Category: Uncategorized

Goldstar Gets Smartt with Merchandising

Goldstar has appointed Heather Smartt as its new global director of merchandising with a remit to advance the company’s commitment to manufacturing alternatives, expanding product categories, and enhancing global product design.

Smartt has most recently been global director, product development at National Pen, based in Portugal.

She has 17 years of experience in the promotional products industry bridging the North American and European markets, and has worked at Polyconcept in various locations worldwide.

Smartt said she hoped to leverage her international experience to create products that meet the needs of customers while and aligning with a commitment to sustainability.

Under her leadership, the company will unveil a groundbreaking four-piece Coastal Threads bag collection designed in Europe, and crafted with Repreve, Goldstar’s recycled ocean plastic.

Together with our talented team, we will help expand how the world perceives promotional products,” she said.

Smartt has earned industry recognition, including being featured on ASI’s Counselor Hot List for her innovative product designs.

 

Textiles are top of the list for PSI buyers

The PSI trade fair is strengthening its position in the textile segment at its upcoming event in January following feedback from the industry.

More top textile makers will be among the PSI exhibitors, with more dedicated lectures on merchandise and promotional textiles in the PSI Forum and specialised formats such as the Textile Village.

The last PSI 2023 survey made it clear how important textiles are as an area in the promotional products industry, with 60% of visitors saying they were particularly interested in advertising and promotional textiles.

PSI’s Textile Village exhibition space in Hall 10 is already fully booked for the show on 9-11 January 2024.

Meanwhile, the PSI Forum has confirmed lectures from textile experts such as Martin Schittko (head of merchandising, Eintracht Frankfurt), Karsten Bleymehl (CEO circular materials GmbH and head of sales DACH, Pure Waste) and Anouschka Jansen (director sustainability solutions QIMA).

With our textile offerings, we want to give the industry orientation, network them across segments and invite them to exchange expertise,” said PSI director Petra Lassahn. “We are pleased that we can realise the Textile Village 2024 concept with our exhibitors and that together we can give our visitors valuable inspiration in the areas of textile advertising materials, corporate fashion and workwear in these challenging times.

PSI will reveal the results of its latest polling of the international promotional products industry at the 2024 show.

Research for the PSI industry barometer was focused on areas such as how has the global promotional products industry has changed; the impact of the pandemic on supply chains, and shifts in demand on the industry.

Industry experts from promotional products consultants, retailers and manufacturers as well as advertising and full-service agencies, service providers, exporters, importers and textile finishers took part in the online panel. 

As one of the most comprehensive market studies in the European promotional products industry, the PSI industry barometer provides a detailed picture of the mood and provides information about current trends and developments.

More information about PSI is at psi-messe.com.

 

 

 

Upcycled denims cut waste claims Kingly

Kingly has introduced a collection of upcycled denim products, including aprons, bags, hats, earrings, and tablecloths.

The textile specialist has introduced the products in part to counteract the negative environmental effect of denim production

According to a Kingly report, these include high water and chemical usage, substantial energy consumption and emissions, and waste generation.

Studies by Kingly claim that its upcycling products save 95% of water, 50% energy, and use much less chemicals.

Each upcycled piece is crafted from discarded denim into functional brandable items, impregnated with Polygiene Stays Fresh Technology for an even greater sustainability impact. This allows garments to stay fresh and odour-free, so they can be washed less frequently.

Upcycled denim can be branded by embroidery and DTG printing with GOTS-certified sustainable inks. The texture of denim provides a sturdy canvas for intricate embroidery work.

DTG printing can be used to cover a significant portion of the item with a colourful or intricate design. This method can be used for more intricate or colourful designs on the crown or brim of denim hats. It allows for detailed graphics and gradients that may be challenging with traditional embroidery.

 

Investment cuts lead times for EML

Eat My Logo has undertaken a range of investments to enhance its production capabilities and deliver high quality edible products to its customers.

The Lancashire baked goods specialist has made significant investments in new manufacturing equipment to meet demand over the last 18 months.

A new state-of-the-art flow wrap machine has expanded packaging capabilities enabling EML to efficiently package a variety of products, ensuring their freshness and protecting them during transportation.

A further two printers help cover the demand for edible printed toppers. The printers utilise cutting-edge technology to bring custom designs to life while ensuring exceptional print quality and accuracy.

Meanwhile, a new biscuit machine can produce products at a much faster rate, doubling production capacity and cutting the lead times on biscuit orders.

The company’s latest offering for Christmas is a Christmas jumper shaped biscuit, which also comes in a decoration pack with icing tunes, sprinkles and a branded topper.

 

Adidas gets onside with The Outdoors Company

The Outdoors Company has added sports brand Adidas to its impressive portfolio of brands, bringing sought after corporate pieces to the B2B market for the UK and Europe.

Corporate partners will be able to access a broad range of core styles covering jackets, polos, T-shirts, hoodies, and bags all with good stocks and bright colours. All styles are available for personalisation.

Adidas joins other The Outdoors Company partner premium brands including Columbia, Finisterre, Patagonia, Rab, and The North Face providing promotional merchandise, gifts and corporate wear solutions.

Paul Morley-Smith, company director at The Outdoors Company said: “We are really pleased to announce our new partnership with Adidas – it really strengthens the sports brands we offer. They are a global brand, with a great range available to co-brand, so they are a perfect fit for our brand portfolio.”

 

Leather products at low MOQ

The Leather Business has announced that it can offer as few as 25 units Pantone matched so that even smaller orders can make an impact. 

Selected leathers can be Pantone matched and are also sustainable as they are tanned in an LWG Gold Rated Tannery with fully REACH compliant chemicals and with hides from fully traceable animals.

MD John Thorp said the offering had received a great response from gift houses targeting the professional legal, financial and investment clients with products such as quality folders, technical organisers and tablet cases.

“This offers huge opportunities to many companies where they can make high quality products to reflect and strengthen their corporate ID,” he said.

 

 

Big awards for show exhibitors

Promotional suppliers were recognised for their exhibition efforts at recent trade shows.

CHX Products and BIC Graphic Europe won awards for the best promo stand at the autumn Manchester and Heathrow editions of the BIG New Products Trade Show.

Max Rutland of CHX picked up the award for the company’s 4WD model that it used to demonstrate its new Eco Moto range, which was also on show at Merchandise World. Ian Barham of BIC also received the trophy.

The most innovative promo product autumn award went to Sam Brooks-Birkett and Mark Zurek from Castelli Diaries for its new Oritsei notebook from the Appeel Eco notebook collection.

Show organiser Gerry Thomas presented the best wearables stand award to Ashford Blake and Donna Powell from Beechfield Brands and the most innovative wearables product autumn award to Ian Hewlett and Ian Wilson from United Brands of Scandinavia for their Cottover sustainable collection. 

Showcasing many of the industry’s leading companies, the autumn editions featured more than 70 of the top suppliers of promotional merchandise, wearables and services from the UK, Ireland and Europe.

New exhibitors such as Beechfield Brands, BTC activewear, Screenworks, Exceptio, Neutral, Fast Fit Promo, Oldeani, Impression Europe and Bella+Canvas joined existing ones including PF Concept, United Brands, XD Connects, midocean, Laltex Promo, Preseli, DTB, Stormtech, Fruit of the Loom, Russell Europe, Regatta, Senator Pens, Hainenko, Bagco, Crystal Galleries, Pencom, Adpads, Eurocap and Bizz Badge.

 

Small packs a punch from Prodir

Prodir has launched a new passport-sized notebook to pair with its innovative Mini pen.

The MM01 Small notebook is elegant and compact, measuring just 90 mm by 140 mm so that it fits easily in a bag or in the hand.

It features covers in environmentally friendly Fedrigoni Materica paper (250 g/m2), exposed singer stitching, and 72 blank inner pages.

The DS6 S twist ball point pen is 24.4mm shorter than comparable models but boasts a full-sized Prodir Floating Ball lead free refill to guarantee a long writing life, and its casing is made from an innovative recyclate whose manufacture generates 40% less CO2 emissions than standard ABS.

Both products offer brands a range of standard and optional customisations, including bold colours and brand logo placements.

 

Onwards and Upwards

BPMA chairman Angela Wagstaff passes the baton to Haydn Willetts this month. Product Media spoke to them both

The highs and lows of chairman Angela

After three years as chair of the BPMA, Angela Wagstaff is handing over the reins to Haydn Willetts following her time in charge that she describes as having its many highs and lows.

One of the ‘highs’ was being introduced to a packed Merchandise World gala dinner by charismatic 6 foot 10 former rugby international Martin Bayfield. However, one of the lows was definitely the previous awards ceremony which didn’t go quite as well.
“I was quite nervous and bit down on my tooth just as I got on stage, shattering my tooth and leaving me with a mouthful of fragments and the inability to remember anything,” she laughs.
It’s possibly one of the few times she’s been lost for words as chair after joining the BPMA board intent on making a difference and giving back time to an industry that has supported Angela and her business Allwag Promotions over the years.
“If you want to change things, then you have to get involved, so I joined the board and fairly quickly,be it by default, volunteered to be vice chair because nobody could step into the breach,” she says.
Her passion was, and remains, education and training, and she helped set up the BPMA education programme. She was also heavily involved in setting up the first BPMA show at Silverstone, which would eventually become Merchandise World when the association teamed up with Sourcing City.
“It proved a real launchpad to bring the industry together,” she said. “The Board wanted to put on a show for its members by its members but we didn’t realise just how much work goes into it.”
That was solved by the joint venture with Sourcing City, which has created the industry’s main meeting place, and one that came back in its September slot this summer after an 18-month enforced absence.
The pandemic has been the biggest challenge the industry has faced over that time, which coincided with bringing CEO Carey Trevill on board in the early part of last year.
“We needed to reshape what we were doing as a trade association and Carey’s experience with other trade bodies, and her extensive advertising background mean that she was the perfect candidate,” says Angela.
They only managed one strategy meeting that wasn’t COVID-related before it became apparent that the areas that Angela had prioritised for her chairmanship, such as sustainability, the next generation, end user engagement and research were going to suffer.
Angela describes her CEO as “an absolute star” in how she helped steer the association through the pandemic, keeping the association on track and helming weekly webinars to keep the embattled sector up to date atatime when many were both uncertain and unaware of legislative changes and the impact of COVID.
“During the pandemic, the BPMA showed how strong we are as a trade association and as an industry. It wasn’t the 18 months that I’d planned certainly,” she says. “I do think we earned our stripes and provided a supportive service to our members. We engaged with far more people than we’ve ever engaged with and our reach was far greater.”
A big disrupter has been Brexit, although it has almost been overshadowed by the pandemic as a challenge, Angela says. However, in the longer term it will have a bigger impact on the economy and the industry.
As it was, Brexit and the pandemic squeezed some of the initiatives that she thinks the industry has to address, such as making room for new blood. She was conscious that the industry risked ageing if it didn’t appeal and engage with younger people.
The result was Next Gen, a group that brought together younger voices with the idea that they could be mentored as they found their feet in the industry and be represented on the Board. Because of the past year that hasn’t quite happened but it remains something she thinks is important.
Sustainability is also a key area that Wagstaff has been passionate about and one that she will continue to focus on as she steps down as chair into the President’s role. While many suppliers are progressive, she says there is still a huge mountain to climb to rid the industry of its reputation for throwaway products, mainly by educating its buyers throughout the supply chain.
As Angela reflects on the many highs and lows, she says: “I’ve been privileged to work with a fantastic Board and have enjoyed the last three years despite the challenges faced. I look forward to supporting Haydn and wish him every success.”

Communication and Education

Haydn Willetts, the regional director of Midocean for UK and Ireland steps up to the chair of the BPMA at what he calls “a really pivotal moment for our industry”.
“With all the complexity of post Brexit delivery, compliancy transparency in the marketplace, supply chain challenges regarding courier delivery accuracy along with stock and raw material availability and pricing combined with heavy increases in demand as a result of the bounce back we are witnessing, the months ahead have the potential to offer a bumpy ride for all involved in the supply chain,” he says.

Compliance and sustainability are huge issues for suppliers. The DNA of a product must be demonstrated as meeting the required criteria. This translates to continual improvement of working conditions not only in the UK and EU production sites but with more challenging global supply partners.
“The final customer will insist on this type of conformity of product and people compliance. The ongoing challenge of carbon footprint, sustainability and the eco angle of product supply is going to become ever more important,” he says.
Many suppliers, including Midocean, re working to be more transparent with testing reports for both product and suppliers, he says. “End customers are demanding instant gratification to their requests.
Companies who do not embrace this requirement along with information on product stock availability, print capability, and performance potentially could leave themselves vulnerable in the supply chain to certain customers.”
The BPMA can help explain sustainability and what that really means, as well as educating staff of both suppliers and distributors. The relaunched education programme will ensure that new blood coming into the trade has a high level of professionalism.
After a tough 18 months for everybody in the business, Willetts is positive about the future. “This year has been really strong with order books coming back in a really dramatic fashion and talking to industry colleagues on both the supplier and distributor sides of the fence, this seems to be the case for large chunks of the trade.”
The challenge for many is to ramp back up, both in terms of staff and stock. Product availability changes rapidly from quotation to the placing of an order. It means communication is more important than ever to ensure that customers are aware about dynamic changes in the order cycle.
Change is also coming as furlough and government support comes to an end. It’s something of an unknown he admits but says the industry should continue to drive home the value in the marketing mix of promotional merchandise.
“The BPMA will continue to educate and reinforce the importance that merchandise should and can play in a company’s engagement to be a more important part of the overall marketing mix rather than a last-minute consideration.”
Again, it comes back to education, he says. Often a distributor is reliant on a junior member of staff within the end customer relaying a complex message on issues like compliance and sustainability to their boss.
When it comes to his approach to the chairmanship, Willets says he hopes to carry on where his predecessor left off, providing an element of stability in a period of great change.
He hopes to be inclusive and get more of the industry involved and to garner further participation from both suppliers and distributors alike. For companies to recognise and take advantage of the added value in what the association does and focus on a partnership approach to help the industry win business as a whole. Relations between suppliers and distributors will be a focus.
“There have always been far too many assumptions on both sides and a lack of understanding. So, the communication needs to be sharp, accurate, informative, clear and concise, with the ultimate aim that the end customer experiences a smooth, professional and fully compliant service.”
Trusting and utilising the information on suppliers’ websites will help, he says, giving instant information that can be provided by the distributor to the final client. “People need to trust this information so that they can respond to the end user’s request far more quickly and effectively.”
Willetts says that one thing that has come out of the past 18 months is that players in the industry should respect each other. “We should all try to play nicely with each other. There’s lots of pressure on all sides of the supply chain and everybody wants everything immediately. We all strive to do our best but with the sheer volume of transactions that are taking place at present, issues can arise. Talk to each other more to understand situations fully. Everybody has the same end goal to put as much merchandise out in front of people as we can.”  

Scam alerts

After a deluge of scam emails reported to the BPMA with claims for outstanding payments, the latest scam to hit members is the offer of a data list, claiming to hold names and emails.

Continue reading

BPMA Member Forum: invitation only 6th August

The BPMA is hosting two special sessions for Suppliers and Distributors on 6th August. With significant changes affecting the events industry and longer road to recovery, two forums will be held hosted by BPMA CEO Carey Trevill and Board representatives Mark Alderson, Helen Brennan and BPMA Chair, Angela Wagstaff.

Continue reading

BPMA CEO explains the merchandise effect at EPIC

On 3 July 2019, more than 300 marketers from across the brand, creative, print and production industries gathered for EPIC/2019 at Congress Centre, London. EPIC, which stands for, Everything’s Possible; Integrated Communications, is a ground-breaking initiative backed by the IPIA, The Independent Print Industries Association.

Continue reading

© Copyright 2022 The BPMA | All rights reserved.