OnFulfillment Blog | Marketing Asset Management

The current state of tariffs is still in flux. One week they’re on; the next week they’re off, reduced, or delayed. At any given moment, it’s not clear what the economic impact will be on promotional items purchased overseas.

One way around this situation—or at least a way to avoid it altogether—is to purchase promotional items made in the U.S.A. This blog is the second in a series offering suggestions on some branded merchandise either assembled or produced entirely in the U.S. (remember, a product labeled “Made in the U.S.A.” may be composed of pieces produced overseas but assembled domestically).

Due to the volatility and uncertainty surrounding the current tariff situation, there has been an increased demand for promotional items made in the U.S.A.

Until recently, lower production costs have generally made giveaways produced overseas a better overall value, helping organizations stretch their marketing dollars. Newly imposed (or pending) tariffs, however, threaten to push those costs higher than domestically produced items, driving companies to seek out products made in the U.S.A.

To assist in these efforts, OnFulfillment has identified a number of branded promotional giveaways that meet this requirement. Designed to fit every budget, these items help you avoid the extra costs imposed by tariffs without compromising on quality.

Since ChatGPT was publicly launched in late 2022, businesses across all industries have employed the site and other AI-driven tools to assist in everything from content creation to data analysis, decision making, workflow automation, even legal compliance.

The latest trend is to use AI to help them understand spreadsheet-based reports. ChatGPT for Excel, a powerful AI-powered add-on for the Microsoft Excel application, leverages OpenAI's ChatGPT to automate tasks, extract insights, and streamline data management with features like AI-powered tables, data translation, and formula generation.

The post-COVID resurgence of in-person events has had a spillover effect on the branded promotional merchandise industry. Companies need giveaways to spread the brand, leading to increasing orders for branded promotional items ranging from apparel and office supplies to drinkware, electronics, and scores of other tools.

Unfortunately, the recent implementation of tariffs on goods imported from Canada, Mexico and China—the primary suppliers of many promotional products—are expected to have a profound impact on the promotional merchandise industry. There have been hints that higher tariffs may be coming for select goods from Europe as well. Although there is a certain amount of gamesmanship and negotiating going on, causing delays in the implementation, it’s a virtual certainty that changes are afoot.

Today’s era of multichannel marketing demands that you engage your target audience every day across multiple platforms and media:  social, direct mail, websites, events, videos, mobile, messaging, retail, and banner ads.

This requires a solution that allows your sales and marketing teams to order and process materials for every channel you use, making everything they need readily available right at their fingertips.