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Wednesday
November 19, 2008

Changes to ’09 Shows All About You – Make Dollars Count

Filed under: ASI Shows, News About ASI

During the past few months, we’ve been reviewing our operations at ASI Show to determine what we need to do for you and for the industry in the face of an uncertain 2009.  Now, more than ever, it will be important to make every marketing dollar we spend, and that we ask you to spend, count.

Instead of accepting that 2009 will be a down year and there’s nothing we can do about it, we’ve decided to invest more to make sure we attract distributors — ones you want — to each of the five ASI Shows and that they’re fully engaged with you during the entire show, 24×7.

Beginning with Orlando, the first show of the year and the largest on the East Coast, here’s what we’ve done:

  • Growing attendance.  ASI Orlando and ASI Dallas pre-registration are both up about 10% from this time last year and continue to build.  While lots can happen in two months, we’re confident our marketing is providing compelling reasons to attend.  We’ve scheduled Tony Robbins as our keynote in Orlando, simplified rules around some of our distributor incentive programs, added valued-priced hotels and announced an Orlando fashion show to hold attendees until the end of the first exhibition day.
  • Attracting the right distributors.  Rather than just quantity, we’re using our internal information on distributor quality — creditworthiness from ASI CreditConnect and salesperson affiliations — to make sure we’re focusing on the right people and that they’re choosing ASI Orlando and ASI Dallas over early 2009 alternatives.  We’ve added staff at ASI to work with national distributor networks, as well as smaller, faster-growing distributors, to host national and regional sales meetings at ASI Shows.  We’ve already confirmed 40 meetings for 2009 shows – 14 in Orlando alone, and in Dallas one distributor is bringing more than 300 salespeople.
  • Delivering exclusive distributors.  Our research shows that, based on our incentive and marketing programs, we expect that more than 90% of ASI Show attendees in 2009 won’t participate in any other industry event (including PPAI Expo) and more salespeople from Top 40 companies will attend our shows than any other collection.
  • New information on the distributors you meet.  In addition to the typical contact information on distributors you scan in your booth, we’re adding additional information, including the ASI CreditConnect risk level (to help you assess creditworthiness), job function and title, and how long the attendee’s firm has been an ASI member.
  •  More ways for you to interact with distributors.  We’re putting in place “24×7 Networking” — coming up with ways you can get to know distributors and introduce them to your products and unique capabilities during the shows, and also outside normal show hours.  You’ll hear more about this as each show draws near, but here’s an example:  Suppliers who exhibit at all five ASI Shows will now receive complimentary tickets to the gala event at every show, giving you several more hours to socialize and get to know your customers and prospects — at no cost to you.
  •  Easier to do business with ASI Show.  For 2009, we’ve simplified doing business with us and created comprehensive marketing material with key facts about every show to help you make exhibition decisions.  All exhibitor manuals, show and education registration, and hotel websites are open months earlier than ever before, and we’re eliminating half the show-related deadlines so you can keep things straight (and so can we!).  We’re also holding 2009 pricing for 2010 through mid-February 2009, giving you more opportunities to make plans for 2010 without financial penalty.
  • Relevant education for suppliers and distributors.  We’ve overhauled education, creating a special all-day session to prepare new distributors to more effectively work with you and adding an invitation-only education track for people who do at least $1 million a year in sales.  Exclusively for suppliers, we’ve added “Supplier Clinics” designed to provide specific, actionable examples of how to manage your business in a challenging and changing environment.  The sessions are free, and they’re scheduled during times you aren’t setting up or staffing your booth.
  •  Marketing opportunities that use technology.  We’re replacing the Show Daily paper with a HUGE video display outside the exhibit hall of every show.  This new initiative will give you a low-cost way to advertise your products and show specials via video, driving traffic and education in an innovative, eye-catching way.  (Your Show account executive can provide details.)  ASI Radio, our 30-minute weekly web-based industry show, will be broadcast at every ASI Show in 2009, providing an opportunity to reach distributors who are listening to the show with your marketing message through sponsorships and, if your news is truly worthy, editorial coverage.
  • New registration area.  Instead of the familiar red and black ASI Show you’ve come to expect, we’ve adopted new individual branding for each of the five shows, and upgraded the technology used in the registration area.  As a supplier, you will be able to receive your credentials more quickly, be able to make last-minute changes yourself at kiosks, and get onto the floor quickly on setup day.  For distributors, the new registration area is not only brighter and more accessible, we’ve designed it to be faster with shorter lines so people can get to the show faster.


We’re committed to creating a selling environment that works for you and that provides a clear, superior return on your trade show investment.  I’m proud of the changes we’re planning, the early response from distributors and suppliers, and the excitement that’s building among major distributors to co-locate their sales gatherings with ASI in 2009 and beyond.

Please let me know anything else we can do to make your show experience better.  My personal email address is tim.andrews@asicentral.com.  For general information about ASI Shows, or to register, visit asishow.com or call 1-877-274-7469 (ASI-SHOW). 

I look forward to seeing you at a show in 2009.

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Thursday
November 13, 2008

Video About Incentivizing Top Reps

Filed under: Education, Industry Initiatives, News About ASI

Keeping sales reps motivated to reach peak performance is a challenge for nearly every industry company and is a hot topic among peers and in our publications. 

On the final day of our ASI Power Summit we featured a panelist session about this – ‘What Motivates Me”: Incentivizing Top Reps’- with industry experts, top reps and successful executives who manage them all discussing what truly motivates these hard-driving salespeople to perform again and again.

Watch a video providing some key action items and ideas that surfaced that you can apply at your company to improve performance and retain the best reps including:

  • Hiring millenials and interns and providing motivating training for them.
  • Recruiting new reps from the pharma and real estate industries.
  • Provide service levels that aren’t just product-focused, but also service-focused. 

It’s all in the video – watch now.

During the session, we laid out the most effective compensation methods for top performers, explored key retention strategies and learned about the leadership styles that work best for motivating – and retaining – this elite group.  Panelists included Pat Cavanaugh, of Cavanaugh Marketing Network; Dan Welborne, of WorkflowOne; Greg Muzzillo, of Proforma; Ira Neaman, from Vantage Apparel; and myself as the moderator.

Watch for more information from these sessions in upcoming issues of Counselor magazine and our other magazines.

Tell me what you think anytime – post now on the blog or email me at tim.andrews@asicentral.com.  Also, you can see pictures from the ASI Power Summit at www.asicentral.com/powersummit.

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Tuesday
November 11, 2008

ASI Power Summit Video of Distributor-Supplier Roundtable, New Power 50

Filed under: Education, Industry Initiatives, News About ASI

 At the ASI Power Summit we just announced the third annual Counselor Power 50 ranking of the most influential leaders in the advertising specialty industry. 

You might be surprised who’s near the top of the list – especially since there are 13 newcomers – and can find out who’s on the complete ranking at asicentral.com/power50.  Check out an upcoming issue of Counselor for stories behind these dynamic movers and shakers and knowledge you can use for your business.

Also, watch a video with ideas and action items that emerged from the “Distributor & Supplier Roundtable” session, an open discussion focusing on issues affecting distributors, suppliers and end-buyers, including:

  • Views on putting prices in printed catalogs
  • Whether order sizes are going up or down and price increases
  • What level distributors and suppliers feel they’re knowledgeable about compliance (90% of distributors said they’re not)

To watch the video with perhaps surprising results to these questions, click here.

In addition, check out photos from the ASI Power Summit anytime, at asicentral.com/powersummit.  Tell me what you think – post now on the blog or email me at tim.andrews@asicentral.com.

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Monday
November 10, 2008

New Study Reveals Value of Ad Specialties – From ASI Power Summit

Filed under: Education, Industry Initiatives, News About ASI, Research, Using Ad Specialties

The second ASI Power Summit – a meeting of nearly 200 top leaders from our industry is underway and it’s already proving to be interactive and provocative in its first full day.

Last night we heard from Jack Teague – this year’s Counselor Person of the Year and pictured right – in an exclusive on-stage interview during the opening dinner.  He shared his views and concerns about the industry, including:

  • The need for more suppliers to become certified in safety and compliance.  Right now, about 50% aren’t certified, which is important in an industry where 60-70% of products are imported from overseas.
  • We collectively agree that the industry is large, but then how do we continue to improve upon value so that we’re not selling to the same clients over and over? 
  • The fourth quarter will be challenging for us, and market share has been a little soft for us now.  But, this is a soft spot in the economy, and we go through the best of times and worst of times.

Also, in a special session today we released exclusive results from ASI’s new advertising specialties effectiveness study that compares the amount of impressions for various advertising specialties against other forms of advertising – beneficial information for distributors to use to educate end-buyers and to encourage them to invest in ad specialties.

In the study, ASI found that:

  • 84% of people remember advertisers on products they receive.
  • 42% of respondents had a MORE favorable impression of an advertiser after receiving the item.
  • Nearly one quarter, or 24%, said they are MORE likely to do business with the advertiser on the items they receive.

You can learn more findings from this research in the study, located at asicentral.com/study, or in the press release, posted at asicentral.com/pressroom, and I encourage you to forward the links to your customers and prospects.   

Watch the blog for more information and useful business advice and tips from the sessions over the next couple days of the ASI Power Summit. 

Tell me what you think anytime – post now on the blog or email me at tim.andrews@asicentral.com.  Visit youtube.com/timasitv for products from our trade shows.

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Thursday
October 30, 2008

Talk to Your Clients Now About the Economy

Filed under: Community, Education, Guest Blog

From Jennifer Brown, Director and Social Chair for CAPPA:

Back in 1992, when Bill Clinton ran for president, his campaign slogan was “It’s the economy, stupid!”  Sure enough, 16 years later, most of us would agree that the current economic climate is #1 on our minds. 

All you need to do is turn on the TV for five minutes and you can’t help but notice stories of instability in our financial markets, unemployment rates on the rise and stock market highs and lows that make the biggest roller coaster at Six Flags seem tame.

Last week on CAPPAChat we posted a survey to our readers about how the economy is affecting business.  The answers were unsettling, but not unsurprising – 100% of people said the economy is affecting their business and 88% think that this crisis will carry over into 2009.

Where does this leave us?  Many companies are looking for ways to “trim the fat” and the first place they look is the marketing budget.  The mentality is “we can live without marketing for six months, but we can’t live without paying salaries.” 

If we take a minute to examine this theory, we quickly realize that it’s flawed from the start.  In economic downturns the last thing you want to quit doing is marketing, because if you quit marketing for six months three things happen:  1) You loose brand momentum, recognition and loyalty, 2) Sales drop, and 3) After brand momentum, recognition and loyalty fly out the window, your sales are down and guess what…you can’t make your payroll, stupid!

If I had a perfect formula for fixing this problem let’s just say that I’d probably be spending my days in the lap of luxury.  What I can give you are a few tips and tricks that have worked for us:

  • Across-the-board price increases are on the way in 2009.  Don’t procrastinate talking to your clients about this even one more day.  Let’s look at it this way:  If you have a client that spent $10,000 on tradeshow giveaways in 2008 and prices increase 17% in 2009, they will have to spend $11,700 to buy the same product.  Solution:  They need to buy at the end of December to take advantage of 2008 pricing – place the order on Dec. 28th and bill them on Jan. 1st.  They get better pricing and can still charge to next year’s budget!
  • Buy in bulk – we have a client that orders thousands upon thousands of napkins every year.  However, because of the way their budgets have been previously structured, they order in boxes of 250 at a time.  It does not take a mathematical genius to figure out there will be significant savings if they order 10,000 at a time, versus 250.
  • Take advantage of specials when possible.  Do you always look though quarterly flyers to see what’s on sale?  If not, you should!  If your client is talking about buying 1,000 water bottles in March, call the supplier and see if they are going to be on sale anytime in the next 30 days.  Some suppliers will go ahead and honor the sales price (30 days either way) or maybe your client can hold off for a week or two?
  • Plan, plan, plan…Stop paying rush charges and expedited shipping!  Talk to your clients and get a feel for what they have going on in the next three months.  This will allow you to use normal production and ground shipping which will make a big difference on the bottom line.  Not only will you be saving them money, but you will be earning their trust because you will be seen as advisor versus and order-taker.

Many of us are 1-2 people companies and sometimes you feel like you’re an island unto yourself. If you’re wondering where to go to ask questions and get advice like this, network with your suppliers to build lasting relationships, keep up with the latest on the industry via education, attend tradeshows and bounce ideas off of your peers…the answer could be within your regional promotional products association. 

Post a comment now or email me at jennifer@360promos.com, and be sure to check out the blog for the Corridor Area Promotional Products Association, at www.cappachat.com.

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Thursday
October 23, 2008

Invest in Technology While Riding the Roller Coaster

Filed under: Education, Industry Initiatives, News About ASI

The news and editors at our magazines and on our ASI Internet Radio show are keeping us updated about the latest economic and market changes – with ups-and-downs like a roller coaster – and many of us may be wondering what the next year is going to look like. 

I believe there’s no need to panic.  But, for ASI, it’s important that we continue to develop products and services that use the power of technology to increase your sales and help your business become more efficient no matter what the economic conditions are.

We’ve recently made huge investments to continue upgrading our products and services, so that they can start working together more seamlessly and so you can spend less time running your business and more time selling.  We’re looking at ways that ESP Online, LogoMall websites and other electronic products can communicate with each other better and become part of a one-stop-shop package, for instance.

Also, we’ve made the following staff promotions to strengthen ASI’s technology department:  Keith Tuskey is now the chief technology officer; John Bush (who you may recognize from trainings at ASI Shows) is now vice president of product management; and Alex Belotserkovskiy has become vice president of application development.  You can learn about their backgrounds in their press releases, at asicentral.com/pressroom. 

Our investments in these technology leaders, who have very talented teams, shows our commitment to provide the best upgrades and industry-leading products and services as a part of your ASI membership.  As a matter of fact, often your investment in ASI membership pays for itself as you grow your business with our tools.   

Is your roller coaster going up or down today?  How are you using technology, or what are you doing otherwise, to become more efficient? 

I want to know – post a blog comment or email me at tim.andrews@asicentral.com. 

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Wednesday
October 8, 2008

Learning From Startups, Wearables Trends and Rising Prices

Filed under: Education, Members, News About ASI, Using Ad Specialties

ASI was the winner of four national awards for editorial and design from FOLIO: magazine recently, recognizing coverage in our magazines of wearables trends, rising prices, and challenges running successful startups – among other topics important to your business right now.

The awards were for two Counselor articles, one entitled “Anatomy of a Startup,” by Andy Cohen, Joe Haley and Melinda Ligos, that won a Bronze Award for ‘Best Feature Writing’ and chronicled the ups-and-downs of three new distributorships during their first few months in business.  The other article, “Sticker Shock,” by Michele Bell, won a Gold Award for ‘Best Feature Writing’ and included six reasons why prices of advertising specialties are rising and offered a plan to help distributors sell clients on a price increase.   

In addition, the June issue of Wearables (Nicole Rollender, editor), received a Gold Award for ‘Best B-to-B Full Issue’ and was selected for covering the latest apparel trends, including underwear and five different categories of novelty T-shirts.  And, the article “Damage Control,” by Michele Bell in Supplier Global Resource, won a Silver Award for ‘Best Feature Writing’ and was chosen for providing information about handling potentially toxic products and what the ethical responsibilities for testing are.

I urge you to read each of the magazine issues – because they are packed with information that is likely affecting how you’re selling products to customers right now or running your business at the moment.  To read the winning articles, click here.

In the FOLIO: competition, more than 100 judges reviewed 2,800 entries and magazines from ASI were recognized among several legacy publications throughout North America, including Fast Company, National Geographic, Newsweek and TIME. 

Tell me what you think – post a comment now on the blog or email me at tim.andrews@asicentral.com.  You can also watch my videos of new products, at youtube.com/timasitv.

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