Whew, what a week! Between circling the show floor, sitting in on education sessions and sneaking off to the In-N-Out Burger, we kept ourselves busy at PPAI Expo 2019. In case you missed any of our event coverage, here’s a roundup of all the stories we ran last week recapping the show. Check them out and let us know what you’d like to see more (or less) of next year. And, as always, thanks for reading!
Product and Trend Roundups
• The Best of PPAI Expo 2019: Day One. A look at some of the fun and interesting products, people and booths from day one of exhibits. We checked out BamBams, Tekweld, iClick and plenty of others.
• The Best of PPAI Expo 2019: Day Two. Our top finds from day two of exhibits, including some good stuff from Hit Promotional Products, Goldstar Pens, Clothpromotions Plus and many more.
• The Top Apparel Trends We Saw at PPAI Expo 2019. Untucked shirts, upgraded workwear and upscale options highlighted some of the big things to watch in promotional apparel.
• The Biggest Promotional Products Trends We Noticed at PPAI Expo 2019. From cannabis merch to eco-friendly products (reusable straws were everywhere), a look at the emerging trends in the overall promo space.
Session Recaps
• How to Compete With Big Online Promo Distributors: Don’t. Everyone’s feeling a little heat from big online competitors these days, but Bill Petrie, president of PromoCorner, had a novel idea for dealing with them.
• 4 Customer Engagement Strategies That Add Value. Delta Marketing Group’s Cathy Houston took attendees through some strategies distributors could use to go beyond the sale and delight customers.
• Commonsku’s Mark Graham on How to Build a Community of Devoted Fans. Using lessons from the Grateful Dead, Red Bull, Dollar Shave Club and others, Mark Graham talked about how distributors can create similar levels of engagement with customers.
• Vince DiCecco’s 5 Sales Secrets for Promo Distributors. Vince DiCecco, president and owner of Your Personal Business Trainer, had a five-point checklist for distributors to increase their sales.
• Paul Kiewiet on Promotional Products Sales: Landing Large Accounts. Take a big-game hunting safari with Paul Kiewiet, as he guided distributors on how to land big accounts like Kellogg’s or McDonald’s.
Other Fun Stuff
• Paul Bellantone on PPAI Expo 2019, Tariffs, Shutdown, Industry Evolution and More. As the show floor closed and booth breakdown began, Brendan Menapace sat down with Paul Bellantone to get his thoughts on another year of Expo and issues affecting the promo industry overall.
• Spector & Co.’s Loic Lefebvre on His First PPAI Expo Exhibitor Experience. We sat down with Loic Lefebvre, vice president of sales, North America, for Spector & Co., and asked him to take us through his experience as a first-time exhibitor.
• Podcast: Hit Promotional Products’ Kellyann Messick on PPAI Expo Prep, Travel Tips, Stories From the Road. In this episode of the Promo Marketing Podcast, a promo road warrior gave us her best travel tips, told us how to survive Vegas and shared a story about meeting a very famous actor.
