As the branded merch industry settled down in the third quarter after a tumultuous first half of 2025, promo pros continued to lean on industry stalwarts and retail favorites in ESP.

The latest data from ASI Research revealed a nearly unchanged list of top 10 ESP searches in the quarter compared with the second quarter of this year. And outside of general categories like “pens” and “water bottles” (the biggest categories that are perennially at the top of the rankings), searches for water bottle favorite “Owala,” continued to steadily increase.

The retail brand exploded in popularity after making TIME’s best inventions of 2023 list, and searches for the bottle have been steadily and strongly on the upswing since then. At the beginning of 2025, it overtook previous “it bottle” and ASI Media’s 2023 Product of the Year, the 40-ounce Stanley Quencher, on the ESP search rankings. Searches for “Stanley” have been overwhelmingly down so far this year, including a 42% year-over-year decline in the third quarter. “Owala,” in contrast, was up 68% on the quarter compared to Q3 2024.

Other products surged in interest. With the continuing popularity of reading – thanks largely to the power of BookTok – as well as the return of back-to-school season, searches for “bookmark” were up 60% in the third quarter compared to the same period in 2024. And, following an exceptionally hot summer that already saw increased demand for cooling products, searches for “fan” – a Q3 trend in the world of New York fashion – were up 41%.

Classic promotional products items like “canvas tote” and “chip clip” also noted search growth in the third quarter, with 26% and 28% search increases, respectively, with the popularity of mini-tote bags this year likely having a carry-over effect.

"After enduring ‘tariff-gate’ for the first half of 2025, it's great to see that distributors are searching for and ostensibly selling many of the products that drive this industry forward – pens, totes and drinkware,” said Nate Kucsma, ASI’s senior executive director of research. “It will be very interesting to see what drives business in the ever-important Q4 and what the ‘hot’ product of this year's holiday season ends up being.”

On the opposite end, items like “drawstring backpack” and “silicone wristbands” were down year over year. Searches for “pickleball,” one of the biggest crazes of 2024, were also down 35% in the third quarter – a bit surprising, considering that the sport continues to experience rapid growth and popularity.

The four items which topped the ESP search rankings for the quarter appeared in the same exact order the previous quarter: “pens,” followed by “water bottle,” “tote bag” and “lanyards.” Alongside other perennial promo mainstays – including “tumbler,” “keychain” and “notebook” – “mugs” made a reappearance on the top 10 ahead of the Q4 and cold weather gifting season.

Search terms like “ornament” and “santa hat” are already on the rise leading up to the holidays, and suppliers can expect demand for similar products to increase throughout October and November. In the short term – and not surprisingly – searches for “Halloween” are also up more than 200% compared to the second quarter, alongside tailgating staples like “rally towels” and “football.”

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