quality of screen printing still outlasts any of those new kinds of trends,” she says. “We try to stay with the tried and true methods that are providing our customers with a quality product that is going to be around for the long haul.”
The industry is still moving forward thanks to advanced technology.
According to IBIS World the promotional products market in the United States has grown by an average of 1.1% per year between 2017 and 2022. In 2016, the industry generated revenue of $20.6 billion.
NEW TECHNOLOGY
DeToro said DayStar Marketing will soon be celebrating 30 years in business. The business started as a primary provider for Pizza Joe’s, which its parent company, Classi-Co Foods, also owns.
“Over the years it has grown into much more than that,” she says. “We service schools, businesses, multiple counties in the area, as well as just individual clients.”
It now offers screen printing, embroidery and various types decals. It currently employs five people – four full-time and one part-time.
Unlike automatic presses, the garments still have to be made manually.
Jeff Matthews is the lead artist at DayStar Marketing and says their clothing products make up 90% of all DayStar Marketing’s work.
Matthews claims that the company recently invested in a Mimaki UV curing print.
“It’s about 64-inches wide and we can print on multiple different types of substrate,” he says. “One that we have been printing on for some of our locations for Pizza Joe’s is perforated window material. This perforated window material allows us to print any graphics you like on it. We can then apply it in any window so that from inside the shop, you can see the outside. But from the outside you can see whatever type of advertisement you want to put up.”
Matthews says that the machine can also produce banners or die-cut decals in any size.
“It has made it easier for doing banners. Before this printer, and the previous printer we had, if we had to produce a banner, we had to cut everything out of colored vinyl and place each color individually down onto the banners,” Matthews says. “It took a lot of time and you had to be very precise on what you were doing.”
Matthews says that with the new technology, they can now print banners without grommets.
“It saves a lot of time,” he says.
DISTRIBUTOR SUPPLIERS
Miller, of Color 3, says that her company offers embroidery, screen printing, laser-etched, and heat-applied decorations for the promotional product industry. It has clients nationwide.
Miller serves 200 clients, according to her.
“We have a higher concentration of embroidery than the other services. But the other services are gaining traction in the last couple years to start to equal out to our embroidery,” she says.
Color 3 was originally an embroidery business.
About 45 people work for the company. The company sells promotional products to distributors, who then sell them on to end users.
“We are servicing them to help them provide those products to corporations and businesses that wear them,” Miller says.
The company has been operating for 28 years. Over those years – like most businesses – operating technology has changed, Miller says.
“The equipment technology has moderately changed through the years. But the biggest shift of technology by far is the way that we interact with clients and the way that we operate our business,” she says.
Miller says these include enterprise resource planning, billing and revenue-management systems, and online content marketing.
“We are working closely with clients on integrating directly to their operating systems. We are building an API [application programming interface] systems to be able to share data and live statuses of jobs so that they don’t necessarily have to reach out to us,” she says.
While the ease of online access is increasing competition for some businesses, it has the opposite effect.
Miller states that Color 3 has been a success.
“If anything, it has given us an opportunity to do more for our clients,” she says. “A large portion of our clients create online stores specific to the corporations they’re serving. So they are creating websites that sell all of their branded items for their clients and then we’re fulfilling the back end of the apparel purchases they’re making.”
As far as printing technology, Miller says there have been some new items coming into “the world of decoration,” such as technology for directive film, heat transfers, laser etched patches and direct-to-garment printing.
Miller has noticed some trends that are not just about decorations.
“The biggest trend that I see is that we’re leaning more towards fulfillment and servicing those websites in a way that used to be a one-off piece,” she says.
“Now we are doing a lot more bulk and then a package fulfillment on the back end. It is trying to compete with Amazon’s delivery. It seems to be where the biggest trends are shifting again for us.”
Trends in the Industry
Stephanie Shapiro, managing partner of Sherman Creative, says her company provides promotional products that can be customized to any customer’s needs – whether it’s a name, logo, or other design.
Shapiro cites stainless steel tumblers as well as pens, apparel and other products that are popular. Many of Sherman’s customers consist of local government entities, health care companies, banks, schools and corporate accounts.
Sherman currently employs four.
Shapiro believes that technology has improved the ordering process. Her company has an order management system which allows customers to create pop-up shops and company stores.
“If you’re doing a fundraiser or you’re trying to get out 800 gifts to every employee in your company, we can facilitate that with our order management system,” Shapiro says. “That technology has definitely helped us create some really cool projects.”
Some of the more recent trends for the company have been eco-friendly products and “merch boxes.”
“These [merch boxes] became really popular during COVID but they’re still extremely popular,” she says. “Companies are doing those for their employees [and] They put together a bunch of different branded merchandise and they put it in a custom mailer, and they can ship it anywhere.” They put together a bunch of different branded merchandise and they put it in a custom mailer and they can ship it anywhere.”
Shapiro states that these boxes have been very well received.
She said that demand for eco-friendly triblend clothing was also increasing.
Polyester from recycled plastic bottles is used to make eco-friendly t-shirts.
“That’s trending right now, just comfort,” she says. “Instead of doing just 100% cotton, a lot of our customers are asking for upgraded materials. And that also includes some recycled material.”
Traci Millar, from Color 3 Embroidery is pictured at the top. She stands next to sewing machines with a hat she embroided.