skucast

Given the state of the global supply chain and the impact it has had on everyone in our industry, as you can imagine this was a very tense and lean-forward conversation felt by everyone in the room.

Our guest today is Ellen Tucker, Director of Business Development and Expositions with PPAI (The Promotional Products Association International). Ellen joins us for a brief chat to talk about what to expect from Expo this year, we discuss the health and safety protocols, what PPAI is doing to ensure a safe show, and we talk about the most important part: how you can make the most out of Expo.

In this sales planning series, we’re going to unpack how to create a solid sales plan as you head into 2022, but before we do, there are a few key trends you should be aware of that will greatly impact your planning, your budget, and your mission for growth.

Davis Smith is the Founder and CEO of Cotapaxi. Cotapaxi is on track to becoming one of the biggest outdoor brands in the world challenging brands like Patagonia and North Face but there are more differences in Cotapaxi than similarities plus, Davis prefers the idea of collaboration over competition.

We’re learning lessons from the world of fundraising and we have three guests on the skucast from two different organizations. One organization is PromoKitchen and the other, Promocares. Each organization recently worked on separate fundraising initiatives. Today, we interview some of the participants involved, as a way to help bring awareness to their work but also, to explore their experiences a...

Today, we talk with Aaron Draplin about his love for branded merch. Aaron sells a ridiculous amount of cool merch at draplin.com and is a huge fan of our industry and what we do. In fact. I’d go so far as saying he is one of us but just …. a bit more extreme.

Your entrenched habits are a 1-ton boulder. Despite summoning the fiercest will, you can’t budge that boulder an inch. We struggle with habits because habits are behavioral patterns so deeply engrained, that self-will (alone) won’t loosen their grip. But you possess leverage that might surprise you.

Today we talk with Brian Duran, VP of Sales & Marketing for MediaTree Rewards. A leader in digital promotions, he has been with the company for a decade and has proven to be a problem solver when it comes to logistical challenges.

Catherine Graham, commonsku’s CEO, and Mark Graham, commonsku’s president and chief brand officer, join me to talk about their entrepreneurial journey, the struggles, the low moments, how the industry has changed, what they’ve learned about building a team, how leaders evolve and adapt, and, we explore what it takes to build a bold, future-forward business.

Of the social media platforms, Linkedin -not facebook, not Twitter, not Instagram, not Tik Tok- is the most effective. Among the B2B marketers who use paid social media, LinkedIn is the platform used most often. They also say it is the organic platform that generated the best overall content marketing results for their organization in the last 12 months.

One danger in running a business post-pandemic --alongside massive supply chain issues-- is that we’re overwhelmed handling critical HR challenges (such as hybrid workplaces and new virus variants) while swatting away supply chain problems project-by-project.

Anita Emoff is the Chairman and Owner of Boost Engagement, and author of the new book, 7 Deadly Myths That Will Destroy Your Company Culture, Workforce Engagement, & Sales Growth.

Promo Marketing and their parent company NAPCO Media are at an interesting cross-section of makers, manufacturers, distributors (and more), involving all types of media. Moreover, they, like us, keep an eye on trends happening in the industry, plus, they have a keen eye for consumer trends as well.

Today, we’re joined by Michele Bell and Nate Kucsma from ASI. The SOI is a report produced annually by ASI, it was released this week and it’s an incredibly comprehensive report which includes rankings of the top 40 suppliers and distributors and also a wide variety of topics: which categories sold more, verticals, issues facing the industry, more.

Anne Stone is the director of advocacy, member engagement, and education for PPAI, Promotional Product Association International. She guides PPAI’s legislative and government relations efforts, oversees the product responsibility programs, and the Product Responsibility Summit, which we discuss in this episode.

In April, we interviewed Bryan Papé, CEO and founder of MiiR, through a partnership with our friends at Gemline, and we had record attendance at that event but sometimes these conversations are so rich but they disappear into the ether before we have a chance to process what we’ve learned into action so, we’re bringing that chat back to you today!

Today, we’re joined by Nesha Logan. Nesha is the founder of The Village Print Studio, a boutique brand merchandising and creative studio located in South Chicago helping businesses build community through beautiful, branded merchandise.

Jesse Genet is cofounder of Lumi, a Los Angeles company that creates custom packaging for some of the most notable brands in the world, like Parachute, Tuft & Needle. Lumi makes tools that simplify the complex workflows, data, and language of packaging so that brands and manufacturers can work better together.

Josh Wolfe co-owns Sky Punch Creative, a promotional products distributorship, which is about to undergo a rebrand, renaming, and relaunch, but he started his career as a photographer and focused on telling the story of climate change, co-authoring a book on the subject, Climate Change: Picturing the Science.

Curating ideas for a client under the old framework of factory specifics only isn’t enough to achieve their goals nor unlock your best work. Those specs are important, but they are not the most critical parts of the conversion anymore.

In this skucast, we’re chatting with a super panel of social media thinkers, three of the most influential social media managers working for three of the most influential brands in the industry: Aly Brunton, Taylor Borst, and Melissa Newman.

They ship 50,000 boxes a day. That’s 1.2 - 1.3 million units of product a day, with over 2,000 employees, 10 facilities in the US and Canada. Join us as we chat with Dan Pantano of alphabroder.

We are all marketing agencies now … whether you sell print, promotional products, apparel, it doesn’t matter, we are all selling experience first, product second. That’s the conversation we have today with Matt Bruno of PSDA.

In this skucast, Mark Graham and Bobby Lehew explore what’s changed in how we work, live, and sell, and more importantly, they chat about how we need to be cognizant of taking the positive gains and purposefully using them in our business moving forward.  Join them as they chat about ushering in a new kind of Renaissance!

Tom Rauen is an entrepreneur with a passion for community, marketing, and innovation. Tom is the founder and CEO of 1-800-TSHIRTS and Envision custom screen printing and embroidery, an Inc. 5000 company. Tom is also the co-founder of Dimensional Brewing Company, a micro-brewery in Dubuque, Iowa.