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Tuesday
April 29, 2008 Bonjour! New Products from ASI Canada and Toast Your BunsFiled under: Guest Blog, News About ASI From Colin Graf, marketing manager for ASI catalogs: Bonjour! I recently returned from the great north city of Toronto at ASI Canada’s spring seminars, along with Jay Ostrow from ASI.
When I say spring, I mean 0 degrees Celsius. That’s about 32 degrees Fahrenheit for all you yanks. My good friend Fred Oesen, vice president of ASI Canada, taught me an easy conversion trick. Multiply by two and add 32. But no matter what way you convert it, it didn’t feel like spring. There were several interesting products on display and as is the trend at many of the events that I’ve been attending, “green” is hot! Also, the new Blossom Ballpoint line of pens from Spector Image (asi/88660) were noticeable, since they’re not only pens, but also lights with the color of the light matching the color of the pen. Another cool product was the hotdog stand from Bonica Precision (asi/40903) - a compact version of the old style hot dog roller with an integrated toaster oven to toast your buns. If only I had room in my suitcase, my kitchen would have had a new toy.
Anyway, the ASI Canada seminars are held in a very personal roundtable format that give each supplier involved 15 minutes of face-time with six to eight distributors at a time. These are held twice a year in both western and eastern Canada. The attendance and interest this time around was great and the feedback from both sides has been nothing but positive. Both groups seem to really enjoy the half-day seminars, and hey…breakfast and lunch is included. A win, win. In this industry the building of relationships is essential, and that’s what these seminars are all about. I know I made some good friends on this trip. I had a great time with Bernie from Minimedia (asi/71475) and Brent from Bonica, and Alex from Debco Bag (asi/821555) was dependable for a good laugh.
Jay handled the ASI table, covering everything from catalogs to LogoMall. The main focus of interest was overwhelmingly for ESP Online, and he demonstrated the basics for beginners and the tricks, advanced features and ins-and-outs for the current users. It seemed everyone walked away impressed, even the doubters. On the way home, Jay and I discussed how satisfying it was to be able to help so many people optimize their use of ESP and see the wide-eyed amazement from the non-users. I’m sure he’ll be hearing from quite a few of the week’s attendees. All in all, it was a successful trip. We even had a chance to sample local flavors from the Sleeman and Steam Whistle Breweries. I highly recommend the Steam Whistle Pilsner – check out the imprinted glass. What do you think? Post now on the blog, or email Colin, at cgraf@asicentral.com.
Friday
April 11, 2008 Video of 7 Products to SellFiled under: News About ASI I just came from the energetic floor of ASI Vegas and noticed several interesting products to sell to your clients. Suppliers and distributors were buzzing about them and they’re products that you may not have seen before. Get the Flash Player to see this player. Products featured are: • Light-up badge, from Chemical Light (asi/44880) I hope the year is going great for you and sales are brisk. Let me know what other products you’re seeing. Post now on the blog or send me an email anytime – at tim.andrews@asicentral.com. Also, stay informed and submit your email in the window called ‘Enter your email for updates’ at the top right of the screen and you’ll get a note when my next post is live.
Thursday
April 10, 2008 New 2009 event - Fall Holiday Expo in VegasFiled under: News About ASI Today we announced the fall 2009 launch of the ASI Holiday Expo, the industry’s first and only national show focused on products for the important fall and holiday selling seasons. The ASI Holiday Expo will be limited to no more than 400 booths, and suppliers invited to exhibit will be required to have four or more stars in the ASI Supplier Rating System or be nominated by distributors.
Friday
March 28, 2008 Personalization, Technology, Ideas for Higher ROIFiled under: News About ASI Recently editors at ONE magazine - published by industry marketing services company WorkflowOne - spotlighted promotional products and the serious return on investment they’re providing for clients. They also asked me why advertising specialties are becoming so popular all around, and I believe several elements are driving our industry’s success: • Technology. We’re all serving clients better and faster than ever. • Tangible return-on-investment. Marketers can include a promotional product in a direct mail campaign that says “click on this Website to receive your free hat” and the results can be tracked immediately. How many people requested hats? How many sales did you get from those who requested hats? • Personalization. A growing trend – technology now allows us to record a personalized message that plays when someone opens a bag. That’s interaction with a brand that few advertising mediums can match and it’s hard for end-users to put them down. For some additional thoughts and business tips, click here to read the article. Tell me what you’re seeing in the market - post a comment now or email me anytime at tim.andrews@asicentral.com. Also, stay informed and submit your email in the window called ‘Enter your email for updates’ at the top right of the screen and you’ll get a note when my next post is live.
Friday
March 14, 2008 Counselor Gets Second Neal Award in a RowFiled under: News About ASI
Today in New York City, ASI’s editorial team was named winner of a Neal Award for outstanding journalism for the 2007 ‘State of the Industry’ issue of Counselor magazine. This is the highest editorial honor bestowed on a business-to-business publication. It is given by the trade association in publishing, American Business Media. We are among 35 winners, selected from 100 finalists and 1,050 entries. This year’s award is our second consecutive Neal. We were honored last year for our Counselor series on family businesses.
Monday
February 25, 2008 Free Online Sales Tools and Networking Ready TodayFiled under: News About ASI Today we launched free marketing resources Websites for you to use to increase leads and improve your business - at www.thenumberthatmatters.com/marketing. The Websites provide you with more than 20 marketing and sales tools, including a customizable end-buyer sales sheet, lead tracking sheet, end-buyer research, Internet marketing advice, an email version of Successful Promotions magazine to send to clients, and a link to the new ASI Social Network – at www.asinetwork.com.
Wednesday
February 13, 2008 Ad Specialties on TV in Dallas - Industry ExposureFiled under: Education, Media Coverage, News About ASI I think it’s important for our industry to educate buyers about advertising specialties and the unlimited creativity, flexibility and branding power that promotional products provide for marketers. So I‘d like to share a TV clip from ASI Dallas that aired on Channel 8, demonstrating popular products from suppliers at the show that are great for promotions and advertising.
Watch the video now on the station’s Website - at www.wfaa.com/video/index.html?nvid=216257 - it starts automatically. Six products were featured from industry suppliers, including:
We’ve also updated ASICentral to include the clip, at http://asicentral.com/asp/open/AboutASI/pressRoom/tvclip.asp. Let me know what you think anytime – post now on the blog or email me at tim.andrews@asicentral.com. Also, stay informed and submit your email address in the window at the top right of the screen called ‘Enter your email for updates’ and you’ll receive a note when there’s a new blog post. |
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