(Editor’s Note: PPAI’s annual Pyramid Awards, sponsored by Pacesetter Awards Co., honor creative excellence in the promotional products industry and the outstanding promotions, creative campaigns and exceptional craftsmanship of Association members. The 2023 Pyramid Awards are now accepting submissions.)
With submissions to the 2023 PPAI Pyramid Awards now officially open, PPB Newslink is sharing the stories of several 2022 winners to highlight their accomplishment and to learn more about what it means to secure a PPAI Pyramid win. Today, we take a look at Hillary’s LLC (PPAI 238444, D2) which won a Gold Pyramid in the Employee Incentive & Recognition category but was no rookie to the PPAI Pyramid Awards. The Minnesota-based distributor has submitted to the awards five times and has won either Gold or Silver all five times.
When client Greiner Construction wanted to recognize their employees, they went to Hillary’s, who launched into brainstorming mode, creating a web portal and timeline with which to present ideas and themes such as barbecue, golf and spa, all with a focus on personalization. Each concept fell under a plan that included tiers for recognition, some of which were work-based and some of which were personal milestones like the birth of a child.
“It takes time and thought to prepare a submission,” says Hillary’s founder Hillary Feder, whose trophy case is surely beginning to look crowded. “At the same time, it forces you to reflect on good work, and I have found it to propel me to want to do more work with meaning and purpose for those we are serving.
Feder’s client was able to show its employees that they were valued with products that not only looked good but were designed with the consideration of who would be receiving them and what they would like to receive. Feder says that it is a “gift in and of itself” that people who do not know her can objectively judge her company’s work and look favorably upon it.
“To make decisions about what to submit, I consider what is truly unique or distinctive about our work,” Feder says. “Did we help a client solve a problem? Were we able to become an asset to our clients as an extended resource to their marketing or human resources team?”
