The print and promo worlds came together in a special way at PRINTING United Expo. In addition to the “Show Within a Show” — the ASI Pavilion on the Expo floor — PRINTING United Alliance and Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) hosted a Thought Leadership Breakfast on Sept. 24 to talk all things print, promo, and apparel.

Thought leaders took the stage to discuss the growing intersection of all three segments, what they’re seeing, and how they’re responding to a changing landscape in an era of AI, convergence, and more.

Adapting to a Shifting Global Supply Chain

During a fireside chat hosted by Apparelist Content Director Cassie Green, SanMar CEO Jeremy Lott outlined the family-owned company’s growth strategy: reinvest rather than pursue rapid expansion. Founded in 1971, SanMar has averaged 5% annual growth and is investing in distribution automation, technology, product development, and supply-chain capabilities. Its automated distribution center opened in Virginia, with three planned by 2028. Lott’s “back to basics” focus centers on customer relationships, inventory availability, and shipping accuracy.

“We’re very purposeful about the way that we want to grow,” Lott said. “We’re really thoughtful about how we grow and how we reinvest back into the business, and doing it in a really conservative way.”

On AI, Lott advocated thoughtful adoption that helps employees work smarter without replacing people or diluting the company’s culture. SanMar is exploring tools to spot customer and product trends and surface account insights to improve service. Print-on-demand is shifting demand toward small orders, making automated picking and supply-chain efficiency important.

Lott described sourcing challenges driven by tariffs, trade-policy changes, and shipping disruptions. SanMar holds inventory to buffer demand, manufactures basics in the Western Hemisphere, and sources other products globally. He also touched on how SanMar thinks about the consumer within its product offering.

“The frontend of our business is very focused on that consumer — who’s going to wear the product — and making sure the fit is right and consistent, and it’s going to fit groups,” he noted. “That’s one of the things that we do a little different than retail too. We’re selling frequently to groups, so the fit has to be one that works for groups.”

Looking ahead, Lott identified succession planning as an area SanMar needs to focus on for continued success and warned against complacency. He urged industry partners to reduce friction across the whole supply chain.

“Somebody told me you compete as a supply chain,” Lott shared. “I like that reference. None of us go to market independently. We go to market all of us together. That’s how we go compete, and so together we have to find how we’re efficient. It can’t just be individually. It’s across — up and down — the whole supply chain. I think that’s the right way to think. That’s the way that we can continue to win and thrive and be here in 20 years.”

Leaders Talk Print and Promo

A panel discussion led by Michele Bell, senior vice president of content and global alliances, explored how leading companies are navigating the convergence of print and promotional products.

Justin Zavadill, president and CEO of American Solutions for Business, described a roughly 50/50 revenue split between print and promo, with promo being the fastest-growing part of the business. He highlighted the rise of company stores and hyper-personalized kits that bundle apparel, print collateral, and hard goods for one-off fulfillment.

“You build these company stores that have everything on the same site — it’s got their business cards, stationery, print collateral, apparel and uniform programs, maybe some hard goods you can do one‑off,” Zavadill said. “We’re seeing more volume growth, but way more transactions, and now the next step is personalizing it for the person it’s going to, with the company’s logo and their name on it, all in a custom kit.”

Shaun McCardell, president of MACS Companies, traced his evolution from a small contract screen printer to Lone Rock Clothing, a major resortwear brand. He said AI has been a “game changer” in operations, especially in CRM, inventory, and art concepting.

“Every time new technology comes online, new equipment, it’s not about replacing; it’s about being more efficient and being able to produce more with the same overhead that I have, and so we’re implementing the bots in the CRM department … we’re running numbers,” McCardell stated. “We have quicker feedback… But in our industry, I think the biggest impact that AI has been [is] art.”

Wendy Knapp, VP of branded solutions for Quad, said the company keeps functional teams separate but strategically aligned, leveraging a data stack covering 94% of U.S. households to design end‑to‑end campaigns. Her case study of a new dog-food brand that made it into Costco illustrated how Quad can efficiently move from naming and packaging to retail positioning and branded merch.

“We’re coming in and using not only all the different divisions, which is our ad agency, digital media, our packaging, our direct mail, our magazine catalog, you name it — we’re using all of those resources to develop that overall encompassing solution for our clients,” Knapp explained.

Joe Falcone, COO of The Sourcing Group, outlined how his organization uses mentoring, joint calls, and cross-training to help aging print reps embrace promo without jeopardizing long-standing accounts. He cited examples of cross-selling that increased print revenue after promo businesses joined the organization.

“It’s about creating a comfort level and challenging the print guys. You don’t need to know promo. You need to know the relationship,” Falcone said of those hesitant to sell promo. “We want to cover the brand from beginning to end, but allow our resources and our team and your partners within the organization to drive those potential opportunities with you, so we bring them out on sales calls.”

Lott spotlighted SanMar’s people‑first approach: deep, structured training for customer‑facing teams and a cautious and strategic stance on AI. Not even six months to a year ago, the mandate across internal teams was something to the effect of: “You need to have AI in every part of your business tomorrow,” Lott shared. Today, he’s pulled back on that perspective and wants to approach it smarter and more strategically.

“It [technology] is a huge piece of what we do, but we will continue to be people first, and I think that helps shape, ‘What are the investments we make in technology?’”

While many of these folks may approach the print and promotional products industries from a different lens, supply chain challenges, advancements in technology, and company culture are at the forefront of what they do and how they serve their customers.

Print Isn’t Playing Defense