It is never easy to distil the “sentiment” of a complex event like an exhibition, with dozens and dozens of exhibitors (133, to be precise) from 13 different countries and thousands of visitors and buyers. In the case of the 2025 edition of PTE – Promotion Trade Exhibition, however, the task was made easier by the presence of a dominant theme that echoed across the stands, taking on countless variations: the ability to creatively process the needs of a changing society, by adapting one's products accordingly. New highway code coming out? The promotional sector responds with a breathalyser for alcohol testing—a new addition to the Get Impressed catalogue, which also benefits from a distribution agreement with pharmacies.

Demand for plus sizes growing fast? For the customisation supply chain, the range of t-shirts extends up to 5XL, simply take a look at the Basic catalogue with its new line of Tsra150 t-shirts, available in an equally extensive palette of colours.

Customers expecting the sector to embrace new technologies and Artificial Intelligence? Here Silicon enhances its website with Sili, an AI virtual assistant, as well as with a configurator that, like those of the automotive giants, allows you to view your completely customised product online in real time.

Young people increasingly aware that there is no planet B? The promotional sector responds with an unprecedented variety of water bottles – the Vortex Athletica style proposed by Giving Europe even won the gold medal at the Hong Kong Smart Design Awards – and items sporting the colours and flavours of the earth, from the bamboo clipboards by Anda Present to the lollipops decorated with fruit peel and flower petals by Slodkie. Or with writing instruments made from plastic bottles collected on the ocean shore – this is how Maxema makes its Kind pen, created in partnership with Oceanworks –, and the 100% plastic-free soaps by Signature-Napkin and clothing items featuring a digital passport ensuring full traceability of their recycled materials, as in the Iqoniq Wear Change line, presented at the exhibition by Xd Connects.

And the sustainable approach has also reached the stands themselves, in particular that of Promit: “In line with the focus on environmental issues – explained Francesco Segreto, the company's marketing director – our stand is made entirely from reusable cardboard materials, while also repurposing transport crates, which have been appropriately painted and adapted to use as showcases”.

The automotive world has not been outdone, with its offerings geared towards ever-increasing sustainability and accessibility, to the advantage of an ever-growing audience of customisers. Thanks to compact models such as the Lasermake Lm-Rft-Dsk-Pro fibre marker, Aremedia Printjet Dtf400 with integrated vacuum oven and low consumption (2Kw), or Roland VersaStudio BN2-20 / BN2-20A with eco-solvent inks (the flagships of the Colorcopycatalogue), the sector is definitively opening its doors to shops, design studios and small businesses in general, now increasingly called upon to provide tailor-made solutions. In line with the widespread desire for “tailoring,” which the promotional sector has once again proven its ability to meet with its masterful blend of technology and creativity.