1 Bensussen Deutsch & Associates (BD&A)
Woodinville, WA
www.bdainc.com
Principal: Jay Deutsch, CEO
“TAKING THE BULL BY THE HORNS”
PM: In your opinion, what does it mean to be a top distributor?
JD: It means we pay attention to our clients’ objectives. It means creating effective and cohesive merchandise programs that provide a tangible, useful and personal connection to our clients’ brands. It means providing the most comprehensive suite of merchandise services, and backing them with the best people around.
PM: What has been your strategy for success?
JD: BD&A’s strategy for success is proven processes, unmatched creativity, world-class expertise and relentless attention to quality. What makes us tick is being the best at these things and seeing our clients succeed as a result.
PM: What is your company doing in support of the environment? What initiatives have been put into place to lessen your environmental impact?
JD: Externally, BD&A offers an extensive line of eco-friendly brand merchandise that clients can leverage to conform to their own environmental best practices. Internally, BD&A follows eco-friendly best practices, such as recycled paper printing, a subsidized employee carpool program, company-wide recycling, low energy-use light bulbs and consolidated shipments.
PM: What is your outlook for the promotional products industry?
JD: I’m bullish on it, but only for those industry members who can provide assured quality and ROI for their clients.
2 Corporate Express Promotional Marketing (CEPM)
St. Louis, MO
www.cepromotionalmarketing.com
Principal: Dennis Multack, president
“CLIENT SATISFACTION GUARANTEED”
PM: In your opinion, what does it mean to be a top distributor?
DM: A top distributor is one a client can depend on for more than just product. Top distributors are capable of providing custom solutions that fit each client’s infrastructure and measurably produce the intended business results. Finally, they have the proper controls in place to protect the brands of their clients by assuring their products are safely manufactured, ecologically responsible and produced in accordance with the highest social standards.
PM: What has been your strategy for success?
DM: Our strategy is to objectively demonstrate, for each client, the quality, speed and value our programs generate.
PM: What is your company doing in support of the environment? What initiatives have been put into place to lessen your environmental impact?
DM: The most significant contribution we are making is the enabling of our client’s green initiatives. By partnering with our clients to ensure their green initiatives are successful, we greatly increase our sphere of influence.
PM: What is your outlook for the promotional products industry?
DM: The marketplace will increasingly reward merchandise partners that can bring efficiency to multinational supply chains and programs while simultaneously demonstrating that their solutions produce measurable business results.
3 Proforma
Cleveland, OH
www.proforma.com
Principals: Greg and Vera Muzzillo, co-CEOs
“A STRONG SUPPORT SYSTEM”
PM: In your opinion, what does it mean to be a top distributor?
GM: At Proforma, being a top distributor means being an organization that provides the best opportunities to our franchise owners and the best products and services to our customers. Our new tagline says it all: ‘One Source. Infinite Resources.’
PM: What has been your strategy for success?
VM: Our strategy for success remains focused: We provide independent distributors with what we feel is the best model in the industry to own their own business, but not be on their own. We provide them with three significant advantages over the competition. First, they are part of a 650-member sales and marketing cooperative. Second, they have the purchasing power of a $310 million distributorship and third, they have the best back office support in the industry.
PM: What is your company doing in support of the environment? What initiatives have been put into place to lessen your environmental impact?
GM: Proforma’s 2008 Eco-friendly Catalog features over 50 eco-friendly items from vendors throughout the industry. The piece also contains educational tidbits to help our clients become more familiar with the terminology and practice of eco-friendly marketing.
In addition, in 2007 Proforma launched an innovative Web2Print and online company store program, which allows our owners to create print-on-demand brochures and marketing materials, instead of printing mass quantities and warehousing everything.
PM: What is your outlook for the promotional products industry?
VM: In 2008, we expect to see a higher demand for comprehensive solutions that integrate promotional products, printing services, e-commerce solutions and business documents. Based on 2007 trends, we expect growth at a controlled pace, with an increase in sales from eco-friendly items balanced with a product shortage from China.
4 Staples Promotional Products (formerly American Identity)
Overland Park, KS
www.staplespromotionalproducts.com
Principal: Roger Henry, CEO
“TAKING OFF WITH TECHNOLOGY”
PM: In your opinion, what does it mean to be a top distributor?
RH: We take great pride in knowing we are one of the Top 10 distributors in this great industry. … It reassures our suppliers that we will be an important growth partner for them.
PM: What has been your strategy for success?
RH: Our continuing emphasis on technology and service excellence has paid great dividends. What truly makes our company work [is] great teamwork from all segments of the organization.
PM: What is your company doing in support of the environment? What
initiatives have been put into place to lessen your environmental impact?
RH: Through its EcoEasy commitment, Staples makes it easy for customers to make a difference for the environment by offering more than 2,900 recycled-content products and providing everyday, in-store recycling for computers, office technology, personal electronics, and ink and toner cartridges.
PM: What is your outlook for the promotional products industry?
RH: I believe there will be great growth opportunities in our industry for those distributors and suppliers who continue to innovate and invest in technology.
5 IMS/Group II Communications
Morton Grove, IL
www.imsfastpak.com
Principal: Rick Remick, CEO
“RELATIONSHIP-BUILDING IS KEY”
PM: In your opinion, what does it mean to be a top distributor?
RR: It reflects a commitment to building long-standing relationships with client partners based on superior service, innovative thinking and proven performance.
PM: What has been your strategy for success?
RR: Very simply, building strong relationships based on performance and trust between our client partners, our vendor network and our terrific IMS staff.
PM: What is your company doing in support of the environment? What
initiatives have been put into place to lessen your environmental impact?
RR: Our client partners have been leaders in this area, developing well-defined initiatives that we embrace and work relentlessly with our vendor partners to deliver against. We look across our supply chain to lessen the environmental impact from product development through the warehousing and distribution of promotional items.
PM: What is your outlook for the promotional products industry?
RR: The industry will be even more successful by taking a holistic approach to promotional products; one that is in sync with client marketing organizations’ initiatives, brand image and objectives while delivering metric-based results
for procurement.
6 Geiger
Lewiston, ME
www.geiger.com
Principal: Gene Geiger, president/CEO
Responses by Peter Geiger, executive vice president
“IN IT FOR THE LONG HAUL”
PM: In your opinion, what does it mean to be a top distributor?
PG: Short term, it does not mean much, but if you are consistently among the top distributors, then it is an indication that your organization is providing goods and services in a way that satisfies your customers.
PM: What has been your strategy for success?
PG: Our strategy is to treat our associates as our greatest asset. We couple education with the technology that allows us to transmit information quickly. … Most importantly, we listen to our customers and react to their ever-changing needs.
PM: What is your company doing in support of the environment? What
initiatives have been put into place to lessen your environmental impact?
PG: We have reduced electricity usage by 580,000 kilowatt hours annually, saving the company $87,000. … Additionally, a newly installed temperature sensor connected to our heating system allowed us to reduce oil consumption by 8,000 gallons last winter.
PM: What is your outlook for the promotional products industry?
PG: As long as we can continue to provide creative marketing solutions to client needs, our industry will thrive.
7 4imprint
Oshkosh, WI
www.4imprint.com
Principle: Kevin Lyons-Tarr, president
“GOOD PEOPLE DOING GREAT BUSINESS”
PM: In your opinion, what does it mean to be a top distributor?
KLT: Being a top distributor is a validation of the hard work everyone is putting in to make 4imprint a successful company. People put their heart and soul into their profession, and to see that acknowledged with a top-distributor ranking is certainly rewarding.
PM: What has been your strategy for success?
KLT: It sounds simple, but we do our best to run things by the ‘Golden Rule’—treat others (customers, suppliers, each other) as we would like to be treated.
PM: What is your company doing in support of the environment? What
initiatives have been put into place to lessen your environmental impact?
KLT: We have dramatically increased our range of environmentally friendly products and are in the process of changing our print materials over to recycled and FSC paper. We have also placed a tremendous emphasis on removing all paper from the internal order process, which has been all but accomplished.
PM: What is your outlook for the promotional products industry?
KLT: Promotional products continue to offer companies great relationship-building value for money. And as long as that is the case, the future is bright.
8 HALO/Lee Wayne
Sterling, IL
www.haloleewayne.com
Principal: Marc Simon, CEO
“BUSINESS EFFICIENCY”
PM: In your opinion, what does it mean to be a top distributor?
MC: It means a great deal to us because it’s a result of the passion our sales force and support team bring to their jobs each day.
PM: What has been your strategy for success?
MC: We have the most efficient and effective technology platform in our industry, providing world-class order management for many of the industry’s most talented and creative sales professionals.
PM: What is your company doing in support of the environment? What
initiatives have been put into place to lessen your environmental impact?
MC: Like many companies, we have been actively marketing environmentally sensitive products to our clients. We’re also one of the few companies in our industry that is actively pursuing LEED certification, which is the standard for environmental design and efficient energy use.
PM: What is your outlook for the promotional products industry?
MC: Our industry will be driven by our customers’ need for efficiency more than ever before.
9 Adventures in Advertising (AIA)
Neenah, WI
www.exploreaia.com
Principal: David Woods, president/CEO
“PUTTING CUSTOMERS’ MINDS AT EASE”
PM: In your opinion, what does it mean to be a top distributor?
DW: We have never tried to be the largest in the industry. To us, being a top
distributor means having a well-run, well-respected company where our franchise owners and sales affiliates are successful in achieving their goals.
PM: What has been your strategy for success?
DW: We put a lot of emphasis on quality and integrity. We want to be known as an easy company to work with and one that is totally reliable.
PM: What is your company doing in support of the environment? What initiatives have been put into place to lessen your environmental impact?
DW: Within our building, we have taken many measures to lessen environmental impact, such as energy-efficient and photo-cell lighting as well as recycling and waste-reduction programs. We also promote education, regarding sustainability and other ‘green’ initiatives to our staff, network of franchise owners/affiliates as well as provide tools to help them educate their customers about environmental responsibility.
PM: What is your outlook for the promotional products industry?
DW: In the next 18 months it will be a bit challenging, but in the long run, the outlook remains very bright.
10 Workflow Management and WorkflowOne
Dayton, OH
www.workflowone.com
Principal: Greg C. Mosher, president/CEO, chairman of the board
“LEADING BY EXAMPLE”
PM: In your opinion, what does it mean to be a top distributor?
GM: The title is a great honor and a tribute to those individuals at WorkflowOne who drive our success. It validates our competencies and dedication to providing the best possible solutions, programs and campaigns that support our client’s brand strategies and initiatives.
PM: What has been your strategy for success?
GM: When we are engaged by a client or prospect, we go to great lengths to learn exactly what they are trying to accomplish. We also pay close attention to the attributes of their brand. Once we learn their critical business metrics, we use our own internal creative resources to design custom promotional products or source highly unique ones.
PM: What is your company doing in support of the environment? What
initiatives have been put into place to lessen your environmental impact?
GM: WorkflowOne recycled over 13,000 tons of material in 2007. WorkflowOne is in the process of evaluating the Sustainable Forestry Initiative Chain of Custody certification as it applies to printers and distributors, and will establish our policy for preferred sourcing to suppliers with SFI and/or Forest Stewardship Council certification early in 2009. We will be a sponsor and exhibitor in one of the nation’s leading ‘green’ showcases, where we will offer information and education on environmentally friendly products from companies who lead the way in this area.
PM: What is your outlook for the promotional products industry?
GM: Our industry is transforming from its former ‘trinkets and trash’ reputation to that of a ‘strategic partner’ which uses creativity and problem-solving to [meet] its clients’ needs. At WorkflowOne, we’ll be in the forefront, leading by example in this evolution.
