A topic that’s top of mind for both brands and promotional products distributors and sales teams is safety and compliance. So when the discussion turns to delivering safe and compliant promotional products, and specifically how difficult it is to do, I usually go with this response:
“You can either run toward the problem, or you can run away from it.”
It really is that simple. While many opt to bury their heads and not think about the risks that are associated with dealing with unsafe or noncompliant products, that tide is most definitely changing. This is driven by a number of things. Brands want to do the right thing by buying safe and compliant products, to protect their customers as well as their brand reputation. And consumers increasingly want products they know are manufactured safely and with a view toward corporate social responsibility. They want to trust the people they’re doing business with, because that matters.
As these attitudes become more prevalent and as compliance and social responsibility move to the fore, suppliers and distributors in the promotional products industry are now starting to run toward the problem. They want to do the right thing for their clients, which also turns out to be the right thing for their companies, and their reputations as well.
The role of a savvy promotional products distributor these days is focused on helping clients clearly understand the potential dangers based on the risk assessment of products they are considering sourcing. This also involves helping to educate clients about the reality that safe and compliant product may not be the least expensive choice now, but in the long run, it’s a much better choice than recalls, lawsuits and potential brand damage. Having product safety as a key component of the sourcing and selection discussion is coming more into the mainstream and that’s a good thing. In fact, it’s vital to the sustainability of our industry.
That’s why you may have seen our announcement this week about a new partnership we’ve formed with Promo Marketing Media Group. Our collective mission with this partnership is to work together and utilize all the platforms of Promo Marketing and Print+Promo, including video, email newsletters, webinars and white papers. We’ll be delivering on a year-long informational initiative, and one that we believe can help change the promotional products industry and impact the whole supply chain—suppliers, distributors, and end-users.
We’ll kick off next month with the first edition of QCAConnect, a quarterly supplement that will ship with Promo Marketing magazine and be available digitally to Print+Promo subscribers. This first edition will focus on benefiting the needs of distributors, on topics including defining compliance, the risks of overseas sourcing, and answering some of the frequently asked questions about compliance.
Sweda Company’s Scott Pearson, who is also the QCA Marketing Committee Chair, said it best: “QCA is positioned to play a major role in its continuing effort to educate the marketplace on the need for industry-wide awareness as it relates to the importance of product and safety compliance, supply chain management and social accountability.”
Our goal is to deliver a better industry-wide understanding of the value, safety and compliance that buying from a QCA-Accredited supplier brings. At the same time, working with the members of our Distributor Advocacy Council, suppliers looking for market differentiation are hearing from those distributors the role that accreditation plays in gaining, or maintaining, business in preferred vendor programs. We’re moving forward as suppliers and distributors in a collaborative effort to educate, influence and motivate the industry toward delivering safer products.
How about you? Do you find yourself more frequently asked about limiting the risk of products? If you’re still running away from the problem, you may not have all the answers your clients expect. And if you’re not bringing these issues to the fore, in every discussion with clients about sourcing and production solutions, it’s possible you’re putting not only your own company at risk, but theirs as well. Safety and compliance are part of the new normal in promotional products.
Side Note: QCA also just launched its “Knowledge Series,” available for download to members of the QCA Distributor Advocacy Council. Designed to be shared with end-users, there is a basic white paper on each of the five pillars of QCA Accreditation- product quality and safety, social compliance, supply chain security and environmental impact. The “QCA Primer” is also available for download, with all of the answers to the FAQ’s about the QCA process delivered in a conversational style.
