PPAI’s Pyramid Award program has celebrated the talents and accomplishments of the industry’s companies and professionals for more than 60 years. First introduced in 1958, the award program recognizes promotional products businesses and helps shine the spotlight on the collaborative business model unique to the industry. PPB Newslink is highlighting some of the winners among the 2020 Pyramid Award’s extensive Client and Marketing Program categories.

Distributor Team Iowa, an iPROMOTEu affiliate, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has received two Gold Awards in the Diversity, Social Responsibility or Multicultural Programs and Educational Programs categories for a campaign helping its client, the University of Iowa Health Care STEMS program, increase K-to-12 student engagement, with a focus on girls, minorities and students from rural areas of Iowa, and to find promotional items that would be relevant to STEM programs and labs.

Team Iowa strategically selected products that represent science, technology, engineering and math for use during registration/check-in, lectures, tours and labs that are part of the University of Iowa Health Care STEM programs, while targeting the specific age demographic. Selected items featured a specially selected logo that was featured throughout the event, beginning with registration where participants received a cinch bag containing a folder with program information and a lanyard. The stand-out item was a Rubiks Cube that featured unique branding; a product that was recommended because it encourages problem-solving and critical thinking, which are two fundamental skills sought after in STEM professionals. A custom calendar was also created by the college print division and given to professors, schools and legislators.

Overall, the program saw an increase of 4,000 students, engaging a total of 20,261 students in 159 STEM programs, a nine-percent increase over the previous year with 73 percent of attendees being female.

Visit www.promotionalproductswork.org to see more case studies or www.ppai.org/Awards to learn more about the Pyramid Competition. All category entry periods are now open and there are no fees for submissions or return costs for the 2021 competition. The deadline to enter has been extended to June 12.