PPAI’s Promotional Products Work program has grown into a cornerstone of the Association’s outreach for the promo industry. On Monday during The PPAI Expo Conference, Lindsey Davis, MAS, the Association’s director of business development, brought her audience up to speed on where the program came from and where it’s going.

PPW Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow

The Promotional Products Work program has taken several different forms over the years, but all have them shared the same mission: to elevate promotional products and educate buyers on the value of our advertising medium through research, education, networking and events.

“This is an evolving initiative for us,” says Davis. “It is not by any means ‘done.’ We want it to be a collaborative effort between us and our membership.”

The Scope Of PPW

Industry professionals have several options in applying the Promotional Products Work program to their businesses. Among them are:

  • The Promotional Product Work Expo, held twice a year, is a virtual event that allows distributors and their invited clients to see what the industry has to offer and pick up fresh ideas on how to apply them.
  • The Promotional Products Work toolkit equips distributors with materials and information they can repurpose to better communicate what they and the industry can do for their clients.
  • The Promotional Products Work website features information to educate end buyers on the power of promotional products, why they should work with distributors and more.

Davis also highlighted some of what’s next for the Promotional Products Work program:

  • Upcoming virtual PPW Expos
  • New, up-to-date research
  • More shareable assets
  • Buyer-driven content
  • Potential live events

Questions And Answers

Most of Davis’s session was devoted to a Q&A segment, answering questions posed by the audience. One of the first was how distributors should attribute the information provided by PPAI. Emphasizing the Association’s priority in getting it out there, she responded, “It’s good data and it needs to get out there. Anytime a buyer reads it, it moves our industry forward.”

Other questions revolved around contact details and other information on distributors that clients used for events like PPW Expo. Davis stressed that for PPAI, all of it was “one-time only” and immediately at the end of the event.

  • She did note that PPAI is considering a buyer newsletter, in which distributors could sign up their clients to receive curated content on the promo industry.

Davis closed her session with a few suggestions from attendees to further hone the Promotional Products Work program. These included a greater variety of reference documents and additional time ahead of the PPW Expo for distributors to familiarize themselves with the virtual system.