As part of Sourcing City’s strategic alliance with ASI, our CEO Alistair took a UK delegation to visit the ASI Chicago show, with the aim of learning about the US market, enjoying the ASI education programme, networking with peers in the US, looking for new & innovative products, spotting trends and of course to have a bit of fun and enjoy Chicago!

The opening of the show was met with the exciting announcement from Timothy Andrews President & CEO ASI, Michael Freter Director PSI & Alistair Mylchreest CEO Sourcing City of PromoAlliance, a new international alliance to identify and introduce best practices and market development concepts benefiting the U.S., U.K. and European markets.

Members of the delegation were Sibby Khan from Logo X, Nigel Pearce from Bagco, Andrew Nash from Sussex Promotions, Paul Green from Galpeg & Kieran Somaiya from Sunray Export, all keen to see first-hand why the US is a $18.9 billion market with a per capita spend greater than 3.5x of the UK.

It was fair to say there were high expectations within the group, but throughout the four day visit they were exceeded in all areas. ASI were wonderful hosts, and the detailed organisation and planning they put into the trip, gave everyone a full schedule balancing all aspects.

Alistair commented “It was an amazing event, and it soon became apparent that both the USA & UK have similar issues in persuading marketers to allocate greater budget to promotional merchandise. The US distributors have done a great job persuading the marketing community to part with more of their budget and to get the per capita spend so much higher. This ‘market education’ has been championed by the professional distributors getting end users to recognise the ‘real value and benefits of promotional merchandise’, which of course is the only way!

I was also amazed that one of the show sponsors; ‘Fields’, are able to guarantee next day delivery of printed lanyards throughout the United States, and if shipped late, the order was free!”

Paul Green said “Visiting ASI Chicago trip, proved to be a fascinating insight into the American promotional products industry.  The Power Sessions were really useful, even for someone who has been in the industry for 27 years.  The show was very professionally organised and I would certainly recommend distributors visiting a future ASI show now that the alliance has been formed with Sourcing City.”

Nigel Pearce said “I was at ASI Chicago last week as part of the new Sourcing City alliance, and just wanted to say a big thank you for the opportunity to attend- and also-for the wonderful hospitality extended to us by ASI during our trip over!
As a long-time admirer of the structure and professionalism of the US branch of the promotional industry, it was great to attend my first ASI show, experience the education programmes, meet some great new people and say hello to a number of existing contacts?all in a major US City I had never visited before, Chicago is World Class!

Andrew commented “Just wanted to say a big thank you for inviting me and organizing the delegation to ASI Chicago. The group got on really well and I made some great new friendships, both within the party but also with those from Stateside. It was great to view product, attend Education slots, and get a better understanding of the US market?..plus fab hotel and entertainment”

We are delighted to have ASI representatives at Sourcing City Marketplace in September & Sourcing City Live in January, so for those that want to know more about ASI & the US market, make sure you book an appointment with them to avoid disappointment!

Published on: July 31st, 2012