In the past decade, Los Angeles-based BAMKO (PPAI 242148, D11) has seen its annual sales grow from approximately $20 million to more than $300 million, driven in part by the company’s expansion into Canada in 2020. Its focus on technology earned two PPAI Pyramid Awards for ecommerce websites, and in October, BAMKO rebranded its own website with a fresh look and logo to better reflect the company’s aesthetic and approach to helping brands grow their business through merchandise. The company has embraced remote work and creative employee engagement, earning recognition as a great place to work from PPAI and other organizations.

BDA (PPAI 109381, D14) has grown from a garage-based operation to a global business specializing in branded merchandising for leading technology companies, pro sports teams/leagues and more. Based in the Seattle area, BDA – aka Bensussen Deutsch & Associates – hosts annual Think Tank events for pro sports leagues that brings together representatives of each team to collaborate and share best practices.

Collaboration is at the heart of BDA’s culture, and the company has been recognized as a best place to work in Seattle, with generous PTO and other employee perks and benefits, including company-wide community service events. In addition, its strong sustainability efforts earned an EcoVadis Gold Rating in 2023 for its North American operations, plus a Platinum Rating in 2022 for its European offices.

In 2020, the company sold its gaming accessory division PowerA to ACCO Brands in a transaction reportedly valued at almost $400 million. That divestiture is largely the reason for BDA showing a nine-point loss in its three-year trend, and its low ranking in PPAI 100’s growth category, which considers revenue change since 2019 regardless of acquisitions or sales. The company has made several significant investments in its operations in recent years, opening new fulfillment centers in Ontario, Canada, and in The Netherlands, and acquired Dallas-based agency Idea Planet.

PPAI 100 is an exclusive, research-backed ranking of the 50 leading distributors and the 50 leading suppliers in the promotional products industry. Companies are scored based on a variety of metrics.
The race to become the first billion-dollar company in promotional products ended in a tie, with both HALO and Wisconsin-headquartered 4imprint (PPAI 107200, D15) topping the milestone in 2022. However, it was the ecommerce giant 4imprint who narrowly posted the stronger earnings, at just north of $1.1 billion.

The company’s digital-first approach, which largely eliminates the need for individual salespeople, has long been a disruptive force in the industry, but more distributorships have sought to emulate its model. 4imprint’s greatest strength may be its marketing efforts. As the industry’s largest advertiser, 4imprint is the closest thing to a household name distributor among end-buyers, and its campaigns undoubtedly help keep promo top of mind for the greater public.