The Promotional Products Association of Florida (PPAF) is introducing something new at its PPAF Expo this year, the Brandy Awards. The Brandy Awards are a competition showcasing the creative and sales excellence of promotional product distributors and suppliers in Florida, and are sponsored by Florida-based supplier Koozie Group.

“Recognizing what powerful and impactful things have been done in the past, allows us to understand what can be done in the future,” says Jenny Taylor, PPAF executive director.

There are three award categories in the Brandy Awards—Best in Class, Best Self Promotion and Social Good, which are all focused on the use of branded promotional products to increase brand awareness or increase sales. Best in Class looks at a past case study, before COVID and PPE, where companies were able to be more creative and developed a solid marketing campaign for their client. Best Self Promotion showcases how a distributor used a specific product to help sell their own brand. The Social Good award highlights something that benefits the larger society and how a company used promotional marketing to bring awareness. Distributors can apply for all three awards and suppliers who have a representative based in Florida can submit an entry for the Best-in-Class Award and the Social Good Award.

Submissions will be accepted June 8-30. The judging process will take place in July. Finalists will be announced in late July and winners will be declared during the PPAF Expo, to be held August 26-27 in Orlando, Florida. The Brandy Award Ceremony will kick off events on August 27.