ASI® Adds Fourteenth Issue of Advantages™ Magazine Focused on Gifts

Trevose, PA – Mar. 2, 2005 – Advertising Specialty Institute^® (ASI^®), the largest member organization in the promotional products industry, announced today that Advantages, its flagship new products tabloid read by 86,000 distributor firm salespeople, will expand with a fourteenth issue in September focused on gifts.

The new special issue for this year will be a fun-to-read holiday gift guide that will feature over 150 hot items and include gift-giving strategies to help distributor firm salespeople gear up for the holiday season, which typically accounts for 30 percent of annual promotional products revenue.  The guide will be packed with gift-oriented product showcases, with spots featuring incentives, gift cards and key end-of-year imprinted items, like calendars.

“Readers love Advantages,” said Rich Fairfield, ASI’s publisher.  “Just two months ago, the new products special edition generated 16,500 leads.  We are responding to reader demand.”

Advantages has been receiving record kudos from advertisers.  The publication increased its number of advertisers in 2004 by 56 percent versus 2003 and it surpassed competitor Promotional Marketing magazine in ad market share – 52 percent in 2004 versus 38 percent in 2003 – as reported by eBasket, a leading independent magazine monitoring system from IMS (Inquiry Management System).

“The overall editorial focus of the magazine has been sharpened, to make it an even more essential resource for promotional products salespeople.  Every issue is upbeat and provides selling information, spotlights on fresh ideas and market opportunities to keep today’s busy salesperson productive,” said Kathy Huston, Editor of Advantages.