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Thursday
April 21, 2011 Check Out the Show Stats ReportFiled under: ASI Shows, Member Benefits, News About ASI The ASI Show now offers exhibitors a monthly report that allows them to track attendance metrics and determine their all-important rate of return. Show Statistics is a great tool for exhibitors showcasing their wares at ASI trade shows and the Advantages Roadshows. When combined with ASI’s monthly media stats report, it’s sure to help exhibitors to maximize results and meet business goals and plans. Key stats in the report include exhibitor leads scans by show and by region and number of scans compared to competitors based on usage of Showcare’s scanner, the official ASI Show leads-retrieval provider. A team at ASI consolidates data from a variety of sources to create comprehensive reports tracking all ASI shows and roadshows for exhibitors and sponsors. The tailored reports are emailed monthly along with ASI Media, ESP and LogoMall media statistics. The reports are also available online. The Show Statistics report features:
Every year, ASI hosts five annual ASI Shows in Orlando, Dallas, New York, San Diego (coming up fast May 18-20) and Chicago (July 19-21), along with over 70 Advantages Roadshows and ASI Holiday Preview Tours. If you have questions about any of the shows or the new reports, contact Karen DiTomasso, ASI’s VP of sales 215-953-3768 and kditomasso@asicentral.com. Or post a comment or email me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. 
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Thursday
April 14, 2011 ASI Needs Dynamic SpeakersFiled under: ASI Shows, Guest Blog, Member Benefits, Members, News About ASI How’d you like to join the ranks of dynamo speakers like Michael J. Fox, Laura W. Bush and Mike Ditka? Well, now’s your chance. All you need to do is qualify to become an ASI Show speaker. Right now, the ASI Education team is looking for top-notch industry educators who can deliver compelling presentations on the most effective tools and techniques used in business today. Click here to connect with us. ASI is serious about education. In 2010 alone, 4,600 distributors took more than 16,000 live education courses at ASI trade shows, making ASI the largest educator in the $17 billion ad specialty industry. Each year, ASI commits $1.3 million to educate its members, and we’re really proud to be able to offer industry professionals free, up-to-the-minute live and online education In 2010, in response to lots of member requests, we launched the ASI Certification program, which recognizes industry professionals with Bachelor of Advertising Specialty Information (BASI) and Master of Advertising Specialty Information (MASI) certificates, the industry equivalent of a bachelor’s or master’s degree. These certifications are awarded to industry professionals who have demonstrated their commitment to service and continuing education. To date, 6,700 industry professionals have registered for classes needed to obtain an ASI certification. And, participating in the certification program is free, user-friendly and hassle-free for our members. We track all of the live and online ASI Education courses that members take automatically via our Online Learning Center (www.asicentral.com/onlinelearning), so they can easily access their transcript and remaining course requirements. If you want to help educate the advertising specialty industry, ASI is where it’s at. We’d love to learn more about you and your expertise. Click here to tell us about yourself. You never know where it will lead you. If you have any other questions, email me at nrollender@asicentral.com. – Nicole Rollender
Wednesday
February 9, 2011 Better Navigation of Tricky ComplianceFiled under: Guest Blog, Member Benefits, News About ASI We all know how challenging it is to navigate through ever-changing product-safety compliance regulations. With escalating concern for product safety and compliance in our industry, there couldn’t be a better time to announce that ASI – in conjunction with our Safety and Legislative Advisory Board – has selected Intertek as its exclusive partner for product quality and safety solutions. And, ASI has negotiated a preferential rate for members to save 20% on all services related to safety testing and compliance. Just this week, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) extended the enforcement date for testing of lead content in children’s products to December 31. That means U.S manufacturers will be required to have CPSC-approved third-party certification for children’s items to prove that products they produce or import contain no more than the allowable limit of lead. So even though there’s more time to meet that one requirement, federal restrictions governing manufacturers and importers will change once again in August. We gave a lot of thought to this issue and worked closely with the ASI Safety and Legislative Advisory Board before selecting Intertek, the accredited world leader in testing, auditing, inspection and certification of consumer goods across all product lines. How will Intertek benefit your company? By helping you answer questions like the ones below:
Click here to get more information on how Intertek can work with your company for product testing and to sign up for Intertek’s consumer newsletter. To read our press release, click here. And if you have any further questions, please email me at kcoates@asicentral.com.
– Karyn Coates, ASI’s director of member benefits
Monday
January 24, 2011 ASI’s Grade A Day for EducationFiled under: ASI Shows, Community, Education, Member Benefits, Members, News About ASI We just enjoyed a milestone day in ASI’s education program. Monday, we “pinned” the first graduates of the Advertising Specialty Institute Certification Program and awarded them their certifications in a ceremony at The ASI Show in Orlando. The certifications represent the industry equivalent of a bachelor’s or master’s degree. I was very proud to join ASI Chairman Norman Cohn, Vice-Chairman Matthew Cohn and Corporate Vice President Stephanie Cohn Schaeffer in getting my pin and certificate. To date, 29 industry pros have received either a Master of Advertising Specialty Information (MASI) or Bachelor of Advertising Specialty Information (BASI) certificate. We launched this program to provide members with the skills they need to out-think, out-perform and out-service the competition. And we couldn’t be happier so many members are seizing the opportunity to set themselves apart through quality education. So far, 3,327 industry professionals have registered for classes needed to obtain an ASI certification. In 2010 alone, 4,600 distributors took more than 16,000 live education courses at ASI trade shows, making ASI the largest educator in the $17 billion ad specialty industry. We take education very seriously: Each year, ASI commits $1.3 million to educate its members. The following are now certified: Master of Advertising Specialty Information
And the following ASI employees: Ron Ball, Chris Lovell and Mary Sells. Bachelor of Advertising Specialty Information
And the following ASI employees: Nick DiNicola, Heather DiPrato, Jim Padilla and Pamela Vicik-Smith. The Advertising Specialty Institute Certification Program is the industry’s only free certification program, created on a user-friendly digital platform. All courses are tracked automatically via a digital campus, so participants can easily access their transcripts and remaining course requirements. Register here to get started taking your on-demand courses today. If you’ve taken any education courses toward your certificate, let me know how you’re doing by posting a comment or emailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Friday
January 7, 2011 ESP Orders Free With ESP Web PlatformFiled under: Industry Initiatives, Member Benefits, News About ASI “Free” has got to be one of the sweetest words in the English language. We should all hear it more often. So I’m very pleased to announce ASI now offers ESP Orders, the industry’s No. 1 ordering platform, at no charge with our revolutionary ESP Web platform. Since our initial rollout, the reviews have poured in fast and furious – along with some suggestions for improvement, which we always pay close attention to. Distributors tell us ESP Orders reduces processing time by 73% and suppliers say they’ve noticed a significant improvement in order accuracy.
Here’s what two members told us about their ESP experience: “ESP Web and Orders have cut my behind-the-desk research time and product order entry time in half, which has allowed me to spend more face time selling,” said Amanda Maxwell, president of Marketing Communications (asi/261624). “I have closed more sales with the help of ESP than I could have ever done in the past, and I no longer make rekeying mistakes because Orders does it all for me.” “ESP Web and Orders have revolutionized the way we do business,” said Craig Davidiuk, owner of Ultimate Promotions (asi/348057). “I can look up any product in a matter of seconds, create a presentation with my client’s logo on it, email it right to them and close the sale without even hanging up the phone. And, I can create purchase orders in no time. These products streamline the entire process.” If that wasn’t enough, ASI’s latest version of ESP is now up to two times faster. If you haven’t already signed up for the industry’s most complete, accurate and up-to-date supplier and product database, I have one question for you. What are you waiting for? All ESP subscribers will be upgraded at no charge at time of renewal. To see an overview of ESP Web and ESP Orders, click here. For more information and if you have any questions, please either email me or Dan O’Halloran, executive vice president, distributor services, at dohalloran@asicentral.com. To read our press release, click here. And let me know what your experience with ESP has been by posting a comment or emailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Wednesday
December 15, 2010 Lights, Camera, EducationFiled under: Education, Member Benefits, News About ASI ASI went Hollywood this week when a NYC production company transformed ordinary office byways into temporary movie sets for the filming of our upcoming Supplier Success System. The series is a sequel to the uber-popular distributor version that’s helped so many industry newbies jump-start their business. The supplier version will feature me, SGR Editor Michele Bell and Digital Advertising Director Gene Rahill explaining the intricacies of the promotional products industry while offering helpful tips and instruction. The shoot was as professional as they come, complete with bright lights, makeup and calls of “action” and “cut.” In some of the scenes, numerous ASI employees served as extras. In the pic at right, the technicians are setting up the lighting for a segment shot in our warehouse. We may not win any Oscars, but we’re hopeful the supplier education system proves as popular as a holiday blockbuster. This new industry “crash course” will be supplemented with interviews with successful suppliers, top industry experts and end-users from the Fortune 500. It’ll be patterned after the Distributor Success System, a 10-part learn-as-you-go series that includes an introductory DVD and 10 30-minute lessons on CDs, along with a workbook and motivational flash cards. The best part is you can take these courses when you want, where you want – at home, in the car, on a PDA or through a smart phone. Electronic versions are also available to all ASI members through our website. As with most ASI benefits, the Supplier Success System will be free. So far, we’ve given out over 8,000 distributor versions, which was first released in May 2009. We expect another hit on our hands when the supplier version comes out later this year. We’ll alert you as soon as it’s available. If you’ve watched the distributor version, please let me know if it was helpful by posting a comment or emailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Monday
November 8, 2010 Promotional Products Beat Prime-Time TVFiled under: Industry Initiatives, Member Benefits, News About ASI, Research, Using Ad Specialties ASI just released the results of a landmark study that proves advertising specialties beat out prime-time TV, radio and print advertising as the most cost-effective advertising medium available. Soon, we’ll send the message about the power of promotional products to the world via a far-reaching public relations campaign. The most significant findings of the 2010 Global Advertising Specialties Impressions Study show advertising specialties are less expensive per impression than most other media – just a half a cent! – and are very affordable and effective when compared to other forms of media. Click here for the global study results, an explanatory video and supporting graphics. Everyone in this industry should make it their business to deliver this message loud and clear to customers, prospects and end-buyers, across every channel available to you. Bring the data with you on every sales call. Perhaps even include the study’s link on your email signature. To help, we’ve prepared a pdf of the study to download, and we encourage you to send it out and especially to chat it up on your social networks. Click here for the pdf to pass along. To Tweet about ASI’s 2010 ad impressions study, use this shortened link: http://bit.ly/diQ6zp. We released the study at the 2010 ASI Power Summit, an exclusive annual gathering of the best minds in the business, taking place this week in Aventura, Florida. Hopefully, everyone there will immediately start spreading the news. The study is the result of 3,332 online and in-person surveys, including interviews with businesspeople in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, London, Sydney, Toronto and Montreal metro areas. The 2.0 study, a follow-up to the definitive 2008 survey, includes new demographic information on politics, ethnicity, gender and age, since knowing the likely recipient of products is paramount for an advertiser. This year, the comprehensive report also adds global markets and includes more products, such as automotive accessories and food. Among key findings, results show:
There’s good reason ASI’s research studies are the most influential in the industry’s history, continuously cited throughout the B-to-B industry and across the advertising and marketing spectrum: They work. I credit ASI’s executive director of research services, Larry Basinait, and his research team, for delivering the material that can help us once again prove the undeniable power of promotional products. At $0.005, the average cost-per-impression (CPI) of an advertising specialty item is less than nearly any other media. To make that claim, Larry gathered data from the Nielsen Company, Outdoor Advertising Association of America, Columbus Dispatch and AdAgeOnline.com. What this study shows us is that even smaller companies can deliver the kind of high-impact punch enjoyed by multi-million-dollar companies. It’s also important to note that the pass-along rate has actually increased 11 points from just two years ago – which speaks directly to the global recycling trend. Not only do ad specialties make impressions on everyone who sees them, but messaging is reinforced every time the item is used. No other form of media can allow the advertiser to so closely tie a benefit to the recipient. So start spreading the news. All we ask is that you properly credit ASI when distributing the study. Let me know your ideas for getting out the message by posting a comment or emailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
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