At The PPAI Expo 2022, the Association debuted new vision and mission statements that will guide it in the years to come. The statements are products of nearly two years of analysis and discussion by the Association’s Board of Directors.

PPAI’s new vision statement “Promotional products are universally valued and essential to every brand,” and mission statement, “Be the voice and force to advance the promotional marketplace for the benefit of our community,” will play a foundational role in shaping the Association’s upcoming programs and initiatives. Among these is a new strategic plan, developed alongside the new statements. Also introduced at The PPAI Expo, its focuses include corporate social responsibility, digital transformation within the industry and enhanced content offerings to inform and empower members.

The vision and mission statements were significant undertakings during the term of 2021 PPAI Board Chair Todd Pottebaum, MAS. The board began working on the new vision and mission statements prior to the onset of the pandemic but took a step back to evaluate changing circumstances in light of COVID-19. The statements were finalized during a three-day board planning session last fall.

“I think this is really, really powerful,” Pottebaum said of the impacts that will come from the revised vision and mission. “I believe it has the possibility of changing the trajectory of the Association, the members and the industry.”

Some of the first programs inspired by the vision and mission statements were also unveiled at The PPAI Expo. These include Promotional Products Work Expo, a virtual event to which distributors can invite their clients for education and strategies to make the most of the distributor relationship and maximize the impact of their product campaigns. The first event is slated for late spring as a preview of what will become an annual event in September or October to help clients plan for holiday gifting and their promo budgeting in the following year. The virtual platform is intended to be customizable, so that the program feels like it’s the distributor’s own event under the umbrella of Promotional Products Work. 

The events are being designed with full intention not to disrupt the usual buyer-distributer-supplier order channel.

“From a distributor’s perspective, you have all kinds of representation on the board, from large firms and mid-sized firms, and then also there is representation from independent distributors,” said Dawn Olds, MAS, PPAI board chair and senior vice president of operations at distributor HALO. “We’re going to make sure that line isn’t crossed over. Please be assured that we’re not looking to introduce anything that would break that channel. We all recognize how valuable that is. That’s really what our purpose is, to further the community. Violating that would be the complete opposite of our mission.”

PPAI also introduced the development of an open standard through its service providers, primarily SAGE, to simplify communication between distributors and suppliers so that every member has ease of access to data and information. Dubbed The Industry Standards, this initiative is designed to help ensure suppliers can communicate inventory, order status and more to customers in real time.

PPAI President and CEO Dale Denham, MAS+, says the impact of The Industry Standards will be to ease friction points felt across the marketplace. “It looks like this: When you are about to place an order, you know if the supplier has inventory without ever having to place a phone call,” Denham says. “When the order is placed, if you need to give your client an update, you’ll know when it’s going to ship, or if it’s shipped and the tracking number.”

More on Promotional Products Work Expo and The Industry Standards will be released in upcoming issues of PPB and PPB Newslink.

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Khattak is the news editor at PPAI.