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Advertising Specialty Institute

U.S. industry association

The Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) is a privately held technology, media, and membership organization headquartered in Trevose, Pennsylvania. It serves as the largest trade membership organization in the promotional products industry — a sector comprising businesses that produce and distribute branded merchandise such as logoed apparel, drinkware, pens, bags, and other items used for marketing and brand promotion.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

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The Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) is a privately held technology, media, and membership organization headquartered in Trevose, Pennsylvania. It serves as the largest trade membership organization in the promotional products industry — a sector comprising businesses that produce and distribute branded merchandise such as logoed apparel, drinkware, pens, bags, and other items used for marketing and brand promotion.2

The story

Before ASI, there was no paper-based resource for finding promotional products or their suppliers. Small salespeople relied on separate paper catalogs from individuals from each individual supplier.

In 1949, Maurice and Bess Cohn of Iowa entered the industry as distributors, or sellers, of promo items. Four years later, they decided to become food gift suppliers instead, growing into the industry's largest. In 1962, their 29-year-old son Norman encouraged them to buy ASI.

The Cohns soon sold their supplier business to focus on ASI and unifying the distributor and supplier network. Norman and his wife Suzanne relocated their family to Philadelphia to run the company and all five of their children, as they became old enough, worked at ASI, contributing to the success of the company and industry.

The company is currently led by CEO Ashish Mittal and ASI Co-Chairs Matthew Cohn and Stephanie Schaeffer, members of the third generation.

From Wikipedia’s article on Advertising Specialty Institute, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Products and brands

ASI's core offering is ESP+, an electronic product-sourcing platform used by promotional-products suppliers and distributors. The platform allows distributors to search supplier product listings, place orders, create client-facing websites and manage business operations.

In addition to ESP+, ASI offers:

ESP+ Websites — e-commerce-enabled, customizable websites for distributors to sell promotional products directly to end-buyers

Catalogs — print and digital product catalogs distributors can share with clients

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Research and data — including the annual Counselor State of the Industry report, the Counselor Power 50 ranking of industry leaders, and the Counselor Confidence Index measuring distributor financial outlook

Education — webinars, online courses, and industry training resources

Trade shows — the ASI Show, held annually in Orlando, Fort Worth, and Chicago, brings suppliers and distributors together to showcase new products and build business relationships

From Wikipedia’s article on Advertising Specialty Institute, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Sources

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