If you watched the Grammy Awards on Feb. 15, then you saw highlights of a year of music and performances. Now, we have highlights from the glitzy gift packages the attendees received. Distinctive Assets, which we wrote about…
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Earlier this month, Paul Bellantone, CAE, president and CEO of Irving, Texas-based Promotional Products Association International (PPAI), posted a statement regarding the announcement of the launch of a potential member-funded industry lobbying group. Today we spoke with Paul Bellantone about the industry’s lobbying…
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Four years ago, the University of North Dakota retired its mascot—Fighting Sioux—and now, after a few years as simply “UND,” the school is adopting the Fighting Hawks nickname. However, the university is selling Fighting Sioux merchandise again. Why? Because the NCAA, the same organization that…
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BIC Group, Clichy, France, announced in a press release that the company’s CEO, Mario Guevara, has decided to retire. The board of directors will propose two options—to combine the chairman and CEO functions, and to nominate chairman of the board Bruno Bich as chairman and CEO. One of Bich’s responsibilities would be to continue to develop…
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Promo Marketing’s Video Battle pits two industry videos against each other for the chance at the ultimate bragging right: Being declared our readership’s absolute favorite. (Next up: No matter how old we get, “Pizza Friday” always will be the happiest day of the week/month/year/life.) Last week, Prime Line won, so now it will challenge Inskribo Promotional Products. The winner…
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Last week, we ran a story about some of the more interesting items that Academy Award nominees would take home. After we, along with many other sources, like Vanity Fair, The Telegraph and Forbes, reported on it, it came to light that the bag actually isn’t an officially…
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Nike Inc. has ended its endorsement of Manny Pacquiao after the Filipino boxer made derogatory comments regarding homosexuals. According to ESPN, the company removed all Pacquiao-related merchandise and advertisement from its website after Pacquiao made a comment regarding same-sex couples on a…
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Fanatics Inc., a worldwide retailer of licensed sports merchandise, announced that it has acquired Kitbag, a U.K.-based sports e-commerce company and subsidiary of Findel plc. This move will allow Fanatics Inc. to increase licensed sports merchandise for soccer, which has seen an increase in the U.S. recently. Kitbag has relationships with popular European sports brands,…
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Promotional Products Association International (PPAI), Irving, Texas, announced the addition of Seth Barnett as the association’s first diversity development and engagement manager. According to a press release in PPB, Barnett served for more than three years as the association’s…
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MetaWare, a Fairfax, Virginia-based apparel business started by Marci Zaroff and Cas Shiver, uses seaweed-based inks in T-shirts. The seaweed-based ink, called SeaInk, uses a seaweed-derived base without the use of chemicals, like PVC, resins or binders. According to Ecouterre, seaweed-based inks not only have environmental benefits, they…
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