Norman Cohn, the longtime leader of Advertising Specialty Institute and one of the most consequential figures in the history of the branded merchandise industry, died Friday at the age of 93, ASI has announced.
Norman Cohn
For more than seven decades, Cohn’s career traced – and in many ways defined – the evolution of the branded merch marketplace. From his earliest days as a teenage distributor selling holiday gifts to his tenure guiding ASI into the digital era, Cohn’s influence reached virtually every corner of the industry.
His passing marks not only the loss of a business services leader, but of a figure whose vision, competitive drive and ethos helped shape the relationship between distributors, suppliers and service providers.
Industry leaders, including from PPAI, have begun to share their remembrances.
“Norm Cohn was the patriarch of the advertising specialties, promotional products, swag and branded merch industry,” says Danny Rosin, CAS, PPAI Board Chair and co-owner of North Carolina-based distributor Brand Fuel. “He and the Cohn family helped build a foundation for our industry. He was a gentleman, statesman and entrepreneur.
Danny Rosin, CAS
PPAI Board Chair
“He will be missed, and yet his legacy will live on through the many people and companies who adored and respected him.”
Drew Holmgreen, CAS, PPAI president and CEO, called Cohn “a titan.”
“I had the privilege of spending time with him on several occasions, albeit briefly,” Holmgreen says. “And in those conversations, he was generous with his perspective and his advice. I’m thankful for the guidance he shared with me. He truly was a godfather to the modern branded merchandise industry, and his influence will be felt for generations to come. All of us at PPAI and throughout the market are grateful for his service to the industry, and share our heartfelt support for his family and the entire ASI team.”
Drew Holmgreen, CAS
PPAI President & CEO
A Monumental Leader
Cohn entered the merch business while still in high school, an origin story that has become part of industry lore. What began with assembling and selling food gift packages soon expanded into a family enterprise before pivoting toward media and services.
In 1962, Cohn and his father acquired ASI from founder Joseph Segel, a move that would ultimately position him at the center of the industry’s infrastructure. Five years later, he was named chairman. He would hold this role, in various forms, for the rest of his life.
During that time, the industry expanded from a niche business measured in tens or hundreds of millions to a multi-billion-dollar global marketplace. By the time Cohn received ASI’s Counselor Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023, the industry had grown roughly 50-fold over the course of his career.
READ MORE: Promo Congratulates Norman Cohn On Lifetime Achievement Award
Colleagues frequently pointed to the market’s growth as inseparable from Cohn’s work. “No single person has played a more significant role in our mutual success,” said Gene Geiger, Board Chair of Maine-headquartered distributor Geiger, when presenting the award.
Building The Business
Cohn’s legacy is perhaps most visible in the systems and platforms that underpin the industry today. Under his leadership, ASI introduced innovations that helped modernize how business was conducted – from early demonstrations of fax technology to the development of computerized business systems and digital product search tools now ubiquitous to the industry.
Yet even as he championed technology, Cohn remained a steadfast advocate for the industry’s human dimension. He consistently emphasized that merch is, at its core, a relationship-driven business.
READ MORE: ASI Names New CEO With Background In Technology Platforms
That dual focus, on innovation paired with interpersonal connection, became a defining characteristic of his leadership style.
Yet across that competitive dynamic, there was broad consensus about his impact. Industry leaders routinely described him as both a fierce competitor and a generous collaborator, someone capable of driving his organization forward while maintaining a long-term view of what was best for the industry as a whole.
A Legacy Of Humanity
If Cohn’s professional accomplishments are widely known, it is his personal qualities that colleagues may remember most fondly.
Stories of quiet generosity, from mentoring executives to recognizing employees in deeply personal ways, became part of his reputation. That approach extended beyond business into civic and philanthropic work, where Cohn and his family supported a wide range of causes, from education and cultural institutions to health research and community relief efforts.
As a father, he and his wife of 61 years, Suzanne, brought children Matthew Cohn and Stephanie Cohn Schaeffer into the fold at ASI. The two were named co-chairs of the company in March.
“He always said, ‘The best is yet to come,’ and he made you believe it,” Cohn Schaeffer commented in ASI’s Saturday announcement of the passing. “I carry that forward as I continue his legacy – taking care of our customers and employees and helping them grow and succeed – determined to always make him proud and to make those words true.”
