Photo: Brands&People  /  Unsplash.com

 

As the Promotional Product Professionals of Canada (PPPC) kicked off TOPS+ Virtual 2021 back in February, they tipped their hats to the member-voted companies and staff of 2020. The PPPC Awards recognized supplier, MLR and distributor members and their staffs for the hard work and resiliency they demonstrated in 2020.

Member companies were hit hard throughout 2020, and those who pushed through it, pivoted and engaged with their communities and industry did not go unnoticed. Thank you to everyone who participated in the awards by voting, campaigning for votes, sharing social posts and attending the ceremony. Our members deserved to be recognized for their dedication.

The PPPC Awards were live-streamed via the TOPS+ Virtual platform on February 2. Welcoming hosts from across the country, the goal was to try to feel as united and together as possible. Hosts engaged in fun back-and-forth banter, and they all sported their fanciest attire to accompany their custom PPPC backdrops. The Award ceremony was well attended and well received by all attendees. 


Multi-line representatives all worked hard over the past 12 months to bring creative solutions and new information to their customers. They were well researched on products and provided quality marketing assistance and presentation quality.

Multi-line Award Winners:

  • Eastern MLR—Agence Alain Gailloux
  • Central MLR—PRG
  • Western MLR—Aidem Marketing Group Inc.

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PPPC presented various awards for its supplier members. A few reigning champs retained their title from our last award season. Check out the winners below.

Customer Service Representative
We were excited to see a two-way tie for top customer service representative of 2020. Two individuals stood out for their exemplary customer service throughout 2020. They went above and beyond for their customers, delivering quality service and showing care, flexibility and proactiveness.

Congratulations to Patricia Ortiz, MAS, from Debco Solutions for defending her title, and to Jennifer Black from Spector & Co. for being awarded Best Customer Service Representatives of the year. 

Sales Representative
The best sales representative of 2020 made an extra effort to educate and motivate customers on products and provided first-rate marketing knowledge.

The winner of the best Sales Representative Award went to Dave Cullum from Cutter & Buck.

Best Catalog
The winning catalog was designed to attract customers to the products. This required clear product representation and readability as effective selling tools.

The winner of the best supplier catalog award went to Stormtech Performance Apparel, which went above and beyond to create an eye-catching catalog with great products.

Best Website
PPPC’s suppliers run unique and functional user-friendly websites. The top website of the year excelled above and beyond to provide a clear and aesthetically pleasing website to display their catalog.

The winner of best supplier website for 2020 went to reigning Best Website champions, Leed’s. Its extensive website is user-friendly and easy to navigate.

Supplier Award Winners (by size)
Member-voted top suppliers all provided excellent customer service, product quality, imprint quality and catalog quality over the past year. They showed a creative response to the restrictions presented by the pandemic, and a willingness to help customers get what they needed. 

For the first time, PPPC divided its supplier members based on self-reported annual Canadian revenue. Small suppliers generated less than five million dollars per year, medium generated between five and 12 million and large generated over 12 million in annual Canadian revenue.

  • Small Supplier—Ad n Art
  • Medium Supplier—Cutter & Buck
  • Large Supplier—Debco Solutions*

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Distributors from across Canada were honoured for their professionalism, creativity, proactive selling, loyalty and business management. Divided by region (west, central and east) and size (small—less than nine staff, medium—10 to 35 staff and large—36-plus staff), the top member-voted distributors of 2020 were as follows:

  • Small western distributor—Cubbon Advertising*
  • Small central distributor—Insinc Promotions*
  • Small eastern distributor—Lerner Promotions
  • Medium western distributor—Image Group Inc.*
  • Medium central distributor—Brand BLVD Inc.
  • Medium eastern distributor—Gagnon Levesque Inc.
  • Large distributor—Genumark Promotional Merchandise*

* reigning champions 

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In addition to the individual distributor categories, PPPC suppliers voted for one distributor that displayed all of the qualities that the distributors from the other categories embodied. However, the distributor who was awarded the National Distributor of 2020 had a larger, national presence in the promotional products industry.

Congratulations to Genumark, the National Distributor of 2020 for, again, winning both National and Large Distributor of 2020.

Thank you to all who voted, and all who attended the PPPC Awards at TOPS+ Virtual 2021. We had a blast hosting the awards, and we are thankful to all who participated. We look forward to hosting more virtual events throughout 2021, and eventually hosting live, in-person events again hopefully later in 2021.  

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Jonathan Strauss is president and CEO of Promotional Product Professionals of Canada (PPPC).