PromoKitchen Podcast

Ben Baker with CMYK Solutions joins us on this episode to talk about selling to government agencies and some of the keys to working successfully with government partners, plus tips on how to thrive as a solopreneur, including the benefits of staying small and nimble!

Jeff Becker, President and Founder of Kotis Design joins us to chat about his success from start-up to an $18 million enterprise. Topics discussed in this episode include selling to colleges/fraternities, breweries, collegiate licensing, manufacturing, managing salespeople, structuring your business to grow, developing a value-add business, market positioning and more. This is a rocket ride of a c...

Tim Andrews with the Advertising Specialty Institute sits down with us in Naples, FL at the ASI Power Summit to discuss the editorial business, content marketing, important inefficiencies in the industry and an outlook into where our industry is heading. Articles discussed in this podcast include the new 2012 Global Advertising Specialties Impressions Study and Content is the New Cold Call. The PK...

Rich Carollo, Vice President of Marketing at Lion’s Circle, has been involved in the business since 1995. A 2012 ASI Hot List honoree , Rich discusses the trajectory of Lion’s Circle success as it relates to the promotional products industry including insights such as listening to your customer to develop new product lines, the power of customization in a commodity driven industry, pushing the cre...

Chef Mark Graham received an email from a Chinese seller. Like most of us, he usually deletes these emails immediately. This time, however, he didn’t. Instead, he got the email’s sender, Golden, on the phone and asked him to join the podcast. Indeed Mr. Wang’s perspective on Chinese importing is much different than most of ours in North America. Join Mark Graham and Danny Rosin for a conversation...

Jessica Hutwelker is the Director of National Accounts at Match-Up Promotions based in Florida. Jessica has been in the promotional products industry since 2005 as a part of the team that has grown Match-Up’s business from $6.4M in 2005 to $15.6M in 2013, placing Match-Up in the top 1% of distributors in the industry. Jessica was a recent speaker/panelist at the PPAI Leadership Summit and today, j...

Jeremy Lott, President of SanMar, joins us to discuss the success story behind SanMar, their trajectory into the promotional products industry, retail brands, mindful business growth, competition, the future of the industry, and much more. Join Danny Rosin, Mark Graham and Jeremy as they navigate a conversation toward building cathedrals, check it out to find out why!

Today we are bringing you a very special podcast on the West Coast U.S. Ports Conflict. This conflict is creating chaos with International trade shipments. The primary issue is an unresolved labor conflict which is currently causing major disruption to the delivery of 50% of all US Imported goods and 70% of all imported goods coming from Asia. This particular conflict is described as the worst in...

From the day he opened Axis Promotions, Larry Cohen was a consultative promotional professional, twenty-one years before “trusted advisor” became a key component of most distributors’ value proposition. Over the past twenty-one years, Axis Promotions has grown from a one-person operation to over 50 employees and six offices. Larry, a newly aproned Chef in the PromoKitchen, sits down with Mark Grah...

While distributors and suppliers represent the largest segment of the promotional products industry, it’s the consultants who often work behind the scenes to make sure the industry continues to thrive. In today’s episode, we wanted to explore the industry from the vantage of one of the most experienced consultants around, David Blaise David is an entrepreneur, author and business consultant with m...

Lon McGowan is the CEO and Founder of of iClick, a leading supplier of branded USB flash drives, writing instruments, mobile accessories, and apparel decoration whose journey provides an insightful, engaging, and enterprising conversation! Mark Graham and Brad White chat with Lon about culture, success in a highly commoditized space, growing your business, and commanding mindshare with resonant ma...

In today’s podcast we explore the world from the vantage point of the multi-line rep. Multi-lines have helped establish the sales foundation for this industry, though in recent years their role has been threatened by shrinking commissions, factory direct sales forces, and the disruption caused by the internet. No conversation about the multi-line sales channel would be complete without today’s gue...

In this special episode of the PK Podcast, Mark Graham (commonsku), Larry Cohen (Axis Promotions), Jessica Hutwelker(Sunrise Identity) and Bill Petrie(Brandivate) discuss the pending Staples acquisition of Office Depot and the impact this could have on the promotional products industry. Enjoy!

Mitch Mounger, the erudite and candid CEO of Sunrise Identity, a very successful distributor located in Washington, joins us to discuss some of the secrets behind their success, including their open book management philosophy and getting services ahead of product in the selling cycle. Among other topics, (including best sales types and answering our ’10 questions about Mitch’), he also shares his...

In this episode of the PromoKitchen Podcast, Chefs Mark Graham and Dale Denham bring you up to the present as we speak to Norman Cohn, Chairman of the Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) about how both ASI and the industry look in 2015. In June 2012, the Wall Street Journal described Norman as the “Sultan of Swag.” It was a breakthrough piece written by one of the country’s most prominent media...

In this episode, Mark Graham and Bobby Lehew sit down with Paul Bellantone at the recent PPAI Expo and discuss: The growing optimism in the industry, PPAI’s role in providing legislative oversight for the industry, the impact of social media on an organization like PPAI, the new PPAI certification designations (TAS, CAS, MAS and MAS+). the effectiveness of shows and the future of trade shows

In this edition of the PromoKitchen Podcast Mark Graham chats with Gene Geiger about the recipe for good leadership, the importance of working as a team, and the future of the affiliate franchise model. It’s PK Podcast #68 – Enjoy!

In this episode of the PromoKitchen Podcast, Chefs Mark Graham and Dale Denham speak with one of the most influential and dynamic people in our industry, Norman Cohn. Norman is the Chairman of the Advertising Specialty Institute, most commonly known as ASI. In June 2012, the Wall Street Journal described Norman as the “Sultan of Swag.” It was a breakthrough piece written by one of the country’s mo...

Mark Graham recently stumbled across a great blog post written by the owner of a South African ad agency. His name was Mike Stopforth. He loved the post so much that he tracked him down in Johannesburg for an interview. Mike is the CEO of Cerebra, an ad agency based on South Africa and one of the most of original and creative minds in the business. Cerebra specializes in social media and social bu...

In today’s episode, Chefs Mark Graham of CommonSku and Danny Rosin of Brand Fuel, are going to explore the new and exciting world of 3D Printing. 3D technology has been getting a lot of play in the media these days, but many of us in the promotional products industry are waiting for 3D tech to make an impact within our professional day to day lives. Presently, 3D printing represents an intriguing,...

In this episode of the PromoKitchen Podcast, PK Chefs Mark Graham of CommonSku and Robert Fiveash of Brand Fuel Promotions chat with Jim Martin of Kolder Incorporated. Kolder is the parent company of industry icon Numo Manufacturing. Jim talks to us about what it takes to create a much loved supplier brand, how to compete with a Made in USA product line, and how he’s been able to move beyond Koozi...

Every February a team of marketing and design geeks descend upon Raleigh for the annual High Five Conference. At this year’s event, no one was geekier than today’s guest. This someone dazzled the High Five audience with stories about how he became a one man graphic design branding machine and how local advertising campaigns were manhandled under the ruse of his newly formed, and gigantically reckl...

In today’s episode, PromoKitchen chefs Mark Graham and Dale Denham are going to take a deep dive into what it takes to deliver “ultimate customer experiences”. In today’s competitive landscape, customer experience is often the key differentiator that separates one company from the next. We know this to be especially true in the promotional products industry where commoditization and price shopping...

Today’s guest is well known for his technical savvy, social media wit and outsized ambition. He is also someone who has made enormous waves in the promotional products industry for over 20 years. Joining Mark Graham and first time as a podcast host Bill Petrie, is Geiger CIO Dale Denham. Dale is responsible for all ecommerce and IT functions at Geiger. Dale was named to Computerworld’s Premier 100...

In today’s episode, Mark Graham and Danny Rosin get the chance to interview one of the industry’s most familiar names, Bill Petrie. Whether you subscribe to his riveting blog at brandivatemarketing.com or follow his pursuits on social media, Bill has truly made a dent in the industry. Bill has over 15 years working in executive leadership positions at leading promotional products distributorships....