PPAI

In celebration of women’s progress in the promotional products industry, Promotional Products Business (PPB), an Irving, Texas-based Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) publication, announced the company is sponsoring the new PPB Woman of Achievement Award.

PPAI announced yesterday that it was buying advertising time on one of Time Square's JumboTrons to run a 15-second commercial explaining the value of promotional products in general as advertising tools. If you didn't get their initial release, Charlie has the story in the newsletter for this week.

As part of Irving, Texas-based Promotional Products Association International's (PPAI) ongoing efforts to raise the awareness and usage of promotional products in a down economy, the organization announced it acquired four 15-second video spots to be broadcast on a full-motion, full-color video billboard in New York City on 42nd street, near Times Square.

Scott Siegel, MAS, president of Chicago-based R.S. Owens, was among the 100 individuals selected to attend President Obama's virtual town hall meeting.  This meeting, the first of its kind, was held in the White House on March 26 and included a live audience of business leaders, medical professionals and educators. The event was simultaneously broadcast on the Internet to encourage nationwide involvement.

The plan was first established in 2005 to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina and Rita. [...] it has been offered to members affected by floods in the Midwest and other hurricanes along the Gulf Coast.

[...] in a changing industry full of uncertainty—one begging for someone to take an ethical stand on how to conduct business, and facing a barrage of new product safety laws—where does the industry look for guidance, a solid knowledge base and products that offer peace of mind? Perhaps the Quality Certification Alliance (QCA), a nonprofit group founded by industry leaders, can provide that assurance. With a solid mission statement, “to raise the bar in providing consistently safe, high-quality, socially compliant and environmentally conscientious merchandise to clients and their constituents,” the organization is attempting to offer as much certainty as possible without a calculator and Schedule C or one foot in the grave. At the PPAI Expo in January, Promo Marketing sat down with three of the organization’s founding members, Jay Deutsch, CEO of Bensussen Deutsch & Associates (BDA), Woodinville, Wash.; Trevor Gnesin, president of Logomark, Tustin, Calif.; and Andrea Engel, vice president of merchandising for BroderBros., Trevose, Pa., in order to learn more. The QCA is really a group of 14 founding members coming together and saying we are going to put together a quality program, a safety program, surrounding products and social compliance inside of the marketplace. The great thing about this organization is that you’ve got suppliers who are in different categories ... [and distributors who] really care about doing the right thing for the industry. There are so many laws, so many things that are procedures that really aren’t standardized, we thought it was important to do this as a service to our customer base, so they would feel comfortable knowing that no matter what product they bought from this group, they could be sure it met all the requirements, it was safe and there were no worries. First of all, we’ve been having conversations with our clients over the past five years. What we are really focused on is getting our founding members ... accredited. Consumers want safe product and that’s not too much to ask. [...] that should be the standard of this industry. ... [...] you have to [answer] prequalification questionnaires. Dee with third-party testing companies [goes] into your facilities, both here stateside—any domestic decorating, any overseas factories, and to a representation of your factories to ensure that your SOPs are alive and breathing. Product quality, product safety, social compliance, environmental stewardship and supply-chain safety. The overall basis of the self-assessment is [to ask the questions] “Do you have policies in place?” and “Do you have ways to enforce those policies?” It’s very intensive. If you have been in this business a long time and you have been doing the right amount of testing—you’ll find mistake opportunities in the manufacturing process. No one can test every single piece of every single consumer product sold or given away ... it’s impossible. In the olden days, one could start a business, you could bring in product and you could sell it. Hopefully, there is going to be a natural attraction for people who take product safety and social compliance seriously.

Reliable Marketing Services, co-owned by John Doering and Larry Stock, was recognized by Wayland, Massachusetts-based iPROMOTEu as being the company's top affiliate in terms of total annual sales in 2008.

Cincinnati-based TSC Apparel announced its 2009 promotion, the Wildcard Advantage. TSC Apparel, along with mill sponsors, Anvil Knitwear, New York and Gildan, Montreal, will send 10 winners and guests to the January 2010 PPAI Las Vegas show.

Irving, Texas-based, Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) announced it opposes the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, S.301, recently introduced by Senators Herb Kohl, (D-Wis.) and Charles Grassley, (R-Iowa). The bill requires manufacturers of covered drugs, devices or medical supplies under Medicare, Medicaid or State Children's Health Insurance Program to report to the federal government payments made to physicians, including promotional products provided to them.

The adventures of your favorite rookie are going pretty well. I've just returned from my first industry business trip to PPAI Las Vegas. Prior to this cross-country journey, I certainly had not done much traveling. In fact, post-college, most of my life has been split between tiny beige cubicles and the weird mix of pine trees and delis that is South Jersey. (Seriously, there are eight delis on the maybe five-mile street that leads to my house! Eight! Who needs that many sandwiches?)