PROMO | 5 MIN READ
Promo Product Trends for 2021
Written by Michael Strack
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Promotional products continue to be some of the most high-impact, cost-effective advertising tools around. While 2020 was certainly a…unique year for many reasons, many of the product trends that emerged will continue well into 2021. This almost certainly relates to the tangible, utilitarian, and sometimes personal nature of promotional products. You can touch it. You can hold it. You can even wear it! What could be a better endorsement of your brand than for someone to proudly wear logo’d apparel out and about?
A little over a year ago, this market segment barely even existed in the U.S. Fast-forward to today, and it looks like the Age of Masks will not be coming to a close anytime soon. By the end of 2020, 80% of consumers were wearing masks all or most of the time while in public. 92% reported wearing a mask at least some of the time while in public.
Even before COVID-19 and the pandemic, we had started to see more of a trend towards buying American. The last few years have continued to see around a 25% increase in USA-made purchases by consumers year over year. And lucky for us in particular, consumers in the southern region of the country are the most receptive to the push for domestic production. Southern consumers look most favorably on brands who provide USA-made promotional products.
Another theme that has continued to trend upwards over the last couple years is a push for sustainable and eco-friendly products. This market segment has seen around at least a 20% increase year over year across all age groups. Over 30% of consumers 55+ reported purchasing more eco-friendly products. 46% of all surveyed consumers had a more favorable opinion of a brand that provided an environmentally conscious promotional product.
We don’t have any fancy statistics to back us up on this, so you’ll just have to take our word for it. With their popularity compounded by COVID-19 restrictions, our 
