PPAI is officially launching its industry branding initiative, the #GetInTouch campaign, on September 26 in conjunction with the 2016 Advertising Week in New York City. The Association originally introduced the campaign at the 2016 PPAI Expo as the Industry Branding Initiative (IBI).

The #GetInTouch campaign targets advertising buyers with a five-year, multi-million-dollar branding initiative designed to increase awareness and improve the overall perception of the promotional products industry while communicating the importance of the promotional consultant, resulting in a larger share of advertising dollars for the promotional products industry.

“This PPAI initiative is extraordinarily important to the promotional products industry because for too long we have been an afterthought for many advertisers—a medium not recognized for its value and strengths,” says PPAI President and CEO Paul Bellantone, CAE. “Within the industry we may know the power of promotional products, but it’s high time the rest of the world recognize the advertising power of promotional products and their place in successful advertising campaigns. As other advertising media struggle to remain relevant, promotional products are perfectly positioned to grow in an increasingly digital world.”

Alongside its message about the power of promotional products and the importance of the promotional consultant, the #GetInTouch campaign highlights unique aspects of promotional products as an advertising medium: they are advertising that live on; they are tangible representations of a brand; they create excitement, surprise and delight; they impact buying decisions and have staying power; they become part of everyday life; and promotional products are the only advertising medium for which the customer says thank you.

“For years PPAI has worked on advocating the industry, but never with a multi-year strategic campaign at this level,” says Tom Goos, MAS, PPAI Board chair. “Industry promotion has always been bootstrapped with little budget or resources to truly make an impact. With the passing of the Industry Branding Initiative, the board said we want this to be a primary focus and we should put funding and a strategic plan behind it. The board recognizes that we are positioned well to capitalize on the changes in marketing and growth of the digital world.”

Originally introduced at the 2014 PPAI Chairman’s Roundtable Work Group, the #GetInTouch campaign represents more than a year’s work by numerous PPAI staff and industry volunteers, including the PPAI Board of Directors, the PPAI IBI Advisory Group and the PPAI Public Relations Committee. The Association has partnered with Oklahoma City, Oklahoma-based public relations and branding firm SAXUM to develop the campaign, which has been designed to reach and influence advertising buyers from Fortune 500 companies to smaller, more local advertisers.

The campaign’s paid, earned, shared and owned (PESO) strategy will include major media buys in publications like Advertising Age, digital strategies and possibly an industry spokesperson. The #GetInTouch campaign will also include member kits available for download and customization. These kits will include print advertisements with several versions of copy along with various digital elements that members will be able to immediately incorporate into their own marketing efforts.

Complementing the launch of the initiative, PPAI is introducing a newly redesigned PromotionalProductsWork.org. This website, targeted at advertising buyers, tells a two-part story about the power of promotional products and the importance of using a promotional consultant.

Industry members can get involved in the #GetInTouch campaign by providing case studies, a key component of the initiative. For more information or to provide a case study, contact PPAI Public Relations Manager Kim Todora at kimt@ppai.org.