Every year, ASI surveys thousands of people about the branded products they actually keep, use, and remember. The 2026/2027 edition just landed, and it’s the closest thing the promo industry has to a straight answer on what works. Here are the ten categories that earn their keep, with the numbers behind each.
1. Fleece & Jackets: The Impression Champion
Why it works:
- 87% keep a promo jacket for more than a year
- 78% wear it at least once a week
- 9,000 lifetime impressions — more than any other category
Outerwear gets worn in public, season after season, which is exactly why it generates more impressions than anything else in the study. People also treat a jacket as a real gift rather than a handout, so the goodwill lasts. If your budget covers one premium item, this is where to spend it.
2. Bags: The Most Reach for the Money
Why it works:
- 92% use a branded bag at least once a month
- 84% keep it for at least a year
- 88% keep it because it’s useful
Bags go everywhere: the grocery store, the gym, the office, the airport. That constant use is what drives the impression count so high for something that costs so little. Spec it in a sustainable material and you pick up a second advantage, since 86% of people view the advertiser more favorably when a bag is sustainable.
3. T-Shirts: The Most Wanted Item
Why it works:
- 80% keep a branded tee for at least a year
- The single product people are most excited to receive (55%)
- A large canvas for your design
T-shirts top the list of what people actually want, which is no small thing. Their impression numbers are more modest than jackets or bags, and that points to a simple rule: quality matters. A well-made shirt people wear for years beats a thin one that goes straight to the donation pile.
4. Food Gifts: The Conversion King
Why it works:
- Consumers receive an average of 3 food gifts a year
- 72% keep and consume a food gift because it’s enjoyable — higher than any other category
- 92% are more likely to do business with the sender, the top score in the study
There’s a reason food works: getting something you eat feels personal in a way a pen never will. It’s also shared, often with other people, which spreads the goodwill past the person who received it. Food gifts are hard to beat for client appreciation, holiday gifting, and event follow-up.
5. Drinkware: Daily Impressions, Daily Visibility
Why it works:
- 87% keep it because it’s useful, the top reason
- 41% say they’d be excited to receive a branded cup, bottle, or tumbler
Drinkware lives on desks, in cupholders, and in gym bags, so it gets seen every day by the recipient and everyone around them. With reusable bottles now the default for a lot of people, a quality insulated tumbler also reads as a responsible choice without costing you a premium label.
6. Power Banks: High Impact for a Tech-Forward Audience
Why it works:
- 89% keep it because it’s useful
- 85% keep it for at least a year
Power banks land especially well in tech, finance, healthcare, and any audience that’s always moving. Every time someone’s phone hits 10% and your power bank saves them, your brand is attached to the moment of relief. That’s a hard association to buy any other way.
7. Writing Instruments: Cheap, Constant, and Effective
Why it works:
- 88% keep them because they’re useful
- 1,900 lifetime impressions at a fraction of a cent each
Pens are the original promotional product, and they still work. For high-volume events, trade shows, and mailers, a quality pen with a clean logo is one of the best cost-per-impression buys in marketing.
8. Headwear: Big Impressions from a Classic
Why it works:
- 60% wear a promo hat at least once a week
- 64% keep it for at least a year
- 4,000 lifetime impressions
Hats get worn in public — at games, on trails, at the beach — which spreads their reach well beyond the person you handed it to. For any brand with an outdoor, athletic, or lifestyle angle, headwear is a natural fit.
9. Blankets: Long Dwell Time, Personal Spaces
Why it works:
- Half of recipients keep it for five years or more
- 51% keep it because it’s useful, 44% because it’s enjoyable
- 88% view the sender more favorably after receiving one
Blankets end up on couches, in living rooms, and in the back of cars, which puts your brand in the most personal corners of someone’s life for years. Few products get that kind of dwell time. They work especially well for insurance companies, financial advisors, healthcare providers, and anyone whose brand is built on warmth and care.
10. Health & Safety Products: The Trust Builder
Why it works:
- 88% keep it because it’s useful, tied with writing instruments
- 66% use it at least once a week
Health and safety items tell people a brand is thinking about them, not just the sale. For healthcare companies, employers, schools, and any organization where trust is the whole game, that message lands and sticks.
What the Data Says About Picking the Right Promo
Look across all ten categories and a few patterns hold up:
Utility drives retention. The number-one reason people keep a promotional product, in nearly every category, is that it’s useful — 78% say so. If a product doesn’t do something practical, it gets tossed, and the impressions go with it.
Quality signals quality. People are more likely to buy from a brand that handed them something well-made, and 55% say quality affects whether they’d want a promo item at all. A cheap product doesn’t just disappear; it can leave a worse impression than no gift.
Match the product to the message. A power bank says you’re practical. A blanket says you pay attention. A food gift says you value the relationship. The right product reinforces what you’re already trying to say; the wrong one says nothing.
Want help matching the right product to your next campaign? That’s what we do, across every category in this study. Get in touch, and Swag Better.
Research provided by the Advertising Specialty Institute, ©2026, All Rights Reserved. Figures are from the 2026/2027 Global Advertising Impressions Study (asicentral.com/study (opens in a new tab)).