The Promotional Products Association is turning to its members to get the word out to end buyers that promotional products do their jobs.
PPAI has developed the ADvocate Program to train and prepare member volunteers to give 20-minute presentations before groups of prospective buyers on the effectiveness of using promotional products as strategic selling tools. The talk will emphasize the use of distributors as the best means to purchase promotional products.
Paul Kiewiet, chairperson of the PPAI Task Force on End Buyers, which developed the ADvocate Program, said that there has been an inconsistency of message and how that message has been delivered.
“The task force identified several areas to help educate true end buyers on what promotional products can achieve when used strategically and as part of a full program,” said Kiewiet, who is also the CMO at distributor company Promotion Concept in Kalamazoo, MI. “We have a very strong message of what the medium can achieve in building brands and engaging both employees and consumers in the brand experience.”
He said that consumers are demanding more engagement and experiences with a brand and that promotional products stand to make a strong impact with consumers.
In addition to being PPAI members, speakers will be required to attend a PPAI presentation skills training course, provide three recommendations from colleagues who can vouch for the volunteer’s skills as a speaker and sign a letter of agreement relating to guidelines, ethical standards and professionalism, PPAI said.
The speaker will get the tools needed for a successful presentation, including a PowerPoint presentation that can be customized based on the audience and a template for a handout among other tools.
The presentations will also focus on solid research from reputable organizations and universities, including recent studies from the Forum for People Performance Management and Measurement at Northwestern University that support the use of promotional products.
“Getting that message out and also teaching our own practitioners on what that research says and how to communicate that to the end buyers is an important strategy to us,” Kiewiet said.
Half-day training sessions will be offered at the Motivation Show on Sept. 28 from 8 am to noon and at the PPAI Expo on Jan. 9 from 8 am to noon.
The task force is working with 28 regional nonprofit associations around the country, representing both supplier and distributor members, to promote the ADvocate Program, Kiewiet said.
The PPAI Task Force on End Buyers was formed in the spring of 2004. In addition to the development of the ADvocate Program the task force has established an end buyer advisory council made up of seven clients representing the major buyers of promotional products. The council assists the research department and provides editorial content on key issues to PPAI’s monthly magazine, Promotional Products Business.
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