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Strategy

Promo in the Wild Returns for Second Summer

The award-winning social media campaign highlights just how frequently people use promotional products in their everyday life.

Keep your eyes peeled (and cameras primed) for branded coolers, logoed cornhole sets and graphic tees at your backyard barbecues this Independence Day. Starting July 1, Promo in the Wild, ASI’s award-winning campaign, is back for a second round of social swag-spotting.

ASI Promo in the Wild

Last summer, ASI launched the inaugural Promo in the Wild campaign, encouraging its members to post a photo or video to social media any time they saw promo products “in the wild.” The campaign generated thousands of impressions across industry social media channels and sparked meaningful conversations about the ubiquity of promotional items.

It also nabbed several awards, including a Gold from the Hermes Creative Awards, an international competition for creative professionals, and a prestigious Jesse H. Neal Award for Best Use of Social Media.

The strong response and overwhelmingly positive reception to last year’s campaign encouraged ASI’s social media team to reprise the popular contest this year.

“The response to the initial launch of this campaign in 2020 was incredible – better than I could have imagined,” says Melissa Newman, social media manager at ASI. “I knew then that I wanted to make this a recurring, signature campaign for ASI. Promo in the Wild unites our industry around a common conviction and that’s the power and ubiquity of promo products in our lives.”

The rules of this year’s campaign are simple. Spot a promotional product in the wild, create a fun post for social media, use the hashtag #PromoInTheWild in the caption and tag ASI on one of its social media channels: Facebook (@adspecialtyinstitute), LinkedIn (@advertisingspecialtyinstitute), Instagram (@asicentral) or Twitter (@asicentral). Starting July 1 and ending Aug. 31, ASI will choose one post per week and award its creator with a $25 Amazon gift card.

Last year’s Promo in the Wild posts included a slew of logoed masks, tumblers, coffee mugs, T-shirts, eyeglass wipes and more. Rachel Hoover, a winner last year for a patriotic tee she shared on Instagram, likened the social media campaign to a “great Easter egg hunt.”

“I literally keep a notepad in my car and write down businesses that I see on work trucks, shirts, pens or whatever, and I will Google and contact them,” the sales and branding specialist at Hershey, PA-based distributor T.D. Mills (asi/272650) said last year. “This campaign just made it more fun.”