Promotional Products Marketing Gets Smarter: What PPAI’s New Buyer Study Reveals
By Arizona Balloon Company (arizonaballoon.com) | October 7, 2026
A New Look at Promotional Products Marketing
Promotional products marketing is under closer scrutiny after PPAI Research published a study on October 1, 2026, titled “Better Merch Is Better Marketing.” The Promotional Products Association International surveyed more than 500 firms and business professionals, made up of 257 end buyers and 250 agency respondents. The end buyers were senior decision-makers and influencers in marketing, branding, events, employee engagement, customer retention and procurement. The agencies were firms that lead or influence client campaign recommendations.
The central message from PPAI economist Alok Bhat is that the market is not asking for less branded merchandise. Buyers want better strategy, quality, execution and proof. For companies that also invest in physical, location-based advertising such as helium advertising balloons, the findings are a useful benchmark for how decision-makers judge any tangible promotion.
Quality Drives Staying Power
The survey found that quality is the main reason recipients hold on to a branded item. Of the end buyers surveyed, 79% named high quality as a reason a product is worth keeping. Usefulness in daily life followed at 47%, and good design at 46%.
The reverse is also true. When asked why people throw branded products away, 59% of end buyers pointed to poor quality. Another 37% said the item was not useful, 36% said it was irrelevant to the audience, and 32% blamed poor design. PPAI’s takeaway is that product quality is a marketing performance issue, not only a sourcing detail.
Large-format advertising follows the same logic. A promotion that looks cheap or out of place can weaken the brand it was meant to support. Companies such as Arizona Balloon Company build and service oversized pieces like advertising blimps for the same reason. Visible quality shapes how a business is perceived.
Strategy Comes Before Product Selection
The study suggests buyers want partners involved earlier in the planning process. Asked what would make a distributor or vendor more valuable, 49% of end buyers chose better strategic ideas. Pricing transparency followed at 45%, faster quotes and samples at 36%, and product trend guidance at 30%.
Brand awareness was the dominant goal, cited by 54% of end buyers as the primary purpose of their merchandise use. Customer retention, employee engagement, events and sales prospecting also appeared, but each needs a different audience, moment and definition of success. PPAI frames the shift as moving the conversation from “which product” to why a product suits a particular audience at a particular time.
Agencies added a speed requirement. Faster quotes and samples led their list at 51%, followed by product trend guidance and client-ready concepts, each at 37%.
Measurement and ROI Take Center Stage
Almost every buyer in the survey tracks results, and only 1% said they do not measure branded merchandise at all. The most common measures were spending or budget at 53%, leads generated at 49%, impressions or reach at 48%, and event engagement at 47%. Customer retention (40%) and sales influenced (39%) followed.
When asked what they would most like to measure better, 55% of end buyers selected ROI. Customer retention (37%), sales influenced (36%) and cost per lead (35%) came next. Agencies said the output of an ROI calculator they would trust most is cost per meeting (27%), then cost per lead (26%), cost per impression (19%) and ROI percentage (14%). Transparent assumptions and practical metrics appear to carry more weight than a single headline percentage.
What This Means for Helium Balloons and Blimps
The PPAI study covers branded merchandise, not inflatables, so the following is our industry interpretation rather than a survey finding. Brand awareness is the leading objective for promotional spending, and that is also the strongest use case for helium advertising balloons and marketing blimps. A tall, visible aerial display gives a business a physical presence that drivers and pedestrians can see from a distance.
The sectors Arizona Balloon Company serves have clear, trackable goals. Home builders promote grand openings and model-home weekends. Auto dealers run sales events. Trade show exhibitors compete for foot traffic on a crowded floor. Each of these can pair an aerial display with a promo code, QR code or landing page, which mirrors the lead and impression metrics PPAI says buyers already track.
The quality findings also apply. Durable materials, accurate branding and professional servicing keep a display looking sharp for the whole campaign, which is the aerial-advertising equivalent of merchandise that earns a place in someone’s routine.
What This Means for Your Marketing
The PPAI research points to a practical rule for any physical promotion: decide what you want to achieve before you choose the format. If the goal is awareness around a launch, a sales event or a new community, outdoor and location-based tactics put your message where the audience already is. If the goal is lead generation, build the tracking in from the start so you can report on it afterward.
Set measurement expectations before the campaign launches. Pick two or three metrics you can realistically capture, such as visits during the event window, redemptions of a campaign-specific offer, or inquiries that mention the display. Document your assumptions so results can be compared across campaigns and defended in budget reviews.
Finally, treat quality and reliability as part of the strategy. Whether you are ordering merchandise or planning a campaign with helium advertising balloons, choosing a partner that can deliver on time, to specification and with clear pricing reduces risk to the whole campaign.