About Bankers Advertising

Who We Are

For 125 years, we’ve been helping our customers grow and achieve their marketing goals with the use of promotional products. Our 5th generation, family-owned company is committed to building lasting relationships with our clients by providing exceptional products, unbeatable service, and innovative print and promotional solutions.

Your brand reflects your company values, mission, products, services, team members, and culture. We’re proud and thankful to have had the opportunity to be a part of building our clients' brands for 125 years and counting.

Your Brand. Our Experts. Outstanding Results.
Your One Source for all Things Branded.

Bankers Advertising Company has always been committed to providing promotional consulting, products, and value-added services. Bankers is proud to offer you:

  • Promotional Consultants who develop promotional marketing strategies for businesses large and small nationwide.
  • State-of-the-art graphics capabilities including full-color digital imaging
  • Corporate image programs and full-service inventory and fulfillment programs.
  • In-house apparel embroidery and screen printing with a wide selection of corporate apparel including popular brand names like Adidas, Alternative, Bella, Carhartt, Champion, Columbia, Dri-Duck, Eddie Bauer, Nike, Under Armour, and more.
  • Skilled on-staff art department.
  • In-house promotional graphics screen-printing capabilities specializing in promotional and point of purchase advertising, banners, outdoor signage, product identification, fleet graphics, and more.
  • State-of-the-art printing and finishing equipment for manufacturing of stock and custom advertising calendars, planners, meeting resources, and other paper products. From paper and ink to complete custom products, we do it all!
  • Access to all industry promotional products supplier lines including select lines such as 3M Post-It, BIC, CamelBak, Coleman, High Sierra, Igloo, RuMe, Sharpie, Skullcandy, Swiss Army, Thermos, Totes, Waterford, and so much more.

Where We've Been

S.W. Mercer arrived in Iowa City from Ohio in 1895 after purchasing the Iowa State Press newspaper. The following year he founded Bankers Advertising Company, which, like other pioneer specialty firms of that time, both produced and sold the limited selection of sales promotion products available at the turn of the century—primarily advertising calendars and other paper-based items.

In addition to calendars and promotional products, the early Bankers sales people also sold bank supplies, hence the origin of the name Bankers. The closing of many banks during the Great Depression prompted the company to phase out its line of bank supplies as the market dwindled.

Now, as one of the promotional product industry's oldest firms, Bankers is one of just a few companies that continue to both manufacture and market many of its promotional products.

Current ownership and management of the company is in the hands of the 4th and 5th generation descendants of the founder. The company has served some of its customers continuously for over seven decades.