Welcome to the promo playbook, the podcast where
suppliers come to win in the promotional products
industry. We're your hosts, Lisa Faustek and
Adrienne Barker, bringing you insider insights,
expert strategies, and no fluff advice to help
suppliers navigate the promo channel like pros.
From marketing to distributors to mastering software
onboarding, we cover it all. Whether you're new
to the industry or ready to scale up, this is
your playbook for success. Let's get started.
Hello, everybody. Welcome to the fifth episode
of the promo playbook podcast. Say that three
times fast. Today, we're going to dive into the
structure of the industry. This is a foundational
segment that is really designed to give you an
overview of how the industry functions. There's
many, many layers and I love my food references.
So I think of this as a multi -layered cake with
many, many different layers and flavors in between
each layer. So welcome Adrian and Kim to this
episode. I think I'll start out with a high level
overview and then we can sort of fill in each
segment. So structure -wise, we have suppliers.
Now, there's many different types of suppliers,
which we'll dive into. Suppliers sell to distributors,
which we will also dive into, and then distributors
sell to end -user customers. That's the traditional
original profile of the industry when ASI first
started about 100 years ago. It has evolved dramatically
since then. So let's take for our first topic,
suppliers. Adrienne, let me put this over to
you. Give us some bullet points of what types
of suppliers you think are in the industry today.
Oh, I love that. First, I have to say in the
reference of your cake, when the supplier finally
gets paid their invoice, that's a whipped cream.
That's the topic. Definitely. So suppliers, I
love that question because there is, first of
all, the industry sells everything, including
underwear. I just have to say it because you
can print the back of an underwear, not a thong.
Unless we're talking sandals. So in essence,
anything that could be printed or even an incentive
can come in the industry. And that's why we have
over a million products in the industry. So that
supplier could be the one man show, which we
see often, also could be selling, you know, someone
that's been in the industry for a long time that
comes into the industry, like a Columbia, like
an Under Armour, right? These suppliers already
have proven product, proof of performance. Now
they're bringing it into the industry. I think
that that's one form of a supplier that's out
there. The wholesaler that's doing just the wearables,
and that's everything. from jerseys to jackets
to wind shirts to polos to dress uniforms all
of that we can dress you up like to look gold
for your sales with a suit too if you wanted
with your logo in the okay um and then we're
talking about the suppliers that offer one minimum
the suppliers that offer you have to have a large
minimum. So I don't know if that's what we're
looking for for the overview because there's
so there's so many I know that Kim, you can go
in a little deeper, you have more experience
in under the supplier umbrella. But I also think
of those suppliers that are smart enough. And
if I'm going to name one Latour spice, because
Brian from the tour to spice brought in really
one one like line of like spices, and how he's
grown it has been such a great and interesting
way to like watch. you know, because he's getting
success. So sometimes you start with one product
and next thing you know, every year you're adding
on more. So I'm going to end it there because
I want to hear what you both say. Great. And
Brian could be a great guest for us. So over
to you, Kim, what are your thoughts on what are
the types of suppliers that we have in the industry
today? Yeah. I mean, I love this topic. And as
we are prepping for this and going back through
some of our podcasts, I was like, you know, we
just need to get down to some basics, too, because
every time we get on the phone with somebody,
we're always doing the same thing, right? Describing
the industry, how do you get to point A to B?
Sometimes it's not the way, you know, from A
to Z or A to M, you're like bypassing and you're
hitting P before you get back. So I like love
this topic. When we talk about suppliers, even
before we dig deep into that at 10 ,000 feet,
you have just promotional products in general.
Well, what is that? Some people think it's just
slapping a logo on a product and shipping it
out, but that's only one segment. We're talking
about our cake layers. That's one layer of the
cake. It's probably the thickest layer, but it
is one layer. And under that, you also have incentive
companies, companies that just feed rewards programs,
point programs. You have companies that focus
on hospitality, for room drops, for trips. You
have other companies that just focus on suites
and gifting. And they're all different. And then
not to mention the online gifting platforms.
Then you have MOQs of one and it's literally
alphabet soup out there. there's opportunity
in all of them. So even when we talk about jumping
into the promo product industry, sometimes it's
not that thick as layer. Like that slap a logo
on it and go is not always the best first step.
Testing your product and building, figuring out
all the, you know, taking orders in, shipping
it out, all that fun stuff. You want to start
small. And there are other segments, you know,
thinner layers of that cake. to start to really
understand what your company can do. When we
talk about suppliers, I think even before we
jump into that, we also need to look at where's
the best place to start. It might not be that
customization, it might not be that thickest
layer. That's all good stuff, but today we're
focusing on the overall structure. I want to
bring it back to the structure of the industry
related to suppliers. What are the types of suppliers
that are out there? You touched on some of them.
Traditional suppliers that supply products and
decorate them. Think your HPG, PCNA, Gemline,
the big companies hit promotional products. Those
folks that have a variety of thousands of products
to Adrian's awesome stat. There's over a million
products in the industry, right? And to support
Kim's thought process. How do we layer that cake
to deliver all of those products effectively
on time and imprinted correctly? And we will
have other segments on that. But today, we really
want to just give our audience this overview
of how the industry functions. So we have those
traditional suppliers. Then we have wholesalers
like Sanmar, S &S Activewear, even on a smaller
scale, Charles River Apparel, Vantage. They ship
blanks. And those blanks are decorated by contract
decorators. Now, lines are blurring. You know,
some suppliers like that sell blanks and decorated
merch. We also have retail brands that are functioning
in the industry that might sell through another
supplier or sell on their own and decorate on
their own or have their blank sent to a contract
decorator. Incentive companies that you both
so mentioned beautifully. How do they fit in?
And then print on demand, Kim, that you also
mentioned. So just really on a high level overview.
And that's not all of them. I'm sure I'm missing
some. And if our audience has any insight to
what we don't have on our list, please put it
in the chat. Contact us. We'd love to hear. So
whereas in the beginning, there might have only
been wholesalers and contract decorators and
companies that actually hyper -focused on products
like Hub Pen for pens, Gemline originally for
bags, Leeds used to do mostly portfolios, and
now look at where they are today. So that's one
aspect of the industry as our suppliers. I'm
going to switch our grain space. to types of
distributors. And Adrienne, I know this is an
area where you really excel. I'm just going to
say the list up front and then we can add some
context and then re -mention it at the end. So
types of distributors that sell to end user customers.
Originally used to be a traditional distributor.
It might be a one single person office. They
might have multiple salespeople, but basically
they bought products from suppliers that they
sold to their end user customers and build them.
That has evolved into national organizations
like Geiger, Kaiser and Blair, Halo to name a
few. Franchise companies like Proforma and Fully
Promoted. buying groups like Premier, Reciprocity
Road. Again, I'm only naming a few here. E -commerce
companies like, of course, 4imprint, Anypromo,
iPromo, Epromos, big list there. And gifting
and sending platforms, which are really just
coming into the scene since COVID, people like
ReachDesk and Sendoso. and also folks in the
industry like Corporate Gift who do both. So
there's a lot of ingredients in those layers
of the cake. So Kim, I'll start with you this
time. What are your thoughts on that? On the
distributors, I mean, it's, God, I have so many
thoughts and I'm trying to focus. I know it's
a lot. In what area? You know, I do think that
The distributor world, as you mentioned, is is
blurry, right? I mean, there are that traditional
go only go to one or, you know, like your halos.
Their focus is also evolving, right? So they
are now not only putting your logo and looking
at your traditional, but they're looking at how
are they able to work with those gifting platforms?
I think, you know, they're also looking at How
can they enhance what they're already doing to
take advantage of some of those trends? I think
there's confusion out there and I know I certainly
have it. What is the difference between a national
and a franchise and a buying group? How do I
know? I just know the orders coming in from XYZ
distributor. Does my pricing need to change in
that? What is that? do I need to be concerned
as the supplier, right? Whether you are person
entering, if they're a national, if they're a
franchise, if they're gifting, does it really
matter to me or is that more, you know, more
of interest to the end user, right? So I think
those... Great point. I think it's very important
to any new supplier to understand the differences
between those types of distributors and That's
what we in the promo playbook help you with to
sort of identify who's a good target within that
conversation because they all require different
levels of support and pricing that Kim's mentioning
and how do we support those distributor types
and just a little stat. There's over 13 ,000
distributor companies in the industry with over
55 ,000 individual sales reps. So as a supplier,
sort of get your head around those numbers. And
depending on where you're at in the development
of your company, what is your bandwidth to service
the different types of distributors that are
out there? So Adrienne, comments to add to Kim's
insights? Yes. Yes. First of all, I want to say
that, you know, if you're coming into the industry,
you should not think that you're going to sell
to every distributor because not every distributor
is going to be perfect for you. I think if it
was me, I was coming into the industry and I
had a product, I would consider all of the niche
niches that that product could be sold to. Right.
So if it was a book bag, maybe I would have colleges
and universities. And so I would kind of create
that in my mind and then I would go to the distributors
that actually are selling to those niche markets.
So if I had a product that would be an amazing
NASCAR, then maybe I would go and focus on that.
So there are distributors that focus on, you
know, different verticals. I think that's important
to know. Also, if I had an eco product, then
I want to focus on distributors that are eco
known for their eco and sustainability. So I
love that you brought up the online first distributors.
I think that's important. Um, we did kind of
not really, did we really mention this? I just
want to make sure those distributors that are
full service years ago will be the distributor
would say, you know, I'm a distributor, but I
also act as an ad agency, right? So, you know,
what's really the difference between us and ad
agency, except that we understand logo and branded
merchandise more than they do. So there are these,
uh, full service that provides. Excellent. Excellent.
Thank you for the list agencies. Yes, so they
provide strategy, the kidding, the fulfillment,
the corporate programs. They're doing the whole
thing. Another new distributor out there that's
interesting is Snappy. or mailbox power, where
that distribution is often like an automated
solution of setting up a campaign. I want to
get in the door of this large insurance company
in my community. I want to set up a campaign
where every month they're getting something from
me. We used to do it ourselves, right? I want
to shoe stress reliever so I can send a mailing
and put my foot in your door. So those are really
important. And then we have the boutique or creative
agencies. They focus on the full custom campaigns,
the high design packaging of the, the experience
based gifting. Like that's what they do. You
mentioned the franchise or buying groups. So
no, I think that is really good. I think if I
was a supplier, I'd want to kind of hit the independent
distributor. I would look at, is there room for
me in the big box distributors and would the
niche distributors work better for me? That is
my thoughts. Okay, great. So That is all really
amazing insight. And I think what I pull out
of that for our listeners is, do your research,
understand the profile of the distributor that
you're targeting. We can help you with that.
And know your customer. Help your distributor.
figure out if it's a niche that they're targeting,
how can you play in that space with them? So
just to review the types of distributors that
you can potentially sell to. And, you know, don't
get overwhelmed. It's like drinking from a fire
hose. Traditional distributors at all levels
of sales, national organizations, franchise companies,
buying groups, e -commerce players. gifting and
sending platforms, and I'm adding ad and creative
agencies, print companies, which we didn't really
touch on, and contract decorators are also often
distributors. So just to recap, that's the list
of the types of distributors that you could potentially
be selling to. So we're going to move on a little
bit to sort of the idea of software. and the
evolution of technology. And this is kind of
a mixed bag too. I'm not sure I have the right
label on it, but we have things in the industry.
as we said, gifting and sending platforms that
offer automated gifting solutions. We have print
on demand suppliers and distributors that are
now one or the other or doing both. Many different
ways print on demand folks are going to market
in and outside of promo. Some of those folks
aren't even in promo as official suppliers or
distributors. So we need to be aware of that,
that that's a really big trend that's affecting
our industry right now. And then software providers.
We have people like Order My Gear, Chipley. Adrian
mentions that Snappy Store is powered by Cover
.io, which is an AI -driven solution. So we have
software. And then I'm going to tag onto that
search engines. So if you're going to go the
more traditional route, you have to review search
engines that are available to you as a distributor,
as a, I'm sorry, as a supplier, ASI, Sage, Distributor
Central. Common SKU is a search engine of sorts.
So, you know, navigating this layered, layered,
layered, beautiful, delicious cake that you want
a big slice of. can be complicated. So I'll turn
this over to Kim for a hot minute. On any of
these topics, platforms, print -on -demand software,
and search engines, take one of those and give
us a couple brain nuggets. Yeah. Well, I'm wrapping
it all into technology. I think that technology
has evolved so much in the past five years in
the industry. that we're also trying to figure
out how to play. But I think that you have so
many self -service, I shouldn't say so many,
you have more and more self -service that are
taking away the role of the distributor. So as
a supplier, the challenge is how do you leverage
both? You don't want to kill or cut off your
distributor. I mean, that's how you're making
money. But at the same time, there is a market
to be able to, if you can do it, because that's
a whole other backend discussion for another
podcast. But if you can work with these online
platforms like a Snappy, which is perfect example,
right? With a company like a Snappy, you can
do blank product. If you're a retail brand, it
could be your fun fashion, out it goes. You're
doing drop ship. but they also do the big bulk
corporate put, you know, put a logo on it, right?
So being able to understand A, that there are
things, that there are platforms like a Snappy
that exist, understanding that you can leverage
not only, you can leverage sometimes a broader
product line with those that are leveraging blank,
but then they're also blending over into that
mass bulk customization market, which is really
the sweet spot of your distributor, again, it
gets blurred. But I think there's a lot of opportunity
in the technology with a reach desk, with a snappy,
with an order my gear that focuses so much on
company stores. I went down a rabbit hole going
through the layers earlier. That's just another
layer where the technology is playing that your
traditional distributor didn't always play in
that space. That was a fabulous, you know, synopsis.
And I do want to just spin out the snappy thing
now powered by company stores, now AI powered
by cover. That's something to watch for our audience.
That's really cool. And others are doing it.
But that's the next evolution regarding technology
is AI -driven population of our stores, catalogs,
things like that. But we don't want to make anyone's
head hurt today thinking too much about that.
But that's a great teaser, Kim, that that technology
is where it's at. Adrian, any? frosting to put
on that discussion? Yes. Yes. It's funny. So,
you know, I do some work with splash brands and
splash brands is unique as a company store because
they actually bring in over a thousand merchandise.
They have all the decorations in house. So literally
they could pull a javelina pen and print it one
for you. Right. But I noticed that a lot of distributors
think to themselves, well, we have a company
store. program, but they don't really understand
the difference between software as a service.
And so maybe you have the software, but you're
pulling it from other people and doing something
unique. Overall, this just, again, makes me realize
how much knowledge and how much research you
have to have, which never is going to stop. So
if you're going into this industry, whether you're
a distributor looking at suppliers or suppliers
looking at distributor, your number one, let's
just put the elephant in the room, is money.
And what's your credit like? Because if you're
a supplier and you're thinking you're gonna sell
to like the halos of the world, you have to be
able to hold an invoice for about 45 days, right?
So like when I think about right away, I think,
okay, you really need to match yourself with
the correct supplier and what that looks like.
And a lot of times that is looking at the software.
And for those of you that are not using our field,
like a Sage or an ASI, you know, promo mall,
any of the ones that are being offered by the
industry, is too expensive. I think it's actually
probably more of a money dump by using an outside
program and trying to have it work in because
software is a solution for a distributor is really,
it's very expensive. You have to have everything.
And a lot of the distributors don't even have
the software, right? They're not even having
a CRM program. So as a supplier, you have to
really have it all. And so the distributor could
get away with being cheap. The supplier cannot
get away with being cheap. So let me just double
check my notes. Those are important because at
the end of the day, it is on the whipped cream
that the money. Great. So awesome insight. You
always bring in that financial accountability
piece, which I love. Be a lifelong learner. I'm
taking that away from your comments, Adrian.
You know, I think the three of us will have a
segment specifically on credit in terms and financial
fitness for entering the industry as a supplier.
All amazing points, Adrian, and I'm so glad you
brought those up. Related to software, there's
also promo standards, which floats around in
the background of the industry, which Not everybody
can take advantage of that. Not everybody has
the finances as a supplier to be on promo standards.
So, you know, all of these things are complex
layered and worth spending the time to learn
about it. Educate yourself. Reach out to us.
We can help. Just as a quick thought around blurred
lines of suppliers and distributors. That is
happening more and more in the industry. And
some of those folks, Discount Mugs and Bell Promo,
they've been around for years doing this. Now,
at one point, Bell Promo was ostracized because
they were affiliated with Discount Mugs. Now,
Bell Promo has reinvented itself as a trusted
supplier. Trust is key. If you want to build
a supplier company in the industry, you have
to be dependable, trustworthy, show up, deliver
all the specific things that a distributor needs
to place an order with you. Splash Friends, you
already brought up Adrian, great example of a
combined supplier, distributor, decorator. She
does it all, right? And software, she does it
all. She's my hero. She's really nailed the whole,
you know, full picture of how to bring all the
ingredients in the industry into a profitable
business. So congratulations to slash brands.
And, you know, as the print on demand space develops,
buckle up promo, you know, this is really going
to have to revolutionize the way we go to market.
So that was really the focus of today was to
help our listeners who are new to the industry
understand how it works. So just to go back to
a quick high level overview, we have suppliers
who sell products to distributors, distributors
sell products to end users. In between there
are all different types of distributors, all
different types of suppliers. sprinkle in some
software, and there you have your ingredients
for being successful in the industry. Any last
thoughts, Kim and Adrienne, that you'd like to
add to the structure of the industry that I might
be missing? I'm just going to say this was a
great episode, amazing, and I put my shoes into
being a supplier and I would love to listen to
this and even as a distributor. So kudos to Kim
and Lisa. Yeah, I now need to go out and buy
a really big layered chocolate cake for the discussion
Yeah, good good stuff, you know and and we I
we are the experts audience like between the
three of us We've lived all of it. We're lifelong
learners. We're on the cutting edge of what's
happening So you have questions you want to chat
give one of us a call shoot us an email. We're
available We look forward to helping you be successful
and build your own cake in the promo industry.
We'll see you on the next episode. Adrian. One
last thing. Everyone that we mentioned will be
in the show notes. If you're listening, don't
worry about taking notes. I should have told
you in the beginning, but you can look at the
show notes for more of everyone that we mentioned.
Thank you. Yeah. We shared a lot of names that
you can research and that'll give you an even
clearer picture or maybe murkier picture, I don't
know, of how the industry's structured because
it is changing daily. Exciting stuff though.
Getting in on the ground floor now and riding
this wave, wow, what a thrill. It's really going
to be an amazing next five to 10 years. So see
you on the next podcast. Thanks for tuning into
the promo playbook. If you found value in today's
episode, be sure to subscribe and leave us a
review. Got a topic you'd love us to cover? Connect
with us on LinkedIn. We want to hear from you.
Until next time, stay smart, stay strategic,
and keep growing your supplier's success.