ORE ASSOCIATIONS AND organizations are starting to realize the power of promotional products. In the past, some [nonprofit] organizations would be skeptical about spending money on a pin because they felt every penny should go to research. We’ve now seen that nonprofits are realizing that they can increase their donations by offering a small item.” These sentiments expressed by Kelly Grant, vice president of business development at Sonoma Promotional Solutions, Sonoma, Calif., should give distributors interested in the nonprofit/cause-related market reason to rejoice. It is precisely this kind of thinking that has been instrumental in the growth of the promotional awareness product category,
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Crystal D, based in St. Paul, Minn., a leading supplier of corporate recognition awards, participated in its third annual Feed My Starving Children’s meal-packing program this June. The company’s employees packed 27,216 meals through the Eagan, Minnesota-based charity’s program. This number surpassed Crystal D’s goal of packing 24,000 meals and represents enough food to feed 75 children every day for one year. Last year Crystal D packed 20,736 meals for the organization. Each dehydrated meal includes nutrient-rich vegetables, soy, rice and chicken flavoring. Feed My Starving Children distributes food to children throughout the world including the Ukraine, Brazil, Africa and Haiti. “Participating
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Parsippanny, New Jersey-based MediaTree, a leading supplier of music download, ringtone and other digital gift card incentives and promotions, announced it has relaunched their distributor-only Web site. “After more than two years of service, the former MediaTree site was showing signs of its age. In order to build the most effective tool we could offer, we needed to make drastic upgrades to our Web site” said MediaTree’s director of strategic marketing Michael Joliat. He continued “Our new site not only offers greater ease of use, but also has better resources for distributors to use.” The new site was created with the goal
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In order to provide production employees relief from high gas prices, Selco announced it has shifted production to a four-day work week. By eliminating one day of travel per week for the employees, the Tulsa, Oklahoma-based company will save 20 percent in transportation costs. Company employee Susan Cartwright stated, “It saves gas money and I enjoy the extra time to take care of personal things.” Her coworker, Kim Domres added, “The extra day I can spend time with family.” Even though production will be operating four days, total production hours, on-time shipping and sample requests will continue to be maintained. In addition, customer service
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THE PROMO MARKETING Excellence Awards are the premier platform for distributors to make their voices heard and to recognize the suppliers who make the industry what it is. In an arena of constant change and innovation, the following companies stand out in the minds of the readers as being the go-to sources for the most popular premiums. Distributors voted in 30 categories encompassing all of the biggest and best products and services offered by the promotions industry. Over several months, more than 50,000 votes were cast, and with topics ranging from caps to clocks, from luggage to lanyards, there was a product for every
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Leed’s, a member of Polyconcept North America, the second largest supplier within the promotional products industry, announced the addition of Peter Healy to the Leed’s senior leadership team in the role of vice president, supply chain. This position will be responsible for overseas sourcing and logistics, coordinating with product development, working with planning and forecasting and handling the logistics of importing to the company’s warehouses. Sharon Willochell, chief operating officer of the New Kensington, Pennsylvania-based company explained, “Leed’s is known for the quality and value of our products, and adding Peter to the team will allow us to continue our focus on our
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The corporate markets division of Victorinox Swiss Army, Inc., based in Shelton, Conn., was presented with a sales award at the Premier Promotional Group (PPG) Awards Ceremony on May 3, 2008 in Sarasota, Fla. Award recipients were honored for their sales achievements and high-quality service. Jeff Thompson, vice president of sales for Victorinox Swiss Army’s corporate markets division, accepted the award. “Its always a great feeling for your organization to be honored by your peers and business partners,” said Thompson. “We’re proud to be recognized for our efforts and congratulate all of this year’s winners,” he continued. The Premier Promotional Group is a
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After seeing some news from Neely Manufacturing, I was wondering if a larger trend was going to start to emerge. Neely announced sales have tripled (see below) since making the switch to all domestic-made products. With gas and transportation prices skyrocketing, will it become more affordable to make products locally—which would cut shipping costs, development costs (and probably a hundred different costs that I don’t even know exist), while supporting local economies that in and of themselves are being weakened by the same high energy costs? I guess what I’m wondering is if it’s time to start thinking about becoming a homegrown society (again),
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» Americans have discovered the fragility of life, that ominous fragility that the rest of the world either already experienced or is experiencing now with terrible intensity. « JOSÉ SARAMAGO
Our lives as Americans are changing. I remember vividly, as a child, visiting the Norman Rockwell Museum. I was enthralled with the “charmed” lives of the people in his artwork, the simplicity, the joy. His work captured the innocence and mores of post-WWII America.
But even as a child, I knew these pieces of work did not depict my America. Twenty-five years later, I can say with great certainty, there will be
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I’m confused. While I do realize that, for me, being slightly discombobulated simply means all cylinders are firing per usual, I have reason to believe today’s mental state is in response to an actual set of circumstances, which I will explain in a second.
My job is to write about apparel, we know this. And over the course of the past year covering style for PM, a few truths have unceremoniously revealed themselves to me:
1) Our industry can’t (and quite possibly, won’t) catch up to retail.
2) Moisture-wicking shirts are the next big thing.
3) When presented with cookies from Fresh Beginnings, I
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