Above photo: Bellantone, far right, was joined on stage by, from left, Sharon Byers, chief development, marketing and communications officer, American Cancer Society; Andrea Cherng, chief marketing officer, Panda Express; Megan Robles, senior marketing manager, KeVita (PepsiCo); Jason Eano, managing director, The Annex – Havas; and Joan Bluestone Landorf, executive vice president and partner at distributor Axis Promotions, for a strategic discussion on experiential branding and how ideation, inspiration and innovation inform the brand experience and create unmatched consumer loyalty and even love.

On September 24, PPAI President and CEO Paul Bellantone, CAE, moderated a brand masters panel discussion, Experiential Branding: How To Ignite Consumer Love, on the Ad Shapers Stage at AMC Lincoln Square in New York City as part of the annual Advertising Week. PPAI has a long-time association with the week-long event which draws marketing, advertising, technology and brand professionals from across the globe for seminars and workshops featuring some of the brightest minds in the business.

Photo, left: The panelists shared the stories of their organizations' work with experiential marketing. Byers spoke on the American Cancer Society's partnership with the NFL, Cherng on how her company brought the Lunar New Year to customers who may not have been familiar with the holiday, Robles on the probiotic drink company's "Drink In Culture" brand campaign, Eano (pictured left), on his group's work with Havas to bring nontraditional together with traditional marketers and finding ways to develop solution-oriented cultural programming, and Landorf on how her company, as a promotional products distributor, works with end users like those on the panel to extend the consumer experience.

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 In September, employees from Glenwood, Minnesota-based American Solutions For Business and their families volunteered for an afternoon of ditch cleanup for Adopt A Highway. Justin Zavadil, ASB president and cleanup volunteer, says, "We have participated in Adopt A Highway since 2011. We take pride in our community and share a responsibility to keep it clean and safe."

Phone, left: Volunteers were split into small teams and assigned a stretch of highway. Each person was provided a hi-visibility vest and gloves for safety, and a garbage bag before driving out to their dedicated area. When they were finished, the group celebrated with a pizza party back at the office.

 

 

 

 

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PPAI’s business development staff members were on the road this fall connecting with industry companies and professionals to learn more about them, their outlook on the industry and how the Association can best meet their needs. In October, Melissa Massey, major account manager-West, traveled to California to meet with members in the Los Angeles area, while Business Development Account Manager Connie Brazil hit the road to visit industry suppliers in Chicago, Illinois, and the surrounding area.

Photo left: At Minya International, Massey met with Helen Huang, the Fullerton supplier’s president, and Charles Huang, its vice president of sales and marketing. Founded in 1981 with an original focus on the retail market, it has operated in the promotional product space since the early 1990s.

 

 

  
Above, first photo from left: One of Massey’s first visits in California was with Pranav Dalal, founder and
chief disruption officer for business services outsourcing company Office Beacon in Manhattan Beach,
which has been in business since 2001. Above, second photo from left: The staff at Woodridge, Illinois-
based Orbus Exhibit & Display Group, including Natalie Whited and Kelly Yuen, shared with Brazil the
supplier’s commitment to recycling 90 percent of its waste and its annual university where distributors are
invited to the company’s facility to learn. Above, third photo from left: Replogle Globes has been in business
since 1930, and Dell Torgerson, Joseph Wright and Clayton Chang shared the company’s story with Brazil
during her visit there.

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James Khattak is news editor of PPB.