It’s incredibly fitting that the man who says Mark Twain is his favorite author has an origin story that could’ve been penned by the great American storyteller himself.

Norman Cohn was born in 1933 in Waterloo, IA, and while a senior in high school, had a light bulb moment so bright, it would change the course of his life, and that of an entire industry.

A true entrepreneur, ASI Chairman Norman Cohn has dedicated more than 70 years of his life advocating for the advancement of the promo industry his family helped build. But his desire to help wherever he could didn’t end there: Cohn has also served on the Boards of the National Public Radio, the Pennsylvania Board of Commerce Bank, Jewish Publication Society, National Foundation for Jewish Culture, the Philadelphia Heart Institute, the World Affairs Council and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

“My father owned five grocery stores, and my uncles had a scrap metal business,” Cohn recalls. “One day when I was visiting my uncles, I saw a bunch of Smucker’s jam gift packs in their office and I asked about them. My uncles told me they’d give them as holiday gifts to their clients.”

Cohn, who was 17 at the time, had an idea: His dad sold a lot of Smucker’s products in his grocery stores, so he’d write to Smucker’s and see if he, too, could get some of their gift packs to give to clients. “Well, there was a problem,” Cohn recounts. “Smucker’s did write back to me but politely declined my inquiry, as they had an exclusive arrangement to supply the gift packs with a company called Bankers Advertising in Iowa, which of course is still in our industry today.”

“I’m so proud of this industry. There are incredible opportunities for anyone – regardless of your background – as long as you work hard.”– Norman Cohn

Showing signs of the persistence, problem-solving and entrepreneurial spirit that would guide his life and business decisions, Cohn would not be deterred and decided to offer other food gifts for businesses to give their employees and clients. And there, in the basement of his parents’ house, the Jewish kid from Waterloo started Santa Claus Industries. “My first order was for $300,” Cohn says, noting that you never forget your first order or the one that would come to define you.

“That experience gave me the idea to see what gifts I could sell to local businesses,” Cohn says. “I contacted some of our cheese and meat suppliers through the grocery stores and soon became a teenage distributor of food gifts, which ad specialty distributors weren’t selling at the time. I did well enough that even after graduating high school in 1950, I delayed going straight off to college and continued selling even when I did start going to college. I’d travel around, selling, and stay at YMCAs for $10 per week and allow myself a food budget of $1 per day.”

Having attended most every show since ASI launched its trade show business in 1998, Cohn walks all aisles of the event, personally thanking each exhibitor for their support. Here, he’s shown with Promo, the ASI Show mascot. Fun fact: More often than not, the person inside the mascot costume is one of Cohn’s grandchildren.

With a Twain-esque can-do spirit that embodies American entrepreneurialism, Cohn, at the age of 21, called on a company called Pillsbury Mills in Minnesota. “The gentleman in charge of buying holiday gifts for the company’s employees and clients took a meeting with me and asked if I could provide them with 7,000 turkeys that they could give to their employees,” Cohn explains. “I said, ‘Of course, no problem,’ not knowing how I’d pay for 7,000 turkeys, how or where to keep the turkeys in cold storage until they could be delivered, or how to ship said 7,000 frozen turkeys to different locations across the country. I went down to the bank and the banker listened to my story and after some contemplation, decided to take a chance on me and give me a loan. And so ultimately, it all worked out OK.”

An Icon’s Legacy

Today, having been in the promo industry for over 70 years, the list of accomplishments Cohn has spearheaded and shaped for the $25.8 billion branded merchandise industry is as voluminous as it is legendary.

Consider that while in college and running his own distributor food gifts company, his family began buying supplier companies and by the late 1950s, the Cohn family owned the largest supplier company in the industry.

In 1962, at his urging, Cohn’s family acquired ASI from founder Joseph Segel (a serial entrepreneur who’d go on to start the Franklin Mint and QVC, among other businesses) and sold off its promo supplier activities to concentrate on becoming the top information service provider for the industry. With the acquisition of ASI, the Cohns moved to the Philadelphia area, where ASI is based, and immersed themselves full-time into growing ASI and the industry.

“Across his seven decades and the seven continents, Norman Cohn has been the single most passionate flag bearer for the truth that promotional products fuel the greatest marketing ideas,” says ASI President & CEO Tim Andrews. “From humble beginnings in Iowa, selling food gifts, Norman helped to reinvent the industry from one peddling promo items to a sophisticated industry offering integrated solutions to solve the most vexing marketing problems of businesses of every size.”

Cohn was named ASI’s chairman of the board in 1967, and throughout the years the innovations he’s championed have ranged from thick print product encyclopedias, magazines and catalogs, to microfiche, CDs, DVDs, software, web and now AI, Andrews says. “Every day, he peppers his team with emailed ideas, relevant books and clippings on how his colleagues at ASI can help distributors, suppliers and the entire promo ecosystem help their clients, and how they can grow their own business by helping others.”

“Norman is at once loving, passionate, caring, competitive, kind, successful, humble, honest and thoroughly genuine. In a world of influencers and social media role models, we should all just be more like Norman.”– Tim Andrews, ASI

Additionally, as the head of ASI, Cohn has also been in the unique position to support initiatives like ASI’s Diversity Council, work with the company’s leadership to raise millions of dollars for a wide variety of charities and to advocate for the inclusion and advancement of women in the industry and at ASI, where more than half of management positions are filled by women.

“His calm mentoring – in offices, hallways, on show floors – has helped tens of thousands grow and mature,” Andrews says. “And, with each person, your time with him is focused and personal. There are never glances to his watch or his phone. Every person is the single important person at that moment.”

A photo of the Cohn family, who bought ASI in 1962 (from left): Norman’s sister, Cyma; Norman Cohn; his mother, Bess; his brother, Richard; his father, Maurice; and his brother, Garrett.

Jonathan Isaacson, chairman of Top 40 supplier Gemline (asi/56070) and Counselor’s 2021 Person of the Year, remembers that after he bought Gemline in 1994, he was attending a trade show when he saw Cohn across the hall. “I didn’t really know him, but I managed to catch up with him, and after one conversation, I decided that I would somehow find him at any event that he and I were at together,” Isaacson says. “That turned out to be a great decision, and I have now done it for almost 30 years.”

Isaacson points out that understanding Norman Cohn the person helps to understand the impact he’s had on this industry. “His personal example, which he’s infused into ASI, has helped the industry grow,” Isaacson says. “He’s been an entrepreneur and an innovator, and he has a zest for life and loves to celebrate. He’s someone who gets things done, and you can see this reflection of Norman in ASI and the way it has impacted the industry. This is a big industry that’s been around for quite a while, but it’s hard for me to imagine anybody else who’s had more impact or loves this industry more than Norman Cohn.”

And despite his myriad accomplishments and awards, Cohn is perhaps most well-known for his devotion to his family – his wife of 58 years, Suzanne, their five children – including ASI Vice Chairman Matthew Cohn and Vice President Stephanie Cohn Schaeffer – and 11 grandchildren, 10 of whom have either worked at an ASI Show or interned at ASI.

“This is a big industry that’s been around for quite a while, but it’s hard for me to imagine anybody else who’s had more impact or loves this industry more than Norman Cohn.”– Jonathan Isaacson, Gemline

“There really is no one more deserving of a lifetime honor than Norman Cohn,” says Craig Nadel, CEO of Top 40 distributor Nadel (asi/279600), a family business with a legacy and longevity in promo that’s similar to ASI’s. “What he’s done, and the importance of ASI in the industry, can’t be overstated, as I suspect that virtually every major supplier or distributor uses some of the products and services of ASI. In fact, ASI is so ubiquitous that the industry is often referred to as the ‘ASI industry.’ Norman is also the personification of one of the main things that’s great about the industry – it’s filled with honest and decent people. I know Norman has helped people who have been in need because that’s the kind of person he is. He’s also charming, fun and funny. The way he is with his family – clearly very close – and many industry people, shows his character.”

Andrews concurs: “Norman is at once loving, passionate, caring, competitive, kind, successful, humble, honest and thoroughly genuine. In a world of influencers and social media role models, we should all just be more like Norman.”

The Industry’s Elder Statesman

A tireless advocate for all things promo and with an almost Talmudic knowledge of the industry, Cohn has testified before Congress on the value of branded merchandise and its importance to businesses of all sizes, and been profiled by no less than The Wall Street Journal – which dubbed him “The Sultan of Swag” – on its coveted front page. But to this day, Cohn is most delighted by the sheer breadth of items in the promo marketplace. “I love it all – pens, calendars, mugs,” he says, adding, “if I’m being honest, the light-up products are my favorite. The thing to remember is that any company can be more effective if they use promo products in their marketing.”

Taken for his 80th birthday celebration during a family vacation to the beach, Cohn’s five children have given he and his wife, Suzanne, 11 grandchildren – 10 of whom have either interned at ASI or worked at an ASI Show (the 11th grandchild is still a baby).

Cohn readily gives credit to Tim Andrews for propelling the company forward in the areas of technology, AI and moving beyond print to digital publishing. “ASI is a very different company than when it started, but so is the industry,” Cohn says. “I’m very proud that we’ve continually been able to set the pace through Tim’s leadership.”

A proud patriarch of a fourth-generation family business, Cohn recognizes the value of commitment, taking responsibility and giving back – as evidenced by ASI’s annual expenditure of over $1 million on industry education online and at its three trade shows in Orlando, Fort Worth and Chicago.

“Norman is simply the best – a smart, well versed, articulate family man who I’m honored to call my friend,” says Bill Korowitz, CEO of Top 40 supplier The Magnet Group (asi/68507). “Spending five minutes with him is worth a decade of education and a wonderful experience I can only hope you get to share.”

Now at the age of 90, Cohn regularly walks the halls at ASI to greet staffers and host employee lunches, and walks the aisles at trade shows to personally thank exhibitors for supporting the ASI Shows. And of course, you can always find him in the ASI booth, eating some of the mini hot dogs that have become synonymous with ASI Shows since Cohn’s mother, Bess, first insisted they be served, lest people walk the show on an empty stomach.

Norman & Suzanne Cohn met by chance as strangers at an airport overseas and have been married for 58 years. Here they are with ASI President & CEO Tim Andrews, who recently celebrated his 20th year running ASI.

“Universities have constructed marketing degrees around CRM, and technology mega-giant Salesforce uses relationship marketing as the foundation of its CRM software,” says Jo-an Lantz, President & CEO of Top 40 distributor Geiger (asi/202900) – a family-owned legacy business in promo, like the Cohns and ASI – and Counselor’s 2020 Person of the Year. “The goal is to create strong, even emotional, customer connections to a brand. Norman Cohn is the King of Relationship Marketing who doesn’t need a computer software program to prompt him. It’s in his DNA.”

Still, for all he’s seen and done in the industry and at ASI, he has his own “magic wand” for areas in which he’d like to see improvement. “I wish this industry wasn’t so reliant on products imported from China and there was more manufacturing here in the U.S.,” Cohn says. “I also think we need to do a better job spreading the word about what an amazing industry this is and attracting more diversity in it. And we need to do better in providing items that are sustainable and ethically sourced. Keep in mind: You can’t just depend on what clients think they want; sometimes we need to do what’s best as an overall solution for the industry.”

And in a piece of storytelling symmetry that Mark Twain would’ve loved, consider this: the kid who first talked his way into a sale of 7,000 turkeys and a bank loan 70 years ago still offers every ASI employee a free Thanksgiving turkey to this day. “I’m so proud of this industry,” Cohn says. “There are incredible opportunities for anyone – regardless of your background or if or where you went to college – as long as you work hard. I know I say it all the time, but I truly believe it – the best is yet to come.”