meeting of the minds - promo products | home-based businesses

94 DECEMBER 2009 www.counselormag.com

Meeting Of The MindsThe leaders of the ad specialty industry gathered in Southern California last month to share business strategies and network with their peers. Check out the scene from

the ASI Power Summit.

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www.counselormag.com DECEMBER 2009 95

ASI POWER SUMMIT

w ith the industry in a time of great change, wwthe leaders of the market took two days early last month to refl ect – and plan for ww2010. The occasion? The ASI Power Summit. The location? La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, CA, from November 1-3.

On hand were many of theCounselor Power 50, along withrrepresentatives from some of thelargest and most infl uential sup-plier and distributor companies inthe ad specialty market. Throughkeynote speeches (from the likes

of Hollywood marketing guru Gor-don Paddison and noted economistRoger Farmer), networking ses-sions and educational general ses-sions, attendees shared insights onthe market and how best to plan forand approach business in 2010.

On the following pages, checkout who attended and get a feel forthe three-day event. Also, make sure to go to www.asicentral.com/powersummitii to see our video andtphoto coverage of the whole event.

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Path To Double-Digit GrowthDuring an opening-day general session, four industry executives shared their strategies for achieving the nearly impossible this year: double-digit revenue growth. Moderated by CounselorEditor Andy Cohen, the panel consisted of two suppliers and two distributors: Derek Block ofTouchstone (asi/345631(( ), Eric Levin of Jetline (asi/63344(( ), Tonia Allen Gould of TAG The Cre-ative Source (asi/341358) and Dan Taylor of Bam-Bams (asi/38228(( ).88

The tone of the session? Optimism, of course. There was no talk of cost cuts and operating effi -ciencies and head-count reductions. This panel was solely focused on how each company reached envious revenue-growth heights in 2009. The key

according to each member of the panel: They created a plan in the fourth quarter of 2008 thatthey followed throughout this year and set themon a path for success.

“You have to know what you want to achieveand how you intend to achieve it,” Block told theaudience. “We sat down and mapped a specifi cplan at the end of last year and have been focusedthis year on executing that plan.”

The other main element that each panelistagreed was paramount to their success this yearwas customer service. When the economy goesbad, Gould said, you have to go above and beyondfor your customers. “We made it our mission thisyear to do everything we possibly can to satisfy our customers and go way beyond their expecta-

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1: Matthew Cohn2: Brett Hersh3 J3: Jason Robbins4: Rick Cesere5: Janelle Nevins6: Tim Andrews7: Suzanne Cohn8: Norman Cohn9: Rob Watson10: Vince Ma11: Jo-an Lantz12: Courtney Herrin13: Ross Silverstein14: Bonni Shevin-Sandy15: David Woods16: Randee Horowitch17: Harriet Shevin18: Liz Schmidt19: Suhail Niazi20: Michelle Michelson21: Missy Kilpatrick22: Bob Hechler23: Glen Hersh

24: David Blaise25: Damian Want26: Michael Freter27: Barry Deutsch28: Jonathan Isaacson29: Jessica Wilhelm30: Larry Wilhelm31: Dick Pope32: Jim Moore33: Ira Neaman34: Kelly O’Connell35: Rob Spector36: Teresa Moisant37: Tonia Allen Gould38: Craig Morantz39: Sheila Johnshoy40: Bob Barr41: Lon McGowan42: Dorene Lanza43: Doug Stayman#44: Karen Cohen45: Niko Pamboukas46: Harris Cohen

47: Len Hornstein48: Jim Stutz4949: Marc Simon50: Marty Lott51: Marc Held52: Vinay Chopra53: Memo Kahan54: Cosmo Corigliano55: Jeff Lederer56: Arthur Weiss57: Fred Albrecht58: Pranav Dalal 59: Vera Muzzillo60: Greg Muzzillo61: Eric Levin62: Carol Gauger63: Glenn Kupferman64: Suzie Gunsauls65: Victor Arluk66: Lizie Jones67: Alan Vaught68: Laura Holt69: C.J. Schmidt

70: Arthur Schmidt71: Kris Robinson772: Dave Saracino73: Lori Bauer74: Mark Ziskind75: Jeff Meyer76: Conrad Franey77: Joe DeVault78: Dan Townes79: Bill Schmidt Sr. 80: Bill Grassmyer81: Bob Tidwell82: Mel Ellis83: Larry Zavadil84: Bob Bickert85: Brian Birka86: Tad Webster87: Ed Hamilton88: Matt Sprague89: Paul Lage90: Michael Nick91: John Leahy92: Daryl Hanks

93: Fran Ford94: Andy Arruda9595: Bill Korowitz96: Teri Reidt97: Scott Siegel98: Sam Hornstein99: Chris Levesque100: Anthony Corsano101: Joanna Grant#102: Kelly Grant103: Alan Patrick#104: Eric Johnson105: Daryl Benton106: Dan Welborne107: Jennifer Tsai108: Todd Singleton 109: Gene Geiger110: Devin Piscitelli111: John Amsterdam112: Dan Taylor113: Andre Vanier114: Norman Bishop115: Kathy Vichakchon

116: Andrew Spellman117: Tom Carrico118: Walter Hill119: Daniel Gaugler120: Jared Tanner121: Glenn Oyoung122: Paul Komar123: Rosemary Komar124: Dan Weil125:Michael Chid-lowsky126:Mary Ellen Najar127:Jack Najar128:Dave Sarro129:Jeffrey Burt130:Jon Bradley131:Sandner Hennessy132:Tim Hennessy Sr.133:Mark Ditteaux134:Bob Carlew135:Jason Miller136:Jayme Weber137:John Bruellman

ASI POWER SUMMIT

Gordon Paddison, founder of Hollywood marketing agency Stradella Road, gave an opening-night keynote speech about the various ways that companies can enhance their digital marketing efforts.

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tions,” she said. “You can only grow your business in times like these if you’re reallyservicing customers the way they want to be serviced.”

Levin also cited customer service as akey element in his company’s 2009 growth – the company even added a night shift this year to ensure its customers received atten-tion at all hours. “Our people are trainedin their fi rst months with the companyto know that their number one job is cus-tomer service,” Levin said. “It’s in our com-pany culture, from the top down.”

Creating A “Best Places To Work” CultureWhile the fi rst-day sessions also included an economic forecast, a debate about made-in-the-USA products and a look at the industry’s most pressing challenges and opportunities, the second day’s panelofferings included a session that featured fi ve panelists, each at the helm of a com-pany that was on Counselor’s “Best Placesto Work” list for two consecutive years: Mark Ziskind, COO of Counselor Top 40 rdistributor Caliendo-Savio Enterprises (asi/155807(( ); Eric Johnson, executive vice 77president of Halls & Co. (asi/59080(( ); Tina Montgomery, president/CEO of L.W. Bar-rett Co. Inc. (asi/133000(( ); Fred Albrecht, founder/co-owner of Proforma Albrecht &

Co.(asi/491075(( ); and Lon McGowan, CEO of iClick (asi/62124(( ).

Moderated by Counselor Senior Editor Michele Bell, topics included the impor-tance of rewarding employees during adiffi cult economy, innovative strategies to create incentive and motivation programs for budget-conscious companies, how the happiness of a company’s staff directly impacts its bottom line and how it can be acompetitive advantage to maintain a satis-fi ed workforce.

When asked about justifying the cost of employee motivation programs in adown economy, Albrecht echoed the other panelists by saying that a different perspec-tive is needed. “You can’t look at it as a cost,because it’s not,” he said. “What you spend on your employees to reward and retain them is an investment, because the cost ofturnover and retraining is certainly more expensive than throwing a few parties for your team.”

Johnson pointed out that acknowledg-ing great work from employees doesn’t have to blow a company’s budget. “Feedthe people,” he said. “You’d be surprisedhow much your employees will appreciate pizza, ice cream or cake – none of whichcosts a fortune and all of which puts people in a good mood.”

McGowan summed it up by sayingthat he encourages employees to have chair races and engage in activities such as building seven-foot high aluminum foil

sculptures in the offi ce. “It costs me noth-ing and it keeps my employees happy, ener-gized and invigorated so they’re at theirbest when interacting with clients.”

The Challenges AheadThe fi nal panel session of the ASI PowerSummit was moderated by ASI Vice Chair-man Matthew Cohn, and included fi ve members from the Counselor Power 50. rThe topic? The challenges and opportuni-ties facing the market right now. The panel consisted of SanMar’s (asi/84863(( ) MartyLott, Sweda’s (asi/90305(( ) Jim Hagan, iPRO-MOTEu’s (asi/232119(( ) Ross Silverstein, Halo/Lee Wayne’s (asi/356000(( ) Marc Simonand Proforma’s (asi/300094(( ) Vera Muzzillo.

One of the centerpiece topics dis-cussed was product safety and legislation. The main message from the panelists: It’s incumbent on the industry to remain focused on these issues and active in the legislative process so we’re not caught offguard. “We need to put a unifi ed front against the Physician Payments Sunshine Act,” Hagan said.

Regarding the PPSA, though, Lott made the point that the legislation is actually a validation of the effectiveness of promotional products. “It’s a power-ful message that they’re willing to ban ouritems from doctors,” he said. “If our items are that popular, then we should be able to promote and leverage that.”

When asked what they thought the biggest threat to the ad specialty market is now and into 2010, Simon pointed to the internationalization of the business – andhow that has altered the supply chain. “A big threat to the market is the increasingways end-users can buy direct from Asian factories,” Simon said. “We have to provide added value to our client relationships, and we need to give them creative solutions.”

Muzzillo and Silverstein both echoed that sentiment. “Clients want instant gratifi cation on ROI for their promotional efforts,” Muzzillo said. “We have to pro-vide solutions for that.”

Said Silverstein: “We have to focus on increasing the professionalism of industry salespeople.”

ASI President & CEO Tim Andrews (right) interviewed Roger Farmer, chair of theeconomics department at UCLA, to open the general sessions. “What happened over the past year or so is a crisis of confi dence,” Farmer told the audience. “You’ll know the economy is really turning around when yousee consumer and business confi dence start to rebound.”

George Delta, executive director of TheIncentive Federation, delivered a legislativeupdate that included a look at the much-debated Physician Payments Sunshine Act.“This will pass as part of the health-care bill,” he said. “But the good thing at least isthat it will override all state laws currently in place.”

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Hello My Name IsHello, My Name Is . . .The Power Summit kicked off this year with a brand-new event: speed networking. Industry memberssat across from each other at cocktail tables and had two minutes to answer thought-provoking ques-tions printed on a stack of cards. An example: What surprising skill do you have? “The event was sopopular that some people actually took the cards home with them so they could use them at their ownevents,” said ASI President & CEO Tim Andrews. “We’ll defi nitely have speed networking back again next year.”

Fore!Ninety-six attendees took advantage of the Summit’s golf tournament, which took place on Monday after-noon, following a full slate of educational offerings. And while not everyone may have hit the ball the way they would have liked, most agreed on one thing: The weather (sunny and 76 degrees) was spectacular.

A Powerful GroupTuesday night’s closing cocktail party and dinner – held poolside – included the announcement of this year’s Power 50 list. This year’s list includes 14 newcomers.


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