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Thursday
August 25, 2011 Let the Countdown BeginFiled under: Members, News About ASI, Research Everyone has their own definition of what makes a great place to work. For some, it’s salary all the way. For others, it’s great benefits or a fun corporate culture. To learn what rates in our industry, Counselor magazine conducts an annual Best Places to Work survey. And starting today, you can check out the countdown of the top 85 companies employees deemed “best.” Every day we’ll reveal another set of companies on the list, leading up to the big No. 1 “reveal” on Monday. To check out the countdown, visit the home page of ASI’s website. How’d we do it? A total of more than 4,000 employees answered an in-depth survey conducted by outside research firm Quantum Workplace. Counselor Editor Andy Cohen said three themes run through the 85 companies that made the list: teamwork, recognition and fun. Inside Counselor, which should hit your mailbox soon, you’ll discover story after story of winning corporate cultures that benefit employees, customers and the bottom line. As Andy says, “The employees and management are so engaged – not just with their jobs, but with the whole organization – that they’re willing to do anything for customers. Roles are defined, but those roles are meant to be broken – always for the betterment of the company.” While researching for the Best Places to Work issue, three Counselor editors drove cross-country in a rented SUV visiting a number of top companies and no doubt keeping an eye out for America’s craziest roadside attractions. To see videos, picture galleries and blogs by Melinda Ligos, Andy Cohen and Joe Haley, click here. What do you think makes a superior place to work? Let me know by posting a comment or e-mailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Monday
August 22, 2011 Schoolhouse RockFiled under: News About ASI, Research, Using Ad Specialties Over the next few weeks, nearly 50 million students will head off to approximately 99,000 public elementary and secondary schools, along with about 19 million college students bound for halls of higher learning. In the face of such huge numbers, it’s no wonder the education market rose to No. 1 in the industry for the first time, according to ASI’s State of the Industry 2011 Distributors Report. Education accounted for over 12% of total ad specialty revenues – or about $2.16 billion – in 2010. The report, highlighted in a special annual issue of Counselor magazine, offers great advice on tapping into the lucrative books-and-pencils market. One suggestion: Volunteer at a school first, sell later. There really is no end to the products that can help schools, sports teams and clubs raise much-needed money and boost school pride. You can even get an actual model made of your school! For a “Joe Show” video demo with some fascinating stats you might be able to use in your own sales pitch, click here. To read the press release we issued about the state of the industry report, click here. An interesting side note to consider is the uptick in corporate sponsorship of schools, clubs and teams, with most guidelines allowing for sponsorship as long as the product itself is educational in nature. USA Today says schools in about half a dozen states already sell ads displayed on school busses as a way to counter education budget cuts. Other states are considering allowing it as well, which is not a bad way to raise revenue during tough times. Other highlights of our State of the Industry report include:
Lucky for those who hate being sick, but not so lucky for the health sector, there was no spread of swine flu, which positively impacted sales in 2009 of logoed hand sanitizers and related products, according to Larry Basinait, our executive director of research services. Also, industry sales overall fell in 2009, so health care didn’t necessarily decline, but its portion of sales was lower. What’s been your experience this year in education and other top markets? Let me know by posting a comment or e-mailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Thursday
August 11, 2011 Brave New World for Sales ProsFiled under: Industry Initiatives, Member Benefits, News About ASI, Research ASI took another giant step forward this week with an announcement about our upcoming launch of ASI SalesPro for suppliers. Powered by Oracle exclusively for the ad specialty industry, our latest sales and marketing tool will help suppliers close more sales and increase profits. We’ve spent a year developing ASI SalesPro and committed millions. It’s money well spent. The plug-and-play business platform will integrate Oracle’s cloud-based technologies with all of ASI’s products to create a unique, highly secure platform. ASI SalesPro will feature:
To be the first to receive ASI SalesPro when it becomes available sometime in the fourth quarter, e-mail salespro@asicentral.com or call 800-546-1226. For a video demo, click here. Receive ASI’s new CRM complimentary as part of your CreditConnect Prospect Hunter subscription, or as a stand-alone product. If you want more information, click here to read our press release. And stay tuned for launch details on SalesPro and the upcoming launch of ASI SmartSales – a customized Oracle-powered technology platform designed exclusively for distributors and decorators. If you’ve seen the demo of either SalesPro or SmartSales, let me know what you think by posting a comment or e-mailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Tuesday
August 9, 2011 Stitches Named Magazine of the YearFiled under: Guest Blog, News About ASI Last week, I was back in the Windy City for the second time in two weeks (ASI Chicago was indeed just two short weeks ago) with ASI Editor-in-Chief Melinda Ligos to attend the American Society of Business Publication Editors’ (ASBPE) conference and awards ceremony. The ASBPE honored Stitches magazine with its top “Magazine of the Year” award in its 33rd annual Azbee Awards of Excellence competition. In addition, Stitches won five national awards, including “Best Feature Article” for our November 2010 Stitches Golden Needle Awards coverage, “Best Feature Series” for “Mentor of the Month,” “Best Original Research” for our annual May State of the Industry survey by ASI Executive Director of Research Larry Basinait, and “Best Regular Department” for “Look Book.” The ASBPE honored ASI publications with a total of nine national and 11 regional awards of excellence for writing, editing, research, design and photography. In the pic below mine, Melinda shows off one of editorial’s many awards. When I was a graduate student at Penn State studying creative writing, I had the great opportunity to teach undergraduate writing classes. I’d walk from my apartment on Hamilton Street three times a week toward the main campus going over my lesson plan in my head (the pithiness of Gwendolyn Brooks’ poetry or artfulness of Mark Doty’s memoir). I loved the nervous tension of these walks, thinking about whether I could get my students excited about writing. My head is still always wrapped up in the beauty of words and the art of communication, and to have Stitches recognized with these awards was truly an honor. For the Magazine of the Year Award, ASBPE’s judges told us that Stitches stood out from the competition with strong writing, understanding of its target audience and intriguing design. In particular, they said Stitches is “brightly written and designed” and “easy to read and aesthetically pleasing,” showing “a real engagement in the industry you don’t always see.” In Chicago, not too far from the brand-new Marilyn Monroe statue with her iconic white dress flying up, I had the opportunity to stand in a lecture hall in the University of Chicago’s Gleacher Center, presenting to other B-to-B magazine editors at ASBPE what it is we’ve done over the last five years to revitalize Stitches. I talked about our complete magazine redesign in 2009; our commitment to hard-hitting content (we recently spent the day in Montana Women’s Prison’s embroidery shop to learn whether it was a great rehab device or a way for outside shops to exploit cheap labor); the way we’ve built a community for readers (we’re on Twitter, @asi_stitches; and Facebook, www.facebook.com/stitchesmag; we have a social site; www.stitchesmagsocialsite.com); and our must-read yearly issues (May’s State of the Industry and November’s Golden Needle Awards coverage). After my presentation, I talked with other editors about what it’s like to be able to do what we love every day and be so close to the written word, but also create these bright vehicles and communities to serve our industries. For me, this Magazine of the Year award was thrilling and humbling, because, really, in the magazine world, you can never sit still – it’s always about moving forward. — Stitches Editor and ASI Director of Education Nicole Rollender
Thursday
August 4, 2011 Company Picnics Are Back, BabyFiled under: Media Coverage, News About ASI, Research, Using Ad Specialties Remember the company picnic? Maybe you attended one thrown by your dad’s company and marveled at seeing him tie-less, downing a beer with seldom-seen work buddies and playing baseball with the boss. We wondered about the current state of a time-honored summer tradition, so we conducted a survey to find out. Larry Basinait, our executive director of research services, polled 400 companies and discovered 41% of respondents planned to throw a company picnic sometime this summer. And 8% said they’re hosting a picnic for the first time or the first time in recent years. For many, it’s a reward to employees for all their hard work during recent tough times. Since no employee gathering would be complete without giveaways, we also learned 41% of respondents always give away ad specialties to attendees, and 28% sometimes do. Of those who give out items, 51% give away T-shirts; 44% give away recreational items like frisbees, games and toys; and 32% give away caps and headgear. All told, companies responding to the survey spend an average of $4,116 on their company picnic. That’s a lot of hot dogs and inflatable slides. We issued a press release on our results, which you can read here, and more than 150 outlets picked it up, including United Press International and a Wall Street Journal radio report broadcast on Pittsburgh’s KQV-AM, which you can listen to here. One amusing side note from the survey concerns activities respondents said their company planned, which included everything from dunk tanks and egg races to drinking games, jousting and even medical testing. Whatever it takes to motivate employees! Let me know if you attended or hosted a company picnic this year by posting a comment or e-mailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Wednesday
August 3, 2011 The Gift Book Worth GivingFiled under: News About ASI, Using Ad Specialties When you have a most discriminating client (you know who they are!) there’s no better catalog to show them than The Gift Book. But don’t wait too long to order yours – we’ve already sold over 50,000 copies. Distributors ordering The Gift Book will receive a free personalized digital version and free color imprinting if they order by August 31. The catalog comes with a guaranteed circulation of 75,000. It’s sophisticated, yet designed for easy browsing, by product type, price and line, allowing clients to choose from more than 400 products from 60-plus suppliers for any occasion. Not only that, it’s a real beauty – and distributors can choose between two cover options: standard and a stylish deluxe blue version. As always, the front cover of each Gift Book can be imprinted in full color with the distributor’s logo and contact information, helping to drive immediate leads and sales. For more information about The Gift Book, contact Dan Brown, executive director of distributor services, at dbrown@asicentral.com. To order The Gift Book online, click here. Need more proof? How’s this: According to Counselor magazine, more industry sales occur in the fourth quarter than any other period during the year; much of it is due to end-buyers in need of quality items for incentives and corporate gift-giving programs. In fact, according to a recent ASI study of end-buyers, 91% of recipients take action as a result of something they noticed in a paper catalog, with nearly half (49%) purchasing a product. Flip through and let me know what you think of The Gift Book by posting a comment or e-mailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Tuesday
July 26, 2011 Vampires, Superheroes … And Ad Specialties?Filed under: Industry Initiatives, Media Coverage, News About ASI, Research, Using Ad Specialties Whether you’re a geek or a Gleek, you probably saw news reports on Comic-Con, a gigantic comics fanfest in San Diego. As CNN reports, promotional products were an undisputed “star” of the 42,000-strong annual convention. Conventioneers collected free T-shirts and tote bags along with branded buttons, sunglasses and other souvenirs promoting popular franchises like True Blood, Twilight and the upcoming movie Captain America. Click here to view the CNN report (wait past the inevitable commercial) and to take a look at numerous examples of imaginative ad specialties in action. Cape and alien mask optional for viewing. On another “good news” front, I recently saw a blurb about a “prop drop” for the popular TV show The Office. The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce, a real organization in a real city where the fictional TV show takes place, asked local businesses to bring in promotional products touting their companies for possible display on the desks of characters like Dwight, Pam and Jim. They asked for pens, mugs, magnets and the like in triplicate to be sent on to the show, which is about to embark on its eighth season on NBC. So next time you tune in, look closely at desk items to see what ad specialties you can spot. All of this is boffo news for our industry, which Counselor Promogram just reported enjoyed the sixth consecutive quarterly increase in Q2 revenues. Ad specialty industry distributors increased their revenues by 5.9% in Q2, with sales totaling $4.6 billion, rising by $257 million compared to the same period in 2010. This follows a sales gain of 7.6% in Q1. According to the survey conducted by our executive director of research services, Larry Basinait, the majority of surveyed firms are also forecasting continued growth during the rest of 2011. The number of distributors anticipating an increase in sales this year is four times greater than those that expect a decline. That’s a great big “woo-hoo” for all of us, especially on the heels of a very successful gathering in Chicago. Let me know which Office character you resemble and what you think of our latest survey by posting a comment or e-mailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. |
