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Tuesday
November 8, 2011 Counselor Names Power 50Filed under: ASI Shows, Community, Industry Initiatives, Members, News About ASI Timidity has no place in business. And if Polyconcept’s recent history has shown us anything, it’s exactly that. When Polyconcept’s Philippe Varnier, Yann Leca and David Nicholson purchased Trimark Sportswear, they changed the game by becoming the first major supplier to sell both hard goods and apparel. This big, bold move also helped propel them from No. 8 to No. 1 on this year’s Counselor Power 50 list. By definition, the business leaders on our annual list set the agenda for the market, provide successful examples for others to follow and, ultimately, dictate how business is done in the ad specialty industry. Last night we honored them for their outstanding business acumen at the fifth annual ASI Power Summit in Dana Point, California. Here’s the top of the 2011 Counselor Power 50 list:
For the complete Counselor Power 50 ranking, click here. For photos of the Power Summit and Monday’s awards ceremony, click here. It’s also worth noting the newcomers who hit the list for the first time, since they’re definitely among the ones to watch. They are:
For more info and details on why these leaders moved up – or down – read the upcoming December issue of Counselor and check it out online at http://www.counselormag.com/. Let me know what you think of this year’s ranking by posting a comment or e-mailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Monday
November 7, 2011 James Carville Tackling ASI RadioFiled under: ASI Shows, News About ASI You could never accuse political pundit James Carville of being a shrinking violet. The upcoming ASI Show keynoter – a guest on ASI Radio this morning – stakes his claim to fame with the very first words posted on his website: “The man who has devised the most dramatic political victories of our generation.” Even if you disagree with his politics, you gotta admire Carville’s verve. The Democratic strategist credited with ushering an unknown Arkansas governor into the White House always tells it like it is, whether he’s opinionating on Sunday morning talk shows or addressing a corporate crowd like ours. I can’t wait to hear what he has to say on ASI’s weekly radio show. To listen in at 10:30 a.m. ET today, click here. You don’t have to prefer blue over red to enjoy Carville, a blunt-talking Southerner who dishes sports once a week on XM Radio and is married to Republican consultant Mary Matalin. His fierce frankness is why we chose him to square off with conservative Bill O’Reilly in “Live from the No-Spin Zone” January 18 in what’s sure to be a highlight of ASI’s first show of the year in Orlando. Carville and O’Reilly, Republican and popular host of Fox’s “The O’Reilly Factor,” will give us the straight scoop on the 2012 presidential elections just as the already divisive race kicks off. I, for one, can’t wait for this smackdown. Sparks will definitely fly. So tune in as our radio hosts get the first stab at the Ragin’ Cajun. I guarantee it’ll be one of the liveliest exchanges ever heard over our airwaves, as Carville gives us his firm opinion on everything from the huge role promotional products will play in the 2012 elections to whether LSU will take Tulane. Let me know what you think the hosts should ask Carville by posting a comment or e-mailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Thursday
November 3, 2011 Applause! Applause!Filed under: Media Coverage, News About ASI One of the first things I ever won was an award for a school science fair project. All told, Folio: presented ASI with two gold, one silver and two bronze awards for editorial and design excellence, capping a record-setting year for the editorial staff. In 2011 alone, ASI magazines won an astonishing 26 national awards. Folio’s awards are considered the most inclusive and sought-after recognition in the industry, drawing more than 2,000 entries annually from magazines as impressive as Bloomberg Businessweek and Entrepreneur. Personally, I think ASI’s magazines consistently come out on top because they provide a service to readers, complete with ace reporting on vital industry issues and dazzling photo spreads. To check out the award winners yourself, just click on the links in the list below:
As top-notch as it is, the editorial department might have to make room for another byline – from our very own Rich Fairfield, who was published this week in none other than the venerable New York Times. Rich wrote a very funny story for the Times’ “Frequent Flier” column about the trials and tribulations of logging more than a million miles in the friendly skies. Anyone who travels for business will relate to Rich’s first-person account. To read it, click here. Let me know the last good story you’ve read by posting a comment or e-mailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Wednesday
October 26, 2011 Delivering One-Click ConfidenceFiled under: News About ASI Safety and compliance is a paramount issue in our industry – whether it’s lead content in children’s products or simply knowing a product won’t fall apart when handled. After consulting with members of the ASI Safety and Legislative Advisory Board, we’ve made it easy for suppliers to add safety and compliance product certifications to their profiles in ESP. Here’s how: All ASI suppliers who have password access to ESP Updates can add either PDF documents or links to safety and compliance documents. This info appears on the supplier detail pages, which are viewed by more than 35,000 distributors using ESP. Safety and compliance information may be added by clicking on Manage Safety and Compliance Documents on the ESP Updates–Update Center page or by e-mailing info to espupdate@asicentral.com. Distributors can find safety and compliance info on ESP Web by clicking on the safety and compliance tab on a supplier’s detail page. If you have any questions, we’ve got a great team ready to answer them. You can e-mail Liz Kennedy, ASI’s director of product and technical support, at support@asicentral.com or call 800-546-1350, option 4. It’s crucial everyone in our business understands product safety laws – it’s a major value add for you and your clients. Let me know your thoughts by posting a comment or e-mailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Monday
October 24, 2011 Move Over, Doom and GloomFiled under: Research In my experience, the one trait shared by successful business leaders is confidence. The more confidence you have in yourself and your company, the more you inspire employees, clients and potential customers. Confidence is so critical, it can even impact the economy, according to a recent government report. Even though the economy is creeping upward (retail sales rose 1.1% in September, exceeding private sector expectations of a 0.7% advance), consumer confidence remains gloomy. A recent Q3 industry survey found much of the same doom and gloom. Even though sales rose for the 7th straight quarter, distributor confidence has dropped nearly 20 points in the last year. In ASI’s Q4 2010 survey, 75% of all distributors felt sales for 2011 would be higher than sales in 2010. In our just-released Q3 2011 survey, only 56% of all distributors feel sales for 2011 will be higher than sales in 2010. Overall, the industry news remains positive: During the third quarter, there was a 5.1% year-over-year increase in sales among ASI members, which translates to an increase in sales of $221 million over the third quarter of 2010. One-half (50%) of distributors reported an increase in the third quarter. Sales for the third quarter of 2011 were approximately $4.6 billion. No one living through this extraordinary period is peering through rose-colored glasses – not in the face of declining incomes, high unemployment and government distrust. But whenever we feel our confidence shaken, it might be worth considering the good news that is indeed out there. Keep investing in your business and your people and continue exploring new marketing opportunities and technology. In other words, stay as confident as our recession-busting industry allows. You have good reason. And for more info, click here. Let me know what your Q3 experiences have been – and what’s giving you confidence – by posting a comment or e-mailing me here.
Monday
October 17, 2011 The Gift of EducationFiled under: Members Back in the ’80s, I got tickets to Dr. Ruth’s talk show and had a blast listening to the sex expert once described as “a cross between Henry Kissinger and Minnie Mouse” tackle questions. More than 20 years later, I found myself sharing a table with Dr. Ruth Westheimer at a fundraiser for a NJ-based organization called Answer. The world-renowned psychotherapist was the event’s keynote speaker, and I can assure you Dr. Ruth is still answering important questions with her trademark wit and intelligence. I was delighted not only with the speech, but also with the cool keychain Dr. Ruth handed out, which featured her photo and logo, and with the beautiful gift bag Answer gave everyone in the audience. It was packed with great promotional items like a coffee cup, pen, pad, mints and mouse pad. The ASI distributor who put the gift bags together was Overture Premiums & Promotions (asi/288473), of Vernon Hills, IL, chosen one of Counselor magazine’s “Best Places to Work” in 2011. The occasion was Answer’s 30-year anniversary, dubbed “Keeping It Up: 30 Years of Great Sex (Ed).” And although the folks at Answer clearly have a sense of humor, more importantly, they have a clear and critical mission: to reach nearly 5 million teens and more than 6,000 educators every year. At the breakfast, I learned a lot about what’s working – and what’s not working – in sex ed today. And the fact is there aren’t many places kids can go to get age-appropriate answers to their questions. But they – and their parents – do have Answer, a component of Rutgers University with a National Advisory Board boasting an impressive list of members. The organization offers parents tons of resources, including a list of reviewed and recommended books and websites to help them educate their children about sexual health and growing up. So if you haven’t had “the talk” yet and need some guidance, I urge you to check out Answer’s website. I learned a lot and hopefully you will, too.
Tuesday
October 11, 2011 Automate with ASI SmartBooksFiled under: Guest Blog, News About ASI When I was a kid, my main chore was dishwashing. Since this was before automatic dishwashers were popular, it meant running hot soapy water, scrubbing hard with a threadbare dishrag and drying each dish by hand before putting it away into the cupboard. I despised dishwashing, much preferring playing on the swing, chasing the chickens, skipping rocks in the pond, even just watching the clouds go by. So getting the dishes done fast was a very important motivator. My father, who flew jets off aircraft carriers for the U.S. Navy, would occasionally get out the white gloves and inspect my work. His fastidious attention to detail often meant I’d have to start the process all over again until I got it right. I enjoyed a eureka moment when I read “Cheaper by the Dozen” in school, authored by a child of efficiency experts who invented the concepts of time/motion studies in automation. The book explains how, when you have a dozen children, you have to plan carefully. The concepts of process measurement, time control and quality metrics are all explained in a way even a 10-year-old could understand. Applying the same principles to my dishwashing, I determined the fastest, most efficient method with the greatest quality control. Years later, I became part of a team at ASI Computer Systems, Inc. that applied these same automation concepts and delivered them as a software product for the advertising specialty industry: ASI SmartBooks, a new, industry-specific business management software that allows distributors to manage their entire business with a single, flexible, powerful business application. To read our recent press release about ASI SmartBooks, click here. The basic principles about “which is fastest” and “how do we maintain high quality” have been applied to this new piece of technology that should do for distributors and suppliers what “Cheaper By The Dozen” did for my dishwashing. We started the two-year R&D process by taking our stopwatches and notepads out to scores of industry firms, watching what you do each day and asking lots of questions about how you get it done. These studies led us to some of the best practices in the industry that we tried to make fundamental to our new product, ASI SmartBooks. Thanks so much to those who helped us understand how to quote, order, process, deliver and account for promotional products fast and with quality. With ASI SmartBooks, you can get out of the kitchen, so to speak, and get back to selling. For more information on ASI SmartBooks, contact Tara Barbatti at tarab@asicomp.com to find out more. ASI Computer Systems is also offering ASI SmartBooks product webinars on October 13, 20 and 27, with additional webinars offered in November and December. To join the free webinars, e-mail ASISmartBooksInfo@asicomp.com. Click here to learn more. – Mark Bloom Software Product Manager, ASI Computer Systems, Inc. |
To this day I can remember the pride I felt. But I doubt it even comes close to the feelings experienced this week by our publisher, Rich Fairfield, and editor-in-chief, Melinda Ligos, whose magazines just won five more national awards.
