The world we have been living in for some years now is not the “best of all possible worlds” dreamed of by philosophers. In such a context, the promotional market can boast a life insurance that the other sectors of commerce usually do not have: it is in fact countercyclical by definition, that is, it produces stimuli to fuel consumption even – and above all – when times are hard.

The picture that emerges from the annual survey of the magazine Promotion on the state of health of the sector (to be presented at PTE on 22 January) confirms these premises: the uncertainties of the geopolitical and economic chessboard are in fact reflected in the promotional spending indications of operators and companies, although not to a worrying extent. The market is undoubtedly slowing down: in January 2025, the share of respondents who said they would spend more on promotional products than they did in the previous year dropped from 88% to 77%, equivalent to a shift of more than 10% of the optimists into the grey area of those favouring the “wait and see” approach. However, the share of pessimists remains stable, while that of those sitting on the fence grows to 11%.

So far, this concerns the operators. The decline in confidence in this part of the market seems to be offset by end-user companies, which state that they are investing more. 85% of managers say they are “very likely” or “likely” to purchase promotional products this year (the previous survey indicated a decrease of approximately -10%). The share of managers (more than 1 in 2) who say that their company will spend more this year compared to 2024 is also growing (58% compared to 52% in the last survey).

As regards the type of products purchased, the trend that emerged last year is confirmed: everything related to events (from lanyards to badges to giveaways), travel (luggage in general) and sport is growing. Italy's performance in the world of tennis, skiing and the Olympics drives the demand for sporting goods. However, the propensity to purchase items related to the world of kids and household goods is decreasing, although only slightly. The first is the logical reflection of the population crisis, while the second is simply an adjustment to the boom registered in the sector during lockdown.