Print & Promo Marketing’s ongoing feature series, Executive Perspectives, tells the personal entrepreneurial stories of leading professionals in the print and promotional products industry. This month, Heather Comerford, CEO of 1338Tryon (asi/287946), explains that even though technology has changed the industry, humanity is still at its core.
Key Takeaways
• As AI accelerates digital marketing, physical promotional products become increasingly valuable for creating lasting emotional connections.
• Heather Comerford emphasizes prioritizing long-term impact, creativity and client relationships over short-term revenue growth.
PPM: How did you get started in this industry?
Heather Comerford: I answered a newspaper ad, which probably dates me more than I’d like, and started at OWNCO Marketing as a sales liaison. Not the most glamorous start, but it turned out to be one of the best educations I could have asked for. I spent years inside integrated marketing agencies where promo wasn’t a standalone business. Later I helped build a promotional products division inside a print company. But agency life kept pulling me back. I loved the pace, creativity and challenge of bringing ambitious ideas into the physical world. My previous agency welcomed me back, and over the next several years I helped win and lead programs spanning brand strategy, experiential marketing, product launches and integrated campaigns. Twelve years ago I founded 1338Tryon because I wanted the freedom to solve marketing challenges without being confined by a single discipline.
PPM: How do you set goals for yourself and for your business?
HC: Like any business owner, I pay attention to revenue, profitability and growth. Those metrics matter because they tell you whether your business is healthy. But I’ve never believed they should be the reason you make decisions. For me, revenue is an outcome, not the goal. I also try to make decisions with a long-term perspective. It’s easy to say yes to work that generates revenue. It’s much harder to say no to projects that don’t align with your values or don’t allow your team to do their best work. Some of our biggest opportunities have come from choosing the right clients, not simply the biggest ones. As a Certified B Corporation, we measure success beyond financial performance. We measure success by the impact we have on our clients, our employees, our community and the environment. Personally, I set goals around continuous learning. Every year I want to understand something new. The marketing landscape never stands still, and neither should we.
PPM: How does the economy continue to affect the industry?
HC: The bigger story isn’t the economy itself. It’s uncertainty. Our industry sits at the intersection of global manufacturing, logistics and marketing, so we’re often among the first to feel those changes. A new tariff, a shipping disruption, a labor strike or conflict halfway around the world can affect costs, lead times and inventory strategies almost overnight.
PPM: What are some of the biggest changes or challenges the industry will face?
HC: AI is making it easier to create content and launch digital campaigns at incredible speed. That’s exciting, but it also means we’re entering a world where consumers are surrounded by an endless stream of AI-generated content. The more digital marketing becomes automated, the more valuable physical experiences become. People may scroll past a social post in seconds, but they’ll wear a favorite sweatshirt for years. Physical experiences engage multiple senses, create emotional connections and become part of people’s daily lives in ways digital content rarely can.
PPM: What’s the most exciting, cutting-edge thing your company is doing right now?
HC: The most exciting thing we’re doing is helping redefine the role of logoed merchandise from a product category to a strategic marketing discipline. The conversation then shifts from “What should we buy?” to “What are we trying to accomplish?” That’s a much more meaningful role for our industry.
PPM: What would people be surprised to learn about you?
HC: I’m an avid science fiction reader and love authors like Andy Weir, John Scalzi, Daniel Suárez and A.G. Riddle because they explore how science, technology and human behavior intersect.
