Promotional Products Work! Week (PPW!W) continues as professionals at companies and organizations across the industry celebrate the power of promotional products. PPW!W began Monday and concludes on Friday, and while participants are doing things differently this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ninth annual PPW!W remains an opportunity for businesses, professionals and organizations in the $24.7 billion promotional products industry to raise awareness on the value and effectiveness of the media.
Several of the industry’s regional associations are taking PPW!W’s message to their members. The Chesapeake Promotional Products Association (CPPA) kicked off PPW!W by volunteering Monday at the Platoon 22 golf tournament and fundraiser at the Holly Hills Golf Club outside Frederick, Maryland. The regional association donated time and products to the cause, which seeks to raise awareness and support suicide prevention among U.S. military veterans.
Also, Promotional Products Association Midwest (PPAM) held Trunk or Treat trade shows this week in Overland Park, Kansas, and St. Louis, Missouri, on October 6 and 7. The shows were held outdoors and socially distanced, allowing exhibitors and distributors to connect in person.
To bring the regional community together online, on Tuesday PPAI hosted a virtual happy hour to connect with colleagues, share stories and discuss the power of promotional products.
Several industry companies are also sharing the PPW!W message virtually this year. The Source House, LLC, an IPROMOTEu affiliate, in Osseo, Wisconsin, is sharing a series of posts on social media highlighting various promotional products and the emotional connections they’ve created over the year.
This week, distributor American Solutions for Business is also posting a series of videos that show various aspects of how incorporating promotional products into marketing and branding strategies can produce higher returns on investments, and create greater impact and impressions than traditional media.
Business Branders, a distributor in Katy, Texas, took its online audience through a tour of the Smithsonian’s Business Enterprise Wing for a look at vintage promotional products from wooden nickels, buttons and posters used in wartime, to today’s Bluetooth and innovative products, all with company logos and names imprinted or engraved on them.
Today on Facebook, PPAI hosted a watch party for a webinar detailing the Get In Touch! program, a campaign that positions promotional products as an advertising medium like no other. The campaign’s integrated approach and creative assets and strategies are more important than ever during the COVID-19 pandemic and include digital and traditional print ads, social media, research, infographics and video toolkits. Numerous industry companies and organizations are already sharing the program’s content and data with their own audiences.
Legislative outreach has always been an integral part of PPW!W. It typically coincides with PPAI’s Legislative Education and Action Day (L.E.A.D.), which consists of industry volunteers taking the message of the promotional products industry to Capitol Hill. This year, PPAI urges industry professionals to join the Association in thanking members of Congress for their support of small businesses. Encourage them to continue to give small businesses the tools and resources they need to keep their doors open and employees paid, because small businesses will be the backbone of this country’s economic recovery.
It’s easy to participate: First, click this link to send prewritten emails or call a member of Congress. Feel free to personalize this message to reflect individual situations. Second, forward the link and contact information to team members and encourage them to participate as well.
Industry companies looking to create awareness for the industry can find more information about participating in PPW!W at ppai.org/ppww. Companies and organizations are also encouraged to send descriptions and photos from company activities and events to PPB@ppai.org for consideration in a future article.
