Through May 7, PPAI is accepting submissions to its annual Pyramid Awards. The awards honor creative excellence in the promotional products industry and recognize dependable suppliers, outstanding promotions, creative campaigns and exceptional craftsmanship by its members. To highlight and learn from 2021 Pyramid Award winners, PPB Newslink has been running a series on what it means to secure a PPAI Pyramid win. This installment features Dallas, Texas, supplier Opti Print & Fulfillment and its Gold Award in the Special Applications category for its submission, “Jonas Brothers’ 3D Concert Experience.”

Opti Print & Fulfillment’s submission combined layers of images to create a unique LP cover for a limited vinyl record pressing. It was printed on a 3D lens with an 11-color UV press and then adhesive was applied to the back with a release liner for placement on the album cover. Asked why they chose this submission for the Pyramid Awards, President and Owner Brad Bartlett says, “We look for compelling results. Did the project move the needle? Did it accomplish the client’s goals and objectives? Does it truly stand out as being unique and special? If when you show it to others outside your building are they amazed?”

This was not Bartlett’s first experience with the Pyramid Awards. “We have been entering the competition way before it was ever named PPAI Pyramid Competition, now for over 30 years,” says Bartlett. “The Pyramids truly are the Oscars of the promotional industry. It is the pinnacle of achievement as a supplier in our industry. If you are thinking about submitting, chose your very best work, create a compelling story on why your entry is the very best and spend time making your entry worthy of the highest standard in the industry.”

A Pyramid Award win can cement a company’s status in the industry. Bartlett says, “Our position in the marketplace is very simple. Optigraphics is the best specialty print supplier in the world. The question becomes how do you back that up? How do you prove you are the best? Others may say this, how do you back it up? Easy answer: who has won more Pyramids than any other supplier in the industry over the last five years? Optigraphics. We use social media, LinkedIn and every other media outlet we can find to get the message out, even including all of our correspondence such as email, letters, press releases, product fact sheets, etc. It is job one."

For more information and to submit entries to the 2022 PPAI Pyramid Awards, go to www.ppai.org/pyramid. For assistance or additional questions, email awards@ppai.org.