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.

PPB Newslink is sharing the stories of several 2022 Pyramid Award winners to highlight their accomplishments and to learn more about what it means to secure a PPAI Pyramid win. This issue spotlights the 2022 Gold Pyramid Award won in the Supplier Decorating: Special Applications/Processes category by supplier BAG MAKERS, Inc. (PPAI 111408, S10). Submissions for the 2023 Pyramid Awards are open through May 14.

“ BAG MAKERS participates in the Pyramid Award program annually, and we are proud to have received numerous awards over the years,” says Jennifer McFadden, director of communications at BAG MAKERS. “These awards mean a lot to our company, employees and distributor partners because they provide outside recognition that the work we do is among the best in our industry.”

Union, Illinois-based BAG MAKERS worked with Atlanta distributor Booker Promotions to create bags with a foil imprint for entrepreneurial beauty brand Camille Rose. The bags, BAG MAKERS’ Elizabeth Ribbon-Handle Matte-Laminated Eurotote with Foil Print decorating, featured three foil colors in the artwork. To produce the artwork, the project required the press operator to run each bag through the press three different times to layer the gold, gloss black, and metallic red foil. The company’s Pyramid Award entry highlighted the production team’s precision work that kept color shifting to a minimum, preserving the logo’s integrity in the finished product.

In determining that this would be the project BAG MAKERS submitted to the Pyramid Award competition, the company’s decision was the result of the deliberations of a group within the company on the look-out for certain criteria. McFadden says, “We have an internal team that collaborates on our award entries each year. They keep track of the many beautiful orders we produce and then nominate standout projects that meet the award requirements. We look for projects that have a visual ‘wow’ factor based on imprint quality and difficulty, as well as projects that have measurable success outcomes for our customers.

“We work closely with the distributors to understand the context behind each project—particular needs or challenges—and to learn how the products were used by the customer. When possible, we share this background in our award entries to help the judges understand the full scope of the projects.”

Pyramid Award wins are valuable tools for promoting a business’s capabilities and accomplishments.
“We display our award trophies throughout our headquarters,” McFadden says. “We also promote finalists and winners on our social media channels and include award win information in our marketing materials, website, trade show booth and catalog.”

The 2023 Pyramid Award competition is accepting entries through May 14. For more information and to enter the competition, go to www.ppai.org/pyramid. If you need assistance or have additional questions email awards@ppai.org.