Every promotional-products pitch deck has the same slide: a cost-per-impression number so small it looks like a rounding error, next to a TV ad that costs real money. The slide is true and it's also the wrong argument. By the industry's own numbers, the cheapest impression is a six-dollar tote bag. Nobody who buys tumblers for clients is buying the cheapest impression.
The short answer. Promotional products cost about six-tenths of a cent per impression on average, per the Advertising Specialty Institute's 2026 study. A tote bag is cheaper per view than a tumbler. A tumbler wins on who sees it and how often: it sits on the recipient's desk every morning, and 87% of people keep one because it's useful.
By Chen Deng, founder — LAMOSE, Calgary, Alberta
The numbers, from the source, not the pitch deck
The 2026 ASI Ad Impressions Study surveyed nearly 5,000 consumers across the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Europe. Its headline figures: a typical promotional product earns about 3,300 brand views over its life at roughly $0.006 per impression. 78% of people keep a branded item because it's useful. 85% remember the advertiser who gave it to them. 76% say they're more likely to do business with a brand that gave them one.
Those are the citable numbers. If a supplier's page tells you a tumbler is kept for "3+ years by 78% of recipients" or is used "3.8 times a day," ask where it came from. We couldn't find either figure in ASI's published research, and an earlier version of this page repeated both. They're gone now.
Tote bag vs. tumbler: the honest cost-per-impression table
ASI publishes category averages, so the comparison below uses their impression counts and our real prices. Fill in your own if you buy elsewhere.
| Product | Price | Lifetime impressions (ASI 2026) | Cost per impression | Where it lives |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tote bag | $6 | About 5,000 | $0.001 | A closet, then a grocery run. Seen by strangers. |
| Engraved tumbler (Grouse 16 oz) | $35 | About 1,300 (category average) | $0.027 | Their desk, their car, every morning. Seen by the recipient and their colleagues. |
Read that table the way a marketing director should, not the way a procurement spreadsheet does. The tote delivers more impressions for less money, and almost none of them land on the person you gave it to. The tumbler delivers fewer impressions, and the majority land on the exact client, prospect or employee you chose, once a day, for at least a year. More than three-quarters of ASI's respondents said they would use a branded tumbler or bottle at least weekly and keep it for at least a year. That is the number that should be on the slide.
Where the ROI actually comes from
Three things make a tumbler pay back, and none of them is the per-impression price.
It's used, not stored. 87% of the people ASI surveyed said they would keep a branded tumbler or bottle because it's useful, and ASI notes tumblers and bottles are one of the highest-impression non-wearable categories it tracks. Usefulness is the whole mechanism: a product that gets used gets seen, and a product that gets seen gets remembered.
The impression lands on the right person. A tote bag's 5,000 views are mostly strangers in a parking lot. A tumbler's 1,300 are the recipient and whoever sits across from them. If the recipient is a client who signs six-figure orders, one of those impressions is worth more than all 5,000 of the tote's.
Engraving makes it theirs. A logo printed on a cup is still a promo item. A name laser-cut into the steel with your logo on the other face is the only one that exists. People keep things that are theirs.
Client and employee gifts
Grouse 16 oz — $35
18/8 food-grade stainless steel, double-wall insulated. Keeps coffee hot 6 hours, water cold 12. Your logo on one face, their name on the other, laser-engraved in Calgary. Engraving included, no fixed minimum, quoted per project.
LAMOSE is a Calgary workshop, not a print-on-demand reseller. 4.89 stars across 7,805 Etsy reviews, one piece at a time.
How to run the numbers for your own budget
Skip the ROI calculator that promises "134x better than Google Ads." ASI's release doesn't publish a digital-ad comparison, so any page that gives you one made it up. Do this instead. Count the people whose opinion of you actually moves revenue: top clients, live prospects, the staff who talk to customers. That list is usually 20 to 100 names, not 1,000. Divide your budget by that number. If it lands at $30 or more per person, buy one engraved piece each and put their name on it. If it lands under $10, you're in tote-bag territory, and you should ask whether the list is too long rather than whether the product is too cheap.
Order 3 to 4 weeks before you need them. A few dozen engraved tumblers from Calgary run about 1–2 weeks in production; the rest is shipping and the week you'll spend getting the logo file approved.
Frequently asked questions
What is the ROI of promotional products?
ASI's 2026 study puts the average promotional product at about 3,300 lifetime brand views for roughly $0.006 per impression, with 85% of recipients remembering the advertiser. ROI in revenue terms depends on who receives it, which is why a short list of engraved gifts usually outperforms a long list of cheap ones.
Which promotional product has the best ROI?
On raw cost per impression, a tote bag: about 5,000 views for $6. On impressions that reach the person you chose, a tumbler or bottle: it's kept for its usefulness by 87% of recipients and used weekly by more than three-quarters, per ASI.
How many impressions does a branded tumbler generate?
ASI's 2026 category average for tumblers and bottles is about 1,300 lifetime brand impressions. A $35 engraved tumbler works out to roughly 2.7 cents per view, most of them from the recipient and the people they sit with.
Are promotional products cheaper than digital ads?
ASI's published release doesn't include a digital-ad comparison, so treat any specific multiple with suspicion. The defensible claim is narrower: a kept, used object delivers repeated impressions to a named person for years, which an ad impression never does.
How many should we order?
As many as there are people who matter to your revenue, which is usually fewer than you think. Start with the top 20 to 50 clients and the staff who face customers. There's no fixed minimum from Calgary; orders are quoted per project.