Insights

The supply chain is making life hell for promo distributors and suppliers, leading to mounting frustration that’s costing time, money and jobs. As burnout sets in, it’s only adding to the supply chain mess. What can the industry do to stop it? And what happens if it doesn’t?...

Customer trust is one of the most important factors in a brand’s long-term success — and exceptional service is the way to earn it. If we think about it, we are all in customer service, simply doing our best to make clients feel heard, understood and supported. But, customer service representatives (CSRs) in the traditional sense typically are at the front line fielding the brunt of criticisms. Add to the mix a world-historical pandemic resulting in raw material shortages and port congestion, and suddenly “smiling with your voice” just got a lot harder.

Welcome to our first Top Distributors Resource under the Print+Promo Marketing brand! What a year it’s been. Last summer, as we strategized the messaging of our soon-to-be combined print resource, none of us could predict how the pandemic would affect the print and promo industry. To be fair, the only thing anyone could confirm was that “uncertainty is the only certainty."...

The gifting-as-a-service business model sounds squarely aimed at disrupting the traditional promotional products industry. But is it? The answer is complicated—and it might hold some surprising lessons for industry companies...

From gender pay gaps to systemic issues, the challenges facing women in the workplace have been well-chronicled. In our own industry it was once rare to see women walking the floors of major trade shows. But so much progress has been made surrounding female representation in print and promo, and there are more women than ever before creating dynamic marketing campaigns, generating sales dollars, running machinery and leading multimillion-dollar companies...

While the pandemic isn’t over yet, there’s a lot to learn from the past year. It’s well-documented that when most nonessential business halted in March 2020, so did a lot of print and promotional sales. And M&A followed suit, said Jamie Watson, chief operating officer for Certified Marketing Consultants, Huntertown, Ind. ...

Incorporating data from NAPCO Research, insight from government affairs analysts and reporting from our editors, the 2021 State of the Industry report is a comprehensive look at the challenges of the past year and the opportunities available to industry businesses as the year progresses. The report features four subsections and five Q&As with industry experts…

The Port of Los Angeles sits in San Pedro Bay, an inlet on the Southern California coast that opens south into the Pacific Ocean. Its location, on the eastward side of a squarish chunk of land that juts down and out from the coast like a rogue molar, affords it tremendous protection from the Pacific’s waves and wind...

Are you a promo distributor or a print distributor? Or, are you a print and promo distributor? There was a time when these were two different paths—two different industries even. That’s not the case anymore, and especially after a grueling 2020, selling both print and promotional products is necessary for growth…

For many distributors of print and promotional products, the coronavirus pandemic has been a mixed bag of challenges and opportunities. There have been lost accounts and payroll challenges. But, there has also been time to rethink strategies and expand product offerings..