For nearly ** years, T-Shirt Bakery has been promoting the names and logos of small and mid-sized businesses to large corporations through their extensive collection of brand name apparel. Backed by incomparable embroidery and screen printing, companies can co-brand with the likes of Cutter & Buck, Nike, Page & Tuttle, Munsingwear, Vantage, Greg Norman, Port Authority and Nautica.

Your logo is an asset of your brand

The quality of the decoration that displays that asset is, in turn, a reflection of the quality of your brand. Don’t risk diminishing your image by using inferior decoration. T-Shirt Bakery has been continually recognized as the leader in embroidered golf shirts and corporate logo apparel.

We’re excited to introduce our **** catalog featuring over *** new products, all at great price points. Combine our extensive collection with value-add services and one stop convenience and you’ll see why T-Shirt Bakery is the smart choice for decorated apparel. Product to suit all of your apparel needs...

T-Shirt Bakery is always on top of the latest apparel trends offering a wide variety of products for men and women in sizes that go from extra small to big and tall. From the best in classic styling to new fashion colors and silhouettes, along with innovative performance fabrics and finished, we’ve got the apparel you’re looking for. Services that can’t be matched...

Only T-Shirt Bakery offers unique services for customizing our stock products like adding pockets, shortening sleeves, private labeling and adding design elements, all at low prices and minimums. Through T-Shirt Bakery Direct you can get direct import pricing for high-volume orders or create just about any custom product.

A new way to shop...

We are very excited to offer you a new way to shop for your corporate apparel. With over a decade of experience and innovations in the promotional apparel business, we are the market leader with an excellent reputation. T-Shirt Bakery has locations in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and Dallas. We have over **,*** satisfied clients, who have experienced superb service and customer care dedication. Our company’s success is primarily based on a great management team. A group of skilled and motivated individuals who have a solid understanding of marketing principles and are committed to go the extra mile by giving you the best price, quality and service. We are certain that you will have the best shopping experience with our company.

We have devised a very user-friendly site with search features that enables you to find the exact product you are looking for. Furthermore, you can send your artwork electronically by uploading your design directly to our site. It is a very valuable tool, which will save you postage costs and delivery time.

TshirtBakery.com provides high quality, cost-effective, custom imprinted products for corporate events, promotions, gifts and work place apparel. TshirtBakery.com helped pioneer the concept of a full-service online retailer for customized apparel from head to toe as well as customized specialty items from A to Z.

Quite simply, we are creating a new standard that is the easiest, fastest and least expensive way to buy custom imprinted merchandise.

We feature a wide selection of customizable items such as:

In fact, TshirtBakery.com literally has thousands of items ranging from name-brand goods to our own high-quality, private label line.

You can send us your own logo or design, or take advantage of TshirtBakery.com in-house art and logo department. Either way, there’s no such thing as a ‘minimum order’. And thanks to our network of stores throughout the continent, we can handle all production needs in-house, saving you time and money.

At TshirtBakery.com, we understand that our work is only as good as the garment or product it goes on. That’s why every customizable product in our showroom and catalogue is made by top-notch companies whose attention to quality matches our own. Here are just a few of the brand names we sell.

Promoting your image is a crucial part of your marketing strategy, so why not choose the best the promotional industry has to offer. TshirtBakery.com has a team of professionals who provide marketing tools and experience to enhance your company's brand, products/services and client base through promotional products. We are proud of the excellent reputation we have built in our almost ** years of business as Your Image Is Our First Priority!

What Are Promotional Products?

It's the fun stuff your customers clamor for and your employees appreciate. That's the short version for long lasting brand awareness. Promotional products can be imprinted with a company's name, logo or message. These products include useful or decorative articles of merchandise utilized in marketing and communication programs. Promotional products uses range from pens, desk accessories, jackets and clocks to premium items such as electronic equipment, luggage and housewares. Our industry boasts more than ***,*** items to choose from, so let your imagination soar as one our account executives inspires your next promotion!

From advertising to safety, customer loyalty to employee retention, American companies are using uniforms and logo’d workwear to address a variety of business needs.

Once, all you needed to get the "right fit" for employee workwear was a good measuring tape. Today, smart business owners and managers are discovering exciting opportunities to turn their uniform and workwear programs into a genuine competitive advantage in the marketplace. Here are some reasons to consider the benefits of a uniform program for your business.

When Functional Apparel is Key to Productivity

"Construction work is tough, and clothes really take a beating every day on the job," says Jackie Armitage of Dalton Builders. Armitage handles purchasing workwear for the North Attleboro, Mass. contracting firm’s ** employees.

Due to the rugged nature of construction work and the building trades, durability and functionality are among the top priorities for most contractors when shopping for workwear. Most everyone wants to work in comfortable clothing, but for people in the construction field, strength and durability are equally important.

With a uniform program, especially one managed by TshirtBakery.com you’ll be assured that the whole crew is working up to their potential.

Think about some of these unfortunate scenarios –

Even if most guys will choose appropriate apparel most of the time - one or two unproductive workers can drag down the whole team. Why leave it to chance? With a uniform program customized for your business and the workplace environments your crew will encounter, you can be sure the clothes won’t get in the way of the work. Brand Building and Advertising

"We like the unified image that is presented when all employees are wearing similar clothing," says Arthur Tabaka of Nova Restoration. "It's a cost-effective way to make sure our name is present on every job."

Uniforms and logo’d workwear can fill an important role in any company's advertising and branding program. From embroidery to screen printing, many options are available for recreating a company logo on apparel in a colorful and creative way.

Adding a custom quality logo to the clothes that your employees wear not only provides a consistent image and identity within the company, but also enhances the company’s brand with the public. A well designed and consistent uniform look says something about your business and your values.

"Mobile advertising" is another marketing benefit of logo wear. Most construction workers spend their time at the job site - not in the office. By having all employees wear the company’s logo on a daily basis, you can help build your reputation and recognition - and your advertising dollars will stretch even farther. Safety

"We used to require employees to wear orange safety vests on highway jobs, but that presented a problem - vests tended to get in the way of safe operation of some of our equipment," said Steve Navel, safety director for James H. Drew Corp. "As a result we decided to switch to bright orange T-shirts and jackets to solve this problem."

One of the biggest safety issues for the work force is visibility. The right kind of workwear can literally mean the difference between life and death for someone who works on roadways or at night. But as Steve’s comments suggest, workplace safety is not a one-dimensional problem. Visibility is crucial, but other requirements, including comfort, durability, and the nature of the work being performed must all be considered in designing a uniform program.

When you design a uniform program with the support of TshirtBakery.com, you can rely on a depth of product and specialized expertise to be sure that you address workplace safety comprehensively and effectively. Consider this example - As you know, reflective material helps increase visibility at night. Strips of highly reflective tape can be added to our shirts and jackets. We even offer a customization option to add logos or lettering in reflective material using a heat transfer process. The *** candlepower reflective graphics increase safety on your job site while building your company's image at the same time. Security

A consistent uniform program will add to the security of a job site. Requiring all crew members to wear recognizable clothing makes it easier to keep tabs on who belongs on the job site and who doesn't. It also identifies employees to customers and clients during off-site meetings or visits. In today’s security-conscious world, the reassurance this brings to your customers will enhance your reputation and help you to grow your business. Incentives and Motivation

At Dalton Builders, each employee accrues ** cents for every hour he works without an accident or injury on the job. Then, on a quarterly basis, employees have a chance to go shopping in the TshirtBakery.com catalog using the amount they have accrued to purchase shirts and jackets that bear the company logo.

"Typically, employees earn between $** and $** each quarter," Armitage says. "It's a great way to get people excited and focused on safety."

Many businesses use incentives to help focus employee attention on safety and other behavior that the company wants to promote. With an TshirtBakery.com Uniform program, you can cultivate real pride by designating a class of logo’d apparel or accessory as a privileged item – something that is clearly part of your uniform program - but only worn or carried by those who have earned the privilege.

Putting it all Together - Managing your Workwear Program
Sorting through the details of starting and managing a uniform and workwear program can be challenging. Designating one person as responsible for coordinating the workwear program can be an important first step. Then, let us help you decide what you want to get from your uniform program - beyond product utility. Will you use workwear for marketing, safety, awards and incentives, or all of the above?

We can help you –

We have the depth and expertise to guarantee that your uniform program will be a success. Focusing on each individual customer, a specialized sales and service team assists with product selection, graphic arts consultation for logo creation, customized reporting and invoicing, delivery and a ***% satisfaction guarantee. They provide you with a sample closet and measuring kit to make sure everyone gets the right size the first time. In short, they’ll do whatever it takes to make sure your uniform and workwear program doesn’t leave you out in the cold.

No matter where you buy workwear, remember the potential impact it can have on your business. More than just clothes, workwear can be used as a marketing tool, as an important component of your employee’s safety and security, and as a reward and incentive to help you motivate your work force.

The biggest Promotional Products / AD Specialty spenders tells you which firms account for more than $* billion of the industry’s $** billion in sales and what kinds of companies use promotional products more often than others.

Granted, that’s not the most scientific trend to emerge from this year’s inaugural list – although it’s certainly in the running for Most Bizarre Coincidence. So just what do Pfizer, PepsiCo, P&G, Philip Morris and Penney’s have in common besides their first letter? For one thing, they each spent at least $**.* million on promotional products last year – nearly $*** million all told; roughly half of the $*** million spent by the top ** firms overall.

What kinds of companies are shelling out big bucks for ad specialties? Of the top **, seven are consumer-goods giants like Pepsico, Procter & Gamble and Philip Morris. Another six are in the communications industry (AT&T, Verizon, SBC, WorldCom, Viacom and Sprint), with the remainder comprised of the odd assortment of automotive, high-tech and pharmaceutical firms.

Crunching The Numbers

Our calculations are based on total ad expenditures as reported in Advertising Age magazine’s Leading National Advertiser’s Report, to which we applied a system of weighted percentages that take into account a firm’s spending in measured vs. unmeasured media (promotional products – along with direct mail, promotions, co-op, couponing, catalogs, special events and other such media – are part of the latter category).

Simply put, for companies that spent more heavily in unmeasured media – about a quarter of the Top *** – a larger share of total ad expenditures were allocated to promotional products; for those that spent more in traditional media, the percentage was slightly smaller.

Who’s Buying?

Overall, firms that allocate more ad dollars to unmeasured media tend to be grouped in the high-tech, pharmaceutical and hospitality industries, while auto manufacturers and consumer goods companies generally spent more heavily on measured media like print, TV, radio and outdoor.

Below, we’ll take an in-depth look at the Top ** companies on this year’s list, examining some of the ways they use promotional products in their media mix, at trade shows and special events, and for their “internal customers.”

*. Pfizer – $**.* million
For Pfizer, ad specialties aren’t an afterthought by any means. Of the Top *** end-buyers, this pharmaceutical firm ranks No. * – according to our estimates, it spent approximately $** million on promotional products in ****.

Whether it’s to introduce a new drug to the medical community, increase market share for a particular product or thank buyers and supporters, Pfizer uses a variety of promotional items. For instance, to generate interest in the release of the antibiotic Zithromax in a new grape-flavored oral suspension for children, Pfizer developed a promotional campaign built around Max the Zithromax Zebra. Logoed “Max” plush toys, puppets, stethoscope clip-ons, charts and children’s books featuring the character were handed out to pediatricians’ offices for use in examination and waiting rooms.

“As a buyer for Pfizer Premium in supporting our top sales force, we strive for excellence in achieving the top- quality promotional items at the best price,” says Marianne Giangreco, purchasing manager for Pfizer. In **** alone, **% of Pfizer’s $** billion in revenues went to marketing and administrative expenses. With its three business segments – health care, animal health and consumer health care – Pfizer has developed five of the world’s ** top-selling medicines. Also, nine of Pfizer’s medicines are No. * in their therapeutic class in the U.S. market, and eight will earn revenues of more than $* billion globally this year.

Today, Pfizer’s Global Research and Development continues to build from a foundation of remarkable success. In ****, Forbes magazine named it “Company of the Year,” and Pfizer made this year’s Fortune list of the Best Companies to Work For (No. ** overall and best in the pharmaceutical industry).

And while Viagra has been one of its most successful drugs – in the first quarter of ****, worldwide sales increased **% to $*** million – some of Pfizer’s greatest discoveries are yet to come. Sources say Pfizer is developing new treatments designed to control and/or eliminate illnesses such as heart disease, schizophrenia and even some of the most fatal types of cancer – colon, breast and pancreas. If this is true, just think of the major role promotional products will play in Pfizer’s future marketing strategies.

*. General Motors – $**.* million
General Motors Corp. (GM) is the world’s top producer of cars and trucks and ranks number one in the Fortune ***. Its **** sales exceeded $*** billion, resulting in a net income of $* billion. Its car brands include: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Saab, and Saturn.

The company also manufactures cars through its Holden & Opel and Vauxhall units, and has affiliations with Isuzu and Suzuki. Besides cars, GM has several other divisions and subsidiaries, including Hughes Electronics, Allison Transmission, GM Locomotive, Delphi Automotive Systems, AMI Instruments Inc., Delco Defense Systems Operations, Delphi Delco Electronics Systems, Delphi Harrison Thermal Systems, General Motors Corp./Powertrain, HRL Laboratories, L.L.C., Hughes Network Systems, Hughes Space & Communications Co., Lexel Imaging Systems, Inc., Packard Hughes Interconnect, Rockwell Collins Passenger Systems and Spectrolab, Inc. and GMAC financing.

The company, which employs nearly ***,***, ranked second on The Counselor’s list of the Top *** End-Buyers. Our calculations put GM’s promotional products spending at nearly $** million in ****.

GM uses promotional products for a variety of purposes, both internally and in campaigns aimed at consumers. For example, it recently conducted a joint-venture promotion with MP*, the online Music purveyor. Free CDs were given to people who test-drove a new Buick. The specially-created disc featured ** artists who regularly post their music on the MP* Web site.

The company has also created a separate division that focuses primarily on promotions. GM R*Works is GM’s in-house promotions, events and sponsorship marketing company. In ****, the company conducted over *,*** events. GM R*Works uses a variety of vendor sources for a number of sales- and marketing-related tasks, including direct mail, display services, incentive programs, premiums, promotional products and signage.

Partnerships and joint ventures are just some of the other activities for which the company uses promotional products. For example, it recently teamed with Warner Bros. to promote child safety for owners of its minivans. Specifically, Chevy Venture minivans and Warner Bros. held a “VentureTainment” program where premium packets were given to owners. The packets included headphones (the vans are equipped with a video system), key tags and activity books for children, among other items.

*. AT&T – $**.* million
As almost everyone past pre-school age knows, AT&T is one of the world’s largest telecommunications and data-processing firms, servicing businesses, consumers and government. Founded in ****, it employs ***,*** internationally and has annual revenues of approximately $** billion. The former parent company of the Bell Telephone System, AT&T was – as a result of an antitrust suit by the U.S. Government – ordered to divest itself of all Bell companies.

AT&T today consists of numerous divisions, including, but not limited to, AT&T Labs, AT&T Broadband LLC, AT&T Latin America, GRC International, Net*Phone and AT&T Wireless Group. In addition to telephone communication (it handled **.* billion calls in ****; an average of *** million every day), AT&T’s other services include digital wireless networks, Internet access/technology, data services, outsourcing, consulting and network integration.

The firm has used imprinted products for years in a variety of ways. It now does so on a global scale, with different products being used for varied purposes in its many divisions. These include consumer and business mailings (not done as frequently today as in the past); employee incentives/rewards; gifts to key clients and/or prospectives; trade and consumer-oriented show giveaways (remember those plastic Princess phone key chains? It was a “key” part of the marketing mix even all those years ago); wearables and other items for events it sponsors either fully or partially; and company stores.

Its most recent major foray was a selection of specially-imprinted products tying into its support of the **** Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. The items bore both the AT&T logo and Olympics logo, and were made available to AT&T employees worldwide.

“It’s difficult to realize what the company receives in return for our use of promotional products,” says AT&T spokesperson Burke Stinson. “But when you’re known as well as we are, when you’re in the Top ** of the Fortune ***, there are certain expectations. If we didn’t use an assortment of promotional items, people would wonder why.

“At minimum, they absolutely serve to place a reminder in the hand of the recipient and to expose countless other people to our name and logo when they see others wearing the T-shirt, drinking from the mug or handing over their car keys to a parking attendant.”

*. PepsiCo – $**.* million
PepsiCo Inc. is one of the most successful consumer products companies in the world, with over $** billion in net sales during ****. The brands that come out of its divisions – Pepsi-Cola Company, Frito-Lay Company and Tropicana Products Inc. – are household names. Such success in sales and recognition is in no small part due to the aggressive promotion the company delivers.

In ****, Pepsi-Cola put large-scale, reward programs on the map with its historically unmatched “Pepsi Stuff” campaign. In ****, it’s revisiting the theme with a new version, PepsiStuff.com – an online/offline promotion developed in conjunction with Yahoo! Inc.

Launched in August, the Web site registered one million users in the first month, and the promotion is scheduled to run through the end of December. The program enables consumers to earn points via an under-the-cap promotion appearing on *.* billion single-serve bottles of Pepsi-Cola products.

Points can be redeemed for awards such a digital music files and video games, discounts from promotional partners such as Foot Locker, GoJane.com and Global Sports, and Pepsi-logoed merchandise. “PepiStuff.com enables consumers everywhere to experience a familiar program in a new and innovative way,” says Anil Singh, chief sales and marketing officer, Yahoo! Inc.

Pepsi spokesperson Dave Cheeco agrees, pointing to the way the campaign has evolved to incorporate a new range of incentive products – such as the digital music files and video games. “More products are becoming available and are geared toward many types of audiences,” he says, adding that there’s also a place for imprinted products. “Even though we think the trend is in premium items, moving away from [logoed] promotional items, there is still an important supporting role. Promotional products are good for us as far as getting our logo out there. The visibility is important.”

A few other recent campaigns/sponsorships that keep PepsiCo one of the Top ** buyers of promotional products include a five-year agreement signed with NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon and Hendrick Motorsports; a Pepsi/Frito-Lay “Halloween Party” promotion involving Scooby-Doo plush toys; Frito-Lay’s Cracker Jack “Nothing But Nuts” series of baseball prizes; a Pepsi World Series Sweepstakes for Major League Baseball gear; and a new online Pepsi-Cola store of logoed merchandise.

*. Procter & Gamble – $**.* million
Long considered a marketing powerhouse and the world’s leading manufacturer of consumer products, Procter & Gamble should be as familiar as sorting clothes on laundry day, changing your kid’s diaper or powdering your nose. Using an array of advertising, P&G markets over *** products in categories like laundry and cleaning, paper goods, beauty care, food/beverages and health care to nearly * billion consumers worldwide.

Though it has many firmly entrenched brands like Tide, Bounty and Pampers, Cincinnati-based P&G prides itself on product innovation. It’s had several successful product introductions in the last year, including the Reflect.com beauty care Web site, Swiffer cleaning aids, Febreze odor elimination products and Dryel at-home dry cleaning system. The company’s recent acquisition of pet food manufacturer The Iams Co. is expected to add approximately *% sales growth in the fiscal year ****.

Promotional change is in the air at P&G: Industry experts say the company’s focus seems to be shifting from expensive mass advertising, like TV commercials, to more targeted consumer communication approaches and in-store advertising. New advertising strategies will no doubt involve increased use of promotional merchandise.

For instance, P&G’s push of its new Physique hair-care products earmarked a higher percentage of its advertising budget for promotions than for television or print ads. “We still think that there’s something important about mass advertising, but there’s also something to be learned from a more targeted approach,” says Tracey Long, spokesperson for P&G. “Our full compliment of brands are looking to find the right balance. Physique has focused better than **% of its marketing plan on non-traditional avenues like our ‘Hurricane’ parties, leveraging our Internet site and getting the word out to encourage people to sign up for Club Physique.”

Physique used direct mail and a Web-based “viral” e-mail promotion to create brand awareness and generate trial of the product. At parties held in four cities, free samples and Physique logoed promotional products like T-shirts, beach towels, beach balls and cosmetic cases were awarded during interactive contests.

“For Physique as a brand it’s very helpful to have fun items that are interactive for our target group,” says Long. “How do we reach them in different ways that are provocative, that are interactive? Promotional items certainly provide us with that opportunity.”

*. Sears – $**.* million
As part of a multi-faceted corporate strategy to revamp its image to one that’s hip, haute and techno-savvy, Hoffman Estates, IL-based Sears, Roebuck & Co. has plugged into the power of promotional products, spending just over $** million in this industry.

Paramus, NJ-based Einson Freeman is one of the lead sales promotions agencies that works with Sears, and certainly one of the largest, handling between ** to *** promotions of varying size and scope each year. Senior project manager Jeff Shapiro says that Einson Freeman is responsible for conceptualizing and implementing the retailer’s sweepstakes, games, gift-with-purchase and overall marketing strategies. Ogilvy and Mather, Einson Freeman’s sister company, handles Sears’ radio, TV and print advertising.

“We just worked with Sears for their local sponsorship in the ‘Taste of Chicago,’ and we’ll also do promotions targeting the Black and Hispanic communities in certain geographic areas,” says Shapiro. “Then there are the full-blown national campaigns, which involve structuring programs around different Sears departments.”

A lot of the company’s marketing and promotion success lies in joint ventures with such corporate powerhouses as Disney, AOL and Levi’s. Sears had its hand in such fruitful promotions as this year’s sponsorship of pop sensation Christina Aguilera’s **-city tour.

Designed to make Sears and Levi’s, the tour’s co-sponsors, the epitome of back-to-school cool and the ultimate teen shopping destination, the marketing campaign offered Aguilera’s fans an exclusive, available-with-purchase CD featuring previously unreleased and newly-remixed material – a new disc each week for three weeks. In addition, “Christina Boutiques” were heavily promoted and set up in stores to carry T-shirts, back-to-school supplies and accessories bearing the singer’s image and tour logo.

Shapiro recounts another immensely successful gift-with-purchase promotion in which imprinted hammocks were given to customers who bought certain products in Sears’ Lawn & Garden departments. He also notes that holidays such as Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are the perfect anchor for a gift-with-purchase program. “We pick products that relate to the theme of the holiday and are specific to the consumer group we’re targeting,” he explains.

Based on his **-year tenure with Einson Freeman, and his six years working with the Sears account, Shapiro says he’s a firm believer in the effectiveness of promotional products and acknowledges their role in the many successful Sears promotions he’s been involved with that have surpassed expectations. “It’s pretty simple,” Shapiro says. “I use promotional products because they definitely work.”

*. IBM – $**.* million
Talk about power. On October **, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped below **,***, and analysts blamed IBM. The company earnings report – released the day before – showed third quarter revenues down more than had been previously predicted.

Investors feared this was a poor bellweather for tech companies. When IBM software revenues fell in September, the company still reported that earnings met expectations. This time, however, the lower-than-expected sales did them in. The Dow finished the day at *,***.**, and shares for IBM closed at $**.** – down $**.** from that morning’s opening price.

Yet IBM’s resilience and ability to move forward has proven successful throughout its nearly ** years in business. It builds new and different business products and usually purchases products to promote them.

Example: When The Counselor profiled IBM in a recent issue, Jeff Hales, then marketing communications representative at IBM PC Direct, noted, “We use promotional items to create excitement and make less tangible products appear tangible.”

When IBM teamed up with software developer J.D. Edwards to provide computer programs for the petroleum industry, it targeted a promotion at CEOs who needed reassurance that the technology would be installed without affecting overall efficiency.

Key execs were sent a set of three imprinted juggling balls. They came packed in a box that opened to reveal two flaps. On one flap the copy read, “With the IBM and J.D. Edwards complete petroleum solution, juggling everything you have to do is easier than ever.” On the other flap the thought continued with, “Wouldn't you like to have a system that guarantees no one drops the ball?”

Each ball bore the IBM and J.D. Edwards names on one side, and a different slogan on the reverse. One read, “Work smarter,” another, “Respond faster” and the third, “Be more competitive.”

Many CEOs displayed the balls on their desks. And more importantly, the sales force scheduled a record number of interviews to talk about and sell the software.

*. Intel – $**.* million
The world of semiconductors is ruled with a silicon fist by Intel, supplier of **% of the PC market, easily making it the No. * chip maker in the world with $** billion in sales in ****. Forbes magazine has called it the greatest manufacturer since the U.S. Government during Wold War II, “throwing up billion-dollar fabricating plants the way McDonald’s opens restaurants.”

ntel’s primary products are the Pentium and Celeron microprocessors that have powered PCs since the early ****s and whose largest customers are Compaq and Dell. Its latest chip, XScale, is touted as the first of a future generation used to power hand-held devices such as computers and mobile phones with but a single AA battery. Intel is also expanding outside of the semiconductor market into network services and the “communication infrastructure.”

Intel relies heavily on advertising to help keep itself in the public eye. A vital role in that effort is played by our industry, as the firm’s *th-place finish (at $**.* million) on this year’s inaugural list would suggest. “Intel’s use of high quality promotional merchandise is one way we broaden the awareness and image of the Intel brand,” says John Travis, Intel’s worldwide consumer promotions director.

Like many of today’s top companies, Intel has campaigned to brand its name, even going a step further than most with the creation of its now familiar “Intel Inside” five-note sound logo. A **** TV spot used “The Bunny People” – characters in the shiny technician suits – to promote the release of its Pentium II chip. Currently it’s unveiling a series of commercials featuring the performance art organization Blue Man Group to showcase the innovative ways to explore the Internet with its Pentium III processor.

While most PC makers’ profit margins reach only **%, Intel’s fourth quarter results from last year were an amazing **%. A contributing factor is its success over the Internet, where it sells $* billion worth of chips each month, making it the largest e-commerce company in the world.

*. Philip Morris – $**.* million
Not many companies have the problems spending their advertising dollars that Philip Morris does. In addition to having its cigarette pitches banned from the airwaves for the past three decades, the firm is forbidden from using promotional products for that purpose as well, starting a little more than a year ago.

So with $*.* billion to spend – including $*** million in “unmeasured” non-traditional media – you might think Philip Morris would be throwing up its promotional hands.

But just when the tobacco/food products conglomerate should be at its most defensive, it has attacked instead. Realizing it has a controversial product, Philip Morris is using its promotional dime to tell its side of the story. Its various cigarette brands – which include Marlboro, Benson & Hedges and Virginia Slims – are for adults who want to smoke, the company insists in its advertising. It doesn’t target kids and is fully committed to the recent settlement with the various state governments where tobacco companies agreed to forgo sports sponsorships, large billboards and promotional products for its cigarette brands.

However, Philip Morris is using promotional products to help tell another part of its story. Example: The company has been distributing packets of material and promotional products in the “We Card” campaign that encourages stores to check IDs. “When we talk about those programs, it’s a different way of communicating,” says Tom Ryan, spokesman for Philip Morris USA. “We have undertaken those projects to communicate more about who we are.”

Of course, there’s a lot that Philip Morris has no need to apologize for. The conglomerate owns Kraft brand foods, Miller beers, Post cereals, Maxwell House coffees, Altoids mints and many other household names. Each brand is supported by an assortment of promotions, many of which naturally feature promotional products, given the company’s long and successful history with imprinted merchandise.

For example, the Philip Morris Gateway program to improve adult literacy used logoed freezer mugs, AM-FM radios and watches as rewards for program participants who generated referrals of potential learners. The number of referrals increased six-fold during the promotion, and the benchmark cost-per-learner dropped from $*** to $**.

When it’s all tallied up, The Counselor estimates that Philip Morris spent $** million on promotional products in ****. Not bad for a company so well-known in the profession for the ways it’s not allowed to advertise.

**. J.C. Penney – $**.* million
Founded almost a century ago by James Cash Penney, his namesake company ranks **th on our Top *** list of end-buyers of promotional products, spending roughly $** million on imprinted merchandise in ****. Penney, the $** billion, No. * U.S. retailer, has long provided fashion and basic apparel, accessories and home furnishings through its retail stores and catalogs, but these days the Internet is where it seems to be having the most success. J.C. Penney estimates the company’s Web sales to be about $*** million this year.

Among other cities, T-Shirt Bakery Promotional Products may serve the following areas: Los Angeles, San Fernando Valley, Southern California, Long Beach, Pasadena, Van Nuys, North Hollywood, Santa Clarita, Glendale, Inglewood, Burbank, City of Industry, Santa Monica, Whittier, Torrance, Woodland Hills, Northridge, Canoga Park, Alhambra, Lakewood, Lancaster, Pomona, Palmdale, Sherman Oaks, Venice, La Puente, Hollywood, Encino, Beverly Hills, Carson, Compton, El Monte