PPAI’s 2023 Promotional Products Pioneers were honored at the Chair’s Leadership Dinner at The PPAI Expo 2023 in Las Vegas last month. The honor recognizes individuals or companies whose business acumen, technological skills, creativity, innovative methods and inventions played a role in product development, business achievement and the advancement of the industry.

The industry’s evolution, growth and progression is owed to the men and women the Association aims to recognize through Promotional Products Pioneers, who have distinguished themselves in the industry through their vision, drive, character and leadership.

The 2023 Promotional Products Pioneers honorees include:

Louis Bull, Jr., CAS (Louis Bull Specialty Advertising)

  • Bull served on the PPAI Board of Directors 1961-1965.
  • He assisted in the merger of the Advertising Specialty National Association (ASNA) and the Advertising Specialty Guild to create SAAI/PPAI.

A successful distributor, Bull was a mentor to suppliers and distributors, sharing with them the value of building relationships along with his knowledge and love of the promotional products industry. He is considered one of the founding fathers of PPAI, as an instrumental force in the merging of ASNA and the Advertising Specialty Guild, creating the precursor for today’s PPAI.

Bull's company was a fixture in the Fort Worth, Texas market for more than 50 years and continued after his death in 2007.

James R. Moore, MAS (Molenaar)

  • Moore served on the PPAI Board of Directors from 1980-1984.
  • He was the author of the original by-laws for the CAS/MAS Education Foundation, which is now known as PPEF.

More than just a contributor of innovative products, Moore led a task force of industry veterans in efforts to grow the industry using the concept of idea selling. He made his case through education materials and training sessions titled “Coordinated Marketing Plan” and “Specialty Advertising’s 17 Basic Marketing Problems,” first presented to the industry at the 1976 Boston Summer Show. These sessions were instrumental in the formation and development of the industry education programs as we know it today. He also was tasked with training the first groups of facilitators for education programs at the SAAI winter and summer shows.

Today, this pioneer of industry education resides in Minnesota.