Five Minutes With Andy Griffin, Managing Partner At KeepSake Box USA
PPB Tell us about the origins of KeepSake Box USA. What brought about the idea of building a promotional business around packaging, as opposed to products that would need to be packaged?
Griffin KeepSake Box USA was started in January 2015 and is located in Carlstadt, New Jersey. Through our companies Premium Color Group LLC and HandPack Inc., we have been serving the promotional industry for 21 years by providing hand-assembly, printing and fulfillment services to a host of local, regional and national promotional products distributors. Throughout that time, the need for short-run custom boxes with that certain ‘wow’ factor was always evident. We witnessed time and again as promotional products distributors sought a high-end box that they could customize to the client’s needs and, more importantly, be made here in the USA so that they would be readily available within the industry’s short turnaround requirements.
It wasn’t until 2013 that we had the capabilities in-house to bring what once was a dream to life. For two years we worked through many different prototypes, styles, patents and versions to come up with the KeepSake Box product line that we have available today. We believe our current product line fills the void of a unique, flexible packaging solution we knew was nonexistent in the promotional product industry and we are confident our boxes fill that void. How do we know—because it is what we are hearing with each phone call, email or order we take.
PPB What kinds of conventional beliefs about packaging have you encountered with customers, and how have you responded?
Griffin We are finding that many promotional products distributors do not realize the value that packaging brings to the table. Though the value of the promotional product itself is a big factor, the presentation in which the end user receives that product is really paramount to the total experience. Packaging is often an afterthought, and being so it is thought of as a budget-buster to a marketing campaign. Yet a successful presentation, one where the packaging is planned in advance, is the driving force around the making the presentation more memorable. Again, it is an essential part of that total experience.
Our goal is to try and spend as much time as needed with each distributor, whether at Expo, on the phone, or through emails, educating them to sell the experience that great packaging brings to their end users’ needs and goals. Add to this the increased revenue that can be had in presenting a brilliant packaging option, and it leaves many believing packaging truly is everything.
PPB Incentives and premiums are a growing niche in the promotional market. How can promotional consultants incorporate premium packaging into the incentive sales pitches they develop for clients?
Griffin We thought about this very question from the beginning, and we figured out a way to deliver something special to that incentive-based niche. For a promotional consultant delivering a big presentation, what better way to make an impact than by having branded (self-promotion) boxes to use in sales pitches? Everyone is always looking for the hottest trends and the latest unique products out there, so why not bring to them something that most others will not? This could be something the client has never seen or thought about for their promotional needs. You would be surprised at the feedback we receive on how successful our clients’ sales pitches are when a KeepSake Box is incorporated. It becomes the forefront of the conversation; the icebreaker, if you will.
PPB Is it worth packaging low-cost items in premium packaging? If so, what’s the payoff for distributors and their end users?
Griffin It’s all about raising the perceived value of that low-cost product. The right packaging can sell the message of even the most mundane products. I joke all the time that if you put a $3 bottle of wine into one of our wine boxes, folks will think it’s the best wine they ever tasted in their lives. It’s also true that great packaging will stick around, still be cherished, and still be driving the branded message far after that low-cost item has either broken, run out of ink or been disposed of. After all, keeping your clients’ brands in front of the prospects is what the promotional products industry is all about.
Packaging is such an inexpensive option, but to see your own name on something means the world, and who would dare throw out something with their name on it? It just doesn’t happen. With a plain corrugated box, we think, “Great gift—now how do I get rid of all this trash it came in?” That thinking is completely opposite when some time is spent thinking about the power of packaging. Place that same award/gift in our KeepSake box and the thinking is more like, “Great gift, and great box—now, what can I use this box for around the office?” Take the next step of printing that person’s name on the box and the response becomes, “Wow, how can I showcase this cool box with my name on it so that all my friends and colleagues can see it?”
A properly branded box, with the client’s logo proudly displayed, provides lasting brand recognition each day the box sits on a shelf or desk. It’s what marketing directors dream of and what HR directors crave, and it can be brought to life for them by the packaging-savvy promotional product salesperson.
